EATS

Why most of his projects are aimed at wining and dining novices instead of experts

Eating together with family and friends and enjoying a glass of wine with food is such a special thing and it's such a rich part of life and culture that people who just eat to stay alive are missing one of the coolest things about being alive, in my opinion. Also, wine snobs are generally really stuffy and boring. Who wants to hang out with them anyway?

Ted's advice for learning about wine in a friendly, relaxed setting

A really fun thing to do in a very unpretentious way is to go out and buy three different brands of sauvignon blanc or chardonnay or whatever varietal you like and cover up the labels somehow and pour them in three separate glasses for each person and just talk about what you like about it. It's such an affordable, comfortable learning experience that you don't even have to read anything about to do. Or if you want to go deeper go to Discover-Wine.com and see what it has to say about wine tasting events. There are some guides to setting up wine tasting events at your house that are very helpful. If you just do that a couple of times with your friends, you'll learn so much about what you're drinking and what you like.

Why you shouldn't be afraid to ask waiters and sommeliers for advice

Tell your waiter, "See here on the menu, this chicken with olives and tomatoes, I'm going to order that, what wines are going to taste good with that but costs 15 bucks." And go from there. It's their job to work with you on that. And for people in the business, they love to show off their superior knowledge of wine. It's like show and tell. They're not there necessarily to sell you a more expensive bottle. They're supposed to be there to help you out. I think that most waiters aren't snobby. If I ask for help and someone does give me attitude: First of all their tip declines dramatically, and second of all, what kind of loser gets off on humiliating his own customers when your job is to show a great experience? I'm not a master sommelier. I don't know every wine in the world. I don't know Italian wines or Spanish wines that well. If I ask you for help, it's your job to help me.

How he didn't expect the fan reaction to his Top Chef blog

When I first started doing the blog, I was more than anything irritated by how much time it takes. But the main thing you want as a writer is an audience and a reaction. Writing online you can get a reaction that's almost immediate. And then it becomes a two-way conduit of communication that can be really interesting. Some of the people who comment on the Internet are out of their minds and they can be a little on the rude side, but people are really into this show. For good reason. It's an interesting show. And people are passionate about what happens. And sometimes because how editors have to cut and pair it down to 46 minutes of programming things fall through the cracks. Things get confusing about what happened on an episode or why somebody got voted off or somebody won, and I like having the opportunity to explain it in a little more detail, especially if something controversial happened.

This season's cheftestants

It's a great cast. They may be a little less sympathetic than last year. For example, I'm not sure whose going to be named fan favorite. That will be interesting to find out.