As vice president of operations and new business development of Craft Restaurant Group, Katie Grieco works shoulder-to-shoulder with famed chef and Bravo's most recognizable Top Chef personality, Tom Colicchio. Overseeing the Craft, Craftbar, Craftsteak and 'wichcraft locations nationwide (New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Las Vegas) Grieco often has her hands full. She gets the job done one restaurant at a time.

She’s been on the cover of countless fashion magazines, once inspired a novel by her ex-husband Salman Rushdie, and (with a little help from Tom Colicchio) has propelled Top Chef into smash-hit status since becoming the show’s fiery host in 2006. Now, add jewelry designer and ground beef paramour to Padma Lakshmi’s growing resume. Her jewelry line debuts at Bergdorf’s today, and she'll make an in-store appearance on May 8; here, the culinary bombshell discusses sex, burgers, and why she’d rather go naked.

A recent article suggested that you had dreams to build an empire. Is that the goal?
If someone else wants to call it an empire, that’s their business. I think only kings and queens have empires. But I’m lucky to have a new jewelry line. It’s a real labor of love, not at all a licensing deal. I’ve put all of my own money into it.

The 25th anniversary of Gotham Bar & Grill finds Alfred Portale, the executive chef and co-owner, celebrating his restaurant's continued success but also reflecting wistfully on his own beginnings. He sounds off on the evolutions of both his career and the industry, oversized pork sandwiches, and Top Chef.

How would you describe your role in the kitchen?
In terms of the day-to-day operations, that's my role. Twenty years ago, I would cut fish, butcher lamb, get on the line, and cook. Now it's more or less being in the restaurant each night and overseeing the service. Spending time in the dining room and greeting guests. We have a huge amount of regular guests and friends of the restaurant who come each night. I'm now sort of splitting my time between here and Miami. I opened a new restaurant in Miami Beach at the Fontainebleau. It was re-opened after a billion-dollar renovation. It's a wild culture down there.

The blogs were agog over the loss off Brooklyn restaurant Paloma due to a fire which broke out in the ceiling of the upstairs office. Chef Camille Becerra had her first 15 minutes of fame on Top Chef a couple years ago. One of the rags got her up to a half hour of fame when they voted her New York’s sexiest chef. I gave her another minute and a half with my Good Night Mr. Lewis interview of her and Top Chef Nikki Cascone of 24 Prince, and then came the fire. I caught up with Camille and got her side of the burn out.

While some former Top Chef contestants have opened quickie burger joints in DC, and others have migrated to Montauk, Season 2 alum Josie Smith-Malave is staying right here in New York. Sure to dull the lingering pain of early elimination, Smith-Malave has been named executive chef at the private club Norwood. The sometime DJ, sometime MC, sometime T-shirt designer has yet to announce anything on her official site, other than that she "spices up things wherever she goes."

That "Top Chef" logo to the left is very disquieting. You might see a utensil for chopping carrots and filleting whitefish, but to us it’s an instrument for stabbing hearts and slitting throats. Why the hell does a reality show on Bravo about cooking have Jason’s heaving blade as its logo? And how the hell do we segue from that into news that “Top Chef” is coming to New York? Like that. According to the Snack, the popular cooking comp is finally sautéing itself all the way to New York City for its fifth season, where chefs are exposed to the media as much as they are to their oven heat.

When "Miss" pageants just aren't enough, we sate ourselves with "Miss Teen America." When women's magazines aren't cutting it, we rifle through back issues of Teen Vogue (and, er, Teen Beat). When "Top Chef" isn't enough, well, we get hit over the head with "Top Chef Junior." Over the last year, Bravo quickly became our favorite cable channel with new seasons, and premieres, of must-watch shows like "Project Runway," "Shear Genius" and "Top Chef." But adding "Top Chef Junior" to that list might be hard.