Compliments to the Chef (Bits Nicholas & Nancy DaSilva)

It's another exciting day in Last Chance kitchen and we have some incredible guest stars in the Dish with Kish. Plus, an exciting announcement about week 3 of Top Chef season 22.

Get your second helping of Top Chef content this week! We talk to James Beard nominee Sean Wen, founder and Owner of Pinch Boil House and Curry Boys BBQ in San Antonio, TX. We discuss the ins and outs of opening a restaurant, major wins, minor set backs and the lessons we learned along the way.

Stay tuned for a sneak peak of Last Chance Kitchen and what is to come in Season 21.

A-ten-hut!!! Head to the Nellis Air Force Base for a heart bowl of creamy chowder, sad pasta salad and a slab of bacon on a piece of lettuce! We're dissecting episode 3, where the Cheftestants have to work together to feed the hungry men and women of US Air Force. How will our chefs fare? Listen to find out!

The top three bakers are in the tent one last time to find out who will be named this year's Great British Bake Off champion! Tune in to listen to our recap of the finale and our Compliments to the Chefs.

We've got an incredibly silly second help this week for Top Chef episode 4. Tune in for some lazy sunday antic and tons of lols

Slip into something more comfortable and join us at the first ever Top Chef fish boil!! On this week's episode of Top Chef we have two more Wisconsin food traditions: the meat raffle and the fish boil, both of which Chef Dan Jacobs would care to forget. We meet the most bizarre entry to the Top Chef Cinematic Universe (TCCU) who goes by the name of TORCH, a flame loving fish boil master. This episode has everything we love: all stars, cooking in the elements, large format challenge AND Tom in a new hat! Who will boil to the top and who will get torched? Tune in to find out.

The whole gang is (still) here and we're moving on to week 2! There's something in the water because the contestants are dropping like flies, literally. But that doesn't stop them from making show stopping cookie dioramas!

This week we are holding space for Christiaan finally getting his just desserts! But before we get into the fabulous Great British Bake Off semifinal, we do a debrief of the Wicked movie and ponder the safety of yacht chef footwear on below deck. You don't want to miss this riveting discussion of fruit-shaped cakes, lamination and flagrant rule violations!

Don your helmet and put on your skates because Top Chef is headed to the roller derby! This spicy episode has teams of two competing to see who can make the best concessions for the Seattle Roller Derby finals. There are some amazing collaborations and some unfortunate misses, but who will be the ones to take home the trophy?

Call up your weird uncle and take out the carving knife because it's Thanksgiving in the Top Chef kitchen! Follow the chefs as they prepare meals inspired by Chef Tom and Chef Emeril's family traditions. Tune in to hear our recap of Season 10 episode 3.

This week we have CEO and Founder of Square Pie Guys Marc Schechter! Mark is a pizza enthusiast who left a life of corporate misery to pursue his passion of breaking bread and filling the world with joy through pizza. Listen to this episode as we discuss the universality of crust, sauce and cheese and have some fun along the way!

Marc on instagram:

@pizzaman_420

@pizza

It's part 1 of the finale and we're in Napa! Land of the free, home of the grape. The top four chefs arrive to America's wine country with a dream, a plan, and a quickfire on the Napa Valley Wine Train. For the final elimination challenge, the chefs cater a seasonal crush party with meat and vegetarian dishes. Who will be an cloud wine and who will get corked? Listen to find out!

GBBO Episode 7 is one for the history books! We have meringue nests, tiramisu and the british dessert to end all british desserts: spotted dick! We giggle, we judge, and we go on a really long tangent about the Gilded Age.

Top Chef fans rejoice! Season 15 winner Joe Flamm (@insta.flamm) is on the pod today. In addition to his Top Chef glory, Joe is the founder of Day Off Group, the restaurant team behind Chicago's award winning restaurants Rose Mary, Il Carciofo and BLVD Steakhouse. Joe is an incredibly talented and personable member of the Top Chef universe and we are honored to have him with us on today's second helping.

Nancy and Bits also discuss the first week of Last Chance Kitchen. Tune in to hear our coverage!

For more information:

Day Off Group: https://www.dayoffgroup.com/

It's episode 3 of Top Chef and we have a real live Top Chef finalist in the studio to unpack it all! Savannah Miller (season 21) joins us to discuss her takes on the new season, Jamaican beef patties, cold-dish challenges and maybe even re-live a little PTSD. This is an incredible episode with tons of insights from someone who was there to do it herself.

You can find Savannah on instagram @savvysavv

Top Chef 21 may be over but we're still cooking! Join Bits and Nancy as they interview Ellen Marie Bennett, Founder of Hedley & Bennett, the exclusive apron provider for Top Chef. Hear about her journey to becoming food-industry fashion royalty and how she became the go-to designer for your favorite chefs, from the brothers Voltaggio to Kristen Kish herself!

Ellen's new show "Kitchen Glow Up" on Tastemade is a home improvement show for cooks who actually use their kitchens. Join her as she helps people make easy and affordable changes to their kitchens to make them the center of a food-obsessed home.

You can watch Kitchen Glow Up on Tastemade: https://www.tastemade.com/shows/kitchen-glow-up

You can see more of what Tastemade has to offer: https://www.tastemade.com/streaming

Welcome to Compliments to the Chef! To kick it off, we'll be unpacking Top Chef season 6, available on Netflix or Peacock now! Follow along with us as we review the Cheftestants, fan-favorite mise en place relay, elimination challenge and conjure up some predictions for the season ahead.

Abra kadabra! Pick a card! Cup and balls! Tonight's episode is about MAGIC and all of the ways food can take shape. Our chefs perform for storied Vegas magicians Penn and Teller with their deconstructed masterpieces. Listen to episode 6 to find out who pulls a rabbit out of their hat.

Put on your denim because Top Chef is BACK and we've gone north of the border! Season 22 is off to an incredibly strong start, with 15 exceptional contestants ready to earn the coveted title of Top Chef. With a knife draw, team quickfire and regional elimination challenge, the premier has everything, even three Canadian tuxedos.

Tune into our coverage of Top Chef Season 22 Episode 1!

The ultimate Top Chef gauntlet is here! Restaurant wars kicks off with the restaurant god himself Danny Meyer. We see 8 restaurant concepts and the winners will go head to head in the ultimate Top Chef showdown.

It's time for a good old fashion Alaskan salmon bake!Who will be the sockeye and who will be CHUM?

It's our last night in Wisconsin and we're going out with a bang! On this week's episode of Top Chef we have the fan favorite blind taste test challenge followed by a high stakes elimination challenge. The chefs are ask to show their growth over the course of the show in a single dish. Who will be the biggest grower and who will be shown the door? Tune in to find out!

The Compliments to the Chef girlies are BACK and they are ready for dessert! Join hosts Bits and Nancy as they venture into the bucolic English Country side to cover this season of Great British Bake Off. We'll dive into every sweet morsel of Series 12 and have fun along the way!

The Top Chef kitchen is getting the celebrity guests - from viral critic Marilyn Hagerty to Chris Pratt before he got weird. They're cooking us some big game and we're ready to watch! Tune into our coverage of episode 6!

Top Chef Destination Canada had the opportunity to do the funniest thing possible, and they did it! We have a double header of classic Canadian delicacies: poutine and maple syrup. The Chefs have to make their versions of these iconic staples and the judges are blown away! Joined by Sarah Levy and Daniel Boulud, this is an epically fun episode you won't want to miss.

We're getting in a time machine and going back to opening night at Canlis restaurant. But first the chefs are all taking turns hacking away at a beautiful cut of beef. Follow the cheftestants as they build a menu straight out of an episode of Leave It To Beaver - jello, steamed cauliflower and a heavily dressed ceasar salad.

Sharpen your knives and pull out the scrapbook! The chefs start with a knife skills quickfire that has the slicing through paper, rabbit and even their fingers. The elimination challenge has us reliving the top 10 most memorable moments from Top Chef history, which has us revisiting iconic dishes, rivalries and one liners. Top Chef die hards do NOT want to miss this episode!!

We are BACK in the Top Chef universe, but there is one stop to make before we enter the Seattle kitchen. Season 10 is off to an incredibly fun start with a star studded panel of judges: Hugh Acheson, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck and, of course, head judge Tom Collicchio. The chefs were put through their paces with tasks to test their fundamental skills in the kitchen. Who will pass the test and make it to Seattle? Tune in to find out!

This week on Top Chef the contestants compete in a cheesy challenge in the Wisconsin corn fields! A quickfire as sweet as cherry pie has the contestants cooking with mystery ingredients. Then we head outside, to the great croquette cookoff of 2024. How many fried balls can the judges eat? Find out who cuts the cheese and who packs their knives!

Gather 'round the table because it's a dinner party! Follow along this week as we watch the remaining cheftestants pair up and cook up a feast in the tiny kitchen of the Top Chef mansion. With an elite guest list, the chefs will have to show up and show out to take the win. Tune in to find out more!

Welcome to Seattle, we've finally arrived in the Top Chef Kitchen! The chefs are put through their paces with a classic quickfire, an high-altitude elimination challenge and a textbook Top Chef twist. Tune in to hear our recap of season 10 episode 2!

Put on your swim trunks and let's head to the Caribbean! After six weeks of relaxation, the Top Chef finalists head to warmer weather to compete in the finale at sea. Focusing on fish and local delicacies, the chefs cook up three dishes this episode, all highlighting chicken of the sea. Have some fun in the sun as we cheers to part 1 of the Top Chef finale!

We've got another supersized Second Helping for Top Chef S21E9! We start with the fan-favorite mise en place relay in LCK. Chefs Amanda, Laura and Kevin battle it out to see who will stay in the running to return to the competition. After that, we have Jamie Lauren (Top Chef Season 5, All Stars) talking about her time on the show as a cheftestant AND culinary producer. You are absolutely not going to want to miss this interview with tons of BTS content and a trip down memory lane.

It's a triple match up in Last Chance Kitchen this week on Top Chef. The competitors must take inspiration from their plates and make a dish that compliments the form upon which they choose to build. We also have a visit from the Vanderpump Rules water sommelier and another cameo from the GOAT Buddha Lo!!!

The contestants make there way to Madison, Wisconsin and learn about the American artistic giant Frank Lloyd Wright along the way. In the first partner challenge of the season, we see some pairs thrives and others break down. Two-time winner Buddha Lo comes back to judge this week's episode along with Dominique Crenn. Who will win and who will sing So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright? Tune in for food and fun facts as we dive into this week's episode of Top Chef.

LCK is back and it's time to play ball...again!! Rasika and Kevin face off in a nine inning race to see who can score the most home runs. Then, stick around for our interview with Top Chef Production Designer James Connelly, who will WOW you with his encyclopedic knowledge of every top chef kitchen. James has incredible knowledge and talent and sheds light on the BTS of Top Chef that you won't want to miss!

Follow James on Instagram: @jpconnelly

It's an incredible day to be a Compliments to the Chef fan because we have Top Chef season 21 finalist Savannah Miller on the pod today! You absolutely do not want to miss this interview full of great BTS tidbits and stories of Top Chef Wisconsin.

Prepare for battle! This week on Top Chef the chefs armor up for a surprise restaurant wars! The group splits up into two teams and duke it out between their hastily decided concepts. We get 70 minutes of unadulterated combat as we delight in some of the most creative work we've seen all season. We also heat up some delightful leftovers and introduce a new fan-generated Potluck segment. So which restaurant will claim the spoils of war and which will be lost to the history books? Listen in to find out!

Bon Appetit food editor Kendra Vaculin joins Bits and Nancy to breakdown restaurant wars. Gear up for game theory, strategy and espionage in this all out battle between the Voltaggio brothers and everyone else. Which team will win this high stakes challenge? Which team will be in the weeds? Who will pack their knives? Listen along to find out!

Guest Bio:

Kendra Vaculin is a food editor at Bon Appetit and founder of Dining Room, a series of intimate dinner parties in NYC and beyond. Kendra has a wealth of food industry knowledge, from fine dining, recipe adaptation, cooking tutorials and kitchen takeovers at some of NYC's coolest and best restaurants. You can find Kendra on Instagram @kendrakendrakendra or @diningroomnyc.

The Top Chef kitchen is getting a makeover this week - everything is wrapped in tin foil! Reynolds wrap wins the award for best sponsored challenge of all time and the chefs win the award for most bacon consumed per square foot in any season. We head to a local berry festival where the cheftestants square off head-to-head to impress the inimitable Chef Stephanie Izard

On this week's episode of Top Chef we see the contestants stepping out of their comfort zone into the world of indigenous foods. But before that, they get bogged down in a cranberry quickfire that brings Tom, Gail and Kristen into the Top Chef kitchen to announce a huge rules shake up. Who will shine and who will pack their knives? Tune in to find out!

The French are back in the season 6 semi-finals! The chefs have to compete against each other in a highly technical Bocise d'or style quickfire and elimination challenge. They're all ready to show up and show out, but one chef will have to french kiss the competition au revour.

It's bread week in the tent! The most technical and anticipated week of the season is here and the bakers are ready to impress Paul Hollywood, the breadfather himself, and PROOVE who's the best bread baker in the tent.

This week is the finale of Last Chance Kitchen! An action-packed two part epsiode with a cameo from Season 12 winner Mei Lin! Plus, Bits and Nancy vie for a spot on Watch What Happens Live.

A long time ago (2009) in a galaxy far, far away (Vegas)...

Episode 10 is a fun ride with a big twist in the middle! The chefs are ready to cook the best steak of their lives when special guest judge Natalie Portman shakes things up. Who is able to roll with the punches and who will eat dirt? Tune in to find out!

We have current reigning champ of Top Chef on the pod this week! Bailey Sullivan joins us to discuss her time in the Top Chef kitchen, Last Chance Kitchen and all of the juicy BTS bits of season 22. You don't want to miss this interview with the woman who was brave enough to do risotto day 1.

You can find Bailey:

On Instagram @baileylynnsullivan

Check out Southern Smoke Foundation

This week's episode is pure chaos!!!!! The chefs compete in a dairy-based dessert quickfire and then move onto achaos cuisine elimination challenge. Guest judge Matty Matheson puts the chefs through their paces and inspires some of the best performances of the entire season. The shocking eliminaton at the end still has us shook! Whose dish will be chaotic good and whose chaotic evil will send them home?

Bits is back and so is Top Chef episode 4! We have a star studded episode, with some fun trivia to kick things off and a sweet elimination challenge. Things are heating up in the Top Chef kitchen and we can't get enough of Season 22.

Top Chef is BACK! And we're in Wisconsin, jewel of the midwest, land of the dairy farm. In the season premier we meet 15 new cheftestants, all with the same goal: take home the title of Top Chef. This year the competition is fiercer than ever, with James Beard nominees and Michelin star cooks. New judge Kristen Kish is shaking things up with new rules, new looks and new energy.

Nancy and bits unpack this first episode as well as make predictions about who the moo-vers and shakers of Season 21 will be!

We've got sausages in the house...in more ways than one! CTTC welcomes the hosts of The LA Food Podcast. We take a look at episode 7 of Top Chef and it's time to play ball! An uproarious sausage race with an all-star panel of judges has the chefs facing off head to head with some of the best food we've seen all season. Who's wiener will reign supreme? Tune in to find out.

Check out @TheLACountdown

Last Chance Kitchen returns to Top Chef and we're starting with a big twist! Join bits and Nancy as we discuss the new cheftestant Soo Ahn, the format of LCK this season and conspiracy theories about where Chef David went....

The Top Chef contestants are spending the day at Pike Place market. First with a breakfast challenge...on a stick! The elimination challenge is an unprecedented flop for all of the chefs, with all of them unsuccessfully paying homage to the artisans of the market. We get one of the most iconic judges tables with an epic clap back and dogged defense. Tune in to hear us discuss episode 5!

This week, we welcome to the tent Luca and Sal from The LA Food Podcast! Join the girls and the guys as we dissect 70s week, for all of its peace, love, shag carpets and retro pastries. Tune in to find out who's in the groove and who leaves the tent.

Get out your candy thermometers because Caramel Week is upon us in the Great British Bake Off tent! The bakers show off their skills in sticky challenges and a multi-part technical challenge that brings us our most controversial moment of Bake Off EVER. You won't want to miss the commentary or another Paul Hollywood fake out handshake. Tune in!

It's the finale showdown and we've got lot's to cover! Top Chef season 10 comes to a dramatic close with a live head to head battle. Tune in to our coverage of the iconic Top Chef arena battle.

Ahoy!!! We have our requisite boat day for the Chefs, which means Tom can hang out in his beloved birkenstocks. But this is a boat with a twist! The chefs have to prepare reimagined surf and turf, but not before the serve 200 PORTIONS in a titanic quickfire all about iceberg lettuce.

Lauryn Bodden is the winner of Netflix's Snack vs. Chef and the inventor of S'NOODS! Tune in to hear about the BTS of TV cooking competition.

You can find Lauryn:

On Instagram: @boddenbites

Founder @eatsnoods

Back to basics, with a Dish with Kish recap, where we try once more to understand what chaos cuisine actually is. Spoiler alert, we still don't know. The gals also predict where the next Top Chef city will be using their incredibly scientific powers of prediction.

Bits and Nancy welcome the unbelievable, unflappable, unmatchable Chef Jen Carroll to the pod on this very special season 1 finale. Learn about Jen's rise through the kitchen of Le Bernadin, her journey to top chef and beyond! A must listen for all Top Chef fans to learn about the casting process, All Stars and BTS secrets you've never heard before.

The heat is on and it's time to go to battle! Tune in to recap one of the most shocking eliminations of the season.

Oui, chef! The Cheftestants compete for the most esteemed table of judges yet. French cuisine is on the stage in this episode, where players must pair up classic French proteins and sauces to create elegant and technically perfect dishes to wow the greatest French chefs of the century. Who will oui-n? Listen to find out!

We are humbled and honored to welcome Brooke Williamson, a Top Chef winner, runner up, All Star, winner and legend. Brooke is one of the only people to have never been asked to "pack your knives and go" and she has gone on to accomplish so much since. A frequent contestant on Guy's Grocery Games, Tournament of Champions and Bobby Flay's Triple Threat, Brooke is in the pantheon of great TV chefs.

Brooke is hot off the publication of her first cookbook Sun-Kissed Cooking, now available for purchase: https://www.chefbrookewilliamson.com/

You can find Brooke on instagram @chefbrookew

Can you believe it we have the WINNER of the Great American Baking Show on the pod this week! Martin Sorge is the champion of GABS Season 1 on Roku and he is the nicest and sweetest treat we've ever had on Compliments to the Chef. Learn all about what it's really like to be in the iconic tent, cook for Paul Hollywood, booze with Prue Leith and master a technical. You absolutely do not want to miss this episode!!

You can find Martin:

Instagram: @martinsorge

Substack: Great Bakes

Online: Martin Bakes Website

Great American Baking Show, Season 1: On Roku for free!

It's a super-sized second helping! Bits and Nancy recap the two-part LCK mid-season finale. Will the hot new bombshell in the Villa (Soo) make it into the Top Chef kitchen? Or will Kaleena or Charly fight their way back?

Then, stick around for the best interview of all time with Top Chef Wardrobe Supervisor Charlotte Rose Coleman (@charlotterosecoleman)! Everything you've ever wanted to know about Tom's hats, Gail's radish dress and Kristen's sweatpants.

We have reached the end of the voyage with our Wisconsin chefs. The finalists are asked to cook the meal of their lives for an elite panel of guests. Savannah, Dan and Danny put it all out on the line, but who will be named the 21st Top Chef? Tune in to find out!

Another heaping second helping of Top Chef! We unpack this week's episode of LCK, where Kaleena enters the kitchen to face off against Kevin. We get into The Dish With Kish and then we move onto an interview we taped with Kendra Vaculin of Bon Appetit. Kendra talks about what it's like setting up temporary restaurants, pop ups and her work at BA. Don't miss this great episode!

Oink oink! The Top Chef kitchen is turning into a pigsty on this week's episode. With guest judge Charlie Palmer inviting the crew at his annual Pork and Pinot charity event, the chefs have to put their pairing skills to the test. Kevin comes up with is most creative bacon pairing yet, but one chef doesn't quite make the cut. Listen in to find out which pig goes to slaughter. (wow, that was a gross metaphor, we're sorry!)

Tonight we're getting hopped up on beer and snacks! The Top Chef contestants compete in their first quickfire challenge, making a dish highlighting hops. Then we move onto our first team challenge, with a seven course progressive meal highlighting classic bar foods and salty treats. Who will win and who will SNACK their knives and go. Tune in to find out!

The girls are joined by the exceptional Abena Anim Somuah to discuss the toughest challenge yet: Pastry Week!

Nelly is wearing a beret so you know we are ready for business! Get your sheets of butter and prepare to see some phyllo dough for pastry week. The technical skill is high and our bakers are up to the task, so put in your headphones and join the gals to discuss this week's episode of Great British Bake Off!

You can find Abena online:

Instagram: @abenaanimsomuah

Newsletter: Your Friend in Food

Podcast: The Future of Food is You

Top Chef legend and all around incredible human Kevin Gillespie joins the pod on this week's episode of Second Helping. The gang discusses everything from Kevin's newest restaurant Nàdair, opening in May, to Gilmore Girls. Bits and Nancy do a quick recap of LCK and Chef Soo's advancement in ranks. You won't want to miss this incredibly enlightening and uplifting episode!

You've never seen fried chicken like this.....probably because the chefs seem to have never seen fried chicken at all! We're in a post-Kristen Kish world and the Top Chef kitchen seems to have lost its marbles with this at home challenge. Tune in to hear about Episode 12 of Top Chef Seattle!

The final three chefs compete for the title of Top Chef!

Ring ring, room service! Eat a little breakfast in bed with Padma and Nigella lawson prepared by the cheftestants. Then hop in your Toyota Rav 4 and take a ride down the Las Vegas strip, as each chef makes a dish inspired by the iconic casinos of Sin City. Who's dish will beat the house? Tune in to find out!

Week 5 of Top Chef Season 22 and we finally get a large format challenge in the elements!!! This is the type of Top Chef we like to see, with the chefs managing hundreds of diners and tiny plates. The contestants go into the kitchens of 6 different restaurants in Toronto to highlight some of the different popular cuisines in Canada. We go on a journey of flavors, friendship and fun!

An episode full of epic transportation and even more epic transformation! Brooke faces her fears, Josh welcomes his child into the world over FaceTime and the chefs cook their way into the finale.

This week is an exciting new episode of Top Chef, with a quickfire challenge that is one for the history books! The chefs have to recreate a dish from absolutely nothing and a high stakes game of 20 questions. Then the judges ask the chef to use the table as their serving dish, creating a dish plated directly on the surface. Who will leave it all on the table and who will be under it? Tune in to find out!

Our chefs are roughing it in the great outdoors this week, but the elements are no match for the high end meal they must prepare for a crew of hungry ranchers. We've got cowboy cauldrons, voodoo hexes and SEVEN ceviches. Who's grub will will be at the top of the chuck wagon? Listen to find out!

Today, the road to Paducah is here because Bits and Nancy are manifesting their number one goal of interviewing two-time Top Chef finalist, Chopped Legends champion, James Beard Award finalist SARA BRADLEY!!!!!!!!!! This is a life goal interview and we're just happy to be here.

It's bonfire night in the UK and the Great British Bake Off tent is on fire with talent! The bakers face off in Autumn Week, a celebration of worldly fall festivals. Things are getting witchy and Noel is feeling very at home. Tune in to hear the girls gab about crunchy leaves, pumpkin spice and everything nice!

The gals talk about the nostalgic, cringeworthy, piping hot bachelor/bachelorette party episode of Top Chef Season 6.

We in da club...the SUPPER CLUB. The contestants take on the Wisconsin institution of the Supper Club on this week's episode of Top Chef. After an unexpected quickfire, the group breaks into two teams and gets ready to RELISH some fun times ahead. But tensions rise as each team grapple with a scant budget of $1K per team to feed forty diners and the judges! Who will earn a pay day and who will cash out? Tune in to find out!