Top Chef Recap

Dallas bad boy chef John Tesar emerges as reason to watch Top Chef this season

John Tesar was the best part of Top Chef's season 14 premiere.

Photo courtesy of Bravo

Dallas reality show fans and chef groupies have a new reason to live with the December 1 debut of Top Chef, the cooking competition series from Bravo channel. Two words: John Tesar.

That's not provincialism. In the premiere episode of season 14, which takes place in Charleston, South Carolina, the colorful Dallas chef emerges as the best reason to watch, with oodles of quotable quotes.

Tesar is back as part of a crew of returning chefs who make up half the cast. It's this season's kooky plot twist, which pits eight new chefs against eight retreads who appeared on prior seasons.

The twist adds drama to an otherwise dull premiere. The newbies sullenly resent the hoggy selfishness of the returning chefs, while the returning chefs sagely sermonize about the pitfalls of reality TV.

"I'm not really interested in getting to know the veterans," whines new chef Emily Hahn. "I feel like they've had their time; now it should be ours."

New chef Jamie Lynch, the tattooed guy, makes tattooed guys everywhere proud, saying to the returning chefs, "I'm not gonna lie. My butthole puckered when I saw you guys walk in."

For returning and former Dallas chef Casey Thompson, the situation presents a canny opportunity to capitalize on the new chefs' inexperience by stealing a bed from a newbie.

The show makes a big deal out of staking out a bed. "As veterans, we all know we want to pick our room," says returning chef Katsuji Tanabe.

"My room is awesome," Casey says, after stealing said bed. "They had the room but, rookie move, they didn't put anything on their bed. So when they left to check out the rest of the house, I went right in. Veterans 1, rookies 0."

The rest of the show plods through the getting-to-know-you phase. In one painful segment with the new chefs, Padma asks in a stilted conversational manner, "Aren't you the such-and-such chef who won such-and-such award?"

Returning chef Shirley Chung refers to herself in the third person, when she talks about the questionable wisdom of returning for another season. "Seriously, Shirley Chung?" she asks.

Tesar also tosses out a third-person John Tesar, tucked between lots of first-person introspection.

"People either find me refreshing or they find me the biggest dick in the world, but I'm a kinder, gentler chef these days," he says. "At 58 years old, I'm kind of a dying breed, because a lot of people my age have either burned out or faded away or, let's face it, they're either Emeril or Bobby Flay. For me, winning Top Chef, I wouldn't call it redemption. I just think it's validation."

Tesar is one of two chefs who come in at the bottom. The climax consists of a cookoff between him and Florida chef Gerald Sombright.

"I have this dual apprehension," Tesar says. "Should I game play, or should I just beat him? People are asking, 'Where's that John Tesar I saw in season 10?' No way, brother. That guy's gone."

The cookoff theme is oysters. Tesar does oysters poached in cream. You get to see him open a bottle of cream with his bare teeth. Suddenly, he pulls out a truffle from his bag. It sparks a roar from the watching chefs.

"What — did you bring truffles?" asks one chef, agog. "WHAT?" asks another, aghast.

"Do you think I want to go home on on episode one, folks?" Tesar asks. "On Top Chef, we're allowed to bring a few ingredients. And I have some really nice truffles. And I'm going to take out that truffle and use it."

The show ramps up the sympathy for Sombright, splicing in a segment where he reveals he split from his wife and is maybe possibly living in his car. But his roasted oysters with a Thai mignonette do not have truffles.

"How can you compare a a mignonette with a creamed oyster," Padma stage-whispers to the other judges in horror. "I wish there had been more smoke," sighs disappointed judge Gail Simmons. For judge Tom Colicchio, it's just not Thai enough. "If you're going to do a Thai dish, we want a little more heat."

Sombright packs his knives, and Tesar wins.

"On day one, to be the loser of the quickfire and the winner of the cookoff, it gives you that full circle of energy," he says, tracing a circle in the air with his finger.

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Top Chef airs Thursdays at 9 pm CST on Bravo.

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Movie Review

Rose Byrne fights for her life and car in new movie 'Tow'

Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions

Rose Byrne in Tow.

Actor Rose Byrne had a banner year in 2025, getting her first Oscar nomination for her starring role in If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You. Although she came up short in that race, she’s getting another chance to prove her acting bona fides in the new film, Tow.

In the “inspired by a true story” movie, Byrne plays Amanda, a down-on-her-luck woman who lives in her car and can’t find a job. Living in Seattle, she tries to stay in touch with her daughter, Avery (Elsie Fisher), who lives with her dad in another city, but circumstances sometimes limit their communications, especially when her car is stolen.

The good news is that her car is found relatively quickly. The bad news is that the tow company is charging her to get her car back, money she can’t afford. Now truly homeless, she does everything in her power to right the wrong, even taking the company to court. Without much luck, she has to start staying in a women’s shelter run by Barbara (Octavia Spencer), where she makes friends with Nova (Demi Lovato) and Denise (Ariana DeBose), among others.

Directed by Stephanie Laing and written by Jonathan Keasey and Brent Boivin, the film has relatively low stakes going for it and never really tries to make the story feel deeper than it is. The situation Amanda finds herself in is clearly a tough one, and any empathetic person would feel for her and want her to overcome her plight. But the filmmakers keep things light and never try to up the drama in any significant way.

The issue Amanda is dealing with, being price gouged by a predatory towing company, is one with which many people can relate. But aside from helpfully underscoring Amanda’s frustration by showing the increasing number of days she is without a car, they never establish why they felt this particular story was one worth telling. Her personal issues, including a growing estrangement with her daughter, fail to conjure any big emotions.

The filmmakers are very loose with their storytelling, especially when it comes to side characters. The presence of the women she meets at the shelter, and Kevin (Dominic Sessa), the young lawyer who offers to help her, never makes full sense other than a need for her to have other people with whom to interact. A tighter focus on what Amanda was going through would’ve helped both her and people around her feel more important.

Byrne is a dynamic performer who’s shown great skill at both drama and comedy, but there’s nothing special about her performance here. Hampered a bit by a blonde wig and false teeth, she feels out of sorts for much of the film. The unusually high-powered supporting cast - both Spencer and DeBose are Oscar winners - makes things interesting on first blush, but none of them outside of Sessa is given much to do, so they’re mostly wasted.

Tow will be a disappointment for anyone hoping to see more great stuff from Byrne. While she remains a fine actor, her performance and the story as a whole are nowhere near the level shown in her previous film. The real life predicament shown in the film also never rises to the level of being of something worth showing to the masses.

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Tow is now showing in theaters.

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