The special guest for this week's installment of 'Rocco's Dinner Party' (Wed., 10 PM ET on Bravo) was Padma Lakshmi. This upped the ante for the contestants as Lakshmi knows a thing or two about good cooking. But it was her dinner table conversation that brought the most heat.

Take a read of the following description for making potato skins. "Take a nice russet potato out of the earth with your bare cold hand. After that, you boil it. Then you take it out when it's piping hot and you can barely hold it ... scoop some of the potato out so that skin gets nice and crunchy and brown at the edges."

Sounds pretty standard, but everything was in Lakshmi's delivery. By the time she finished, she not only had them salivating at the thought of potato skins, but they were fanning themselves for a whole different kind of heat.

'Top Chef' host Padma Lakshmi became a mother for the first time last year, an experience that she's found unexpectedly rewarding. In fact, she told the child-averse Chelsea Handler that "it's honestly the best thing."

The two women were talking about babies on 'Chelsea Lately' (Weeknights, 11PM ET on E!), and Padma and Chelsea agreed that other people's kids can be a real bore.

Padma confessed that pre-baby she always thought children were "nice when they were somebody else's," a sentiment wholeheartedly endorsed by Chelsea: "I actually like kids a lot because they're not mine." However, luckily for Padma, she's been blessed with a "very cool" baby, who's a bit like a mini-adult.

Sadly, the same can't be said for the kids baby Krishna runs into at the playground.

Given the reports that NBC is on the verge of admitting that five nights a week of 'The Jay Leno Show' was a mistake and moving the former 'Tonight Show' host back to late night, how will the network fill five nights of suddenly vacant 10PM programming?

It's been rumored that this move has been in the works for a while, and that it's why NBC has purchased so many series pilots (about 18 of them) in recent weeks. But those shows are meant for the fall season and probably wouldn't be ready to go into full production in time for the March departure of the Leno show. So NBC will have to scramble to fill five hours of primetime programming.

In a stunning 'Top Chef' upset, Los Angeles-based chef Michael Voltaggio came up big in the season 6 finale of Bravo's highly-rated reality competition series.

Known throughout the season as the gambler, Michael often made risky decisions with his culinary visions. But in the end, the gambling paid off, as he edged out his brother, Bryan, and Atlanta native, Kevin Gillespie.

Michael took home the grand prize of $125,000 -- and surely enough work to keep him busy over the next several years.

Michael spoke with reporters earlier this afternoon about what motivated him to appear on 'Top Chef,' the meanings behind his tattoos and the on-set mix ups between him and his brother.

Now that this season of 'Top Chef' is over -- with Michael Voltaggio having been crowned the winner -- millions of viewers will once again face the debilitating syndrome known as PW: Padma Withdrawal. How will we survive another hiatus without a weekly helping of Padma Lakshmi, our exotic guide through the world of haute cuisine? She even made packing our knives and going sound appealing.

To help carry us over to the premiere of 'Top Chef' season 7, here are three more video delights to compensate for the upcoming lack of Lakshmi.

(S06E14) Well, if you think this competition was getting easier, forget it. This is the toughest Top Chef I can remember. These final four were all excellent and as they gathered for the last leg to the finale, you could see that it was game on.

Unlike other seasons, there aren't any obvious villains in this group. Who are you rooting for? I don't know. I like them all in some ways, and yet there isn't a clear favorite either.

I like Kevin, but the Voltaggio brothers have been excellent, too. Their food really does look good enough to eat! And Jen, for all her insecurities, has been great throughout. Tonight would be a close call. More after the jump.

(S06E12) When I saw that the title of tonight's episode was "Culinary Olympics," I didn't really imagine what the chefs would be going through. Were they going to be pole vaulting into the kitchen, did they have to prepare a meal on an ice skating rink? What could be the Olympian angle? Well, apparently there's a culinary competition that's as intense as the Olympics -- and it's not held in a kitchen stadium with Alton Brown doing play by play.

That said, this may have been one of the toughest assignments ever on Top Chef. I tried to envision how past season winners -- let alone the runners up -- would have done in the same circumstances that these final five faced. I can't say for sure that I can think of one that would have aced it ... and for how this five did, read on.

On last night's '30 Rock,' Liz, urged on by Jenna and Tracy, decides to shop around for the best deal possible for a talk show based on 'Dealbreakers' and Padma Lakshmi guest stars as a potential host.

Jack is understandably miffed when Liz threatens to take the show elsewhere rather than have him develop it, so he considers replacing her as host with 'Top Chef's' Lakshmi.

Watch the video after the jump.

(S06E11) This episode isn't about drama, stunts, or (gasp!) vegetarians. It is simply a case of "we have six chefs and we need to get down to five," so it kind of felt like a filler episode. The guest judge was Nigella Lawson, and while Nigella Lawson would be a welcome edition to any TV show, there just isn't a whole lot going on here.

Although, I will say that the quickfire challenge probably provided foodie fantasy fodder worldwide, as it opened up with Padma in bed, wearing a robe with tousled hair -- and if that wasn't enough, we find that Nigella is also in a robe and in bed as well. Granted, they're different beds, but still: same room. The ostensible reason for this was to to a breakfast in bed Quickfire challenge, but come on-- they didn't have Tom Colicchio in that bed.

(S06E08) Well, things have certainly heated up on Top Chef, haven't they? Oh, I'm not talking about in the kitchen; I'm talking about in the house. These chefs are getting testy, or some are. Eli mentioned in the open that there was a lot of "emotional stress." Well, he should know because he's behind some of it. Then there's motor mouth Robin. Could she really be as yappy as she appears to be on camera?

(S06E07) Here's what I love about this episode of Top Chef: Jen and her illness. Yes, it was lovely how she triumphed over adversity and made a kick-ass dish, but mainly, I like the way that it didn't change her at all. She had the exact same dead-eyed expression and monotone that we've all come to know and love. Sick Jen or well Jen, they're both pretty much dead inside-- and I find her hilarious.

This week's Quickfire Challenge involves a slot machine (as all good challenges in life do). I really enjoyed seeing what the chefs came up with, based solely on three random words that came up on the machine. Even when they pulled words that would seem to make it easy, like Ashley's "Blue Cheesy Middle Eastern," they still don't go in the expected direction: there was no blue cheese in her dish.

Amid the real housewives and matchmakers, millionaire real estate brokers and house flippers, there is one unscripted series that has been top shelf on Bravo. With Project Runway not on Lifetime, the best of Bravo's reality is Top Chef. In the five seasons past and the current season playing out, Top Chef has been a winner for the cable net, so it's not a big surprise that today Bravo renewed Top Chef for a seventh season.

If I were a drinker, I'd drink to that. Top Chef is in the midst of season six, which is shaping up to be one of the best yet. The location, Las Vegas, has opened up a lot of options for challenges, including a French food episode that might have been one of the most intense ever on the series.

(S0605) Last week was a big one, with two contestants being eliminated. I'm all for double-eliminations, since the fewer contestants there are, the easier my job generally is. Though Mattin was spared, he is understandably a little embarrassed, since he's from France and completely biffed the French cuisine challenge. I mean, you don't see Kevin screwing up barbecue or anything.

Tim Love is the guest judge; he's one of those rough-and-tumble types who infuses rustic food into fine dining. So I love the idea of letting the audience choose this week's Quickfire Challenge, but the fact that Top Chef is trying to make me believe that with cactus, snake, and kangaroo as choices, 57% of the people asked for cactus? Shenanigans! You know that vote was for Kangaroo Jack to bite the big one. I simply will not believe otherwise.

(S06E01) The producers of Top Chef must have listened to the criticism from the last edition of the show, the one set in New York with the contestants housed in Brooklyn. Despite being in perhaps the most exciting culinary city in the world, TC-NY was pedestrian. Well, Top Chef season six, is in Las Vegas and judging by the premiere, the stakes -- as they said a few times -- have been set very high. The round-up of players was filled with James Beard awardees, Michelin star cooks, people who have restaurants already... and a couple of others who have something to prove.

Ken Warwick has reportedly signed a new three-year, eight-figure deal with 'American Idol' that will reportedly make him one of the richest producers in television.

Also in the news today: 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood' faces cutbacks, while Padma Lakshmi speaks out about her upcoming NBC sitcom.

See more of today's top TV headlines after the jump.