top chef in houston

Top Chef reveals premiere date and details of new Houston-based episodes

Top Chef judges Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons

Top Chef season 19 premiers in March.

Photo by Stephanie Diani/Bravo

Bravo has released the details for the Houston-based season of Top Chef. The award-winning cooking competition show's 19th season will premier at 7 pm on Thursday, March 3.

Here's a sneak peek at the season. Eagle-eyed locals will be able to spot landmarks such as NASA, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and Post Houston as well as local culinary celebrities.

Along with a premier date, Bravo also provided the complete roster of 15 contestants. The list includes one local, Evelyn Garcia, chef-owner of Thai-inspired concept Kin that sells prepared items, sauces, and more at a number of local farmers markets. Jo Chan, executive chef of Austin's Eberly restaurant, is the other Texas representative in the group.

Here's the complete lineup:

Ashleigh Shanti – Asheville, NC
Buddha Lo – Brooklyn, NY
Damarr Brown – Chicago, IL
Evelyn Garcia – Houston, TX
Jackson Kalb – Los Angeles, CA
Jae Jung – New York, NY
Jo Chan – Austin, TX
Leia Gaccione – Morristown, NJ
Luke Kolpin – Seattle, WA
Monique Feybesse– Vallejo, CA
Nick Wallace – Jackson, MS
Robert Hernandez – San Francisco, CA
Sam Kang – Brooklyn, NY
Sarah Welch – Detroit, MI
Stephanie Miller – Bismarck, ND

Bravo has not identified how the contestants were selected. Season 18 ended on a sour note when its winner, chef Gabe Erales, was fired from his job at Austin's Comedor restaurant after complaints of sexual harassment.

Expect challenges that showcase Houston's diversity and culinary traditions. The contestants will compete in a Nigerian-inspired quickfire, put their spin on staples like biscuits and barbecue, and compete in an elimination challenge fashioned after an Asian Night Market.

In addition to being evaluated by head judge Tom Colicchio, host Padma Lakshmi, and Gail Simmons, the contestants will be judged by a number of Top Chef alumni, including Nyesha Arrington, Dawn Burrell, Kelsey Barnard Clark, Adrienne Cheatham, Tiffany Derry, Joe Flamm, Gregory Gourdet, Hung Huynh, Stephanie Izard, Melissa King, Kristen Kish, Ed Lee, Maria Mazon, Shota Nakajima, Nini Nguyen, Kwame Onwuachi, Sheldon Simeon, Brooke Williamson, and Claudette Zepeda.

A number of local chefs make appearances as well, including Ope Amosu (ChopNBlok), Aaron Bludorn (Bludorn), Irma Galvan (Irma's), Greg Gatlin (Gatlin's BBQ), Robert Del Grande (The Annie Cafe), Christine Ha (Xin Chao, The Blind Goat), Trong Nguyen (Crawfish & Noodles), Hugo Ortega (Hugo's, etc), Monica Pope, Chris Shepherd (Georgia James, etc.), Kiran Verma (Kiran's), and Chris Williams (Lucille's).

Long considered the most prestigious cooking competition show on TV, contestants have the opportunity to win $250,000 from S.Pellegrino, a feature in Food & Wine magazine, and an appearance at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, CO. The show remains popular, averaging over 3 million viewers for each episode and reaching over 9 million viewers across the season, according to a press release.

Top Chef filmed in Houston in September and October. Expect more details about the season to emerge as the premier date draws near.

tv real-housewives

Movie Review

New movie Friendship pairs Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in a bizarre bromance

Photo courtesy of A24

Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in Friendship.

Comedian Tim Robinson has gained a cult following thanks to series like Detroiters and I Think You Should Leave, in which his brand of cringe comedy is on full display. The former Saturday Night Live writer/performer has had a few small movie roles over the years, but he’s now getting his first starring role in the off-kilter Friendship.

Robinson plays Craig, a mild-mannered suburbanite with a wife, Tami (Kate Mara), and son, Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer). Craig has a boring life that involves little more than going to his middle manager job while wearing the same clothes day after day, anticipating the next Marvel movie, and helping Tami out with her at-home floral business.

He gets a jolt of energy when Austin (Paul Rudd) moves into the neighborhood. The two men seem to hit it off, with Austin — a weatherman at a local TV channel — even taking Craig on a couple of impromptu adventures. But when Craig commits a couple of faux pas at a group gathering at Austin’s house, their bond starts to fracture.

Even though the film is written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, it’s clear that Robinson had a big influence on the style of comedy it features. There are no big set pieces with a slew of jokes coming one after another. Instead, the film forces the audience to try to vibe with the very particular type of wavelength it’s giving off, one that could almost be called anti-comedy for the way the laughs come out of left field.

The 100-minute film is full of random comedic moments, like Steven kissing Tami on the lips, Craig being obsessed with his plain brown clothes, a group sing-along, and more. More often than not, it’s the way Craig reacts to both normal and abnormal situations that gets the laughs. The character is needy and oblivious, two traits that combine to make many of his actions cringeworthy.

Perhaps most importantly for this type of movie, many things in the story go unexplained or don’t make sense. Seemingly crucial elements are brought up only to fade away just as quickly, while other parts that appeared to be throwaway sections get callbacks later in the film. DeYoung and Robinson are determined to keep the audience on their toes the entire time, never knowing what to expect next.

Robinson has the perfect face for a story like this, one that’s bland enough to blend into the background but memorable enough to sell the jokes. His demeanor is also excellent, never becoming too expressive, even when he gets angry. With long hair, a mustache, and a certain swagger, Rudd is a great complement to Robinson. Only in a film like this would an everyman like Rudd be considered the suave and cool one.

There will be some that will see Friendship and come away wondering what the hell they just watched. But anyone who goes in knowing that they’re about to witness a comedy that challenges their sensibilities will likely have a great time.

---

Friendship is now playing in select theaters.

movies film