Top Chef viewers may have been impressed that Howie, the token Mr. Hyde of the show, magically morphed back into Dr. Jekyll when he finally got the boot, but we hear he was less than happy to leave. Our source, who works on the show, tells us that after walking off the set, Howie hurled his knives in a room full of crew members before storming out to a parking lot. (He was polite to the other cheftestants, though.) Outside, cameras tracked his every chain-smoking move, but the tantrum never aired.

We also hear that Padma Lakshmi was visibly flustered when her then-husband Salman Rushdie visited the set. Maybe because she could no longer complain to the crew about things such as his habit of leaving his socks everywhere. Which raises the question — when does the “Top Chef: Too Hot for TV” DVD come out?

Earlier: Sanitation Is Important to Howie Kleinberg, and He Never Lost His Temper