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'Top Chef' Judge Tom Colicchio Schools Us In Gourmet Sandwich Making

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By PopEater Staff Posted Sep 24th 2009 03:11PM

'Top Chef' judge Tom Colicchio is on a culinary campaign trail to promote Eat Tastefully -- a plan to enjoy what you eat without sacrificing great taste or style. PopEater had the chance to catch up with him at the Diet Coke Pop-Up Kitchen, which is open from Sept. 25 - Oct. 4 at 3 W. 57th Street in Manhattan.

During our visit, Colicchio discussed 'Top Chef,' his frequent charity work and even showed us how to make a stellar eggplant sandwich -- with anchovies! Watch the video and see our exclusive interview & photos after the jump. >>

On the Eat Tastefully campaign: "The pop-up kitchen is to teach people how to eat tastefully, get a lot of flavor into food and not really give up a lot while doing it. People are on the run, on the go, so we're trying to teach people how to recreate the lunchbox and have great food that tastes great and that's portable. We're also feeding about 1,000 people with City Harvest."

On his other charity involvement: "I've worked with City Harvest for the last 15 years or so, plus a lot of other charities ... mostly hunger related issues and children's education health issues. My wife and I are producing a film about hunger called 'Hungry in America' highlighting the hunger issues we have in this country. I think too often the face of hunger is a child in Africa covered with and the distended stomach. There are people here dying of hunger here. 13 million kids go to bed hungry in America every night. It shouldn't happen in this country. We have enough food to feed everybody, we just don't have the political will to do it. Hopefully through this film we can change policy."

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Tom Colicchio: Eat Tastefully Campaign

'Top Chef' judge Tom Colicchio makes sandwiches at Diet Coke's Eat Tastefully campaign at the Pop-Up Kitchen.

Ben Trivett, Popeater

Ben Trivett, Popeater

Tom Colicchio

'Top Chef' judge Tom Colicchio makes sandwiches at Diet Coke's Eat Tastefully campaign at the Pop-Up Kitchen.

Ben Trivett, Popeater

'Top Chef' judge Tom Colicchio makes sandwiches at Diet Coke's Eat Tastefully campaign at the Pop-Up Kitchen.

Ben Trivett, Popeater

'Top Chef' judge Tom Colicchio makes sandwiches at Diet Coke's Eat Tastefully campaign at the Pop-Up Kitchen.

Ben Trivett, Popeater

'Top Chef' judge Tom Colicchio makes sandwiches at Diet Coke's Eat Tastefully campaign at the Pop-Up Kitchen.

Ben Trivett, Popeater

'Top Chef' judge Tom Colicchio makes sandwiches at Diet Coke's Eat Tastefully campaign at the Pop-Up Kitchen.

Ben Trivett, Popeater

'Top Chef' judge Tom Colicchio makes sandwiches at Diet Coke's Eat Tastefully campaign at the Pop-Up Kitchen.

Ben Trivett, Popeater

'Top Chef' judge Tom Colicchio makes sandwiches at Diet Coke's Eat Tastefully campaign at the Pop-Up Kitchen.

Ben Trivett, Popeater

'Top Chef' judge Tom Colicchio makes sandwiches at Diet Coke's Eat Tastefully campaign at the Pop-Up Kitchen.

Ben Trivett, Popeater

'Top Chef' judge Tom Colicchio makes sandwiches at Diet Coke's Eat Tastefully campaign at the Pop-Up Kitchen.

Ben Trivett, Popeater

T'op Chef' judge Tom Colicchio makes sandwiches at Diet Coke's Eat Tastefully campaign at the Pop-Up Kitchen.

Ben Trivett, Popeater

On the new season of 'Top Chef': "This season is different because the chefs are so much better this season. I don't know that it's luck of the draw or chance, but the food is really interesting. Also this season there's less drama behind the scenes. Nobody is hooking up and they're really focused on the food. When we're shooting, we're not allowed to interact with the contestants at all. Only when we're judging them. I don't know what they're like. I don't know their personalities. All of the reality stuff, we're generally not aware of, so a lot of the things viewers see I see at the same time."

Do you ever feel bad having to judge these chefs? "I treat the cooks on the show the way I treat cooks in my kitchen. There are times when they need encouragement and there are times that they need to hear the truth. I don't ever say something just to be mean. It's usually to try to teach them something. When we do the reunion episodes, most of them say to me that the criticism has helped them. It's not about being mean. I don't have an arsenal of one-liners ready."

On the 'Top Chef' Emmy nomination: "'Amazing Race' keeps winning. This is our third year going, so you meet friends, and it's amazing how so many celebrities watch 'Top Chef.' I said recently that TV isn't my industry, I'm a chef, and someone said 'Well, it is now.'"

On not being starstruck: "Not so much starstruck because over the years you meet people again, but I was surprised when Jon Stewart said 'I love the show.' I'm a huge, huge fan of Jon Stewart, so that was fun. People like that, you think 'Really, you watch my show?' But I was never the kind of person who was starstruck. We have tons of celebrities that come into the restaurants, and I just kind of leave them alone and let them do their thing.

The Diet Coke Pop-Up Kitchen, located at 3 West 57 Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues, is open September 25th - October 4th from 11am-3pm as part of the Eat Tastefully campaign.

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Tags: popeater exclusive, PopeaterExclusive, tom colicchio, TomColicchio, top chef, TopChef

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