Would you like some cheese with that whine?

Posted by Steve Cavendish



It has been close to six months since it was filmed, but the scars are still pretty fresh from Elia Aboumrad's exit from "Top Chef." She said on the show that she felt "humiliated" by the experience of being the first one to pack her knives and she echoed that again today when talking to The Stew.

She blasted how the elimination challenge was judged and fired salvos at head judge Tom Colicchio for taking money from Coke and disparaged the quality of the products Colicchio uses in his restaurants.

"People change. Fame gets to your head and makes it grow, very sadly," she said. "He has become a very different person. He has become someone who is not all about the food anymore. He's not all about supporting farmers markets. He's all about high-fructose corn syrup and there's only corn-fed beef on all of his menus now."

Colicchio told The Stew that his ad was for Diet Coke (which has no high-fructose corn syrup) and that he's buying more food than ever from local farmers.

"I would say I'm probably buying more local produce at all of my restaurants, especially in Vegas. We get a truckload of stuff that comes from the Santa Monica market and from California farmers three times a week," he said.

"So, anytime she wants to stand by the back door when the truck comes in from the farmers market and help unload it, she's more than welcome to do it. "

Read the rest of the interview, and trust me, you do want to read it, at The Stew/Chicago Tribune.