theWit's Russell Kook, sous chef of cibo matto, took on potty-mouthed Gordon Ramsay in last night's eighth-season premiere of Hell's Kitchen.

The 29-year-old sous chef joined 15 other contestants to compete for the head chef position at LA Market, a restaurant in the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE. The job carries a $250,000 salary. The winner also gets to be a spokesperson for Rosemount Estate Wines. ]]> Jennifer Kester 2010-09-23T09:29:40-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/4/24/13157/9357

So ballsy former Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich won't be living the pura vida in Costa Rica after all. That pesky indictment has quashed Blago's plans to continue his fifteen minutes with a stint on the NBC reality show "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!" (He won't be getting the rumored $80K a week that some news outlets reported he'd earn from NBC either.)

Instead, reality leeches and newlyweds Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt will get to unleash their egos and suck any camera time dry all while calling Costa Rica home. (Can they move there for good, please?!)]]> shiralevine 2009-04-27T14:35:56-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/4/21/141251/595 <![CDATA[<p><object width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/x8VeASLBSvw&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/x8VeASLBSvw&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="486" height="412"></embed></object><br> <i>Tip: Fast forward to the 5:07 mark for their trip to The Borgata</i> <p>Anybody watching this fifth season of <i>Hell's Kitchen</i> with angry chef <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/gordon ramsay">Gordon Ramsay</a> knows all too well about the final grand prize awaiting the winner: a restaurant of their own within the <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Borgata+Hotel+Casino+And+Spa/ian/219277">The Borgata Hotel and Casino</a></b> in <b>Atlantic City, NJ</b>. This most recent episode not only revealed the unfinished, massive space, but also gave viewers of the show a peek at the features of The Borgata and a glimpse inside the hotel's pimpin' <b>private jet</b>. <p>Aside from the jet and the restaurants, we learn from the hotel's Director JetSetCD 2009-04-21T15:26:32-05:00 39.3767970 -74.435366 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/7/14/12308/6346

We love the reality show Top Chef on Bravo and it doesn't hurt that the show always has some hotel element that we can grok about. Like Season Three when the contestants shacked up at the Fontainebleau in Miami.

Now for the fifth season, the show is headed back to New York City and The Benjamin Hotel in Midtown East will play a big role. ]]> juliana 2008-07-14T12:44:19-05:00 40.756491 -73.972343 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/6/20/124617/895 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/topchef3_1.jpg" class="imgborder"/><p>We were traveling last week so we had to miss the premiere of one of our newest fave shows ever, <i>Top Chef.</i> But yesterday, we hunkered down in front of our TiVo and caught up on all that we missed (<i>Entourage, Flight of the Conchords</i> and Lauer's interview with the dreamy Princes of Wales included.)<p>The first two seasons of Top Chef took place in Los Angeles but for the third season, the show was moved to Miami and guess where the first meeting of the contestants took place? Gianni Versace's former residence-turned-exclusive-hotel, <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Casa+Casuarina/local/654"><b>Casa Casuarina</b></a>.<p> And that's not all, the contestants are being put up in the Penthouse suite of the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Fontainebleau+Resort/ian/112918"><b>Fontainebleau Resort and Tower</b></a> on Collins juliana 2007-06-20T13:04:22-05:00 25.817925 -80.122103 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/