I read a good number of food blogs. Not all of them, of course, as that would make it impossible to do anything else, but most of the important ones. In all of my reading, a lot of people talk about Top chef, but I never really got into it. No, my heart belongs in Hell's Kitchen.

I have only come across one post on Hell's Kitchen this season, and I really don't understand. In my humble opinion, there is simply nothing to dislike. Where else are you going to get this mix of tension, ego, and profanity? Is Top Chef like this and I've missed it? I don't know. All I know is that there is very little else I find quite as entertaining on television.

I know several people who absolutely hate Gordon Ramsay. I like to think I see through his mean exterior to the cuddly teddy bear underneath (I have met a few European chefs just like that). His outbursts of exasperation are priceless. I mean, who has not wanted to bang their head on the counter at a co worker's incompetence? Yes, I know that his management style wouldn't go over very well in the US, but it makes great TV.

If you're a fan of Hell's Kitchen, let me know what you think. If you're not a fan, let me have it. Can anyone convince me that Top Chef is better? I don't think so, but you can try.

Spoilers! Tivo-users beware!

So there's been some speculation lately, some whispers around the blogosphere regarding a certain Bravo television show. I've heard the rumor that Top Chef's going downhill, that it's dated. I've read comments accusing the show of being bland, even boring. Well, I'll put it out there loud and clear: Top Chef is still hot hot hot.

Though I know for sure I don't have what it takes to be a Top Chef (heck, I doubt I have what it takes to be just any chef), there might be some of you out there who have the endurance, the stamina, a thick enough skin to take words from Tom Colicchio and cold stares from Padma Lakshmi, and of course the talent.

If so, get yourself to an open call for the next season (wow, they're already on Season 5!) of Top Chef. New Orleans and San Francisco already happened, but there are calls scheduled in May for Vegas, New York, LA, Denver, and Chicago. If you can't make it to one of those cities, you can also "apply" by sending in a video.

Spoilers! Spoilers!

Last night's episode of Top Chef finally addressed the question that show has been toying with all season: Is it better to sidestep the rules and create an amazing dish, or to follow the rules and produce something mediocre? Until this episode, it seemed to me that the judges went with whichever answer matched up with the contestant who they wanted to send home (my mom accurately likened it to a card trick where you know the card before the trick starts, then "find" it through whatever means). But now they have finally established that a better dish is more important than one that follows the rules closely, and I hope for the sake of consistency that they stick by this for the rest of the season. Oh yeah, and the Elimination Challenge was nuts.

Did you miss Top Chef on Wednesday night? DVR or Tivo on the fritz? Have no fear!

Here at Slashfood, we're always looking for ways to help our readers out, and now we've found a way to be able to embed the latest episode of Top Chef directly onto our site, soon after it airs. Just plug your headphones on and spend your lunch hour catching up with Padma and the rest of the Top Chef gang.

The third season of Bravo's Top Chef is slated to begin on June 13th, this round to be held in Miami, Florida. Chef Tom Colicchio will be returning as head judge, as will host Padma Lakashmi and judge Gail Simmons. The panel will be rounded out with the addition of Ted Allen - of Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy fame.

In case that just isn't enough culinary madness for you, Bravo will also be broadcasting an "all-star grudge match" between four Season 1 contestants (Harold Dieterle, Stephen Asprinio, Tiffani Faison, and Dave Martin) and four Season 2 contestants (Ilan Hall, Sam Talbot, Elia Aboumrad, and Marcel Vigneron ) to be aired on June 6th, culminating with the teams serving their meals to the new chefs of Season 3.

(Thanks, Snekse!)

It looks like an egg - maybe poached, maybe fried - right? You're close, but...not really. That's Marcel Vigneron's Cyber Egg, made with no egg whatsoever. Rather, it's a dollop of carrot-cardamom puree that has been mixed with sodium alginate into calcium chloride to create the appearance of a "yolk," and coconut milk mixed with agar hardened in a ring-shaped dish.

Marcel Vigneron was a finalist in this past season's Top Chef, and though he didn't win with his surreal creations like the above shown Cyber Egg, Potato with Truffle Espuma, and Coffee "Caviar," it is dishes like these that have at least brought what we call "moleclar gastronomy" to the masses. Wired magazine has a short video interview with the Top Chef finalist, as well as three slideshows of his creations.

A vintner, or perhaps a devoted wine connoisseur, would recognize "Asprinio" as a type of white Italian grape that is primarily used in sparkling wines, although it is a fairly obscure type of grape. It you're not a member of this category, you probably recognize it as the last name of Stephen Asprinio, one of the members of the cast of the first season of Top Chef. He was one of the more colorful participants in the show, not only because of his standout designer suits, but because of his confidence and charm. Stephen was, even when he first entered the public eye, a man with a plan. He didn't win the show, but that didn't stop him from going forward with his plan to change the face of dining in America by becoming a restaurateur.

I had a chance to sit down with Stephen this week to find out exactly what he has been up to since the show ended and what he is planning for the future. Currently, he has two projects approaching completion, one on each coast. The first is called Tastevin and it is a concept wine boutique aimed at 20-somethings who are increasingly developing a taste for wines, but are put off from seeking out high-quality ones by the old fashioned, pretentious way wine is usually presented. Corks, dusty bottles and wooden crates are not selling points to the under-30 crowd. Stephen is doing away with all the stuffy formality of wine buying and keeping his venture sexy and ultra-modern, with Philippe Starck furniture and beautiful displays of the bottles, appealing to his age group by improving the presentation and accessibility of one of his favorite things: wine.

The end of the season for a show like Bravo's Top Chef is always bittersweet. Like a good chocolate, you want to finish it off, but you also sort of wish that it could go on. Come to think of it, this season might be more like the "finishing off" chocolate, since there has been so much drama that it will almost be a relief to see it end. Almost.

Last night was the first part of the show's season finale and it started off by giving viewers a sneak peek into what the chefs have been doing for the past few months during the break between the main taping and the filming of the finale. Marcel and Sam spent the time practicing their technique, with Marcel trying to learn as much as possible about new ingredients and presentations and Sam learning about pastry, which he felt was a weak spot in his training. Elia and Ilan each spent time learning about Hawaiian food, but neither actively tried to learn as much new information as their competitors.

There are only four chefs left in this season's Top Chef competition and all will be participating in the Hawaii finale. The decision of the judges as to who will win the title of Top Chef will be decided based on their performance throughout the competition and on their dishes in the finale. As viewers, we have seen a little more of their personalities and interactions, but let's take a look at the backgrounds of the final four, as well:

Marcel Vigneron - Marcel, 26, lives in Las Vegas, NV where he is a Master Cook at Joel Robuchon at the Mansion. He attended the Culinary Institute of America, where his strongest subjects with butchery and, of course, molecular gastronomy. He prides himself on his creativity and skill in the kitchen and, as those are what landed him his job at Joel Robuchon, he is certainly right to do so.

Sam Talbot - Sam, 28, is originally from Charlotte, North Carolina and currently works as executive chef of Punch Restaurant in New York City. He attended Johnson and Wales University, but has been involved in food since his first job as a production chef at Dean & Deluca in NC when he was just 16 years old.

This season of Bravo's Top Chef is close to an end. This episode was the last one of the regular competition and, as we could tell from the promos that ran during the week, it would determine which chefs would make it to the finale in Hawaii. The real question going in to the show was how many chefs would be competing for the title in that last competition, since there were still five chefs left on the show when this episode began.

After a few minutes of footage that illustrated everyone's determination to win, the chefs headed into the kitchen for the quickfire challenge. Everyone was surprised to see that the guest chef was Eric Ripert, who is the chef at Le Bernardin in New York and one of the most well known and well respected chefs in the country. Needless to say, his presence added to the pressure. The challenge was to use chocolate to create something sensual. The dish could be sweet or savory and the chefs had 90 minutes to work.

Do you think that you have what it takes to be the next Top Chef?

Bravo is now casting for season 3 of the popular reality show. The only requirement is that you need to be a professional chef at some level. They want both self-taught cooks and those who have trained at top culinary schools. If you fit into one of the stereotypes that the show has used in both season one and season two, your odds of making the cut probably increase (overly confident molecular gastronomist, And, of course, you definitely have a better chance if you are young and attractive than not, simply because most of the competitors can be described that way.

There are two ways to apply. First, you can send in a video audition that is 5 minutes long and shows a little bit of your personality, your daily life, your hobbies and tells the production team what sets you apart from other chefs. Alternatively, you can attend an open casting call in Dallas, Miami, New York or Los Angeles. More open casting dates might be added, but the info for these cities can be found after the jump.

After the high level of drama last week on Bravo's Top Chef, it was a relief to see the chefs acting a bit less aggressively, though the tension was clearly still present. Marcel is a bit of an outcast from the men's apartment because the other guys, with the possible exception of Michael who is so laid back that he is probably just going with the crowd because it is the easiest thing to do, dislike him so much. He spent a bit of time on the roof of the building at the beginning of the episode composing a little rap/poem to try and clear his mind and enable himself to focus. He wasn't the only one trying to buckle down at this point. Elia is the only woman still cooking in this competition and she clearly wants to win it.

The competition kicked off with the quickfire challenge. This week, the chefs had to come up with a Kraft Gourmet Snack, a snack/small plate that used either mayonnaise, Italian dressing or BBQ sauce in some way. There was a bit of grumbling, primarily about the prospect of using mayo in a dish, but the chefs put out some impressive combinations in just 30 minutes.

New year, new episode of Bravo's Top Chef. The season picked up again this week with only seven of the original fifteen competitors still in the competition. At this point, the chefs have been living together for several weeks and, as in many situations where you have a group of type-A personalities, things are getting a little tense. Everyone in the group seems to oscillate back and forth between feeling compelled to act as a team trying to screw over everyone else so that they, as individuals, can get ahead. It makes things more interesting from a dramatic standpoint, but the chefs really need to get a grip on their tempers if they want to end up as Top Chef.

As the episode started out, one of the first things that we got to see was that Michael had a wisdom tooth pulled. He made it sound like he went to a less-than-reputable individual for the procedure, but seemed to be getting along fine aside from the pain and swelling. Medicated, Michael was much less feisty than usual. He noted that he hoped the challenges weren't too long and the rest of the tired-looking competitors agreed.

Finally! Bravo's Top Chef was back on schedule with a new episode this week and now that the show had only nine chefs, there was more individual coverage of each one and we got to see everyone's dishes, which was sometimes a bit of a problem early in the season, especially with the quickfire challenges.

The theme of this week's episode was Raw and Cooked and the underlying theme seemed to be about technology and what chefs could do when there wasn't a lot of it around. For the quickfire challenge, the chefs were taken down to the Redondo Beach Farmer's Market and told that they had to create a mouthwatering, filling dish using entirely raw ingredients. They had a budget of $20 to spend at the marked and were then given 30 minutes in the kitchen to "cook" their food. They were also introduced to the guest judge, Raphael Lunetta, the chef at Jiraffe.