Photo from Bravo TV

As Top Chef DC winds down, dedicated viewers and fans continue to watch as Top Chef DC will eventually turn into Top Chef Singapore. Will DC continue to watch once Padma and crew fly on out of the Nation’s capital?

We’ll find out, but first we will see if Bravo can pull out an episode that does Washington DC justice after a series of mediocre hits and complete misses.

This week: a trip to NASA but first we start back at the apartment…

10:02: Kevin tries not to knick himself shaving while Kelly misses her husband. We learn that Angelo not only has a kid but is freshly divorced. Good to see he’s rebounding with that Russian Mail Order Bride.

10:03: Dana Cowin from Food & Wine Magazine is a guest judge and Ed feels that he has an edge since he’s Facebook friends with her. Do you follow her on Twitter as well? The quickfire challenge: create a meal that pairs with a chosen wine. The prize? A trip to London.

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Photo from Bravo TV

So how’s everybody’s Top Chef DC fantasy team? With Kenny’s departure I bet a lot of fans are missing one of the stronger chefs of the season. Of course I know nobody is out there playing Fantasy Top Chef but it’s almost Football season. I can’t help thinking about fantasy sports!

But I will say this- so far into the season it’s looking like that it’s not just not Angelo who has a chance to win it all. Tiffany, Ed, Amanda, and even Kevin have shown that they could stick around long enough to make it to the end.

Of course the one name I didn’t mention was Alex. Nobody likes Alex. The chefs think he’s sloppy, inexperienced, and unrefined; the audience thinks he’s a cheating thief; and he’s lucky that his team won restaurant wars last week or else he’d be gone by now.

Will this be the week Alex finally gets the boot? Here’s my running diary.

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Photo from Bravo TV

Prior to the tonight’s episode I went a little to do restaurating and enjoyed happy hour with some great friends over at Brasserie Beck. Now it’s time to curl up and catch the late airing of the latest episode of Top Chef DC:

11:00: Thanks Bravo for reminding me about the pea puree. Can’t we just let it go? Of course as I learned last week, they don’t show you something unless it’s supposed to be a set-up for later on. Does this mean Ed and Alex are going to war over stolen ingredients? We can only hope.

11:01: Kenny doesn’t know why he’s in the middle, he says he’ll need to unleash the beast. Sorry Kenny you aren’t the first reality star to say that in DC. I still think you are a pimp however so it’s all good.

11:03: Ed hopes to “work closer” with Tiffany for the Quickfire Challenge: a blind-folded tag team challenge. Ed needs a girlfriend really bad.

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Photo from Bravo TV

Welcome back faithful Washingtonians to another episode of Top Chef DC. I thought I’d try and mix things up with a running diary of tonight’s episode, ala Bill Simmons.

9:00 PM: Recaps are on, almost forgot about all that pea puree drama. As petty as the act sounds, it’s about time things got a little bit dramatic.

9:01 PM: Token shot of an empty bed and cut to a chef lamenting about the latest departure. Did it really take eight eliminations to make the competition “real” all of a sudden?

9:03 PM: Marcus Samuelsson, winner of Top Chef Masters season 2, is on hand to talk about the global food scene in DC, highlighting Ethiopian Cuisine. It is about time they dived deeper into the local scene besides politics and interns. The quickfire challenge is to create an Ethiopian dish.

9:05 PM: Amanda goes wild over goat leg while the other Chefs rag on Alex him like’s he’s the A-Rod of Top Chef. Can’t blame them, he shouldn’t be well liked with those kinds of rumors about. Meanwhile Angelo says he’s an expert on Ethiopian flavors- good thing he’s clearly been using them in his dishes up until this point. The best I’m going to expect from him is an Ethiopian egg roll.

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Photo from Bravo TV

Welcome back to DC Top Chef, we missed having you around the town. After a couple of weeks of relative boring DC tie-ins the past two episodes finally included some DC sightings to talk about.

Last week on Top Chef:

• Last week’s episode, titled “Cold War,” was timed perfectly with spy trades and Angelina Jolie films in the news.
• Quickfire Challenge: make dishes out of exotic proteins. Duck testicles? Gross.
• Andrea bitches that guest judge Michelle Bernstein has a bias against her because they are both rivals back in Miami.
• Ed continues to name drop, citing how he’s so familiar with these ingredients after cooking with Todd English
• Angelo gets an amazing idea for his Duck testicles: Testicle Marshmallows. What? Unfortunately we won’t get to see it- a twist in the challenge has everybody passing their dishes to the left.’

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‘claw’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’

I can’t believe we are only five episodes in- it’s already felt like I’ve been watching this show FOREVER. Mostly because it’s been a couple of episodes since there’s been anything to be put the DC into Top Chef DC but hey I don’t want to disappoint those looking for my cutting-edge analysis so as long as they show airs, we’ll be here watching it- so you don’t have to!

The show opens with a scene setting up two “couples” within the group: Tamesha and Angelo along with Ed and Tiffany.

Tamesha is enjoying getting “mentor” help from one of the show’s strongest contestants and Angelo is attracted to Tamesha because he sees himself in her.

Excuse me for the sexual innuendo, I don’t honest think Angelo is attracted to Tamesha (who works in DC’s Oval Room,) in a sexual way- I think he used the word attracted because he’s so full of himself he’d be attracted with a self-reflection off a spoon.

Anyways it all results in a really awkward lean over to whisper some sweet nothings that he hopes isn’t picked up by the enormous boom mic above him.

Guys it’s reality TV- they are going to hear it.

Ed and Tiffany on the other hand are something else. When Ed says he enjoys Tiffany’s company I get that high school crush/reality showmance feeling. Nothing like having a conservation on the foot of her bed- it makes me wish Ed would just make a move so there’d be something interesting going on here besides cooking.

For the Quickfire challenge we are introduced to the episode’s guest judge: Patrick O’Connell, a James Beard (OMG that name again!) award winning  chef and founder of The Inn at Little Washington. We are also introduced to the challenge: CRABS!

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‘Cucumber Puree’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

There is a reason that we love DC- and Top Chef DC. Washington DC is a Top Chef town with many former contestants and judges working in the area. This week the names we’ve grown to love locally returned to the small screen.

But first, a baby challenge.

With Padma fresh off a pregnancy (sporting a turtle shell for a shirt) and Tom with young children of his own, the two hosts challenge the chefs to create an adult meal with a companion purée for a child.

The chefs certainly came up with baby food that I wouldn’t expect to see in the grocery store aisle. Duck with Spinach? Curried Sweet Potato Bisque? Pan-Seared Rib Eye?

Certainly choices for those being fed with a silver spoon I suppose. Of course I am a 26 year old blogger with no kids- is making your own baby food the in thing for DCers or do you head for the Gerber aisle? Continue reading →

‘Ribs009’
courtesy of ‘photopete’

When we last found our culinary heroes they were faced with challenges that would strike fear into any Top Chef contestant: Dessert & Grilling. Desserts spell death to a Top Chef contestant but I’m surprised that so many of the contestants were hesitant over grilling.

I know guys who can’t cook but are able to roast a steak or burger over an open flame. I agree with Tom’s take on the episode that perhaps these contestants are great Chefs- but not necessarily good cooks.

I’m afraid that the days maybe numbered for DC’s local favorite Timothy Dean. He’s been in the bottom four twice and I wonder how long his status as “the local” will keep him from packing up his knives?

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‘Classic school lunch. Yum.’
courtesy of ‘Ben+Sam’

Top Chef is off and running after a lackluster premiere, in fact the lowly 1.8 million that tuned in last week was the show’s lowest premiere since the beginning of the season. When you take into account the lower than usual turnout for the Real World DC premiere, one would have to think if DC is the place where reality TV goes to die. I certainly hope not! Producers are right to think that the Washington, DC backdrop is sexy- I mean where else can you have a National monument in every B-roll shot? Also where are you going to find cool guest judges like White House chef Sam Kass?

The cook for the Obama family prepared meals for the family in Chicago and moved to DC after the election. He’s a self-starter with no formal training or experiencing running a restaurant or hotel. Instead he’s more of a working chef that continues to cook for the First Family while also advising and supporting Michelle Obama’s healthy living agenda.

I bet you didn’t know that about about Mr. Kass. The again you might have been too busy staring at him wondering if it would be possible to get trapped in an elevator with both him and Tom. In 2009 Kass was listed in People’s “100 Most Beautiful People,” yet another reason to get this White House official on camera.

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‘PeelingPotatoes’
courtesy of ‘YoAmes’

We are halfway through the Trifecta.

Reality TV’s love affair with Washington, DC started with The Real World DC (a show I happen to know a lot about) and now Top Chef DC is here to keep us entertained before The Real Housewives of DC crashes the party.

I am excited to bring my experience covering DC’s reality shows over to We Love DC- and by cover I mean sit down on the couch while exchanging remarks with Kirk and Rebecca during our Cover It Live. Continue reading →