Top Chef Tour

So this past Saturday the Top Chef Tour was in San Antonio at a local grocery store. I was super excited at the possibility and likelihood to see a couple of my Top Chef favorites. Who would it be? Stephanie Izzard? Antonia Lofaso? Jennifer Carroll? Or the awesome Casey Thompson? 

Not quite. The Chefs on the San Antonio stop were Dale Talde and Ryan Scott. Both were on Season Four of Top Chef and of course Dale Talde came back from Top Chef All Stars

Chef Dale Talde

So this past Saturday the Top Chef Tour was in San Antonio at a local grocery store. I was super excited at the possibility and likelihood to see a couple of my Top Chef favorites. Who would it be? Stephanie Izzard? Antonia Lofaso? Jennifer Carroll? Or the awesome Casey Thompson? 

Not quite. The Chefs on the San Antonio stop were Dale Talde and Ryan Scott. Both were on Season Four of Top Chef and of course Dale Talde came back from Top Chef All StarsSorry, Dale, unfortunately this was the best picture  had of you. I swear folks he really didn't look this drunk. It was just a bad picture. I was just at a bad angle for all the other better pictures.

Chef Ryan Scott

Pretty boy Ryan Scott was the other chef. I would definitely have to say of the two chefs Ryan was the real crowd pleaser. He was very talkative outgoing funny. He played the audience to a tee. Dale on the other hand started out much more quiet (at least initially). 

Bravo TV was of course shilling all their Top Chef branded items. T-shirts, books, and even wine. My wife watched the Bravo website for weeks up to the event hoping tickets would go on sale but to no avail. It was a first come first serve event. We got there a little too late to get a seat inside the tent. But, remarkably, the event (at least at the 1200 show) was really not that crowded. 

Of course the heat may have played a factor in the low attendance. Being in the upper 90's might have played a factor. 

I despised Dale during his first season. He was overly competitive to the point of being obnoxious and a tantrum throwing baby. Even then I didn't doubt his prowess in the kitchen but still felt he was one of the lead villains of his season. His second go around though during the recent All-Star session was an entirely different experience. Dale was likable from the start. You knew watching that he was a great chef and then to also see him be a team player and talk openly about his anger management issues made him instantly likable and respectable. 

Even though he was sooooo much quieter than Ryan Scott during the start of the show he opened up later. He talked about the three years of therapy that took place between his first appearance on the show and his second. He (and Ryan Scott) both joked Dale spent $58k on therapy after his first appearance on the show. 

The whole show lasted maybe 20-30 minutes. It was a cook off that gave both chefs 15 minutes to cook a meal for the three local "judges". In this case the local judges were the food and wine columnist for the local newspaper, one of the top chefs for the grocery store hosting the event, and Chef Johnny Hernandez from La Gloria (at Pearl Brewery). 

I did enjoy seeing Chef Dale Talde (though I hardly remember Ryan Scott) and as he walked around between signings and shows it really seemed like he was everything the show painted him to be (energetic, competitive, funny, etc.). 

Don't get me wrong I did enjoy the show. I think though I could have enjoyed it more if HEB employees had not bogarted all the seats inside the tent (the guys who get to actually taste the food). I also think it was a remarkably brief show. 

It was fun. I was just glad I didn't go all the way to another city to see it.