If you are not familiar with Tom Colicchio, (pronounced Co Leak E oh) he is one of the judges on the TV show Top Chef on Bravo and he is my guest on this episode of Red Belly Radio. The basis of Top Chef is to bring young chefs together and have them compete in challenges and the winner at the end of the season gets $100,000. Colicchio brings the professional chef’s point of view to the judging panel and he is quite good at it. Photo upper right: Tom Colicchio at the Southwest Porch, below: the Southwest Porch.

I was recently at his lower Manhattan restaurant Craftsteak and got a few minutes with him.  He does a great Arnold Schwarzenegger impression (or is it Wolfgang Puck?) and talks about his involvement with the  Southwest Porch at Bryant Park.

For you flying foodies, well those of you who like mushrooms—I mean really good mushrooms—I can’t stop thinking about the mushrooms that I ate at Craftsteak that night, and I got  this recipe out of the chef! Simply pan roast assorted mushrooms with salt, pepper, plenty of butter, and a little thyme, or better yet, take a Southwest Airlines flight to the Craftsteak restaurant of your choice!