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In case there are ant Top Chef fanatics out there dying to get a glimpse at the setup for the season finale, Bravo PR sent the schedule for the final three episode. We know they just filmed the non-reunion eps over the weekend, so as of today a couple dozen people have the chance to break their million dollar confidentiality agreements by leaking the news to the press. (Any loose lipped production assistants can contact us here.) It looks like the only differences this year are a) the location (Puerto Rico), b) the timing of the reunion (after the finale instead of before), and c) they aren't doing the live show like they did in season 3. Here's the full release:

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It must be annoying to be surrounded by all those X's

· Local Debriefin: Testing Skills, Temper Tantrums, Antonia [~ELA~]
· Local Debriefing: Finally, the Elimination That Had to Happen [~ENY~]
· Non-Local Debriefing [~ESF~]
· Full detailed recap: A New Kind of War [Serious Eats]
· Another brilliant farewell song: "Hey Nikki" [Blogging Top Chef]
· Though eliminated, Nikki's proud she made it this far [Bravo]
· Nikki on being axed, Dale's attitutude, what's next [Grub Street]
· Holy mother of naked Padma! [Amuse-Biatch]

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After watching last night's Top Chef---eight chefs left, four men, four women---we couldn't help but wonder who actually has more balls this season. The men: Spike and Andrew all man-loving their departed friend Kiwi Mark, Blais' pink Crocs, Dale's big baby temper tantrums. Or the women: Lisa's scary looks, Stephanie's quiet determination, Antonia's confidence, Nikki's…well, we'll get to that later. They got back to basics with a classic Quickfire Challenge, but we (as well as the cheftestants) were disappointed that Restaurant Wars was replaced with Wedding Wars. Catering…again? There was lots of yawning, good and bad teamwork, and less profanity---although we did learn the meaning to Andrew's "culinary boner" and were introduced to "Popeye's wet dream." Chicago's Gale Gand guest judged, Gail, Tom and Pads critiqued, and there was some serious dramz at the judges' table. Antonia: Still in it to win it. On to the recap!

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In the teaser for tonight's TC episde, we find Spike, Dale and Richard perhaps in trouble this week, a reticent Nikki, stone-faced Antonia, and a mean-looking Lisa following a super long wedding challenge (thus the yawning). What's more important is what precedes this scene: The relay race, the quickfire challenge that last year showed viewers that Hung Huynh is actually superhuman, is making a comeback. Who will be the fastest chef this time and who will drag their teams into the mire? Dale and Andrew have some serious fast knife skills, but who knows what Antonia or the girls have up their sleeves. Bonus fun: the winner this week will not get immunity.
· Who Goes Down in Epic Wedding Challenge? [~ENY~]
· All Top Chef coverage [~ELA~]

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· Local Debriefing: Antonia's Twofer [~ELA~]
· Local Debreifing: Alice Wasn't Available? [~ESF~]
· Local Debriefing: Another NYC Chef Gets The Boot [~ENY~]
· Full-on recap: Mother's Day Comes Early [Serious Eats]
· Mark says Padma's the Yoko Ono of Top Chef [Bravo]
· Padma says she's glad "no hot guys" this season [A-B]
· Using microwaves are so hard, and I'm not a messy chef! [CHOW]
· Farewell Song: "You Come From a Land Down Under [Bloggint TC]
· Mark: Just wanted the money, now wants beer with Tom [Grub Street]
· Stephanie: Is she or isn't she? [Amuse-Biatch]

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Eight weeks in, half way there, and It's too bad that the Top Chef episode where Antonia wins both the QF and the elimination challenge, with immunity no less, was outright boring. Oprah's personal chef Art Davis was guest judge, they used microwavable rice, cooked with kids, and turned out some pedestrian family-style meals for under $10. Even the kids lacked that spark of personality, and kids, you know, say the darndest things! But we learned: Antonia's joke repertoire includes "poo" knock-knock jokes and little kids in chef hats choke her up; Richard wants to "make babies…little Blaises," wears pink Crocs, and is all about the color coordination; Mark is as insecure as a kiwi in a bowl of fruit; Stephanie's starting to break; Tom is both odd and endearing around kids; and everyone, even the guest judge, is tired of Lisa's bad attitude. But they're saving Andrew's "culinary boner" for next week! On to the recap:

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In this week's preview for tonight's Top Chef episode, we learn a few somewhat interesting but not so integral things: Mark, Antonia, and Stephanie are especially amped up to win, and James Beard award winner and Oprah's personal chef Art Smith will be the guest judge. We also know that for the quickfire chefs only have 15 minutes to make a meal, Uncle Ben's rice is somehow involved, and naturally, they can only cook their dishes in the microwave.
· Eater Sneak Preview: Art Smith, Microwaves, and Product Placement [ENY]
· All Top Chef Coverage [~ELA~]

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· Local Debriefing: 1000% Soup Redemption [~ELA~]
· Local Debrifing: All six NYers spared [Eater NY]
· Local Debriefing: San Francisco is out of the running [Eater SF]
· The MOST brilliant exit song ever: "Jenny on the Block" [Blogging Top Chef]
· A frustrated Jen's exit interview, on video [Bravo]
· Gail's unsure why Jennifer was sent home [Gail's Blog]
· Laying on the gay jokes a little thick, aren't you, producers? [Ted's Blog]
· Jen: The decision made no sense, respects Antonia [BuddyTV]
· The judges were wrong, Iuzzini just wanted face time [Grub Street]
· Is TC just one big lesbianic morality play? [Gawker]
· A bitch-slap, faux-hawk throwdown between Dale (season 3) and Richard (season 4) [Amuse-Biatch]

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Last night's Top Chef was full of comedy improv, weird sexual innuendos, Padma bowl-licking, some very arbitrary (and highly questionable) judging criterion and one svelte pastry judge. Hilarious for so many reasons, but a nail-biter for Angelenos rooting for hometown cheftestant Antonia Lofaso. We counted at least 10 different times, tells if you will, that had us thinking Antonia would pack her knives, but she survives this round. Barely. Instead, the last of the San Franciscoans have left the competition---sorry Eater SF but phew! On to the recap:

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Heading into week seven, the Top Chef contestant pool is thinning, and tension and uncertainty (except for Andrew) is in the air. Once again, with clever editing, this is more red herring than anything: Was Antonia's use of chorizo a good or bad decision? Did she get paired with Spike again? Did he really talk about soup again? Is that worry on her face? Was Stephanie's flavors in-one-swoop the good or bad composition? Oh, how they tease! What we don't know is how the cheftestants went from a dessert Quickfire to an Elimination Challenge that has tofu and Polish sausage in it. We do know, however, that guest judge is looker Johnny Iuzzini, pastry chef from Jean Georges.

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El Prado via The Guide

ECHO PARK: We mentioned yesterday that El Prado looked like it was open but there was really no telling what it was, when it was, or what it served. Turns out that's exactly what the owners want: "Everything — drinks, food, music, and even the tableau set with bags of apples and a vintage bike — is subject to change. There’s no telling when." For now, it's Belgian brews, radish and butter sandwiches, maybe some charcuterie and cheese. [Daily Candy

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Another one, gone.

· Local Debriefing: Antonia's still in it [~ELA~]
· SF Debriefing: "I made Ryan Scott food" [Eater SF]
· NY Debriefing: NYers barely escape the ax [Eater NY]
· A thorough play by play of all the action [Serious Eats]
· It's tailgate, not Californiagate [HuffPo]
· Ryan wishes he just made a burger [Grub Street]
· But he's ready to do TV about "helping people" [Yumsugar]
· Dale learned: Lesbian-bitch karma's a bitch [Amuse-Biatch]
· All Top Chef Coverage [~ELA~]

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The polls are getting completely ridiculous

After last night's Top Chef episode, we're down to the final 10 cheftestants. If this was American Idol, you could buy tickets to see them Live! But in TC-land, this means that all the contestants who've been riding in the middle start bubbling up to the surface, which means more Antonia voiceovers, more strategy, more explanations. The beauty is: what she says always sounds so...smart...compared to others (i.e. Spike saying something ridiculous like "Yay! Lesbians!"). Antonia's focused, thinks about what she's doing, and obviously makes a mean jerk chicken sandwich. This week two guest judges make an appearance---Avec's Koren "poker face" Grieveson in the QF and Paul Kahan in the Elimination Challenge. There's beer, tailgating, football legends, The Big C in a Bears jersey with scarf, men in bathtubs, Gail and plenty of Padma. Let's off to the locally-skewed recap then, shall we?

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