Latest news with #Shuai
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Top Chef': Big loss for Canadians just before the competition moves to Italy for the final
Lana's elimination in last week's episode of Top Chef Season 22 was certainly felt by the remaining chefs. But the competition must go on and this week, the chefs received mystery bags with foraging gear. It was exciting for some, an intimidating unknown challenge for others. As the chefs headed to Quarry Lake in Alberta, they met up with host Kristen Kish, who announced that there wouldn't be a Quickfire Challenge. Additionally, this is the last Elimination Challenge in Canada. Brenda Holder, Cree knowledge keeper of traditional medicine owner, Mahikan Trails, was on site to tell the chefs about her family's lineage of people who survived on the land. And Tracy Little, chef and owner of Sauvage restaurant, and master forager, also greeted the competitors. Each chef had to create a dish using foraged ingredients, with Brenda and Tracy there to assist. They also had $200 to shop for remaining ingredients and there was an additional pantry of foraged ingredients. For Massimo, who won last week's challenge, he had an additional 30 minutes to cook. There was also $10,000 up for grabs for the winner. Joining the judges table this week, Nicole Gomes, chef and co-founder of Cluck n Cleaver, Paul Rogalski, chef and co-owner of Rouge restaurant and co-host of Wild Harvest, Scott Iserhoff, chef and founder of Pei Pei Chei Ow, and Indigenous herbalist Matricia Bauer. The dishes each chef made, and the feedback from the judges, was as follows: Tristen — "OG Jerk" pork, plantain miso glaze, Quarry Lake callaloo and coal roasted roots — Brenda liked that she could really taste the land in the dish, Gail Simmons loved the sweetness in the sauce and the balance with the pork and greens César — Mushroom trompo, mushroom pibil broth and toasted ants — Scott loved the soup, Kristen said the dish was "completely dialled in" Bailey — Lamb spiedino with grilled dandelion salad, "cowtown" cowpeas and thistle root purée — Brenda loved the lamb, Nicole said the peas were a little too crunchy Shuai — Roasted cabbage with rose hip-glazed pork belly, sour cabbage broth, lovage and thatching ant togarashi — Scott highlighted how much flavour was in the dish, Brenda loved how nicely the flavours played together, Gail said it was "excellent" and Tom Colicchio was "absolutely loving it" Massimo — Grilled trout with mustard sauce, smoked potato purée and bannock with wildflowers — Gail said the bannock felt very "intense," Nicole said it was a very "elegant" dish Shuai won the Elimination Challenge, securing his spot in the final in Milan and receiving $10,000. But Massimo, the one Canadian chef in the competition, didn't get the chance to leave the country, eliminated from the competition. And so the "Destination Canada" season of the show continues, without a Canadian chef.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Top Chef' will move from Canada to Italy for the Season 22 finale, Kristen Kish announces in Calgary
Top Chef Season 22 moved to a different Canadian city this week, with the competitors making the journey from Toronto to the Alberta city of Calgary. As the chefs stood together at the city's Olympic Plaza, Kristen Kish announced the upcoming finale will take place in Milan, Italy. Maybe an odd choice for a season technically called Top Chef: Destination Canada, but the chefs were excited. A guest judge this week was Connie Desousa, chef at Charcut in Calgary. The Top Chef Canada finalist stood with the judges, including Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, to announce the Quickfire Challenge, inspired by the Calgary Stampede. The chefs were given 45 minutes to create their own handheld pancake breakfast to feed 50 diners. There was $10,000 up for grabs for the Quickfire Challenge winner, which was Shuai, who made a cornmeal pancake with scrambled eggs, lap cheong, cheddar and chili crisp avocado aioli. Moving into the Elimination Challenge, chef Denia Baltzer, chef and owner of Creative Cuisine Catering, and member of the Łııdlı̨ı̨ Kųę First Nation, greeted the competitors and provided more details about the Stampede, specifically its history of being an event where ranchers and First Nations people come together. Kristen explained that the Elimination Challenge would be centred around two ingredients, one from each of these communities, beef and berries. The chefs got to decide amongst themselves which cut of beef they would use, and drew knives for the type of berry. With Shuai being the winner of the Quickfire Challenge, he was given three hours to cook, while the rest of the chefs had two hours. Much like we've seen throughout the season, there weren't any particularly cooking disasters during this eliminations, before the chefs brought their dishes to the judges table, which included Paul Roglaski, chef and co-owner of Rogue restaurant and co-host of Wild Harvest. The dishes made by each chef and the judges feedback went as follows: Lana — Grilled New York strip steak with pommes anna, haskap berry condiment and smoked haskap berry jus — Connie loved the sauce and the savoury element of the condiment, but Denia wanted to see more berry, Kristen found the sage overpowering, Gail found the potato too dry, and Tom said the meat was over-rested, cooked too early Massimo — Tenderloin with umeboshi, pickled elderberry sauce, smoked kohlrabi and elderberry soup purée — Gail called the dish a "showstopper," Kristen said the beef was cooked beautifully Bailey — Saskatoon braised beef cheek, creamy polenta, brûléed blue cheese and roasted walnut — Gail said the brûléed blue cheese threw her off, with Tom questioning the decision as well, while Denia said the Saskatoon berry flavour got lost in the sauce Tristen — Alberta flat iron with kohlrabi, gooseberries and bone marrow pemmican — Tom said there was a ton of flavour, Kristen loved that the gooseberries reminded her of sour candies, but Gail identified that her steak wasn't cooked properly César — Grilled ribeye, chokeberry reduction, rutabaga cream and bone marrow cornbread — Gail said everything on her plate was cooked perfectly, but all the chefs criticized the lack of tartness from the berries Shuai — Mama Wang's stuffed cabbage with braised short rib, wild rice congee and black currant black pepper sauce — Connie loved it and said it reminded her of a dish her mother makes, Tom said the beef is rich and the congee was also rich, but it was flavourful, and Gail loved the tartness from the black currents The winning chef was Canadian Massimo, who will get an advantage next week, while Lana was eliminated from the competition.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
North Charleston chef takes culinary talent to national stage by appearing on Bravo's ‘Top Chef'
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – A celebrated local chef is bringing his culinary talent to the national stage this month by appearing on season 22 of Bravo's 'Top Chef.' Chef Shuai Wang, owner of two Charleston area favorites, Jackrabbit Filly, and King BBQ, will compete against 14 other cooking pros from around the country while on location in Canada. The first episode of 'Top Chef: Destination Canada' will air March 13 at 9 p.m. Eastern on Bravo. This year's winner will be rewarded $250,000, an appearance at Aspen's Food & Wine Classic, and the opportunity to host an exclusive dinner at the James Beard House, among other things. Initially, Shuai was invited to apply for a role in the long-running competition, but he hesitated at first. 'I was unsure because I'm not a competitive person in nature, so I was like, 'Oh, do I want to do this,' Shuai explained. 'But then I thought about all the different opportunities 'Top Chef' would bring to me personally and our businesses and I thought this is such a great opportunity and cannot be missed.' Despite Shuai not being naturally competitive, he has become a decorated chef, being named an Eater Young Gun in 2016 and Best New Chef the same year. Short Grain, a food truck formerly run by Shuai and his wife Corrie, was designated by Bon Appetit as one of America's Top 50 Best New Restaurants in 2016. The following year, Shuai was nominated for a prestigious James Beard Award in the 'Rising Star Chef' category. Shuai's success led him to open Jackrabbit Filly, a place that blends heritage drive Chinese cuisine with American fare, and later King BBQ, self-described as 'Chinatown BBQ with Southern smoke.' The BBQ fusion spot was designated as one of the Top 10 Best New BBQ Restaurants of 2024 by Southern Living Magazine and one of the 2024 Top 20 Best New Restaurants by Bon Appetit. 'Top Chef' season 22 was filmed last year, with the team traveling to places like Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Canmore, and Prince Edward Island. Before joining the show, Shuai said he had grown 'stale' as a chef, cooking the same food daily. But the idea of winning a hugely popular cooking competition was reinvigorating. 'I just felt like I was rejuvenated and just like my brain was turning again,' he explained. 'Afterwards, I felt so inspired coming back, and I wanted to cook new things.' As soon as Shuai arrived home, it was back to business. Jackrabbit Filly was opening at a new location with a new menu. With his mind spinning, Shuai added dishes to the new menu that he previously thought he couldn't pull off. 'Instead of the same old thing we'd been cooking for the past, I don't know, five years, we came up with all these new menu items that, you know, I didn't think I was able to do,' he said. Some Jackrabbit menu items include the krab rangoon cheese ball, soy garlic karaage-don with Japanese fried chicken, soft egg, and honey garlic soy sauce, and the Sichuan seafood wonton soup. Who wouldn't be inspired when learning from eight-time James Beard Award winner Tom Colicchio, season 10 'Top Chef' winner Kristen Kish, and culinary expert Gail Simmons? 'Kristen was probably who I was most intimidated by because you know she's been on Top Chef, she's went to the bottom, she fought her way, back all the way to the top,' Shuai said. The culinary industry has been known to be a cut-throat and challenging environment, as seen in popular television shows like 'The Bear' and 'Hell's Kitchen' which highlight how intense the food world can be. Having that spotlight on the industry has led to change throughout the years, though. 'Going into 'Top Chef,' I had that mindset of 'Oh, everyone's going to be butting heads, everyone's going to be competing,' but you know, I think because the industry has changed so much that it wasn't so much that,' Shuai explained. 'There's still a competition; we're still competing, and we're still going against each other, but I just feel like, as chefs now, we get along much better than we used to.' That often ruthless environment is part of the reason Shuai decided to make the move to Charleston. He grew up in Queens and spent a large chunk of his adult life cooking in Brooklyn. Once Shuai graduated high school, he went straight to culinary school and has been in the kitchen ever since. The number of restaurants throughout the city, not to mention the diversity of those spots and the intensity of the competition in New York, is part of the reason Shuai believes he made it to where he is in his career. He was challenged at an elite level. But that high pressure, day in and day out, led Shuai to something many of us experience: burnout. 'I was just very unhappy. It was too much work and my work and life balance, there was no balance,' Shuai explained. 'So I looked into moving away because I felt like if I kept working like the way I was working in New York, I was going to get super burned out and just leave the industry completely.' During that time, Shuai's friend was trying to open a restaurant in Charleston, and he reached out to Shuai for help with the opening. Shuai decided to make the jump and move, thinking he would be here only for a short time to help his friend. As with most things in life, the plan did not go accordingly. The friend's restaurant was delayed indefinitely, so Shuai and Corrie returned to square one and decided to invest in themselves. From there, the idea for Short Grain was born. The business exploded and turned into continued success with Jackrabbit and King BBQ. 'You know, now I'm in the South. I've been here for almost eleven years now, and I love love North Charleston,' Shuai said. It just feels like home.' A large part of the continued success is due to Corrie, who Shuai called the 'backbone' of their restaurants. When Shuai decided to take on the 'Top Chef' contestant role, he had to commit to a minimum of four to six weeks of filming in Canada. Of course, the farther you make it in the competition, the longer you stay and are away from home. 'I left for 'Top Chef' for a very long time for filming…throughout that time, she [Corrie] was here running both restaurants by herself while building out this new space [the new Jackrabbit location],' Shuai said. 'It takes two really hard-working people to run these things, and she's pretty amazing,' he continued. Not only do the Wangs love the area and its food scene, but they also support it. More than 25% of both restaurants' menus are sourced locally, including vegetables, seafood, grains, dairy, and proteins from local farms. 'It's very important for me to do that,' Shuai said. 'You know, living in a small community, it's important for me to support the small families that are farmers that are here.' 'Also, when I first moved down, the first time I had a local shrimp, I have never wanted to eat any other shrimp ever again,' he added. As a 2025 South Carolina chef ambassador, a large part of Shuai's ambassadorship involves promoting local food while representing the state at events like the recent Charleston Food and Wine Festival, where Shuai hosted Sunday hangover brunch at Jackrabbit. Another way Shuai supports the local food industry is by eating local! Some of his favorite restaurants in the area are Vern's, The Glass Onion and Bintu Atelier. You can support Shuai by watching him on Bravo's 'Top Chef' every Thursday or streaming it the next day on Peacock. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tennis star Jessica Pegula flies fellow players from Texas to California in private jet
American tennis star Jessica Pegula had a parting – or departing – gift for her fellow finalists at the ATX Open: a flight to California. Pegula defeated compatriot McCartney Kessler in straight sets on Sunday to win her seventh WTA Tour title in Austin, Texas, then invited other players also competing in the tournament that day to fly on her private jet to California for Indian Wells, which begins this week. That meant waiting until the women's doubles final had finished before embarking on the roughly 1,200-mile trip, saving those who joined her from a potential late-night transfer in Los Angeles or flights from Dallas or Houston. 'You know she can leave away right after her singles final, but she is such a selfless and generous girl,' Chinese player Zhang Shuai, who was in Sunday's women's doubles final at the ATX Open, said in an Instagram post. Shuai added that her post was her way of 'transferring the love' to Pegula, who replied by saying: 'You're too cute.' Another doubles finalist, Russian Anna Blinkova, shared Shuai's post, writing: 'Thank you Jessie for your kindness and generosity.' World No. 4 Pegula, the daughter of the Buffalo Bills' billionaire owners Terry and Kim Pegula, has a bye in the first round of Indian Wells and will take to the court on Friday for her opening match. Her victory at the ATX Open was her first title since August last year.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
United States Treasury designates Chinese businessman as hacker
March 5 (UPI) -- The Treasury Department on Wednesday designated Chinese businessman Zhou Shuai as a a malicious cyber actor and data broker. The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) alleged Wednesday that Shuai, based in Shanghai and owner of Shanghai Heiying Information Technology Company Ltd., "illegally acquired, brokered, and sold data from highly sensitive U.S. critical infrastructure networks" in collaboration with Yin Kecheng, another designated cyber actor deemed malicious and who has already been sanctioned by the United States. In a press release, OFAC stated that since at least 2018, Shuai has been selling illegally transferred data and access to compromised computer networks acquired by Kecheng, an employee of Shanghai Heiying. Kecheng's previous sanctioning stemmed from his alleged involvement in a 2024 compromise of the Department of the Treasury's network. The two are accused of together victimizing "technology companies, a defense industrial base contractor, a communications service provider, an academic health system affiliated with a university, and a government county municipality." Shuai also was allegedly working in 2020 from a set of intelligence requirements that targeted data types related to border crossing, personnel in religious research, telecommunications, public servants and media industry personnel within the United States, Russia and Western Europe. He is said to have gained this information via the intelligence services of the Chinese Communist Party and then brokered the sale of documents stolen from a U.S.-cleared defense contractor in early 2021. Shuai has been designated "responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged in, directly or indirectly" activities related to hacking computers belonging to Americans, the U.S. government and an ally of the U.S. The designation levied against Shuai, Kecheng and Shanghai Heiying means that all related property and interests within the United States must be blocked and reported to OFAC, as are 50% or more of any entities belonging to either man in any way. The sanctions also make any transactions with the men or their interests or property illegal, and anyone or any financial institutions violating these sanctions may suffer civil or criminal penalties, whether they be American or otherwise. "Today's action underscores our resolve to hold accountable malicious cyber actors like Zhou who continue to target U.S. government systems, the data of U.S. companies, and our citizens," Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith said.
