Top Chef

Southern California must be full of top chefs. Or at least those who wish to be. The lineup for this season's " Top Chef " television show on Bravo again is well-larded with Angelenos. Competing in Season 10 (shouldn't they have advanced to Roman numerals by now?) will be Micah Fields , executive chef at the Standard Hotel ; Brooke Williamson , chef and owner at Hudson House in Redondo Beach and the Tripel in Playa del Rey; and Kuniko Yagi , who is billed as “executive chef at an upcoming David Myers restaurant.

Olive & Thyme: The Toluca Lake cafe will be offering a wine and cheese tasting from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday.  Attendees will sample more than a dozen cheeses with cheesemonger Tyler Schwarz and learn about cheesemaking from aging and texture to methods of making and region of origin. The wine and cheese tasting is $45 per person. Call or email gayle@oliveandthyme.com for reservations. 4013 Riverside Drive, Toluca Lake, (818) 557-1560, www.oliveandthyme.com . Modern Art Desserts: On Saturday, the Craft in America Study Center will present the third installment of “Food as Medium for Craft,” with a talk and book signing by Blue Bottle pastry chef Caitlin Freeman.

Wednesday night's super-sized episode of "Top Chef" let viewers and the contestants have a little fun on an Alaskan cruise. The remaining chefs packed their bags -- Stefan Richter packed what he calls his party pants -- and they boarded a cruise ship with chef Curtis Stone as a guest judge. The chefs were asked to make 200 portions of a dish featuring iceberg lettuce for a party for the Quickfire Challenge. Sheldon Simeon won with yet another Asian dish. This time he did a Vietnamese lettuce wrap with pork and shrimp and pickled lettuce cores.

The Wednesday night finale of "Top Chef" was like a great comeback kung fu movie. After having been sent home too early in the season, Kristen Kish fought her way back into the competition. The "Last Chance Kitchen" champion beat L.A. girl Brooke Williamson by two rounds to earn the title of Top Chef. Williamson and Kish each cooked in front of a live audience of more than 300 people, the judges, their former competitors and all nine of the previous "Top Chef" champions. The first chef to win three rounds was named the winner.

It was "Top Chef" extreme chef edition on Wednesday night's episode. There was a helicopter ride, racing around in the snow, dog-sledding and a baby was born! To start the quick-fire challenge, Sheldon Simeon, Josh Valentine (aka "The Stache") and L.A. girl Brooke Williamson boarded a helicopter en route to a dog sledding training camp. Williamson, who admitted she is afraid of heights and tight spaces, cried during the ride but eventually lightened up once she realized she was in a helicopter ... in Alaska ... on "Top Chef"!

For judges of one of the most well-known food shows on the planet, "Top Chef," stars Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons and Hugh Acheson sure have different ideas about what constitutes a good breakfast on Emmy morning. "I just had a bagel and lox," Colicchio said, shrugging. "I had a cocktail at the hotel," Acheson said, smiling. PHOTOS: Top Emmy winners  |  Emmys red carpet arrivals  |  Overheard at the 2012 Emmys Only Simmons seemed to have really taken breakfast seriously.

Hot to talk about: the finale of "Top Chef"? Kevin, FTW. (No, that's not a spoiler. It's a hunch. I wouldn't be upset if Mike pulled off an upset though. He can be cocky, but I rather like watching him concoct all sorts of delicious-looking craziness.) (Wednesday) Please do talk about: "A Single Man" Not since Mr. Darcy has Colin Firth been so extraordinary. The film, a potent examination of regret, heartbreak and desire from fashion designer-turned-director Tom Ford, follows a single day in the life of George (Colin Firth)

In the first 10 minutes of Wednesday night's "Top Chef," contestant John Tesar solidified his status as the "most hated chef" on the show. Not only does he captiously insult Kuniko Yagi, who went home on the previous episode, he spars unrelentingly with C.J. and 'The Stache' Joshua Valentine. He goes so far as to call Valentine "Oklahoma" and disrespect him with "Oklahoma has no tact. " Arrogant much?  Tensions are high when Padma introduces guest judge and "Top Chef Masters" alumni Naomi Pomeroy and gives the chefs their Quickfire Challenge: Butcher a cut of beef and create a dish.

Wednesday night's episode of "Top Chef" was by far the worst performance I've seen from any contestants in the history of the show. The words "hate" and "disappointing" were thrown around so often by the judges I found myself slumping in my chair, grumpy when the show ended. So what happened?  It started at Pike's Place market with Padma Lakshmi in some questionable striped pants and local chef Daisley Gordon acting as guest judge. The chef teams of two butted heads as they built a makeshift outdoor kitchen and created breakfast on a stick for the market vendors.

The Wednesday night finale of "Top Chef" was like a great comeback kung fu movie. After having been sent home too early in the season, Kristen Kish fought her way back into the competition. The "Last Chance Kitchen" champion beat L.A. girl Brooke Williamson by two rounds to earn the title of Top Chef. Williamson and Kish each cooked in front of a live audience of more than 300 people, the judges, their former competitors and all nine of the previous "Top Chef" champions. The first chef to win three rounds was named the winner.

The Food Network South Beach Food & Wine Festival kicked off Thursday night with Moët Hennessy's The Q hosted by Paula Deen and sons presented by Omaha Steaks. Several white tents spanning the size of a football field were set up over a section of the beach behind the Delano hotel for the event. Foodies and women holding their heels, walking barefoot dressed in outfits that included club wear and shorts stumbled around in the sand. I sipped the Q, one of the four specialty cocktails at the event, while I tried to spot Deen.

Part 1 of the “Top Chef” finale reminded us what we knew all along: Roy Choi and Sang Yoon may be the coolest Asian chefs in L.A., but they're not as nice on the eyes as Kristen Kish. Kish received a much deserved finale spot on Wednesday's episode after successfully taking down her fellow eliminated contestants on the online series, “Top Chef Last Chance Kitchen.” Yet, Kish's momentous winning streak and Sheldon Simeon's chill island vibes were no match for L.A.'s own, Brooke Williamson.

It was "Top Chef" extreme chef edition on Wednesday night's episode. There was a helicopter ride, racing around in the snow, dog-sledding and a baby was born! To start the quick-fire challenge, Sheldon Simeon, Josh Valentine (aka "The Stache") and L.A. girl Brooke Williamson boarded a helicopter en route to a dog sledding training camp. Williamson, who admitted she is afraid of heights and tight spaces, cried during the ride but eventually lightened up once she realized she was in a helicopter ... in Alaska ... on "Top Chef"!

On Wednesday night's episode of "Top Chef," the remaining four chefs stepped off their Alaskan cruise in Juneau. There was snow on the ground, bears in the trees and salmon a plenty. And L.A. girl Brooke Williamson proved once again she's the one to beat. Sean Brock of Husk restaurant in Charleston supplied the chefs with king crab for the Quick Fire Challenge: Create a dish highlighting Alaska's most prized ingredient at Tracy's king crab shack. Elizabeth Binder made a lame frittata and right away I pegged her as the one to go home.

Kuniko Yagi is the executive chef of the newly opened Century City restaurant Hinoki & the Bird, focusing on the flavors of Japan and Southeast Asia. Yagi's from Maebashi City, Japan, and though she has no formal culinary training, she landed a job in the kitchen at David Myers' Sona after moving to Los Angeles. She most recently was executive chef at Myers' Comme Ca and appears on this season's “Top Chef.” What's coming up next on your menu? I'm thinking of a pasta dish, but not an Italian dish, rather something more our style here at Hinoki & the Bird, like handmade buckwheat pasta with duck confited in Asian spices.

Wednesday night's super-sized episode of "Top Chef" let viewers and the contestants have a little fun on an Alaskan cruise. The remaining chefs packed their bags -- Stefan Richter packed what he calls his party pants -- and they boarded a cruise ship with chef Curtis Stone as a guest judge. The chefs were asked to make 200 portions of a dish featuring iceberg lettuce for a party for the Quickfire Challenge. Sheldon Simeon won with yet another Asian dish. This time he did a Vietnamese lettuce wrap with pork and shrimp and pickled lettuce cores.

Season 10 of Bravo's "Top Chef" premiered Wednesday night without a bang. Twenty-one contestants visited four of the judges' restaurants: There were no crazy ingredients, extreme weather conditions or impossible cook-from-a-vending-machine challenges. And it was incredibly refreshing. This season takes place in Seattle, but in order to get there, the contestants had to pass basic tests to earn their chef's coats. Chef Tom Colicchio brought his team into his Craft kitchen to see how they performed during a real night of service with a kitchen staff; Emeril Lagasse challenged his group with making soup at his restaurant Table 10; handsome uni-brow-donning chef Hugh Acheson tasked his contestants to create salads at Empire State South; and new judge Wolfgang Puck, who proved a bit of a softy, asked his chefs to cook an omelet at Cut.  It's too soon to tell who will be the last man, or woman standing, but it's never too early to give the contestants some hard-earned nicknames.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Thursday. Richard Blais is the new "Top Chef" All Star. ( Los Angeles Times ) The Church of Scientology is reportedly interested in buying KCET's studios. Will it become K-LRON? ( Los Angeles Times ) HBO viewers have had enough of other people's problems -- the channel has canceled "In Treatment. " ( Los Angeles Times ) Craving your "Mad Men" fix? Jon Hamm is filling part of his downtime with an L.A. stage performance.

The blind taste auditions finally came to an end on Tuesday night's episode of "The Taste. " Typically, the auditions are the best part of any competition. Those shows highlight the wackiest, worst, no-business-being-on-TV people for your entertainment pleasure. But I got a little bored with "The Taste. " Watching judges Ludo Lefebvre, Nigella Lawson, Brian Malarkey and Anthony Bourdain wear the same clothing they did in the first episode, but pretend it was a different day, and send chef after chef home with no real reason left me wanting more, and frustrated with the show's premise.

Wednesday night's judgment table on "Top Chef" was a long time coming. The loud-mouthed, obnoxious ball of annoyance, otherwise known as Josie Smith-Malave, was finally given the boot. When Padma Lakshmi told her to pack her knives, I did a fist pump. For the quickfire challenge, master sushi chef Katsuya Uechi challenged the chefs to make a sushi dish. Stefan Richter won with his yellowtail and grilled shiitake mushroom dish, but instead of immunity, he took home $5,000. Tom Colicchio was in the mood for fried chicken, so he asked the chefs to make the fried bird for the elimination challenge.