Top Chef: Team Europe Leftovers

The winner has been declared for this season of Top Chef (no spoilers here). Meanwhile, some viewers feel a bit cheated because the show’s chance to infuse itself with our city’s kind of diverse food culture fell curiously flat—nothing, for example, screams NY more than a visit from French celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli and a Big Easy finale. The most relevant, relatable show theme for most New Yorkers this season might have been all those frantic visits to Whole Foods for the elimination challenges.

Missed opportunities aside, it was probably the antics of Team Europe that garnered the most attention this seasons. On that note, two final morsels of TCNY ephemera have come to light: the first is that cheftestant Fabio Viviani has done an exclusive interview with Erin Hollingsworth at NY blog I Hate Cilantro about, um, how much he doesn’t like cilantro. His mom apparently hates cilantro, too. The second bit of news is that Team Europe’s other, more-bald half Stefan Richter has apparently penned a memoir called “Dirty Dishes,” forthcoming in May. He apparently considers the book to be along the same lines as Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, “only dirtier.” Richter (at right) told the LA Times “People are just intimidated by me.” We wonder if legendary New York restaurateur and raconteur Pino Luongo (of UES restaurant Coco Pazzo) might feel the same way about Richter. Luongo’s memoir—also called “Dirty Dishes”—was published earlier this month, with a foreword by none other than Anthony Bourdain. So now that the show is over, it's Richter vs. Luongo, who's apparently none too happy. Our money is on the gentleman from New York.