The Corner Table: Top Chef Wisconsin

By The Capital Times

What's The Corner Table: Top Chef Wisconsin about?

Hear from guest judges, chefs and competitors on 'Top Chef Wisconsin.' A limited series from The Corner Table, a podcast about food and drink in Madison, Wisconsin, produced by The Capital Times.

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The Corner Table: Top Chef Wisconsin episodes:

06.06.2024
Episode 12: The art of the recap
Stephanie Bedford, a local book critic, food freelancer and fiction writer, reserved the URL TopSteph.com about 30 seconds after learning the show was coming to Wisconsin. A minute after that, I hired her on to do recaps for the Cap Times. This...
05.30.2024
Episode 11: 'Milwaukee Dan' Jacobs
This week we hear from Wisconsin's first "Top Chef" contestant, James Beard-nominated Milwaukee chef Dan Jacobs. Jacobs talks about how team challenges remind him of youth sports, what his favorite challenge has been so far this season, and what it was...
05.23.2024
Episode 10: Native ingredients
Amber Bristow is a fifth generation cranberry grower, but even she had never seen cranberry soup before the cranberry challenge on "Top Chef." "I was blown away by their creativity," said Bristow, who grows cranberries on her family's farm in...
05.16.2024
Episode 9: Restaurant Wars
Restaurant Wars is an iconic "Top Chef" challenge. Chefs must create a whole restaurant with a coherent concept, smooth service and good food in 24 hours, all on TV. Everyone on the episode this week, including me, dined at Restaurant Wars...
05.09.2024
Episode 8: Sausage races
This week on the podcast, we're talking ballpark food. Loren B. Rue grew up loving baseball, and now has his dream job — executive chef at American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers. Rue manages everything from the concession stands...
05.02.2024
Episode 7: What chaos means to me
Chef Paul Bartolotta, the Milwaukee restaurateur and two-time James Beard winner, was bemused by a recent challenge on "Top Chef Wisconsin." "When I heard 'chaos cuisine' I was like, what the hell does that mean?" Bartolotta said on this week's podcast....
04.25.2024
Episode 6: The capital for a reason
No drone shot of Madison would be complete without a view of the Memorial Union Terrace and its iconic sunburst chairs. That, in fact, is where "Top Chef" producers first got the idea for a challenge featuring historic Black chef and...
04.18.2024
Episode 5: Supper club style
This week on our "Top Chef Wisconsin" companion podcast, we have a full Madison episode! First, host Lindsay Christians takes a deeper dive into the Taliesin challenge with food and arts writer Gwen Rice, who was also a docent for two...
04.11.2024
Episode 4: Build a better dinner
The architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright inspired the challenges this week, on episode 4 of Top Chef Wisconsin. Host Lindsay Christians talks with Taliesin executive director Carrie Rodamaker, who hosted film crews at Frank Lloyd Wright's historic school in Spring...
04.04.2024
Episode 3: Beer and cheese
Theater artist and educator Erica Halverson has seen every episode of "Top Chef" from Season 1 to now. This week, the UW-Madison professor and host of the podcast Arts Educators Save the World shares thoughts on the Miller Caves beer snacks...
03.28.2024
Episode 2: Roll out the red carpet
We walked the red carpet in Milwaukee, and all the stars were there. This week, Destination Madison's Sarah Warner and I, Cap Times food editor Lindsay Christians, got gussied up for our first Wisconsin television premiere, held at Discovery World in...
03.21.2024
Episode 1: How did Top Chef come to Wisconsin?
This week, Corner Table co-host Chris Lay joins to talk about the first episode (mild spoilers, with ample warning!) and reflect on whether one chef has gotten the "villain edit." Then we hear from Travel Wisconsin's communications director Craig Trost about...
03.07.2024
The Corner Table: Top Chef Wisconsin
Lindsay Christians, food editor at the Cap Times, resurrects The Corner Table podcast for a special, limited series all about Top Chef Wisconsin. It took 21 seasons, but the reality cooking show Top Chef has finally come to Wisconsin. On March...
01.10.2022
"Madison Chefs" Book Release Q+A
Farm-to-table is a cliché, but its roots among the farmers and chefs of south-central Wisconsin are deep, vibrant and resilient. From brats and burgers to bibimbap, Madison’s food scene looks substantially different than it did just a decade ago. Cap Times...
07.01.2021
Reopening Sardine, Part 5: Back in the booths
This is the final episode of Reopening Sardine, a limited series from The Corner Table podcast. This week, hosts Lindsay Christians and Chris Lay expand their scope to restaurants around Madison. Some, like Bar Corallini on Atwood Avenue (shown here), reopened for...
06.24.2021
Reopening Sardine, Part 4: One Month In
A few things have changed since we last checked in with the folks at Sardine on opening day, May 19. For one, Dane County mask mandates have changed. Staffers are navigating a variety of diner comfort levels with regard to...
06.17.2021
Reopening Sardine, Part 3: Opening Day
Well, friends, we’re finally here. After more than a year of uncertainty, fear and frustration, on May 19, Sardine was ready to open its doors to the public again. We start this episode a few days before that, as the...
06.09.2021
Reopening Sardine, Part 2: A new way of service
Sardine, a French-inspired restaurant in downtown Madison, had 70 employees when it closed in 2020. As staff prepared to reopen in mid-May at half capacity, they were a tight team of 38. Reopening Sardine is a five-episode series of The Corner Table,...
06.02.2021
Reopening Sardine, Part 1: Sardine’s pandemic year
When quarantine kicked in last spring, we refocused The Corner Table to examine and document effects the pandemic was having across so many facets of food service, cocktails, grocery stores, and local farmers markets. Now as we emerge, we’re getting ready...
12.31.2020
In the kitchen with Cortney Burns
This bonus episode is adapted from a live (virtual) conversation and cooking demonstration Lindsay hosted on Tuesday, featuring Cortney Burns — a chef, award-winning cookbook author and UW-Madison grad. As Burns prepared root vegetable fritters, sauerkraut and a sauce made...
12.24.2020
Remembering restaurants
As we reach the end of 2020 and COVID-19 continues to stomp on our dreams, it’s pretty clear not all the restaurants we love are gonna make it through the winter. When a restaurant like Manna Cafe, Sunroom, Captain Bill’s...
12.10.2020
Gingerbread architecture 101
Chef Molly Maciejewski has made hundreds of gingerbread houses. As the executive chef and general manager at Madison Sourdough on Madison's east side, Maciejewski hosted yearly workshops, all about making a beautiful, (technically) edible gingerbread home. This week on The...
11.25.2020
Take a crack at these nuts
One of our favorite things about the holiday season is all the snacks. Between the traditional meals, it's more than acceptable to absentmindedly nibble on candy, cheese, fruit and nuts. Nutkrack, candied, lightly salted pecans created by chef Eric Rupert,...
11.12.2020
Brandy, you're a fine spirit
The pandemic has put an undeniable damper on the Wisconsin way of life, and probably cut down on the number or quality of old fashioneds we're drinking. But while it may be a while any of us are sidling up...
10.29.2020
Robot, bring me lunch!
If you've spent time around the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus in the last year, you've probably spotted the adorable white robots rolling along the sidewalks or waiting to cross a busy street, carrying lunch to a hungry student or professor....
10.15.2020
Eat right, not sexy
What do you think about going paleo? Did you do a Whole30 January? Ever been served up an ad on Instagram for a DNA diet — whatever that means? This week, as part of the Wisconsin Science Festival, we’re digging into our most pressing...
10.01.2020
Heavy Kevy wants YOU to cook
One of our favorite things to do lately is check Instagram to see what “Heavy Kevy” is making for dinner. Kevy is not a chef. He’s not a brand ambassador or social media influencer or an ad rep for anything....
09.17.2020
Knives out, again
Thanks to summer vacations, we're repurposing an entertaining and educational episode from the archives that doubles as a kitchen safety public service announcement for you, our dear listeners. On this episode, which first ran in March, Rockhound Brewing Company kitchen...
09.03.2020
School lunch goes home
Kids are going back to school this week. Well ... sort of. Some of them are going to school in buildings, while others are learning fractions over Zoom. Regardless of where they are, though, all of them need lunch. This...
08.20.2020
Where drinking is anything but serious
After finding success with their canned mojitos and brandy old fashioneds, Tom Dufek and his Plain Spoke Cocktail Co. business partners set out to give their drinks a brick and mortar home. Today, thirsty locals can find mixed drinks with...
08.06.2020
Ahan finds a home
Back in February, Jamie Hoang and Chuckie Brown were cooking for cocktail-sipping crowds at their Robin Room pop-up, doling out mini veggie egg rolls at Femmestival and prepping to roll out a food cart for the summer. The pandemic changed...
07.23.2020
Starved for sports
Even for minor sports fans, a typical Madison summer might involve a random Brewers game with friends or a trip or two out to the Duck Blind for a Mallards game. This year, obviously, that's all been benched, with most...
07.09.2020
For your quarantine pleasure: The cream puff kerfuffle
The Wisconsin State Fair has joined a long list of events across the country canceled in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but there's one thing Cap Times opinion editor Jessie Opoien won't be missing among the lost festivities: cream puffs....
07.02.2020
A recipe for change
Will Green started Mentoring Positives almost 16 years ago to help teens in the Darbo-Worthington neighborhood on Madison's east side learn some of the tools they need to be successful and, as he said, “basically be a good person.” Participants...
06.18.2020
Forage for your supper
With so many activities off limits due to the coronavirus, this summer practically demands that we get outdoors as often as possible in order to maintain our sanity ﹘ just so long as you've got your mask on and you're...
06.11.2020
Bartender to the stars ... of this podcast
Before the pandemic hit, bartender Karlin Langley was working at Sardine, mixing Sazeracs and French 75s behind their pewter bar. Lately he’s been turning that energy toward home projects. He’s making mixers and even entirely new drinks, trying stuff out...
06.04.2020
Behind the scenes as restaurants reopen
A couple months ago, COVID closed restaurants everywhere. Dane County is now in the first phase of its reopening plan, but with masks and distancing, dining out is going to be weird for a while. To find out what restaurants...
05.28.2020
Cooking class goes virtual
Just before the pandemic hit, Mel Zastrow was preparing to teach her middle school students to cook the old-fashioned way, piled into a kitchen together. But the show, and the pound cake, must go on, so Mel, a teacher at...
05.14.2020
For your quarantine pleasure: Breakfast on a bun
What might make your quarantine mornings less painful and more delicious? Breakfast sandwiches. This week on The Corner Table, find some inspiration as we revisit our December 2019 interview with local "breakfast sandwich influencer" Patrick Logterman, who chronicles his breakfast...
05.07.2020
Restaurant S.O.S. fund aims to "save our staff"
Restaurant people are helpers, the kind you go to when you need to feed volunteers or get a sponsor for your Little League team. So what happens when they need help? This week on the show, we hear from Teresa...
04.30.2020
D'Vino does carry-out comfort
Just 12 days after the opening of D’Vino, a new wine and ciccheti bar in downtown Madison, the coronavirus pandemic forced it to close its doors. On this week's show, Lindsay and Chris talk with owner and chef Dino Maniaci...
04.23.2020
Grocery workers become "essential"
The COVID-19 pandemic has given all of us a new appreciation for the workers who bag our groceries and keep the shelves stocked. On this week's show, Lindsay and Chris talk with two local grocery workers about how they're faring...
04.16.2020
Make your beer into a bracket
For those pining for March Madness or just a good way to pass yet another evening at home, Kyle Nabilcy has a suggestion: Make your beer, or anything else, into a bracket. A longtime freelancer covering beer and food for...
04.10.2020
Farmers market indefinitely postponed
During any other year, farmers and vendors would pour onto the Capitol Square this Saturday for the first outdoor market of the Dane County Farmers Market season. But in light of the coronavirus, the state government has revoked permits for...
03.31.2020
Service industry seeks support
This week on the podcast, Lindsay and Chris talk with Brandon Brieske, who started the Madison Area Service Industry Support Facebook group to bring his fellow restaurant and bar workers together as they weather the COVID-19 pandemic. Support the show:...
03.19.2020
Knives out
A dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp knife. Never put knives in the dishwasher. And if the garbage disposal is rattling, definitely turn it off before you stick your face over the drain. Those are just a few...
03.04.2020
Championship cheesemaking
On this week’s show, Lindsay and Chris sit down with master cheesemaker Steve Stettler of Decatur Dairy to find out what’s changed since his grandfather’s cheesemaking days, how he became the first master cheesemaker with a certification in cheese curds,...
02.20.2020
Fairchild is on its way
Serious farm-to-table cooking can be tough: You might be drowning in strawberries one minute and stuck with just rutabaga for an entire month the next. This week on the Corner Table, L'Etoile alums Itaru Nagano and Andrew Kroeger explain why...
02.13.2020
Decadent desserts
Valentine's Day can be a complicated a holiday, and L'Etoile pastry chef Elizabeth Dahl is on its frontlines, preparing intricate desserts for that special night. On this Corner Table bonus episode, Dahl explains how she puts her art skills to...
02.05.2020
Vegan and delicious
For chef Lauren Montelbano of Surya Cafe, accommodating dietary restrictions is a welcome challenge — she calls it her "personal Tetris." On this week's show, the chef explains how she started making vegan food, why she thinks healthy food can...

What's The Corner Table: Top Chef Wisconsin about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Corner Table: Top Chef Wisconsin episodes:

Episode 12: The art of the recap

Episode 11: 'Milwaukee Dan' Jacobs

Episode 10: Native ingredients

Episode 9: Restaurant Wars

Episode 8: Sausage races

Episode 7: What chaos means to me

Episode 6: The capital for a reason

Episode 5: Supper club style

Episode 4: Build a better dinner

Episode 3: Beer and cheese

Episode 2: Roll out the red carpet

Episode 1: How did Top Chef come to Wisconsin?

The Corner Table: Top Chef Wisconsin

"Madison Chefs" Book Release Q+A

Reopening Sardine, Part 5: Back in the booths

Reopening Sardine, Part 4: One Month In

Reopening Sardine, Part 3: Opening Day

Reopening Sardine, Part 2: A new way of service

Reopening Sardine, Part 1: Sardine’s pandemic year

In the kitchen with Cortney Burns

Remembering restaurants

Gingerbread architecture 101

Take a crack at these nuts

Brandy, you're a fine spirit

Robot, bring me lunch!

Eat right, not sexy

Heavy Kevy wants YOU to cook

Knives out, again

School lunch goes home

Where drinking is anything but serious

Ahan finds a home

Starved for sports

For your quarantine pleasure: The cream puff kerfuffle

A recipe for change

Forage for your supper

Bartender to the stars ... of this podcast

Behind the scenes as restaurants reopen

Cooking class goes virtual

For your quarantine pleasure: Breakfast on a bun

Restaurant S.O.S. fund aims to "save our staff"

D'Vino does carry-out comfort

Grocery workers become "essential"

Make your beer into a bracket

Farmers market indefinitely postponed

Service industry seeks support

Knives out

Championship cheesemaking

Fairchild is on its way

Decadent desserts

Vegan and delicious