Jonathan Waxman

If it's holiday season, that can only mean one thing: It's time to eat!

Last week, the stars of the Food Network gathered to celebrate the unveiling of the holiday windows at Barney's New York. The theme this year was "Have a Foodie Holiday," and the tableaus included caricatures of food icons like Bobby Flay, Paula Deen, Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali and more.

TV Squad was on hand to ask the Food Network stars what killer Thanksgiving side dish they were cooking this year. Plus, they revealed which chef they'd ask to cook their holiday meal.

Chef Jonathan Waxman of Barbuto in New York City was eliminated in fourth place on the second season of 'Top Chef Masters.' Read what he had to say about getting the boot:

What happened?
I was just exhausted. When you're exhausted and you go into muscle collapse, that's where I was. I was done, so if I was a little bit terse or whatever, that's only because I was exhausted and I wanted to go home.

So you don't feel like you gave it your all?
No, I gave it my all. I just didn't have that much to give, you know what I'm saying? It's like the end of a marathon. How fast can you go? There's always gonna be someone that's reserving their power and I didn't ... I was out of shape too. I was kind of fat if I'm being honest with you. Susur was in good shape. So was Rick. Look at Marcus, he's like 25 years younger than me.

When you're in the middle of a very tense contest, it's good to take some time out to have some fun. On the latest episode of 'Top Chef Masters' (Wed., 10PM ET on Bravo), host Kelly Choi said this to the contestants: "We have a little business to take care of." Then, a group of uniformed attendants wheeled a cart into the kitchen.

Usually on 'Top Chef,' this would mean some new type of horrifying challenge for the cooks. But as it turned out, Choi just wanted to celebrate chef Jonathan Waxman's 59th birthday. A large cake shaped like the French Alps was brought in -- to commemorate the fact that Waxman usually spends his birthday in the mountains with his family.

There was even a miniature figure of the chef on top of the cake. However, the figure seemed to be falling off the mountain -- possibly because it was drunk, Waxman theorized. Oh well. On the plus side, at least he didn't have to cook anything -- or bake his own cake.