Food & Drink

Top Chef Seattle Stinks!

By Seattle Mag January 25, 2013

topchef_0_0

Hey, Top Chef! How about you pack up your knives and go home?

Really, I’m over it, aren’t you? This season, shot last summer in Seattle, is a big bust. It hurts my eyeballs to watch and stabs at my civic pride.

It’s not just the usual trumped up drama or the lame challenges. It’s that the producers fail to show the city at its best. You know, like when host Padma Lakshmi declared Bite of Seattle one of our preeminent food events. Sheesh.

The real bummer this week was called out by Seattle Weekly’s Hanna Raskin, who got righteously indignantwith the help of Adrian Miller, the Denver-based author of an upcoming book on soul foodat what a crying shame it was that no local African American was asked to sit in judgment of the fried chicken battle. Hello? Oprah knows where to find Ezell’s, but not the Top Chef casting crew?

It almost makes me nostalgic for the cat-and-mouse games played last summer, trying to guess whether the show was actually filming here. Even if the hunt ended badly for me, getting told to scram at the Pike Place Market when I tried to snap a photo of the suddenly-camera-shy Padma.

And, to be fair, I’ve got a handful of friends who were pretty giddy about being extras on the show. (“Oh, yes, that’s the back of my head. And, oh, no. They never did give us anything to eat.”) But, seriously, I’m ready to stick a fork in this season. It’s done.

Or, maybe it’s not too late to come up with a Top Chef Seattle drinking game. Every time one of the contestants says something stupid, take a drink. And when you see the Space Needle, take two. Yup, you’d be wasted before the first commercial.

Thank goodness for the entertaining recaps by Rebekah Denn, which are much easier to swallow than the actual show. And the Twitter feed during the show can induce a few giggles.

Yup, I don’t think I’ll be tuning in for the grand finale. If you need me, I’ll be on the couch, watching repeats of Chopped on demand. Now, there’s a fine and dandy way to spend 60 minutes.

Or, I’ll be catching Anthony Bourdain’s Layover in Seattle. It airs 2/4 on Travel Channel!

 

 

Follow Us