Top Chef: Los Angeles

The second season of Top Chef began airing on Bravo on October 18, 2006. Padma Lakshmi took over as host, with Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons returning as judges. Filming began in Westwood, near UCLA in Los Angeles, on August 10, 2006. The number of contestants expanded from 12 to 15. The winning recipe from each week's episode is featured on Bravo's Top Chef website and prepared by Season 1 contestant Lee Anne Wong in a web video called The Wong Way to Cook.

Host & judges

Permanent

• Tom Colicchio (Head Judge)
• Padma Lakshmi (Host/Judge)
• Gail Simmons (Judge)

Guest judges

• Harold Dieterle, Season 1 winner. (Ep.1 Quickfire & Elimination)
• Hiroshi Shima, sushi chef. (Ep.2 Quickfire)
• Ming Tsai, chef, restaurateur and TV personality. (Ep.2 Elimination)
• Stephen Bugarelli, TGIF senior executive chef. (Ep.3 Elimination)
• Suzanne Goin, chef and restaurateur. (Ep.4 Quickfire & Elimination)
• Michelle Bernstein, chef and restaurateur. (Ep.5 Quickfire & Elimination)
• Anthony Bourdain, chef and restaurateur, TV Personality. (Ep.6 Elimination)

Contestants

Template:Spoilers Eliminated or withdrawn from competition

• Carlos Fernandez, age 36, Fort Lauderdale, Florida - episode 6
• Marisa Churchill, age 28, San Francisco, California - episode 5
• Josie Smith-Malave, age 31, Brooklyn, New York - episode 5
• Emily Sprissler, age 30, Las Vegas, Nevada - episode 3
• Otto Borsich, age 46, Las Vegas, Nevada - episode 2
• Suyai Steinhauer, age 29, New York, New York - episode 1

Still competing (alphabetical order)

• Elia L. Aboumrad, age 23, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Cliff Crooks, age 28, West Caldwell, New Jersey
• Betty Fraser, age 44, Los Angeles, California
• Mia Gaines-Alt, age 32, Oakdale, California
• Ilan Hall, age 24, New York, New York
• Michael Midgley, age 28, Stockton, California
• Sam Talbot, age 28, New York, New York
• Frank Terzoli, age 39, San Diego, California
• Marcel Vigneron, age 26, Las Vegas, Nevada

Episodes

Template:Spoilers Each episode includes two challenges. The Quickfire Challenge is a short, simple challenge with a varying reward each week. The Elimination Challenge is a more complex challenge that determines who goes home. One or more guest judges join the show each week to evaluate both the Quickfire and Elimination challenges. Each week's elimination is announced in a segment called "Judges' Table."

Episode 1: Into the Fire

• Quickfire Challenge: Create a flambé dish in a limited amount of time. Prize: Immunity from elimination.
  • WINNER: Sam.
• Elimination Challenge: Prepare a dish with strange ingredients to be served to the other Top Chef contestants.
  • WINNER: Ilan. ELIMINATED: Suyai.
• Judges: Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons; and Harold Dieterle (Quickfire & Elimination Challenges).
• First aired October 18, 2006

Episode 2: Eastern Promise

• Quickfire Challenge: Create a sushi dish in a limited amount of time. Prize: Immunity from elimination.
  • WINNER: Cliff.
• Elimination Challenge: Contestants split into Team Vietnam and Team Korea; prepare two dishes using flavors of the team's country to serve at a charity fundraiser.
  • WINNER: Team Vietnam and Betty. ELIMINATED: Otto.
• Judges: Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons; and Hiroshi Shima (Quickfire Challenge); and Ming Tsai (Elimination Challenge).
• First aired October 25, 2006
• Elimination Challenge Prize: A limited-edition Kyocera KT-300-HIP Kyotop 8.25" ceramic sashimi knife[1].
• Otto voluntarily resigned from the show. As Team Korea was bringing supplies back to the kitchen, Marisa heard Otto saying that they got a case of lychees without paying for them. She later revealed this to Colicchio, who made Otto take them back to the store. Otto returned to complete the Elimination Challenge, but announced he was leaving the competition during the "Judges' Table" segment.

Episode 3: Food for the People

• Quickfire Challenge: Create an original ice cream flavor and serve it at the Redondo Seaside Lagoon. Prize: Immunity from elimination.
  • WINNER: Cliff.
• Elimination Challenge: Create a dish updating a "childhood classic" that can be served to adults, then serve it at a fire house.
  • WINNER: Betty. ELIMINATED: Emily.
• Judges: Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons; and Stephen Bugarelli (Elimination Challenge).
• First aired November 1, 2006
• Elimination Challenge Prize: The winning entree will be featured on the menu of T.G.I. Friday's

Episode 4: Less is More

• Quickfire Challenge: Create an amuse bouche dish using $10 of ingredients from a vending machine. Prize: Immunity from elimination.
  • WINNER: Carlos.
• Elimination Challenge: Create a meal not to exceed 500 calories to serve at a camp for diabetic and overweight children.
  • WINNER: Team Black and Frank. ELIMINATED: None.
• Judges: Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons; and Suzanne Goin (Quickfire & Elimination Challenges).
• First aired November 8, 2006
• Elimination Challenge Prize: A cookbook from the featured guest judge.
• Head Judge Tom Colicchio announced that no contestant would be eliminated in this episode. At the judges' table, the losing teams made allegations regarding the "bending" or "breaking" of the rules in the elimination challenge by a member or members of the winning team. As a result, Colicchio stated that all the contestants would remain "on probation."

Episode 5: Leftovers

• Quickfire Challenge: Create a dish using offal, the leftover parts of animals. Prize: Immunity from elimination.
  • WINNER: Sam.
• Elimination Challenge: Working in teams of two to create a six course lunch for Jennifer Coolidge and 60 of her guests using only ingredients already available in the kitchen.
  • WINNER: Ilan. ELIMINATED: Marisa and Josie.
• Judges: Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons; and Michelle Bernstein (Quickfire & Elimination Challenges).
• First aired November 15, 2006
• Elimination Challenge Prize: Opportunity to work with Bernstein at the Sagamore Hotel in Miami on the South Beach Food and Wine Festival.

Episode 6: Guess Who's Coming To Thanksgiving Dinner

• Quickfire Challenge: Create a dish using three different canned foods. Prize: Immunity from elimination.
  • WINNER: Sam, Mia, Ilan, Cliff, Frank.
• Elimination Challenge: All five who did not win the Quickfire Challenge must work together to make a cutting edge Thanksgiving dinner for the judges and other Top Chef contestants, using the kitchen in the loft.
  • WINNER: Elia. ELIMINATED: Carlos.
• Judges: Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons; and Anthony Bourdain (Elimination Challenge).
• First aired November 22, 2006

Episode 7: The Raw And The Cooked

To air on November 29, 2006

Episode 8: Shotgun Holiday Party

To air on December 6, 2006

Episode 9: The Magnificent Seven

To air on December 13, 2006

Episode 10: Reunion

To air on December 20, 2006

Episode 11: Seduction in Santa Barbara

To air on December 27, 2006

Episode 12: Finale, Part 1

To air on January 3, 2007

Episode 12: Finale, Part 2

To air on January 10, 2007

Reviews

• Top Chef episode analysis - The Right Side of the Road