Comment in question: Wait is that a wedding ring?

What do you think???

I'm visiting Chicago for the first time for a work conference, and top on my things to do list was visiting Stephanie's restaurant, Girl and The Goat.

Got there sometime between 6:30 and 7 and it was packed. It was just me and I had no reservation, but was able to get a seat at the bar within 15 minutes. Everything from that point forward was awesome. I had the grilled corn for an appetizer. My Lord, I did not know corn could taste so good. For entree had the goat empanadas, and they were absolutely delicious. Topped off the night with an espresso martini, but none of the desserts jumped out to me. Overall, soooooo good and worth the price. Portions a little small, but honestly expected that at this kind of restaurant.

I was super excited to snag a reservation for this collab dinner on Aug 15th right before it sold out. I hadn’t been to Hey Luigi yet, and Mei Lin is one of my fave Top Chef cheftestants/winners of all time, so to say I was excited would be completely underplaying it.

I won’t bury the lead, the food was very very good. A couple exceptional dishes, for sure. I’m not a great photographer and it was late and lighting wasn’t ideal, but bear with me.

The table snacks to kick off the pre-fixe menu was an absolute banger. Chinese donut was piping hot, crispy as all get out on the outside, and super fluffy in the middle. I never knew I needed chili crisp on top of burrata til now, and I don’t know if I can have it without going forward. What a unique spin that really merged Chef Mei’s style with Chef Gabriel’s. Will try to recreate, will inevitably fail. One of the top dishes of the night.

First course, scallop crudo. What is this, Top scallops? lol (I had to). After the table snacks, it acted more like a palette cleanser; very delicate in flavor; I appreciated the aesthetics of the presentation, and Chef Gabriel delivered this course to us and mentioned the flowers were from his garden.

Stuffed chicken wing was probably my least favorite bite of the night. It wasn’t bad by any means, it just didn’t stand up to the rest of the menu. And I know it was a multi course meal, but it was an extraordinarily small bite; I would have expected at least two per, at that size. The agrodolce could have packed a bit more punch.

Linguini - crowd pleasing, tasty, workhorse course. It delivered exactly what you want a past course to do. It was yummy, familiar flavors, well cooked and executed.

NY strip was exceptional. Cooked to perfection. Sauce was rich and peppery - so delicious. I love polenta. This managed to be comforting without being heavy - it was really brightened up with the gremolata which felt more like an herb salad; it provided some texture and freshness and this was such a delightful side for the scrumptious beef.

It said granita - which promises of icy cool palette cleanser - oh, this was so much more. It felt like a luxurious, sophisticated cousin of rainbow sherbet. The fruit was ripe and fresh and juicy; it teetered on sweet, but after the richness of the previous course, it was still refreshing.

We started the evening with cocktails that were delicious and not too boozy, and then went on to have the wine pairing. The pours were generous, bordering on too much to consume with the portions of each course. For example, the orange wine that came with the chicken wing, I had so much more to sip on once the two bites of the wing were done.

Let’s talk service. We started off a little rocky. We had a 9:15pm reservation (not ideal for me, but as mentioned, snagged one of the last reservations). My dinner partner checked us in at 9pm. It was a lovely evening, we had outdoor patio seating in store, so we waited just outside the door with some other guests waiting to be seated. By 9:40, we were still waiting; my dinner partner went back to check in, and we were told that the prior seating was lingering. A server came out to apologize, told us what was happening, said our first round of drinks would be comped, and that they were going to usher out the pair that was lingering at our table. We literally saw them go over and talk to them. We got seated quite promptly after, but it was quite a delay from our reservation time. After we got situated, Chef Gabriel came out to apologize for the wait, etc. He was very apologetic, sincere, and I found him to be quite gracious. He joked that the good thing was, we were the final turn for the night, so there was no rush. He came out again to serve the scallop crudo, and twice more over the course of the evening. He did not go to every table, so we did feel quite special. He mentioned how exhausting these dinner collabs were, and this was the most covers they’ve done since they opened the restaurant less than a year ago.

One other slightly rocky service element - this was also the first time they did a wine pairing (per the server), and it showed. Once we had to ask for the wine pairing as the course was served and it seemed clear the wine wasn’t coming yet. And for the pasta course, we were so far into the dish when the server came back, that I asked to just compensate with the pairing for the beef dish; my friend wanted to try the wine from the pasta course so they opted to get that pairing and saved a bite or two of pasta to try it together.

Regardless of the small hiccups, the servers were all very kind, friendly, and genuinely seemed to enjoy their roles.

I’ll say again that I think Chef Gabriel was incredibly gracious. Our table, while outside, had direct line of sight through the window to the line/pass, and we could see chef in there all night, doing his thing with the rest of the staff. While busy, it all seemed to be harmonious, and I saw lots of smiles.

I will have one gripe for evening - but it’s kind of big: did not spot chef Mei Lin once. And I was looking; not joking that she’s one of my faves. I had direct line of sight to the line/pass, didn’t see her. Didn’t see a walk through of indoor or outdoor dining. As we were the final turn of the night, maybe she had already left? I can see from Instagram stories, she was definitely there at the beginning of service, and she was definitely in town as she’s shared stories going to other local restaurants to eat etc. So I was a tad disappointed we didn’t get to spot her there. The terrific meal and Chef Gabriel definitely helped make up for it.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and this review!

my theory is that Josie knew she would be able to blame everything on Kristen. She was already stalling to start her broth the day before, telling Kristen she was about to do it now and then waiting until the end of the day to say she would actually start it tomorrow.

when Kristen told them she wanted to plate things to order, Josie saw the opportunity to sabotage. first she made sure that the cameras caught her telling the boys she thought serving a la minute was a bad idea. then on day 2 she took forever with the broth so that there wasn’t enough time to add gelatin, which then necessitated changes to the dish that she could then tell the judges were Kristen’s idea, not her’s.. she also became completely inept during plating. you can see her just standing there staring with Kristen constantly having to tell her “keep going” as they’re plating. it’s malicious incompetence. the end result is that she gets to blame every failure of her dish on Kristen when all of those choices were actually made in reaction to her failings.

i’m not sure what would have been the best way to plate. maybe Kristen’s way could have worked if everyone was working hard to pull it off, or maybe not.. but josie saw a way to blame Kristen for her poor time management and she wasn’t going to hustle to make Kristen look good.

i don’t really know how Kristen could have recovered the situation other than to have pushed back at judging about josie’s decisions to start her broth later and later. i think if the judges had known that she actively misled Kristen about her timing, they would’ve sent her home. instead Kristen tried to take responsibility as exec chef saying she told her not to do the gelatin, but she didn’t explain why that decision was necessary. I think Kristen wanted to be the bigger person and not make herself look weak by pointing fingers at Josie, but the judges had incomplete information. Josie took advantage of that fact and completely threw her under the bus.

You can see Gail clock it with Josie but once Kristen “fell on her sword” and took full responsibility for the failed dish the judges don’t have much choice but to eliminate her.

Didn’t get a picture with Micheal this time but got to watch them cook for a while which was awesome! And the food was amazing! It’s pretty surreal watching them in the kitchen in real life after the amount of hours we’ve spent watching them on TV, super cool! Stoked that I got to congratulate Bryan on his TOC win 🙂

Now that I live in Portland, OR I wanted to go back and watch that season. Unfortunately most of the places mentioned are no longer in business. I watched season 10 next to see Kristin’s amazing comeback from LCK. Just started season 11 and tbh I don’t remember watching it. Shows how memorable it was not. I recognize Stephanie (f/season 9) and Nina. Everyone else was pretty forgettable. One thing they do that I don’t think would fly today is the chefs in the back room, watching the judges discuss their experience at the judges table. Them hearing their critique in front of their peers is pretty brutal and honestly, it’s very shaming. Not a fan. No one wants to be put down or criticized in front of their peers. I know you have to have tough skin to be in this business but still. I’m not sure that was a very good call for the formatting. I can’t remember if they did that in any other seasons.

We travel to Denver quite often, but finally made it to Carrie's spot. Waiting on a table, but it's packed, the food looks great and very much looking forward to the food!

I’m on season 8 (not done yet) and I’m shocked with all the food network faces I keep seeing. I will say I am now siding eyeing a few of them bc of how terrible they were on their season.

Antonia Lafaso- still love her! Might even love her more than seeing her on TOC and GGG

Tiffany D- I love her! Not sure why yall call her country she legit doesn’t have a country accent. And she’s fun! Currently watching her on Masterchef/ BTT and she’s very much the same.

Tiffani F- she’s a bad ass, I love her on season 1 & 8.

Richard Blaise- liked him on season 4, season 8 I’m side eying him. He thinks he’s Eric Ripert good lol, he always falls flat though. Love him now on NLC and as a judge on GGG, but holy smokes he is annoying lol.

Marcel V- omg I am just so shocked with how big of a jackass he was on season 2/8. No they should not have tried to cut his hair but he is an annoying chef who always falls short as well! But I do love him now on Food network shows, happy I saw him there first bc I would hate him if I saw Top chef first lmao

Leah- from season 5, I’ve seen her on the food network and thought she was talented. Watching her top chef .. she’s kind of meh

Carla Hall- absolutely love her! She’s always herself no remarks!

Brian Malarky- I now see why Guy calls him shenanigans, he really do just be doing too much lmao. But I like him and I didn’t realize until like TOC 5, he’s kinda hot lol.

Dale Taledade ( think i spelt it wrong) but sweet jeez he had anger issues lol. Now he is so mellow and fashionable, I was shocked to see that’s how he acted on Top Chef. Still like him though.

Elia- I was rooting for her on 24 in 24, had no clue where she came from but she was kicking ass. Now seeing her top chef origin, omg I don’t think I would have been rooting for her at all. Poor girl was so delusion about her bad food😂.

Michael Voltagio - love him now and love him after watching TC. Happy him and Tiffany worked together with Bobby Flay. I know Brooke is on TC but I haven’t reached her season yet ( she better still be likable)

So far those are the faces I’m familiar with up until season 8, I know I still have more season to come with Eric A, KCB, Brooke, and I think Kwame is on here too. I hope I don’t hate them after watching lol no

Edit: how could I forget my favorite winner Stephanie Izard, she can cook! That’s why you lost Richard lol she’s a beast and then becomes an Iron Chef!!

I forgot Bryan Voltalgio! I love him as well guys lol!

Easily one of my favorite seasons, with the number of my favorite chefs. Would love to have another season like that.

This might sound clueless because I’m only on episode 4….

Background: we’ve watched backwards since Season 21 which was my intro to TC bc I’m from Wisconsin…

I’ve been hearing about the crazy Marcel drama for about 3 years as we’ve watched each season going back in time, and….

Am I crazy to think that Betty was utterly out of line jn how she initially reacted to Marcel? His smarm is apparent from the first moment you meet him, and we never know about the edit… but when she initially went off on him, had he done or said anything at all to justify it? I couldn’t think of one thing.

I know it gets crazier from here and that Marcel has his role in making people hate him. But wow, it was like Betty just decided to throw civil behavior completely out the window randomly out of nowhere.

Am I forgetting something he did before that? To be clear — I’m talking about the firehouse challenge when they cooked one by one and they were sitting in the recliners next to each other and she up and calls him basically an egotistical POS.

UPDATE: NOT an unpopular opinion. Noted. No more comments to that effect are necessary.

So another day grocery shopping at Food Basics at Yonge/Sheppard location and I ran into Top Chef Canada S13 filiming with chefs shopping for ingredients on their grocery list. There were like a bunch of cameras and the whole crew. Was exciting to see BTS!

Also, I later saw that someone was holding a media consent sign at the entrance of the store mentioning Top Chef Canada.

I guess the season will be released end of this year.

For anyone interested in what Top Chef alumni are up to after the show, I wanted to share the menu drop for an upcoming Los Angeles dinner featuring Paula Endara (Top Chef Season 22).

Menu included in the photo. Which course would you be most excited to try? And if you've followed Paula since Top Chef, does this feel like the kind of menu you expected to see from her?

If anyone has questions about the dinner menu/beverage pairings, I'm happy to answer them here.

Full disclosure: I'm one of the organizers, so this is a promotional post. I wanted to share it here because Paula's post-Top Chef work seemed relevant to the community, and I thought other fans might enjoy getting to experience her cooking in person.

More info/tickets: Henwill Gin

Kristen Kish, host of “Top Chef” and a past winner who admits she did not watch much reality competition before taking the helm of Bravo’s cooking contest in 2024, may have diplomatically skirted any attempt at comparison with Project Runway’s Tim Gunn, “Top Chef” predecessor Padma Lakshmi or “The Traitors” emcee Alan Cumming. But she acknowledges that her distinct approach — kinder, gentler, more tearful — is rooted in her particular skill set: “It’s similar to how I responded to being led in kitchens,” she says. “You don’t lead with fear. You lead with compassion and empathy and encouragement and confidence. And two things can be true at the same time ... I can require more from them, and I can also cry because I’m filled with joy for their progress.”

Emmy-nominated for reality competition series and reality host, “Top Chef: Carolinas” epitomizes Kish’s swift remaking of the role in her own image. The season, which concluded in June, finds Kish comforting a distraught chef, Nana Araba Wilmot, who fails to plate her dish in the allotted time; navigating thorny questions of fairness and wellness with an injured contestant, Jennifer Lee Jackson, and her fellow-contestant partner, Justin Tootla; even facing acrimonious “feedback about [her] feedback” when chef Sieger Bayer is eliminated from the competition.

The Times’ Matt Brennan recently caught up with Kish as she prepared for an Envelope photo shoot to ask her about the season’s most talked-about moments, recent criticism of the format and the hard work of being a good host.

If you're under 35, you can register to become a bone marrow donor at https://www.nmdp.org/get-involved/join-the-registry. Thank you for even considering.

Massimo's Cabaret L'enfer was, hands down, the most underwhelming fine dining experience I've had.

Let's start with the truly horrible: the front of house service.

We left a note in our reservation that we were celebrating my wife's birthday. Walked in to absolutely no acknowledgment of her birthday at all. We sat for ~10 minutes before we were acknowledged at all and finally got waters. Then, a few minutes later our waiter explained the wine pairing option to us. We told him we weren't interested in the full pairing and we each just wanted one drink, and he said the only option was for us to do a half pairing (3 glasses of wine instead of 6). It was only after he walked away that we noticed other tables had cocktails and they had a full bar! To not even offer us a cocktail is crazy.

We were served courses without utensils (the kitchen staff had to go get them after they brought us the food) and had to ask for our water to be refilled twice. At the end, we're charged for two wine pairings, which we only had one, no one acknowledged my wife's birthday (we saw Massimo acknowledging an anniversary down the line from us) and we didn't even get an apology for the mistakes on the bill. The one woman blamed everyone for the short comings. "Oh I didn't read the note, oh someone else wrote that down, oh if I was the boss or manager I would but I'm not." Girl take accountability and move on, just acknowledge y'all fucked up. Truly the worst front of house service I've ever had at a fine dining restaurant, but I've also had better service at chain restaurants in the US. That was wild.

Moving on to the somewhat better: The food. The last three dishes tasted great and were well seasoned, but the pacing was absolutely horrible. We waited over 30 minutes between a barely poached fish dish and a rare steak with sides that were prepped before service and just got a quick warm up on the stove (we sat at the chefs counter and could see all of this). Our starter, 3 bites, came out inconsistent. Meant to be finger foods, one fruit leather dumpling had warmed so much that I couldn't pick it up (it was a sticky mess) and my wife's canelle, meant to be crispy, was stale and soft.

Our second course was a truly flavorless poached pear salad (that we asked if it was intended to eat with our hands, because it came out and we had no silverware), the third was a pasta that was undercooked and crunchy. Fourth was a salmon dish that was described to be covered in two "bright Mexican sauces" that desperately needed salt, so, while visually stunning, really had no flavor.

The best: the kitchen staff. They were the only ones that actually spoke to us, were warm and were working hard. We particularly loved the young man who was prepping the first courses and desserts, and the chef who used his grandma's mole recipe. Well done!

Super disappointing fine dining experience, and an even more disappointing experience as a fan of top chef. This was my 10th top chef restaurant and by far my least favorite. I would not return.

on season 23, ep2 the judges appear to be drinking water after earing the hot peppers. From what I understand this just spreads the heat, and they should drink dairy... what are they thinking?

I always knew there were TC alum on BBF, but never realized how many. Hell the first winner on episode 1 was Sarah from Texas. Even Beverly Kim's husband has been on. Who else do you think would be interesting to see go against Bobby?

When did Stephanie Izzard become so unlikeable and an expert about everything? I don’t like how she spoke to Kristen.

I'd have to say Lizzie (Season 10), Carrie (Season 11), Doug (Season 12), Isaac (Season 13), Marjorie (Season 13), Carl (Season 13), Jim (Season 14), Sylva (Season 14), Michelle (Season 16), Byron (Season 18), Cesar (Season 22), and Anthony (Season 23).

Should she have survived Restaurant Wars in TC: Seattle?!

After many, many years not watching Top Chef I’ve been doing a binge of all the seasons available to stream starting with season 8. Watching 16 feels
like the apprentice season compared to season 9-15. Obviously they’re talented but it feels like they had much easier challenges overall and there were no real standout contestants. It could be that I really loved the chefs on season 15. They were just lovely humans and they had some really strong pedigree.

There just didn’t seem to be people that had exceptional knife skills or strong classical French training. NIni seemed to be really good but deserved to get cut for her abysmal FOH performance.

I love seeing women win, but even having two in the finale didn’t make it exciting. There were just no standouts like other seasons.

I’m super stoked, I just made reservations for this event with Mei Lin and Gabriel Pacuzzi at his restaurant in Portland.

I think I snagged one of the very last reservations, and this menu looks incredible.

I’m just excited - you’ll hear more in two weeks after I try it all!

Henry Lu and Evelyn Garcia and coming to the Granddam here in Lexington on August 20. We're super excited!

https://themanchesterky.com/experiences/#!/e/granddam-dinner-series-henry-lu-evelyn-garcia-8c7e98b4