It's a triple television play for local chefs

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Oddly enough, the "Top Chef"-Modesto region connection has scored a trifecta of sorts.

And since I'm obsessed with all things "Top Chef," I'm just the person to notice.

Seasons two and four of Bravo TV's competition-reality masterpiece featured contestants from Oakdale (Mia Gaines-Alt) and Modesto/Los Banos (Ryan Scott), respectively. To have two chefs who hail from this region compete on an Emmy-nominated national television show is odd in its own right.

Gaines-Alt and Scott had to beat out hundreds of talented chefs to become finalists on "Top Chef."

Now, add a Turlock-bred chef to the summer spinoff, "Top Chef Masters," and you have a particularly bizarre triple from our fine little region.

Of course it's no surprise that TV celebrity chef Michael Chiarello would show up on "Masters," a new version of "Chef" that pits some of the world's renowned "master chefs" against one another.

Chiarello, who grew up on his Italian family's farm in Turlock, has been making a name for himself multiple times over for years, owning a winery, fine Napa eateries and stores, authoring cookbooks and hosting his own food-themed television shows.

"Easy Entertaining With Michael Chiarello" on the Food Network won three daytime Emmys. His other show, "NapaStyle," still airs on the Fine Living Network.

Chiarello founded Tra Vigne, one of the foodie-conscious Napa Valley's cornerstone restaurants. He runs six NapaStyle stores and just opened Bottega in Napa, which marks his return to the kitchen after many years in the TV spotlight.

He took time out to compete on "Top Chef Masters" this season, with his episode airing last week.

The spinoff's contestants compete for charities of their own choice. Chiarello, 47, chose The Clinic Ole Foundation, which provides funding to the medical provider that serves Napa County's less-advantaged population. He won $10,000 for the group last week and will vie against five other esteemed finalists to gain it a $100,000 donation.

Doubt was expressed on the show as to whether Chiarello could hold his own against his three similarly renowned competitors, since he'd been out of restaurant kitchens and in front of TV cameras for so long.

But guess what: the Turlock kid had game. He won the night's competition and moves on to return in the show's champion rounds that begin July 29.

Turns out the third time is the charm for locals getting into the finales of "Top Chef." I can't wait to see how he does. Being the local guy and all, he's my favorite to win.

Oh, and by the way, the original "Top Chef" returns with season six from

Las Vegas on Aug. 19. Alas, no one from this region appears to be competing.

That's OK, three is a magic number, already.

Transplanted Modestan Carol Channing received a lovely review from Steve Winn in the San Francisco Chronicle earlier this week for her performance in the long-delayed "Carol Channing & Friends" at San Francisco State University.

"Dressed in a double-breasted white pantsuit and spangly white turtleneck, Channing was great company Saturday as she wandered from recollections to warbly song snippets from 'Dolly' and 'Blondes' (backed by a piano-bass-drum trio) to cheerful backchat about her famous friends," Winn wrote.

The show -- a benefit for the Dr. Carol Channing and Harry Kullijian Foundation for the Arts, an organization she and her husband founded to support arts education in public schools -- was postponed from September after Channing, 88, suffered a fall at the Modesto home she moved to upon marrying Kullijian. She suffered a broken hip and leg in the accident.

Elsewhere around the Scene:

Mark a week from tonight on your schedule to help out Habitat for Humanity at a fund-raiser July 31 at the Queen Bean Coffeehouse. The all-ages show, featuring Anthem, Fair Land and Third Wheel, kicks off at 7 p.m. Cost is $5 at the door. Queen Bean is at 1126 14th St., Modesto. Call 521-8000.

Doing its part to help folks stay entertained in a down economy, the West Side Theatre has reduced the ticket price to its upcoming show with the Highway 61 Blues Band. The Chicago-

style blues group plays the theater Aug. 1 at 8 p.m. with doors opening at 7 p.m.

Instead of $20 general admission and $23 reserved, prices have been lowered to $15 and $18, respectively. West Side Theatre is at

1331 Main St., Newman. See www.westsidetheatre.org or call 862-4490.

Contact Scene editor Pat Clark at pclark@modbee.com.