'Top Chef' Season 7 to Shoot in D.C.

by Michael Thomas Hastings, Posted Mar 19th 2010 @ 2:00PM

Photo Illustration: Getty Images / Bravo

We're already dreaming of the challenges: Whip up some hors d'oeuvres for 100 drunken lobbyists. Design a five-course menu inspired by and served at the Watergate Hotel ("Deep Throat" ceviche, anyone?). Team up to make an entree using only cherry blossoms.

That's right -- in what has to be one of the worst-kept secrets in a city full of them, all signs point to the nation's capital as the shooting location for the seventh season of Bravo's Top Chef.

First D.C. food blog Metrocurean was all abuzz with anonymous postings of location scouting and crew lodging, and then the New York Times casually mentioned in a review of Colicchio and Sons that its celeb-chef proprietor was busy shooting in the nation's capital.

So now that it's official -- and filming has been delayed long enough for Padma to bond with her new baby daughter -- what's in store for this year's cheftestants? Considering that April isn't exactly the most fertile month for fresh veggies in D.C., we can only imagine some creative uses of pork-barrel -- although, on the other hand, we dread the thought of any tea-party themed episodes.

One thing's for certain: If Michelle Obama offers up her White House garden to the producers, you'd better believe she'll avoid a repeat of the Veggiegate incident that tarnished her appearance on this January's Iron Chef America. And maybe we'll even be graced by a cameo from last season's nearby runner-up, Bryan Voltaggio.

Filed Under: Television/Film
Tags: bravo tv, BravoTv, padma lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, top chef, Top Chef DC, TopChef, TopChefDc