We Love DC Does Top Chef DC: Episode 12

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.

Photo from Bravo TV

10:05: Padma starts the challenge with a snazzy little suit number. I recently had a discussion with Lisatella about women in suits and I have to say in this instance Padma is rockin’ it. However DC doesn’t agree with me:

via @ElyssaK

via @floridagirlindc

10:06: Angelo is spouting a lot of wine jibberish that I would expect to hear at Jazz in the Sculpture Garden or something. I’m still thinking about Padma in that suit number.

10:07: Kevin has to change his dish over to Quail and starts swearing more than a Cee Lo Green music video.

10:10: After Ed is judged by Dana he responds with a, “Thank you, nice to meet you.” Ed quit Facebook stalking your judges before you meet them. Kevin’s last minute quail doesn’t cut it and Kelly’s dish also gets some low marks from the guest judge thanks to her bleu cheese foam.

10:14: Angelo is back on top after a three challenge slump. All that self help stuff must of helped him get his mojo back.

10:15: Padma announces that the finale will be Singapore and Angelo is 100% tingling inside. He really does have an Asian fetish going on doesn’t he?

via @iDineDC

10:16: The cheftestants find out they are going to NASA for the elimination challenge and they do a good job acting all excited. Come on this isn’t exactly space camp- however Kelly’s been to space camp so maybe she really is excited.

10:17: The chefs find themselves in the control room at Goddard Flight Center and get their challenge via astronauts on the International Space Station. That was kinda cool- I didn’t realize that the astronauts spend their days wearing fancy polos. They looked more like park rangers than rocket jockies.

Photo from Bravo TV

10:19: The challenge is to create space food for astronauts. The dishes will be judge by a panel of astronauts including Buzz Aldrin.

10:26: Tom is in the kitchen checking in on the chefs, fine but I don’t want the in-depth interview- just let them cook or give them advice. I still think Tim Gunn does the best in-challenge visits.

10:28: Tiffany has a problem- all of her mussels have frozen in the fridge and are unusable. She mulls the problem back at the house where Kevin sports a popped collar. Looks like he’s ready for a night out in Georgetown, or at least Clarendon Ballroom.

10:30: The chefs find out that the winner of the challenge gets a Toyota Avalon. Within 45 seconds the chefs satisfy Toyota’s sponsorship buy with rave comments and they drive off to the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center to cook their final dishes.

10:32: Angelo mentions that he really wants that Toyota Avalon. Somewhere a Toyota exec just got a raise.

via @KatieHall

10:33: Meanwhile Tom, Padma, Anthony Bourdain, Eric Ripert, Buzz, and others sit down for their meal. Tom makes a parting comment to Buzz about walking on the moon. The audience is too busy at the visual of both Tom, Ripert, and Bourdain at the same table:

via @livitluvit

10:38: Bourdain and Ripert are going right at it- is there some sort of chef rivalry going on? Also I’m ignoring all pea puree references for the rest of the series. The Twittersphere appears to enjoy the Anthony/Eric combo.

via @maggieesq

10:47: Back at the judges table the Bourdain/Ripert bickering underlies their mixed reactions with Ed’s Moroccan dish. The two were in both in agreement however with the rest of the opinions: Kelly and Angelo got the praise while Kevin and Tiffany got a bit more negative marks.

10:56: Looks like making love to those ribs paid off for Angelo and he walks away the winner. He gets that car that he’s been dreaming of and gets to watch a NASA space shuttle launch. Oh he also gets Anthony Bourdain’s new book. Hey why can’t the judges get a little product placement as well?

10:58: In a heartbreaker, Tiffany has to pack up her knives:

via @kadarlikeradar

And just like that Top Chef DC has finally wrapped up operations in DC. Kevin, Kelly, Ed, and Angelo will move on out of the country to finish up the season and not a moment too soon.

Will you keep on watching Top Chef DC or has the local interested finally waned?

Patrick has been blogging since before it was called blogging. At We Love DC Patrick covers local Theatre, and whatever catches his eye. Patrick’s blog stories, rants, and opinions have been featured in The Washington City Paper, Washington Post Express, CNN, Newschannel 8 Washington, and NBC Washington. See why Patrick loves DC.

You can e-mail him at ppho [at] welovedc.com

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