Top Chef's Bottom Line Effect

Four years ago, a San Francisco chef took a gamble and opened up
his San Francisco kitchen to the first challenge of a new Bravo TV
show called “Top Chef.” At the time, Hubert Keller came across as
tough and grouchy but the show was a hit and his Fleur de Lys in
California became a place of intrigue for its fans. Fast forward to
this year when warmer, cuddlier Keller appeared first on Top Chef
Masters and then in an episode of the current, Las Vegas-set season
of the show. Business at Fleur de Lys – long an underperformer at
Mandalay Bay – is booming. Keller speaks this hour about that,
about what it smelled like to grow up above his family’s bakery in
Alsace, France, and about how a Frenchman became one of the biggest
things ever in the burger cuisine. Plus, as usual, Steve asked
Keller about his food guilty pleasures.

In Banter: Ticket scalping issues, Barry Manilow, the
Podcast-a-Palooza, Harrah's dumb iPhone app, DB leaves Wynn, DB
opening at Sands in Singapore and who is the Maori Hi Five?

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