Tom Colicchio

A star-studded celebrity chef cast will return to the hills of Aspen for next year's FOOD & WINE Classic

As always, the celebrity chef lineup for the 2013 FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen, which will take over Glitter Gulch June 14-16, is a gallery of big, bold culinary mugs: Mario Batali, José Andrés, Tom Colicchio, Marcus Samuelsson, Andrew Zimmern, Jacques and Claudine Pépin, Ming Tsai, Hugh Acheson, ... More >>

Elway's Tyler Wiard gets booted from Top Chef Seattle...or does he?

On last night's season five episode of Top Chef Seattle, Tyler Wiard (nickname T-bone), the culinary director of Elway's -- and the exec chef of Elway's Cherry Creek -- is sent packing, along with fellow chef Chris "CJ" Jacobsen, the two of whom were bludgeoned by judges Gail Simmons, Padma Lakshmi, ... More >>

With so much culinary perfection on TV, can a home-cooked meal measure up?

Food programming has come a long way since Julia Child cooked her way into our hearts, boning chickens, flipping potato pancakes and never missing a beat when the occasional pan dropped on the floor. For all her affability, Child was trying to do one thing: demystify fine cooking for an audience dep ... More >>

Reader: Tom Colicchio probably hasn't so much as microwaved a burrito in years

Three Colorado chefs started out on the season premiere ofTop Chef Seattle last week, and two moved on. But Euclid Hall's Jorel Pierce was out, booted by Tom Colicchio. And how did that feel? "While the pressure was intense and intimidating," Pierce says, "I know now that I learned a lot about mys ... More >>

Euclid Hall's Jorel Pierce on being booted from Top Chef Seattle

I keep threatening to break up with Top Chef, the Bravo reality show that pits "cheftestants" (Bravo's word, not mine) against one another in a string of often ridiculous challenges and theatrically contrived snippets that force the chefs to look into a camera and say really stupid shit -- things li ... More >>

Tyler Wiard meets Tom Colicchio, his "celebrity chef who needs to shut up," on Top Chef tonight

The tenth season of Bravo's Top Chef starts tonight, with three Colorado chefs among the competitors: Eliza Gavin of Telluride's 221 South Oak; Jorel Pierce, the executive chef of Euclid Hall; and Tyler Wiard, exec chef at Elway's Cherry Creek and culinary director of the Elway's group (which curren ... More >>

Sneak peek: The first ten minutes of Top Chef Seattle showcase Jorel Pierce

On Wednesday night, three Colorado chefs -- Jorel Pierce (Euclid Hall), Tyler Wiard (Elway's Cherry Creek) and Eliza Gavin (221 South Oak, in Telluride) -- will compete on Top Chef Seattle, Bravo's award-winning chef showdown, now in its tenth season. See also: - Tyler Wiard, Jorel Pierce will co ... More >>

Six medal-winning reasons why the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen is just like the Olympics

The Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, which celebrated its thirtieth anniversary this year, is the gastronomic and vinous equivalent of every foodie and wine lover's mecca; it's our golden fleece, our Holy Grail, our industry's version of the Olympics.

Photos: Famous faces, food and debauchery from the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen

We've got all sorts of takeaways from the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, which just celebrated its thirtieth year in Glitter Gulch over the weekend, and we'll be posting stories throughout the week about the new Chefs Club in the St. Regis, along with surprising observations and confessions from Gran ... More >>

Empty your wallets! Tickets to the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen are now on sale

I'll never forget the first time I attended the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. It was the final year that Julia Child, the late, great American chef who demystified French cuisine -- and passed away in 2004 -- made an appearance at the annual Aspen culinary orgy, back when there was no Food Network, ... More >>

Five Denver/Boulder kitchen magicians who should audition for Top Chef Season 10

"Every season the bar gets higher, every season it means more to be the one on top -- do you have what it takes to be the next TOP CHEF?" So begins the wording on the Bravo website, taunting cookers from around the country to audition for the tenth season of Top Chef, which, if you believe the rumor ... More >>

Tickets now on sale for the 30th anniversary of the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen

Lori Midson​O come, all ye faithful, to one of the biggest culinary red carpets rides in the country: the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen. If you've been really, really nice this year and you've got a high roller in your circle of family and friends, then you might as well ask for the BIg One: a ... More >>

The Simpsons Preview: "The Food Wife," with (bleep) Ramsay, Bourdain, Batali and more

Quick! Can you name the celebrity chefs?​ This Sunday night, at 8 p.m. on FOX, The Simpsons will dish up a food-centric episode, in which oh-my-god! star chefs Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsay all appear in animated cameos. It's all part of a weird dream that Marge has about s ... More >>

Reader: How could you forget Homer's low-fat exploding eclair?

​Tom Colicchio -- or a reasonable facsimile -- will guest star on The Simpsons later this month, which inspired our look back at some of the great Simpsons food scenes. Wonders Wratha: How could you not include any scenes from the episode where Homer is a food critic? The "low fat" exploding ... More >>

Tom Colicchio's Simpsons cameo reminds us of these great food scenes

​Recent reports provide illustrated proof that Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio will make an appearance on the premiere episode of the 23rd season of The Simpsons. Apparently, Marge wants to be a Top Chef contestant. (Oh, Marge, so adorable!) Which got us thinking about all the memorable scenes ... More >>

The Perennial Plate comes to Durango

Stephanie ColganDaniel Klein is filming an episode of his web series in Colorado.​Daniel Klein's resume includes some of the best restaurants in the world, restaurants including The Fat Duck and St. John in England, Thomas Keller's Bouchon and Tom Colicchio's Craft. Now he's producing The Pe ... More >>

Duo and Olivéa pastry chef Yasmin Lozada-Hissom tapped to bake at the James Beard Foundation awards gala

​The James Beard Foundation awards gala, a glitzy, high-falutin' soiree that honors the best chefs, pastry kings and queens, restaurateurs, restaurants and wine directors in the country, takes place on May 9, 2011, at the Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in New York. And the culinary blowout ... More >>

Round two with Lon Symensma, exec chef of ChoLon

Lori Midson​ Lon Symensma ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro 1555 Blake Street 303-353-5223 www.cholon.com This is part two of my interview with Lon Symensma, executive chef of ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro. In part one of that interview, Symensma rips on bird's nests, extols the virtues of lop chong ... More >>

Top Chef All Stars: That's the way the cookie crumbles

​I tend not to like contrived and cutesy challenges, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the chefs putting together cookies for Sesame Street's Cookie Monster and his friends Elmo and Telly when they visited the set of Wednesday night's Top Chef, seeing everyone's expression lighten suddenly as ... More >>

Tickets now on sale for the culinary red carpet ride that's the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen

​Tickets to the 2011 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, the culinary breeding ground for the country's most extolled food personalities, chefs, grape gurus and their groupies, just went on sale yesterday, and you can snap up a ticket to the gustatory soiree, held June 17, 18 and 19, for $1,085 befo ... More >>

Top Chef All-Stars, second course: Is Jen a dinosaur?

Jennifer Carroll is going, going, gone.​Jennifer Carroll's meltdown when she got eliminated from last night's episode of Top Chef All-Stars was spectacular. She was graceless, almost out of control, so angry she clearly didn't know whether to laugh, cry or hit someone. She'd done a lot of brag ... More >>

Top Chef Just Desserts: That's the way the cookie crumbles

Heather Chittum is out.​I'm enjoying Just Desserts more than I enjoyed the regular Top Chef, though in many ways I'm more interested in savory food than dessert. Although the Dessert contestants are pretty high octane, they're also more emotionally honest, and there's a lighter, more playful f ... More >>

Top Chef Just Desserts: Nice guys don't finish first

Tim Nugent was sweet, but got the boot.​Dessert's a funny thing in fancy restaurants these days. No more slices of cherry tart, chocolate cake or apple strudel unless they're miniatures, deconstructed, flavored with something incongruous like curry, set on curlicues of sauce you have to sample ... More >>

Top Chef DC, round 14: Kevin wins!

Kevin Sbraga (center) won the seventh round of Top Chef .​"Kevin, you are Top Chef," Padma announced, and a stunned Kevin responded, "I am?" I was happy with the outcome of this seventh season of Top Chef -- but I would have been equally pleased had Angelo won. He irritates a lot of viewe ... More >>

Top Chef D.C., round thirteen: Kelly's headed back to Colorado

Hometown girl Kelly is headed home. ​The setting for this penultimate episode of Top Chef was Singapore, which ginned up the interest level quite a bit. It was fun watching the four remaining contenders picking and tasting their way through the Singapore street-food scene under the guidance of ... More >>

Top Chef D.C., round six: A meaty gimmick

Michelle Bernstein​It's getting hard to watch Top Chef D.C. and harder to write about it. I keep waiting to feel the kind of excitement I felt about the show in the past. It may be that this is an uninteresting group of contestants, but I think it's more the smug idiocy of the organizers, and ... More >>

Meatless Monday picks up Wolfgang Puck

​When Chris Elam, program director at Meatless Monday, told us his side of the veggie-movement story, he hinted that a national chef would soon be signing on to the cause. We mused that Emeril Lagasse, Tom Colicchio, and Wolfgang Puck were very much in play.

Top Chef DC, round four: Oh, baby

Lynne and Arnold are out.​Last night's Top Chef DC, episode 4, felt like self-parody -- too many chefs; too many flying shots of hands chopping, sauteeing, stirring; too many judgments and too many judges using truncated phrases that communicated only the most basic facts about what they were ... More >>

How Mario Batali was won: the rhetoric behind Meatless Monday

​About a month ago, if you'll recall, I raked my former idol, Mario Batali, over the coals for jumping on the bandwagon of the cute veggie campaign, Meatless Monday. And in the aftermath, as was only fair, I was chastised for my pigheadedness (no pun intended). But as my comments about anima ... More >>

Part two: Big Game's Leo Harvey dishes on trashy cheese dip, his biggest embarrassment and Gordon Ramsay

Lori Midson ​This is part two of my interview with Leo Harvey, executive chef of Big Game Restaurant & Lounge. To read part one of that interview, click here. Favorite dish to cook at home: Braised chicken thighs and Yukon Gold mashed potatoes. It's a very comforting dish that's hearty, easy ... More >>

Top Chef D.C., round three: No picnic

Tracey got the boot last night.​I hate it when Tom Colicchio gets sententious, as he did facing the losing four contestants on last night's third episode of Top Chef D.C.. Stephen, Tim, Kevin and Tracey stood in front of him, shaken and close to tears, waiting to see who'd get sent home. "Your ... More >>

Observations from the 2010 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen: José Andrés, Jacques Pépin, getting porked, scrambled egg mousse, Alex Seidel and a smoking gun

Lori Midson Jacques Pépin, Jean-Claude Szurdak and José Andrés​Thus ends four days of liver damage, debauchery, hangovers, embarrassments and a swollen stomach. The 2010 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen officially came to a close yesterday, and while the weekend isn't without its fuzzy moments, ... More >>

New season of Top Chef includes two Colorado mountain cookers, Kelly Liken and Kenny Gilbert, but no Denver or Boulder chefs

​Top Chef, the often unrealistic reality show that made Hosea Rosenberg, exec chef of Jax-Boulder, a hometown hero when he emerged the conquistador two seasons ago, just released its listage of contestants for season 7, which will be filmed in Washington DC and premier on June 16 on Bravo. ... More >>

Strange Sauce: The week in national food news

We know, you just threw up in your mouth a little.​The trailer for Jamie Oliver's new television show, Food Revolution, has been released. According to ABC, Oliver will attempt to transform the eating habits of a bunch of rednecks in Huntington, West Virginia, and rumor has it that he bawls w ... More >>

Part two: Chef and Tell with Brian Laird of Barolo Grill

Lori MidsonBrian Laird, executive chef of Barolo Grill​This is part two of my interview with Brian Laird, exec chef of Barolo Grill. You can read part one of my interview with Laird here. Best food city in America: San Francisco. It's all about what I love most: fresh ingredients, seafood, f ... More >>

Tyler Wiard talks about Elway's, lobster and why Denver needs a good diner

Chef and Tell: Tyler Wiard of Elway's

Lori Midson​"I got my ass kicked, but man, did I learn a lot," recalls Tyler Wiard, talking about the early '90s and his days as a line cook for Dave Query and John Platt at Q's Restaurant in the Hotel Boulderado. He must have been up to the task, because Query pulled him off that line and int ... More >>

A conversation with John Broening, of Duo and Olivea

Chef and Tell: John Broening

John Broening​"We'll have head cheese at Olivéa on Friday -- I expect to see you there," summoned the e-mail. The note - short and to the point -- was from John Broening, the executive chef at Duo and Olivéa: the former a restaurant in Highland with a field-to-plate, seasonal approach to foo ... More >>

Highlights and lowlights from the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen

Lori MidsonTop Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg and knifed cheftestant Fabio Viviani By the time the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen ended yesterday afternoon, I'd already seen a whole posse of amateurs puke; another man suffer a seizure just after chef Michael Symor ended a fantastic cooking demo devoted ... More >>

Colicchio goes a-whorin' for Diet Coke?

On Oscar night, the entire food world was abuzz. Not because of anything that happened during the Academy Awards ceremony, but because of one of the (million and one) commercials that showed during the proceedings: namely, the Tom Colicchio Diet Coke spot that appeared to show the Top Chef judge an ... More >>

Note to Top Chef: Stop sucking

It's been three weeks since I wrote a word about this season's Top Chef on Bravo.  Know why?  Because it has been so boring and so contrived and so stupid that the episodes themselves were painful to watch -- making me less than excited about the notion of then rehashing them here. There w ... More >>

Hosea Rosenberg dodges a bullet on Top Chef: New York

Seriously, dude? Canned crab? What the fuck was Hosea Rosenberg thinking? For those of you who missed the most recent episode of Top Chef: New York, let me catch you up. The chef-testants had to cook New American for fifty. The catch? They had to do it from the kitchen at Craft, judge Tom Col ... More >>

Gone Fishin'

Suddenly, Denver’s swimming in seafood restaurants.

Oceanaire A Cool Breeze

Oceanaire A Cool Breeze

Best Seafood Restaurant for You and Ten of Your Closest Friends

Go Fish Grille

Bite Me

Kinda Blue

Mouthing Off