Top Chef: DC

I was walking into a new grungy coffee shop in Richmond called LampLighters and as I was walking in, I caught a glimpse of this guy at a table. I knew I’ve seen him before, and I knew it was associated with food, so the whole time I was ordering coffee I was cycling through Richmond restaurants trying to pinpoint where I’ve seen him before. Come out, sit at the table next to him and his entourage, and eavesdrop on there conversation for the next half hour.

It wasn’t for another 10 minutes, when he spoke, that it hit me like a ton of bricks. I’ve seen this guy on Top Chef a dozen different times! A quick google for “french top chef guest” showed me Eric Ripert! He was mostly giving tips to a local restaurant owner on the best way to cook crabs in various different ways. His manager was there, and they started talking about the various sites they wanted to see before they had to start filming this weekend. They also shortly made fun of Marcel’s new tv show on SyFy, while also making fun of molecular gastronomy.

While I was googling I found out that he’s going to be a permanent judge this season of Top Chef, which will be held in D.C., and it’s starting on the 16th! So hear you go: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef

Spoiler: No Mohawks this year!

Pffft, mohawks are so 2008. What about tattoos?

Hopefully Top Asshat won’t win this year.

— Alan

You can say that again.

Zylon++

Hopefully Top Asshat won’t win this year.

— Alan

STACK OVERFLOW

Gotta love The Ripper.

His PBS show is excellent, and he owns the best fish restaurant in NYC. Had one of the best meals of my life at le bernadin. He’s also friends with Bourdain, they do a podcast together that’s pretty hilarious.

The chef Ripert was giving advice to was kind of a douchebag right away. Halfway through the conversation he was trying to pawn off a friend of his who was apparantly an amazing chef. Wanted Ripert to take the friend as his apprentice on his promise that the kid was amazing. Ripert started rolling his eyes as soon as he knew where the conversation was going and ended it with saying “How do I say Fuck You in English?” Then he backpedeled a bit and said he could call up any restaurant in Paris to take on a new chef if the kid really was amazing, but if he didn’t put up within a week, he’d get sacked and basically shamed out of Europe.

Like I said, the Ripper is awesome.

I tried to find his show on pbs.org but can’t find it. Is it called “Avec Eric”? Still on?

I loved the mini cooking shows he had on his blog and would totally dig a 30 min cooking show.

A guy like Eric probably gets asked to hire someone’s friend who wants to be a chef 100 times a day. “Fuck off” would be my standard answer as well by the end of the day.

Yes, “Avec Eric”. The first season is done, but last I heard there will be a second. In each episode, he travels around to various food destinations around the world, goes behind the scenes at le bernadin, then cooks something in his astonishingly nice (probably fake) apartment kitchen. I like the le bernadin scenes best. Pretty good food show.

And what sir, would be the name of said podcast?

Ripert freaks me out. He looks like a Nazi android clone assassin from the future, or something.

“Greetings, my friend. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown, the mysterious, the unexplainable. That is why you are here. And now, for the first time, we are bringing to you the full story of what happened on that fateful day. We are giving you all the evidence, based only on the secret testimonies of the miserable souls who survived this terrifying ordeal. The incidents, the places, my friend we cannot keep this a secret any longer. Let us punish the guilty, let us reward the innocent. My friend, can your heart stand the shocking facts about grave robbers from outer space?”

Though he has make up on there, he still has a remarkably youthful face for a guy rocking steel grey hair.

It was actually a radio show on Sirius, my mistake. Called “turn and burn”.

You can find the episodes on his site in the video section.

Ripert also appeared on at least one of the video podcasts for No Reservations. They are made few and very far between, but the one following Eric and Anthony after a busy dinner service at Las Helles is pretty interesting.

— Alan

I hate Angelo already. For some reason I like Kenny though, even though he’s as uh … confident as Angelo.

It’s a shame Doc Brown didn’t last longer. He had some great crazy going on.

I agree. I think it was the part where Angelo decided to start conversations by dropping names and bragging, and then quizzing people about their own recent world travel experiences. That’s top class assmanship there.

Kenny seemed to have a more quiet confidence, at least among the group. Also, he was ridiculous with a knife during the quickfire.