Majestic’s Overmiller Ready for Her Close-Up

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Sounds like Bravo’s casting folks may have blown into town a bit early (open auditions are scheduled for next Wednesday at the Occidental) to chat up Majestic toque Shannon Overmiller. Gut Check blogger Amy Loeffler was dining there this evening when she spotted camera crews tracking the Maryland native’s every move. Her curiosity piqued, Loeffler flagged down a server and inquired why Overmiller seemed to be getting the Hollywood treatment. “She said Shannon was being interviewed for a possible spot on Top Chef,” Loeffler reports. No word from Overmiller’s bosses over at Restaurant Eve as to how far along their protege might be in the Top Chef vetting process. But confidence is high “Red” would add a terrific splash of local color to the Season 7 cast.

Yes, there were cameras rolling last night at The Majestic.

But management now insists the puzzling media display beheld by Gut Check blogger Amy Loeffler on Thursday night wasn’t for Bravo’s benefit.

“[Chef] Shannon [Overmiller] was being filmed, but, not by Top Chef,” Meshelle Armstrong assured us.

Both Overmiller and Armstrong remained mum on who was doing the filming.

Local toques looking to make the leap into reality TV should make their way down to the Occidental next Wednesday for the Top Chef Season 7 casting call.

–Warren

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We’ve Got a Horse in This Race!

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Not sure if any one else caught the season premiere of the Bravo Network’s “Top Chef-Masters” last night.  A spin-off of the wildly popular reality cooking show that has introduced us to local favorites Carla Hall and Spike Mendelsohn, “Masters” pits more high-profile, experienced chefs against each other all in the name of charity.

Though the obvious drawback is the absence of host Padma Lakshmi, “Masters” is every bit as entertaining and a bit more lighthearted (at least early on). In each of the first five episodes, four chefs compete to move on to the “Champions Round” with the winner receiving a $100,000 donation to the charity of their choice.

What’s interesting about this season is that the level of experience has been ratcheted up. Instead of relative unknowns battling to gain notoriety and the opportunity to own their own restaurant, each of these chefs are award winners with multiple restaurants. What’s also interesting is that many of these chefs have not had to compete in quite some time, if ever, and are every bit as nervous and prone to error as the regular contestants.

Last night’s quick fire, the bane of every chef’s existence, dessert, was uninspired but did make the master chefs extremely uncomfortable. The highlight of the episode had to be Texas chef Tim Love accidentally putting all his food in the freezer (thinking it was a refrigerator).

In the elimination challenge, the chefs were forced to cook in college dorm rooms with only a microwave, hot plate and toaster oven. San Fransisco chef Hubert Keller made macaroni and cheese, using a shower head to chill and then reheat his macaroni noodles. Innovative, yes … sanitary … um, probably not.

What I really enjoy about shows like this is pulling for the local contestant, and this season is no different. Art Smith, best known as Oprah’s personal chef, is the chef/owner in the District’s “Art and Soul” which features Smith’s southern roots combined with decades of southern cooking. 

Smith won’t say how he fared in his foray into reality television because the episode has yet to air. But keep an eye out for Smith and other master chefs each Wednesday night on Bravo.

-Stephen

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