Top Chef Premiere: Pierce Gets The Boot, Gavin and Wiard Will Return

There were three Colorado chefs on the premiere episode of Top Chef Seattle, which aired last night on Bravo TV and one lonely hour later there were only two. Eliza Gavin of 240 South Oak in Telluride and Tyler Wiard of Elway's Cherry Creek will be back on the screen next Wednesday. Jorel Pierce of Euclid Hall, was unfortunately cut before he ever made it to Seattle.

Wait, you say, wasn't this filmed in Seattle? Turns out it wasn't. The judges Hugh Acheson, Tom Colicchio, Emeril Lagasse, and Wolfgang Puck split the pack of twenty-one aspiring Top Chefs and brought them in their own restaurants around the country to subject them to the first on-screen challenges.

Emeril Lagasse, Hugh Acheson, and Wolfgang Puck focused on the fundamentals. Lagasse wanted soup, a seemingly simple dish that requires flavor to be layered and deep. Acheson demanded salad where creativity was encouraged. When Wolfgang Puck asked for omelet, chef Tyler Wiard said "I'm an omelet away from Seattle," and off to Seattle he went, mind you with an omelet that was less than perfect. Eliza Gavin was also in Puck's group and she also barely avoided disaster delivering complicated but tasty results.

Tom Colicchio brought five chefs to Craft to cook regular service, just to check out their moves in the kitchen. Pierce was among the five and he was tasked with butchering a chicken. An experienced butcher otherwise, Pierce choked under the pressure and got pretty much everything wrong.

· Jorel Pierce Dishes On Making It On Top Chef [EDen]
· Top Chef Contestant Tyler Wiard Dishes On Joining The Show [EDen]
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Three Colorado Chefs Will Compete on Bravo's Top Chef [EDen]