The Corner Table: Top Chef Wisconsin

The Capital Times
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The Corner Table: Top Chef Wisconsin

Hear from guest judges, chefs and competitors on 'Top Chef Wisconsin.' A limited series from The Corner Table, a podcast about food and drink in Madison, Wisconsin, produced by The Capital Times.

  1. Episode 14: The creator of 'Top Chef Wisconsin'

    JUN 20

    Episode 14: The creator of 'Top Chef Wisconsin'

    "Top Chef" executive producer/showrunner Doneen Arquines joined the “Top Chef” team during its very first season, working as a production assistant. She was promoted to showrunner during the season 12 finale in Mexico and has been leading the show ever since.  I (host Lindsay Christians) met Doneen a few times while "Top Chef Wisconsin" filmed in the state, and I was thrilled to have her on as my final guest. We talk about what challenges surprised her, how the show has evolved, and why she thinks viewers should cut the chefs from previous seasons a little slack.  There are no spoilers on this episode, so if you don’t yet know who won, that’s OK — we will not spoil it! The entire Season 21 of "Top Chef" should now be available to stream on Peacock.

    29 min
  2. Episode 13: Stocking the 'Top Chef' kitchen

    JUN 13

    Episode 13: Stocking the 'Top Chef' kitchen

    Kyle Knall, chef/owner of Birch in Milwaukee, joined the judges' table during a recent "Top Chef" episode filmed at Harbor House. Kyle reflects on his own decision to move from a major market back to the state, and shares insight on how this season's competitors have grown.  Then we hear from "Top Chef" lead culinary producer Jamie Lauren, a former competitor herself (Season 5). Jamie's job is now to head up the team that makes sure the competing chefs have every ingredient and every tool they need for every challenge. We get into some good stories -- the fish boil at Grant Park Beach, she said, was "the scariest moment in all the seasons that I've worked the show."

    41 min
  3. Episode 12: The art of the recap

    JUN 6

    Episode 12: The art of the recap

    Stephanie Bedford, a local book critic, food freelancer and fiction writer, reserved the URL TopSteph.com about 30 seconds after learning the show was coming to Wisconsin. A minute after that, I hired her on to do recaps for the Cap Times.  This week on the podcast, we talk about how Steph came to be the ideal Top Chef recapper, what challenges she has loved and who she's rooting for now.  Then I'm talking with Olivia Stowell, who as a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan has made a serious study of reality TV. Did you know that Top Chef is a "game documentary?" This episode contains spoilers for the "Lay It All On the Table" Elimination Challenge on Episode 11 of "Top Chef" Season 21.

    44 min
  4. Episode 11: 'Milwaukee Dan' Jacobs

    MAY 30

    Episode 11: 'Milwaukee Dan' Jacobs

    This week we hear from Wisconsin's first "Top Chef" contestant, James Beard-nominated Milwaukee chef Dan Jacobs.  Jacobs talks about how team challenges remind him of youth sports, what his favorite challenge has been so far this season, and what it was really like to boil fish on Grant Park Beach in a "smoke tunnel." ("My notebook from 'Top Chef' still smells like a campfire," he said.) Also on this week's show, host Lindsay Christians talks with Fortune Favors CEO Sam McDaniel about how the Madison company product-placed their candied pecans, and the power television can have on sales for a growing food business.  This episode contains spoilers for the fish boil Elimination Challenge on Episode 10 of "Top Chef" Season 21.

    45 min
  5. Episode 10: Native ingredients

    MAY 23

    Episode 10: Native ingredients

    Amber Bristow is a fifth generation cranberry grower, but even she had never seen cranberry soup before the cranberry challenge on "Top Chef." "I was blown away by their creativity," said Bristow, who grows cranberries on her family's farm in Warrens, Wisconsin.  Following Amber on the podcast this week is Elena Terry, a Ho-Chunk chef, educator and nonprofit leader whose organization, Wild Bearies, strives to preserve ancestral foods. Chef Elena was one of the guest judges for the indigenous foods challenge, and she and the chef at Owamni, Sean Sherman, prepared a meal for the cheftestants. Elena has complicated feelings about the idea of Native restaurants but was inspired and encouraged by how the chefs approached indigenous ingredients.  There are no major spoilers on this week's episode. We do take some side tangents into why there are no chickens allowed on Amber's cranberry farm, how one chef used the milkweed Elena harvested and how Elena's nieces responded when they saw her on TV.

    41 min
  6. Episode 9: Restaurant Wars

    MAY 16

    Episode 9: Restaurant Wars

    Restaurant Wars is an iconic "Top Chef" challenge. Chefs must create a whole restaurant with a coherent concept, smooth service and good food in 24 hours, all on TV.  Everyone on the episode this week, including me, dined at Restaurant Wars during "Top Chef Wisconsin." Up top, we've got guest judges Itaru Nagano and Andrew Kroeger, the chefs and co-owners of Fairchild restaurant on Monroe Street. The pair won a James Beard Award for Best Chef Midwest in 2023.  Chelsea Mamerow, art director for Milwaukee Magazine, dined at Channel, the seafood-themed restaurant, and took note of the decor as well as the flavors. I dined at Dos by Deul, which attempted a Latin/Korean fusion concept.  Spoilers follow for Episode 8 of "Top Chef Wisconsin," the Restaurant Wars episode.

    36 min
  7. Episode 8: Sausage races

    MAY 9

    Episode 8: Sausage races

    This week on the podcast, we're talking ballpark food.  Loren B. Rue grew up loving baseball, and now has his dream job — executive chef at American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers. Rue manages everything from the concession stands to the on-site brewery, J. Leinenkugel's Barrel Yard, and a new market hall serving arepas, smoked brisket nachos, tortas and sushi.  Then I'm talking with Kyle Nabilcy, my friend and fellow food writer. Kyle writes restaurant reviews for Isthmus and freelances for Eater Chicago, and he's been posting video "Top Chef" recaps on TikTok (@kylenabilcy) and YouTube.  Spoilers ahead for Episode 7 (the flambe/sausage fest episode) of "Top Chef Wisconsin," and Last Chance Kitchen.

    50 min
  8. Episode 7: What chaos means to me

    MAY 2

    Episode 7: What chaos means to me

    Chef Paul Bartolotta, the Milwaukee restaurateur and two-time James Beard winner, was bemused by a recent challenge on "Top Chef Wisconsin."  "When I heard 'chaos cuisine' I was like, what the hell does that mean?" Bartolotta said on this week's podcast. Bartolotta spent years working to bring "Top Chef" to Wisconsin. Here, he shares judging perspective and reflects on how the show has evolved.  To open the episode, I (food editor Lindsay Christians) talk with Milwaukee-based food writer Nicole Haase, who has a degree in pastry and a background as an artisan baker. The dairy desserts Quickfire baffled her, namely how little dairy the chefs used in it.  Spoilers ahead for Episode 6 (the dairy desserts/ "chaos cuisine" episode) of "Top Chef," Season 21, with side notes about finding the "yum" and what was going on with Manny's soggy churro.

    43 min
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Hear from guest judges, chefs and competitors on 'Top Chef Wisconsin.' A limited series from The Corner Table, a podcast about food and drink in Madison, Wisconsin, produced by The Capital Times.

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