top chef 7

At virtually the same time last night, both Bravo's Top Chef and Fox's MasterChef crowned winners, and both victors defied the odds to take home the top prize. See who won and our thoughts on both, after the break.

Eager Top Chef fans are just hours away from finding out who's won the Washington DC season — but if you're dying to know early, you can find out who wins right about now. Why? Because in gearing up for the season finale, it appears Bravo's online team has inadvertently revealed the show's winner. To find out who that is — warning, don't click if you don't want to know just yet! — read more.

In a previous life (or at least what feels like one), Thursday mornings used to be Top Chef talk time at the Sugar office. We would hem and haw over which Voltaggio brother made the more appetizing dish, or laugh over Fabio Viviani's unintentional jokes.

But these days, there is no commiserating over the bad judgments that took place on Bravo the night before. Many of the contestants, it seems, are much older and just care to promote their restaurants. The biggest drama of last night had something to do with stolen peas — at least that's what I think. Even Tom and Gail seem a little disinterested. As PartySugar put it: "The best thing about last night's episode was the hot young politician."

I couldn't agree more; in fact, I don't even care who wins this season. Like I said before, I think the show has lost its luster. What do you think of Top Chef: Washington DC so far?

Photo courtesy of Bravo

Yesterday, Time writer Josh Ozersky asked the question I've been waiting all year for someone to broach: has Top Chef lost its edge?

Bravo's already a third of the way through Top Chef: Washington DC, Ozersky argues, and there hasn't been a single feud or an established villain. He writes: "The challenges are either old hat ... or silly ... the setting this season, Washington D.C., has all the excitement of a school field trip."

Back in the day, we used to be glued to our screens, but we've been tired of Top Chef for some time now. The challenges seem recycled, and it's hard to care about any of the cheftestants anymore. But that's just us. What do you think? Does Top Chef still have legs?

Photo courtesy of Bravo

On last night's installment of Top Chef: Washington DC, award-winning pastry whiz Johnny Iuzzini judged the pie quickfire — and revealed he'll be head judge on the forthcoming Top Chef: Just Desserts.

Joining Iuzzini and Gail Simmons, the host of the new series, will be Hubert Keller (a runner-up on Top Chef Masters) and DailyCandy editor-at-large Dannielle Kyrillos.

I'm surprised with the lineup of judges yet, at the same time, not surprised at all. It remains to be seen what kind of insight they'll lend to the evaluation process. What do you think of the announcement? And what are your thoughts on last night's Top Chef 7 episode?

Photo courtesy of Bravo

Last night, the second episode of Top Chef: DC went down, and it was totally action-packed. First came the Bi-partisandwich Quickfire, in which the 16 contestants teamed up in pairs and tried their best to single-handedly pile ingredients between bread while attached at the apron. The challenge was painfully cheesy, but Angelo was the right one to win immunity.

For the Elimination Challenge — seriously, who didn't see this coming? — the chefs took part in Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, and made a four-course school lunch for 50 on a public school budget of $2.60 per person. Standing in for new chef judge Eric Ripert was the extremely attractive and intelligent White House chef Sam Kass.

I wasn't surprised by the taco team taking home the win, or for someone being eliminated over dessert. So far, I think Kenny and Angelo are the season's front-runners. How do you feel about Top Chef: DC?

Photo courtesy of Bravo

Hot on the heels of news that Top Chef 7 has been delayed, rumors are flying that the show will be filmed in the nation's capital. Yesterday, DC food blog Metrocurean said it received word that Bravo crews could roll in as early as next week — and anonymous tipsters quickly began leaving intel that the cast, crew, and judges would be staying on location in historic neighborhood Dupont Circle.

Today, The Reliable Source, the Washington Post's gossip column, is also reporting that Top Chef will be filmed in the nation's capital. It doesn't surprise me that Washington DC is the purported season seven location. I'm already envisioning episodes involving Michelle Obama's garden, the White House farmers market, and former Top Cheffers (and locals) Spike Mendelsohn, Carla Hall, and Bryan Voltaggio.

Would you be pumped if Top Chef 7 took place in Washington DC?

Source: Flickr User Alotor