home > entertainment > celebrity

Hero "Top Chef" Judge Saves Life at Inaugural Dinner

Monday, Jan 19, 2009 | Updated 1:00 PM EST

Getty Images

The brawny, award-winning chef sprung into action and successfully dislodged the chicken from a fellow foodie's windpipe.

"Top Chef" judge and restaurateur Tom Colicchio helped save the life of award-winning cookbook author Joan Nathan at a star-studded inaugural soiree in Washington, D.C. when he performed the Heimlich maneuver on the fellow foodie who began choking on a piece of chicken.

Colicchio, an award-winning chef who runs a number of restaurants, was attending a benefit for D.C. Central Kitchen and Martha's Table where chefs showcased their chops when he became hemmed in somewhere between the plates of Persian wedding rice and lamb sausage by a group of fans, reported Ezra Klein on the Internet Food Association website.

Nathan, who was munching on some chicken next to him, began choking. That's when the brawny, award-winning chef sprung into action and successfully dislodged the chicken from the cook book author's windpipe, according to the report.

"I just happened to be nearby," he told the Food Association, shrugging off the save.

Nathan was more impressed with the live-saving feat.

"He's so strong!" she gushed.