Utzman, from his previous win

Last night’s Chopped continued the Chopped Champions madness with Taim’s Einat Admony defending her title after beating previous winner James Briscione. Joining Admony were former champions Jackie Lee, a private chef; Andre Marrero, tournant at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon; and Cody Utzman of The Brooklyn Standard and Papacitos. Judges for the episode were Geoffrey Zakarian, Chris Santos and Marc Murphy. Read more »

Briscione, a two-time winner

Earlier this week we took in the premiere episode of Chopped Championship, the tournament-style repackaging of Ted Allen’s Top Chef knockoff, Chopped. The concept: Thirteen Chopped victors duke it out to determine whose cuisine reigns supreme…or whatever.

Kicking things off were chefs Natalia Machado (Industria Argentina), Michael Carrino (Passione in Montclair, New Jersey), Sandy Davis (a chef at the Union Theological Seminary) and James Briscione (an instructor at ICE). Judges for the episode were Geoffrey Zakarian, Marc Murphy and Alex Guarnaschelli.

Appetizers were made with live crawfish, fiddlehead ferns and red seedless grapes. Briscione and Davis—both Southern gents—were comfortable working with the live crawdads, but Davis chose not to clean the vein in his crustaceans. Carrino was the only contestant bold enough to try for a soup, but his efforts fell flat and so he was chopped. Read more »

Utzman basking in the dim glow of success

Last night’s episode of Chopped!, “A Wish Upon a Star Fruit.” featured a few local competitors: Cody Utzman (chef-owner of Papacitos and The Brooklyn Standard Deli) and Ming Liu (a line cook at Le Cirque). They were joined by Lisa Schoen, a food stylist for The Fabulous Food Show, and FreshDirect sous chef Pedro Diaz. Judges for the episode were Alex Guarnaschelli, Marc Murphy and Aaron Sanchez. Read more »

Michael Ferraro slices his ill-fated squid.

Apologies, Feed readers, for this late dispatch of Tuesday night’s episode of Chopped! We’ll be back in the saddle with (timely) recaps next week.

The second season of Chopped! moseyed along on Tuesday night with episode two. High-fives all around for the serious tristate-area representation: Chefs included Michael Ferraro of Delicatessen; John Lawson, executive sous chef at Gordon Ramsay at the London; David Kirschner (W Hotel in Hoboken); and Nicole Puzio (Ox Restaurant in Jersey City). Read more »

Jason Zukas, executive chef of Bocca Fina in Forest Hills, god of bald men.

Last night, the Food Network rang in the new season of Chopped! with a bevy of sea beans, Thai chilies and according to their tease, “Mexican-inspired desserts” (which translated to ones that included pepitas and jicama). The chefs ran the gamut in terms of name recognition and included chocolatier Fritz Knipschildt, David Rotter, executive chef of Campo on the Upper West Side, Jason Zukas, executive chef of La Bocca Fina in Forest Hills (the self-described “Rocky Balboa of the competition”), and Cheryl Perry, an instructor at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts. Judges for the episode were Alex Guarnaschelli, Chris Santos and Marc Murphy. Read on for the blow-by-blow. Read more »

Birthday cake and cotton candy at Landmarc's birthday bash.

Before every restaurant in town was trotting out recession deals and unloading wine on the cheap, Landmarc Tribeca had accessible specials (Thursday night’s orecchiette still draws crowds) and a celebrated list of affordable half bottles. “Our concept has always been ‘don’t screw the freakin’ customer,’” said the restaurant’s chef, Marc Murphy, at Landmarc’s fifth-anniversary party Monday night. For the crowd of regulars, friends and family there were antipasti, plenty of wine and cocktails by a barkeep-turned-life-coach (how apropos). Despite the recession, Murphy and his deputy Frank Proto say their restaurants are doing well—a rare feat in times like these. The Feed raises a glass to this young fortress: Here’s to another half decade, boys.

Chef Ed Witt, with the tats, tests his skills on Chopped!

As Chopped! winds down its current run of episodes—Food Network just bought 26 more slated for summer—it’s becoming clear that it may have saved the best for last. The show doesn’t rely on a chronological story arc and as such, the episodes we’ve been watching week to week could’ve been filmed in any order. We’d like to put our faith in the Food Network execs that there’s something deeper going on, that they’ve been crafting a narrative—like Charles in Charge but with ladles. Read more »

Princess Chopped!: Alex Guarnaschelli. (Photo courtesy of Starchefs.com)

Last night’s Chopped! was like a forced bon mot from Toby Young—it was all sass and fluff, and at the end Alex Guarnaschelli cried. This time around, the contestants were all New York–based, and as an added bonus, two of them (current tournant Andre Marrero and now-personal chef Chris Burke) had previously worked together at Robuchon. The other chefs were Margaritte Malfy of La Palapa and Rachelle Rodwell, chef de cuisine at the Soho Grand. Returning for a judging hat trick were Aaron Sanchez, Guarnaschelli and Marc Murphy. Read more »

Klaus Kronsteiner, left, and Christopher Jackson rumble for your approval.

The second episode of Chopped!, “Tofu, Blueberries, Oysters,” manhandled our eyes and ears last night with another dose of would-be Top Chef-fers scrambling to cook and semiforced dialogue from Ted Allen. The contestants this time were Klaus Kronsteiner, the chef at one of the most exclusive golf clubs “in the world” (or New Jersey), Christopher Jackson of Ted and Honey in Brooklyn, and Pippa Calland and Raymond Jackson, both personal chefs. Read more »