Chef Blais, we are requesting an invitation

Wherein Chef Richard Blais can currently be seen kicking ass on Top Chef


Watched my first ever episode of Top Chef last night and was impressed. We taped the show so The Child could watch. After we explain what all the beeping noises are for, perhaps we'll get a review from a 6-year old.

Very entertaining show and our household favorite looked good. Uber-confident, serious, wielding a wicked array of skills and taste combinations, he surprised and entertained the judges. Reminded me of our tasting menu a couple years ago at One Midtown Kitchen. I don't think we've ever had so much fun eating.

Never got around to writing too much about his run at Element and its closing left us extremely sad. We'd go with 3-4 people and get close to running through the whole menu. For now, we're enjoying the menu at Elevation. For a while we were going at least once a week. It seems to be doing well on its own, so we've skipped a few weeks. Probably time to go back. The Child always checks the kitchen to see if Chef Richard is there. It would be a stretch to say we know him, but he always comes over and talks to us and he seems like a truly nice guy excited by food. Now there's this news from the AJC:

Chef Richard Blais, who will be one of the contestants on Bravo’s fourth season of Top Chef (premiering tonight) has struck a deal with businessman and investor Barry Mills to design the menu and serve as executive chef for an upscale hamburger restaurant, tentatively called Flip.

Located on the West Side near the Atlanta Waterworks, the Blais’ burger palace plans to offer ground meats of all sorts, not just beef. And Blais says he intends to spend a lot time and effort creating the “best veggie burger in the world.”

“We’ll be offering house-made sodas like root beer, and I’m looking to make side dishes a focal point, like maybe house-made tater tots,” Blais told me by phone. And what of foie gras milk shakes, the his most infamous dish and critically acclaimed dish?

“Oh yeah,” Blais said, “they’ll be there.”

Blais will continue consulting at Elevation in Kennesaw, as well as other projects for his consulting company, Trail-blais.

The opening of Flip is planned for later this summer.

We are so there. However, considering the first reports of Elevation had it opening last summer and it didn't open until mid-December, you'll excuse us if we're not unfolding the lawn chairs to be first in line. Chef -- call us when it's time to show up.

Oh crap, I just realized he said he's bringing back the foie gras milkshake. Uh oh: "I could eat this until it killed me and as rich as it is that wouldn't take long. But I'd die with a happy smile on my face." Guess I need to up the life insurance.