I'm a huge fan of "Top Chef", and I loved the "Top Chef Masters" spinoff where 24 well-known chefs competed against each other to win $100,000 for the charity of their choice.
I went to the big BlogHer conference in Chicago just as the initial rounds of "Top Chef Masters" ended and the championship round was set to begin.


Renowned Chicago restaurateur and southwestern cuisine master, Rick Bayless, made it through the initial competition and was set to compete in "Top Chef Masters" finals as I attended BlogHer. I enjoyed watching Bayless compete, admiring his food and the fact that he seemed like a pretty down-to-earth guy.

We've tried, and failed, to get into Bayless' insanely popular Topolobampo and Frontera Grill restaurants the last two times we've visited Chicago. Apparently, you have to make reservations at least a couple of weeks in advance, and we just haven't had that sort of in-advance planning time when we've visited the city.

So, it was fun to spot Bayless in the BlogHer exhibition hall--giving a cooking demonstration!
Bayless was at the National Pork Board booth, so he opted to do a fairly simple dish of pork tenderloin dressed with a chile-mango chutney.

It was fun seeing Bayless work in a relatively casual setting and finally get to taste at least a little bite of his food!
I also enjoyed seeing him win the finale of "Top Chef Masters" after coming home in August. Bayless smartly stuck with the southwestern cuisine he knows so well during the competition. His final meal for the show included a mole sauce that seemed to particularly wow the judges.
Now, if only I could get back to Chicago and enjoy some of the mole sauce myself!
© Dominique King 2009 All rights reserved
I love how serendipity works. Great that you got to see him in person!
Posted by: Wanderluster | December 03, 2009 at 09:09 PM
Wanderluster-We watch a lot of cooking shows on television, so it was fun to see Bayless in person...and to get an up-close look at the kind of things I've seen him do on TV.
He seemed very much in person as he seems on television, too. Pretty down-to-earth.
Posted by: Dominique King | December 04, 2009 at 12:34 PM