Sally
Johnny Iuzzini kept criticizing Sally Camacho for having sous chef Orlando make her showpiece, but she doesn't think that cost her the Top Chef: Just Desserts win. "I fell short on my plated dessert and if I had executed what I had planned, I would have won," Camacho tells TVGuide.com. The pastry chef couldn't finish off her spheres as she planned in the end. How did she run of time? Find out. Plus: See what else she had to adjust on the fly.
read more
Snooki and Butt-Head
Our top moments of the week:
14. Worst Homage: Susan struggles in her "super-edgy" community college art class on Desperate Housewives when the instructor asks the students to paint a nude model. When Susan's teacher points out her discomfort, Susan goes a little a lot overboard to compensate for her nerves — and comes to class naked when she misinterprets something her teacher says. The scene would be funnier if it wasn't almost an exact retread of her accidental nude streak in Season 1.
13. Can't Have It Both Ways Award: Top Chef: Just Desserts' Sally chooses showpiece master Orlando to make her showpiece for the finale — based on her design, of course. At Judges' Table, Johnny Iuzzini lays into...
read more
Top Chef Just Desserts: Chris
Chris Hanmer can sum up his Top Chef: Just Desserts win in one word: unbelievable. "It feels unbelievable to just not have to bite your tongue and hold it in any longer," he tells TVGuide.com. "I can finally talk about it! It's just unbelievable." Hanmer, who owns The School of Pastry Design, triumphed over Matthew Petersen and Sally Camacho, the latter of whom relied on sous chef Orlando to make her showpiece — a point Hanmer drove home at Judge's Table. Does he think that put him over the edge? Find out. Plus: See how his daughter is doing.
read more
Top Chef Just Desserts: Matthew
Matthew Petersen took a risk and it didn't pay off. Far from a showpiece specialist, the Top Chef: Just Desserts finalist opted to make a sugar showpiece instead of a chocolate one — which he was familiar with — in the finale, only to have head judge Johnny Iuzzini criticize him for taking the gamble. "I needed to do that to have a chance," he tells TVGuide.com. "It's not something I do. I make plated desserts. I don't make showpieces. ... But I was totally stoked [with how it turned out]. It was standing! It looked good and more importantly, I was proud of it." See what else he has to say about being the underdog, why he didn't want sous chefs and blowing Gail Simmons' mind with speculoos.
read more
Orlando Santos
How tough was it for Orlando Santos to get the boot from Top Chef: Just Desserts one week shy of the finale? "Between Judges' Table and the stew room, I think I had completely lost every feeling that I had," he tells TVGuide.com. "When I got to the stew room, seeing everyone just brought back the emotions and all the effort and time it took to get me where I was. It was very, very difficult. When I left off-camera, it was even harder, just walking away knowing I was so close to the finale, and I just broke down."
Santos was shown the door for his dessert-in-disguise paella — the critique of which he found "a little disturbing." Find out why he disagreed with the judges, if he considers himself this season's villain and why he worships Cat Cora.
read more
Gail Simmons and Johnny Iuzzini
With Top Chef and Top Chef: Just Desserts not going anywhere anytime soon, could a crossover episode be in the offing?
Fall Preview: Get scoop on your favorite returning shows
"It would be cool if they each had partners, like a savory and ...
read more
Top Chef: Just Desserts
After a more bitter than sweet first season of Top Chef: Just Desserts, we know we weren't the only ones who were wary of what a second season could bring. Will there be another breakdown-prone Seth? Two more crazy Heathers? Twenty gazillion more buckets of tears?
Having seen the premiere (Wednesday, 10/9c, Bravo), we at TVGuide.com are happy to report that the new season is no crybaby-fest redux. So why should you come back for seconds? Here are four reasons:
read more
Johnny Iuzzini
What's with the pastry chefs on Top Chef: Just Desserts being so thin?
You'd think — considering all the delicious, high-cal treats getting turned out in a professional kitchen — that weight gain would be an inevitable occupational hazard. And yet, the cheftestants on Bravo's latest cooking competition are a surprisingly svelte bunch. What gives? According to Johnny Iuzzini, the Top Chef: Just Desserts judge and executive pastry chef for Jean Georges and Nougatine in New York City, "Pastry chefs do consume a lot of sweets — we're constantly ...
read more
Gail Simmons, Johnny Iuzzini
If you ever wondered how Just Desserts judges Gail Simmons and Johnny Iuzzini manage to consume boatloads of rich, decadent sweets in one sitting during production, the answer is... well, cut back on real food. The only problem, says Simmons, is that just eating dessert isn't so good for you. "At night when we'd finish, I'd realize I didn't put anything in my mouth that has actual nutritional value to it," she says. "And at the end, I'd be craving so much saltiness. ... I don't have Johnny's metabolism." Burger and fries after dessert? Sign us up.
Check out Just Desserts recaps
In this video, Simmons and Iuzzini talk about the first time they met, and how he confessed to her that he had a little crush. Aw.
Watch the video after the jump.
read more
"People view the world of pastries as magical and sweet ..."
"But being a pastry chef is not all fondant and frosting ..."
Cut to swearing — lots and lots of swearing. To hear the contestants on Top Chef's sweets-centered spinoff Just Desserts tell it, pastry chefs are the worst kind of temperamental artiste — Type-A, anal retentive, extra catty. They're responsible for a meal's grand finale, from candied confections to decadent showstoppers, so cross them at your peril.
read more