Eateries show off tastes of 'Top Chef' vets

— -- Fans of the hit Bravo show Top Chef, which returns for its fifth season Wednesday, have seen their favorite cooks whip up extravagant dishes under the toughest made-for-reality TV scenarios — time crunches, ingredient restrictions, infighting.

Now fans can be their own judge by stepping inside one of the restaurants across the country run by former contestants. The TV lights may have dimmed, but the drive to create the best dish in town lives on.

"When you have a passion for something, you are competitive," says Spike Mendelsohn, a Season 4 "cheftestant" who opened Good Stuff Eatery in Washington, D.C., in July to lines that stretched into the street.

The real star on the menu is Spike's Five Napkin Burger. The patty recipe alone — a special blend of short ribs, brisket and a secret dose of fat — took Mendelsohn a year to perfect. Add applewood smoked bacon, an egg and American cheese on a brioche bun smothered in — here's where the napkins come in — Good Stuff sauce, a mix of mayonnaise, molasses, rice wine vinegar and a secret ingredient.

"A friend of mine was eating one yesterday, and he had sauce all over his chin," Mendelsohn brags.

But Richard Blais, who battled Mendelsohn in Season 4, isn't giving his showmate the last word on burgers. Blais is the creative director for Flip, an Atlanta-based restaurant opening in late November that will offer modern hamburgers and a liquid nitrogen milkshake bar.

"I use liquid nitrogen in cooking like other chefs use frying oil," says Blais, who used the trick on Top Chef to score extra pizzazz points from the judges.

Look for other surprises, such as sliceable ketchup — it has the consistency of soft cheese but takes on the texture of regular ketchup in your mouth — and unique burger options, including the páte melt, using French páte on brioche bread, topped with smoked mayonnaise, basil, mint and cilantro.

Out in San Diego, Season 3 contestant Brian Malarkey, executive chef at the Oceanaire Seafood Room, prefers his signature dishes a little "angry."