Top Chef Watch: Asian Flu

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TOP CHEF -- "Finale Part 2" Episode 714 -- Pictured: (l-r) Ed, Kevin, Angelo -- Photo by: Joan Leong/Bravo

Spoilers for the finale of Top Chef DC coming up:

Top Chef DC ended its run in Singapore, but it started off in our nation’s capital, and it tried to structure its challenges around Washington, its culture and its politics. So it’s fitting that the end of the season should come down to a choice among flawed candidates, and that the main drama should come from healthcare.

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Top Chef Watch: Singapore Slingers

Spoilers for the first half of Top Chef DC’s finale coming up: I have seen every episode of Top Chef DC. I have also seen, with the exception of season 2, pretty much every episode of every season of Top Chef. So I think I can speak from experience when I say that, by the [...]

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Top Chef Watch: Failure to Launch

Brief spoilers for this week’s Top Chef coming up: The finals of this season of Top Chef will take place in Singapore, a fantastic choice: a vibrant food city—or, um, so I gather from food TV and magazines—with a colorful culture that melds a numbers of Asian cuisines. And I wish they weren’t doing it. [...]

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Top Chef Watch: International Incident

Spoilers for last night’s Top Chef DC coming up: When Padma announced the theme of the elimination challenge on the “Foreign Affairs” episode of Top Chef—each contestant picks a different country whose cuisine to make—I dreaded the twist I was sure was coming: “Now, please pass your choice to the chef on your left.” Top [...]

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Top Chef Watch: Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold

Spoilers for last night’s Top Chef DC coming up: Here are some words I like to hear on Top Chef: galantine, mirepoix, bacon. Here are some words I have no interest in hearing on Top Chef: strategy, alliance, tactics. Don’t get me wrong, I like the game of Survivor. When it is played on the [...]

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Top Chef Watch: Hotel Reservations

Belated thoughts on Wednesday’s Top Chef DC coming up: The “Room Service” elimination challenge combined two (to my memory) new situations on Top Chef, one a good idea and one not so great. I don’t recall a challenge involving preparing a hotel meal before (thought there may have been an early one I’ve forgotten), and [...]

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Top Chef Watch: Landslide Victory?

Spoilers for last night’s premiere episode of Top Chef: DC follow: “I will set the presidents,” misspoke Angelo with perfect appropriateness, as he kicked off Top Chef‘s first series set in the nation’s capital by rolling to a win in both the Quickfire and the Elimination challenges. If the precedent has indeed been set, we [...]