Top Chef: D.C. is the seventh season of the American reality television series Top Chef. The season was initially filmed in Washington, D.C. before concluding in Singapore, the series' first international venue.[1] It premiered on June 16, 2010, and concluded on September 22, 2010. In the season finale, Kevin Sbraga was declared the winner over runners-up Angelo Sosa and Ed Cotton.[2] Tiffany Derry was voted Fan Favorite.[3]
| Top Chef: D.C. | |
|---|---|
| Season 7 | |
 | |
| Hosted by | Padma Lakshmi |
| Judges | Tom Colicchio Gail Simmons Eric Ripert |
| No. of contestants | 17 |
| Winner | Kevin Sbraga |
| Runners-up | Angelo Sosa Ed Cotton |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Finals venue | Singapore |
| Fan Favorite | Tiffany Derry |
| No. of episodes | 15 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Bravo |
| Original release | June 16 – September 22, 2010 |
| Season chronology | |
Contestants
Seventeen chefs competed in Top Chef: D.C.[4]
| Name | Hometown | Current Residence[a] | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amanda Baumgarten | Los Angeles, California | 27 | |
| Tracey Bloom | Rochester, New York | Atlanta, Georgia | 33 |
| Ed Cotton | Boston, Massachusetts | Queens, New York | 32 |
| Andrea Curto-Randazzo | Vero Beach, Florida | Miami Beach, Florida | 39 |
| Timothy "Tim" Dean | Washington, D.C. | Baltimore, Maryland | 39 |
| Tiffany Derry | Beaumont, Texas | Dallas, Texas | 26 |
| Lynne Gigliotti | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Hyde Park, New York | 51 |
| Kenny Gilbert | Euclid, Ohio | Telluride, Colorado | 36 |
| Stephen Hopcraft | Cleveland, Ohio | Las Vegas, Nevada | 40 |
| Kelly Liken | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Vail, Colorado | 33 |
| Jacqueline Lombard | Boston, Massachusetts | Brooklyn, New York | 33 |
| Arnold Myint | Nashville, Tennessee | 32 | |
| Alex Reznik | Brooklyn, New York | Hollywood, California | 33 |
| Kevin Sbraga | Willingboro, New Jersey | 30 | |
| John Somerville | Detroit, Michigan | West Bloomfield, Michigan | 42 |
| Angelo Sosa | Durham, Connecticut | New York, New York | 34 |
| Tamesha Warren | Barbados | Washington, D.C. | 24 |
Angelo Sosa and Tiffany Derry returned to compete in Top Chef: All-Stars.[5] Amanda Baumgarten returned for Top Chef: Charleston.[6] Sosa returned again for Top Chef: All-Stars L.A.[7]
Contestant progress
| Episode # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quickfire Challenge Winner(s) | Angelo1 | Angelo Tracey | Kenny | Kenny1 Tamesha1 | Ed | Kelly2 | Angelo | Tiffany | Amanda1 Kelly1 Kenny1 Kevin1 | Tiffany1 | Ed1 | Angelo1 | Ed | N/A | ||||
| Contestant | Elimination Challenge Results | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Kevin | HIGH | IN | LOW | LOW | HIGH | WIN | LOW | HIGH | LOW | IN | LOW | IN | LOW | WINNER | |||
| 2 | Ed | IN | LOW | HIGH | IN | IN | IN | HIGH | LOW | WIN | HIGH | WIN | IN | WIN | RUNNER-UP | |||
| Angelo | WIN | LOW | HIGH | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | HIGH | LOW | LOW | WIN | LOW | RUNNER-UP | ||||
| 4 | Kelly | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | HIGH | IN2 | LOW | HIGH | LOW | HIGH | LOW | IN | OUT | ||||
| 5 | Tiffany | IN | HIGH | IN | IN | IN | HIGH | HIGH | WIN | HIGH | WIN | HIGH | OUT | |||||
| 6 | Amanda | IN | LOW | HIGH | IN | LOW | IN | IN | IN | LOW | LOW | OUT | ||||||
| 7 | Alex | HIGH | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | LOW | HIGH | OUT | |||||||
| 8 | Kenny | HIGH | LOW | IN | LOW | WIN | LOW | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||||
| 9 | Stephen | LOW | LOW | LOW | IN | LOW | IN | IN | OUT | |||||||||
| 10 | Andrea | IN | IN | IN | WIN | HIGH | IN | OUT | ||||||||||
| 11 | Tamesha | IN | LOW | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||||||||||
| 12 | Tim | LOW | IN | LOW | IN | OUT | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Arnold | IN | HIGH | WIN | OUT | |||||||||||||
| Lynne | IN | HIGH | IN | OUT | ||||||||||||||
| 15 | Tracey | IN | LOW | OUT | ||||||||||||||
| 16 | Jacqueline | LOW | OUT | |||||||||||||||
| 17 | John | OUT | ||||||||||||||||
^Note 1 : The chef(s) did not receive immunity for winning the Quickfire Challenge.
^Note 2 : As a reward for winning the Quickfire Challenge, Kelly was allowed to sit out the Elimination Challenge.
- (WINNER) The chef won the season and was crowned "Top Chef".
- (RUNNER-UP) The chef was a runner-up for the season.
- (WIN) The chef won the Elimination Challenge.
- (HIGH) The chef was selected as one of the top entries in the Elimination Challenge, but did not win.
- (IN) The chef was not selected as one of the top or bottom entries in the Elimination Challenge and was safe.
- (LOW) The chef was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Elimination Challenge, but was not eliminated.
- (OUT) The chef lost the Elimination Challenge.
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | 1 | "House of Chef-presentatives" | June 16, 2010 | |
Quickfire Challenge: The 17 chefs competed in a three-round mise en place tournament. The final four chefs were given 30 minutes to make a dish with the ingredients from the first three rounds, plus items from the Top Chef pantry. Instead of immunity, the winner received $20,000.
Elimination Challenge: Each chef created a dish that represented where they were from for 300 guests at an event during the Cherry Blossom Festival. The chefs were divided into four groups; each chef competed head-to-head with the others in their group. The chef in each group with the best dish was eligible for the win, while the chef with the poorest dish in each group was subject to elimination. The four Quickfire finalists were allowed to choose the chefs whom they would compete against to form the four teams.
| ||||
| 91 | 2 | "Outside the Lunch Box" | June 23, 2010 | |
Quickfire Challenge: Working in pairs, the chefs made a "bipartisan" sandwich while joined together with a "double-apron", allowing each chef the use of only one hand.
Elimination Challenge: Inspired by Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, the chefs, working in teams of four, had to create a healthy four-course school lunch for kids at Alice Deal Middle School, consisting of an entrée, two side dishes, and a dessert. Each chef was responsible for one item on the menu. Sam Kass guest judges.
| ||||
| 92 | 3 | "Capitol Grill" | June 30, 2010 | |
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs were tasked with making a pie without a recipe.
Elimination Challenge: The chefs catered an American picnic at Mount Vernon for Capitol Hill interns that included one main dish and two side dishes. Chef Jonathan Waxman guest judges. | ||||
| 93 | 4 | "Room Service" | July 7, 2010 | |
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs prepared an adult dish and a baby-friendly purée version. Instead of immunity, the winners received $10,000 each.
Elimination Challenge: In a tournament-style elimination, the chefs worked in pairs to prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner for people on-the-go, to be placed on the Hilton Hotel's menu. Seven pairs prepared breakfast, and the top two teams were declared safe. The remaining five pairs prepared lunch, and two more teams were saved. The last three pairs prepared dinner, where the team with the poorest dish was eliminated. The team with the judges' favorite dish had it placed on the hotel's menu. The two chefs of the winning team were also awarded separate trips, blindly selected, to either Italy or Spain. Chef Nora Pouillon guest judges. | ||||
| 94 | 5 | "Farm Policy" | July 14, 2010 | |
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs created dishes featuring Maryland blue crab.
Elimination Challenge: The chefs worked as a team to create a family-style farm lunch. Chef Patrick O'Connell guest judges.
| ||||
| 95 | 6 | "Cold War" | July 21, 2010 | |
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs attempted to create a dish using strange or exotic proteins, including yak, Cayman crocodile, ostrich, frog legs, emu egg, duck white kidneys (testicles), duck tongue, and foie gras. Partway through the challenge, host Lakshmi ordered the contestants to trade their proteins with a neighboring chef. The winning chef was exempt from the Elimination Challenge.
Elimination Challenge: The chefs were divided into two groups to prepare individual dishes best served cold. The opposing group of chefs joined the panel of judges and the Quickfire winner to examine their competitors' dishes. A top dish and a bottom dish were nominated from each team. The winner received a six-night trip to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Chef Michelle Bernstein guest judges.
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| 96 | 7 | "Power Lunch" | July 28, 2010 | |
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs were required to create a dish served on a toothpick, mirroring the "toothpick rule", which states that congressmen cannot accept meals from lobbyists not eaten with a toothpick. The winner received $20,000.
Elimination Challenge: The chefs took over the kitchen at the Washington branch of The Palm steakhouse for a lunch service. Each chef was randomly assigned one of five classic proteins served at The Palm: salmon, porterhouse steak, swordfish, lamb chops, and lobster. The winner had their dish put on The Palm's menu and their portrait on the wall. Guests include Mika Brzezinski, Savannah Guthrie, Joe Scarborough, Aaron Schock, Mark Warner, and chef Art Smith.
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| 97 | 8 | "Foreign Affairs" | August 4, 2010 | |
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs were asked to create an Ethiopian-inspired dish.
Elimination Challenge: The chefs had to make a dish inspired by a foreign country they selected to serve at the Meridian Center for thousands of diplomats. The winner received $10,000. Chefs Marcus Samuelsson and José Andrés guest judge.
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| 98 | 9 | "Restaurant Wars" | August 11, 2010 | |
Quickfire Challenge: The contestants separated into two teams for the Quickfire Challenge. Each team created one dish and competed in a tag-team cook-off. Each chef from each team had 10 minutes to cook (40 minutes total), while the remaining chefs wore blindfolds and could not communicate with the cooking chef. The winning team split $10,000. From this point forward, the winners of the Quickfire no longer received immunity from elimination.
Elimination Challenge: Following the Restaurant Wars tradition, the teams from the Quickfire Challenge each created a pop-up restaurant name, concept, and menu. The winner received a trip to Terlato Vineyards in Napa. Food critic Frank Bruni and politician Nancy Pelosi guest judge.
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| 99 | 10 | "Covert Cuisine" | August 18, 2010 | |
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs created dishes using the contents of a "mystery box", with more and more boxes arriving throughout their designated cooking time. The winner received $10,000.
Elimination Challenge: The chefs took a classic dish and created a "new identity" for it. The winner received a trip to Paris, France. CIA director Leon Panetta and chef Wylie Dufresne guest judge.
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| 100 | 11 | "Making Concessions" | August 25, 2010 | |
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs created dishes based on a common food-based idiom.
Elimination Challenge: The chefs worked as a team to operate a concession stand, with a minimum of six dishes, for a baseball game at Nationals Park. The winner received a trip to Australia. Washington Nationals players Matt Capps, John Lannan, and Adam Dunn are in attendance and chef Rick Moonen guest judges.
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| 101 | 12 | "Gastro-nauts" | September 1, 2010 | |
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs had to choose a wine and create a dish to pair it with. The winner received a trip to London.
Elimination Challenge: At NASA, the chefs were asked to create a dish that could be served in zero gravity. The winner received a brand new Toyota Avalon. Astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Leland D. Melvin are in attendance. Chefs Anthony Bourdain and Dana Cowin guest judge.
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| 102 | 13 | "Season Finale, Part I" | September 8, 2010 | |
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs created traditional Singapore street food using a wok. For the first time in the history of Top Chef, the winner of the final Quickfire Challenge won a guaranteed spot in the finals.
Elimination Challenge: Working as one team, all four chefs created a cohesive menu celebrating Singaporean cuisine for an event hosted by Food & Wine magazine.
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| 103 | 14 | "Season Finale, Part II" | September 15, 2010 | |
Elimination Challenge: The final three chefs were told to cook the best four-course meal of their lives, incorporating a vegetable, red mullet, duck, and dessert. The finalists were assisted by previous Top Chef winners, chosen via knife pull. Ed drew Ilan Hall, Angelo drew Hung Huynh, and Kevin drew Michael Voltaggio.
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| 104 | 15 | "Reunion" | September 22, 2010 | |
References
- Notes
- Footnotes