[*Chi*]

Rick Bayless wins 'Top Chef Masters'

By Joe Gray

Tribune reporter
August 20, 2009

Much-lauded Chicago chef Rick Bayless told the story of his career in food to win the finale of Bravo TV's "Top Chef Masters," which aired Wednesday night.

Bayless, chef and co-owner of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, relied on his mastery of Mexican regional cooking to best competitors specializing in the cuisines of France (Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys in San Francisco and Las Vegas) and Italy (Michael Chiarello of Bottega in California's Napa Valley).

His $100,000 prize goes to the charity he helped found, Frontera Farmer Foundation, which supports small Midwestern farms considered "sustainable."

This first season of "Top Chef Masters," a spinoff of Bravo's popular "Top Chef," pitted accomplished chefs against each other in the same types of stressful cooking challenges as the scrappier parent show. The so-called master chefs, though, exhibited more cooperative spirit than the often bickering younger contestants of "Top Chef."

Throughout the series, Bayless relied on the Mexican regional dishes that have made him famous, including a heck of a lot of guacamole, but also more unusual dishes such as beef tongue tacos. His appearances were also notable for his calm, composed approach to tackling challenges, even when producers threw twists at contestants.

Another Chicago chef, Art Smith of Table Fifty-Two, also made the finals but was sent packing in the second round, done in by rice ice cream that the judges hated.

Rick Bayless wins 'Top Chef Masters' -- chicagotribune.com

**************************************************************

Rick Bayless rocks!!!! Congrats to him. He's my honorary vato. He's not only very well informed and versed in Mexican cooking, but also of the customs, traditions, language, everything. He's awesome!:)