Top Chef 5 Spotted

Top Chef fanatics: meet your new Season 5 cheftestants. Photographer Kurt Strahm over at the blog Restless brings us the first paparazzi shots of a group of the contestants leaving their home base at 20 Bayard and getting into the white TC vans. If these are the contestants left at this stage of the game, we have four females (two brunettes and a blond seen clearly in the first two shots, one blond with a ponytail in the last shot) and at least six male chefs (six seen in first shots, an additional chef or PA with hat in last shot), and not a faux hawk nor a tattoo in site. Looks like a Colicchio-like shaved head is the hairstyle of choice for the NYC season, and a female chef could be taking over Spike's role as the self-consciously stylish contestant (the backwards hat, the high tops).
Now, Top Chef fans, restaurant industry insiders—and anyone else unencumbered by a million dollar confidentiality agreement—it's your turn to do your part. If you can ID any of the above chefs, let us know. We still have plenty of tickets to the New York Wine and Food Fest and some choice reservations for informants.

Top chef Season 5 At Whole Foods ??

Top Chef’ Contestants Spotted at Whole Foods Last Night
Earlier today, one of our eagle-eyed readers noticed Top Chef filming outside of Craft, and now an Eater tipster reports that they got a glimpse of the contestants loading food into large white vans outside of the Whole Foods on Houston Street last night. Their description of the cheftestants is as follows.

• 20-something Indian-American woman, on the short side and looking a bit bedraggled.
• 40ish man, balding, gray hair, trim beard, smoking a cigarette and looking tough, black leather clogs.
• Late 30s man, tall, husky, like a mix between Season 3's Joey, Howie and Season' 4's Eric all rolled into one.
• Shorter Asian dude, wearing a wife beater, exceedingly tan, and covered with black tattoos.
• Tall, African-American woman with a bandana.
• Late 20s dude, dark hair, with the soft paunch of a Williamsburg hipster.
•Tall, thin pretty/crunchy looking female, no makeup.
• Another shorter, more non-descript female.
• There was another chick, tall, thin, blond, an indie pin-up, who might have been part of the crew.
• One of the coolers had the name "Gene" written on it.
And there’s your tip sheet. If you see these guys filming around town, do let us know.

nytimes.com