He was Top Chef Season 2’s eye candy, but Sam Talbot eventually proved he had a lot more to offer than being the season’s himbo. He made it all the way to Hawaii and the final four, but ultimately was sent home.
Since he’s been back his normal life, he’s been keeping busy, and most recently, he’s joining up with Harold Dieterle and Tom Colicchio to attend the Naples Winter Wine Festival. They’ll each be providing one course at a special dinner (Sam’s serving marinated tuna with gingered apples), and Sam also recently talked about what else is going on in his world now, and gave a little behind-the-scenes scoop on what it’s like in the Top Chef kitchen.
Sam spoke to Naples News in anticipation of the Festival. He told them, “I’ve been trying to open a restaurant, trying to look for a space here in [New York City]. And that’s pretty much it. I have some clients I cook for on a regular basis, but that’s only an as-needed basis.”
He wants the restaurant to focus on seafood and local and seasonal fare. He also wants it to be a smaller scale place, saying, “I’m trying to keep it very personal. I don’t want a monster, I just want something where I can have an open kitchen and talk with everybody and hang out. I’d like to make it a place where I would like to go eat or my friends would like to go eat.”
Sam also dished on what it’s like on the Top Chef set. To sum up, stressful in moments, and boring for long stretches. “It takes a really long time to film, like 16 hours of filming to get to whatever,” he said, and that leaves the without a whole lot to do during filming except, “Staring at each other. (Laughs) Honestly, [there’s] nothing [to do]. Think about it: There’s no TV, there’s no magazines, there’s no cell phone, there’s no money, there’s nothing. One time we emptied a bunch of Pepsi cans into the sink and got a watermelon and pretended we were bowling. I mean, it was that big of a nightmare.”
That said, Sam would do it again, although if he did it again, “I would win.”
– Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Naples News
(Image courtesy of Bravo)
Staff Columnist, BuddyTV
