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Last week, rumors sprung up on Grub Street and Eater, indicating Top Chef's Season 8 is currently being filmed in New York City, this time billed as Top Chef All-Stars. The more popular chefs from the series have been spotted shopping at Brooklyn's Fairway grocery store and being filmed at the American Museum of Natural History. Of the 18 rumored chefs, here's a list of 14 (after the jump) that have been seen and identified by our top-secret Top Chef spies.
Marcel Vigneron (Season 2's runner-up)
Richard Blais (Season 4's runner-up)
Fabio Viviani (Season 5's resident scallop critic)
Stephen Asprinio (Season 1's suit expert)
Angelo Sosa (Season 7's resident advisor)
Tiffany Derry (Season 7's IHOP alumni)
Spike Mendelsohn (Season 5's bromancer)
Michael Isabella (Season 6's loudmouth)
Carla Hall (Season's 5 soul enthusiast)
Dale Talde (Season 4's loudmouth)
Tiffani Faison (Season 1's runner-up)
Jamie Lauren (Season 5's Team Rainbow Standout)
Antonia Lofaso (Season 4's Nicest Contestant Ever)
Jennifer Carroll (Season 6's Eric Ripert protégé)
The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that the first episode is scheduled to run after Thanksgiving, but Bravo has declined to comment.
Understandably, this list contains no winners from seasons past -- and if this is indeed accurate, could indeed hint that Top Chef: D.C.'s resident food-sex enthusiast Angelo Sosa could be exiting, leaving either Kevin, Kelly or Ed prime candidates for the season 7 crown.
Certainly these possibilities include great chefs who proved on the show they can cook -- there's no arguing there -- but this particular round-up also seems to showcase "All-Star" personalities, from conniving to coarse to downright sweet as pie.
Assuming this list is accurate, who would we like to see round out the final four spots? Obviously, Season 6's runner-up Kevin Gillespie would be welcomed back on the small screen -- his love for all things meat, beard trimming and positive attitude about life in the kitchen made him a pleasure to watch.
Our next pick probably isn't going to be popular: While she was never a fan favorite, Season 4's Lisa Fernandes' infamous sour face made for great TV. She seemed so annoyed at everyone at every moment (judges included), yet channeled that annoyance into skillful cooking that nearly had her on top. It'd be great to see if she's lightened up since the show aired, but if not, it wouldn't hurt to throw her back into the mix for others to complain about.
Noticeably absent are mentions of Season 3's contestants. Though Tre Wilcox exited rather early and Casey Thompson won fan favorite, maybe they aren't quirky enough to join an All-Star cast. Hung Huynh would surely boost the All-Star's pompous factor, but he won -- though season 5's Stefan Richter could easily fill that void. From a technical standpoint, Stefan was one of the strongest competitors throughout the entire series -- it'd actually be hard to imagine an All-Stars cast without Stefan.
Lastly, Bravo blogger and season 6 contestant Eli Kirshstein rounds out our wish list, mainly because of his All-Star caliber cutaways. Dude had a wicked sense of self-deprecation that was endearing and fun to watch, yet he was also innovative with his dishes. Plus he had tall hair!
We now turn to you, loyal Slashfood reader and Top Chef enthusiast. Who would you like to see round out a Top Chef All-Stars cast?
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9-08-2010 @5:56PM david johnson said... I'd like to see Tre come back.
I think Carla's tag line should be (love enthusiast) She cooked from the soul, but she was all about the love.
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9-08-2010 @8:13PM Ben said... Um... Isn't this kind of a huge spoiler for the current season?
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9-08-2010 @10:44PM andrew said... i dunno about spoiler ... this season has been so bad, i almost want to thank them for posting this so i can assume angelo *didn't* win.
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9-09-2010 @11:25AM Amanda said... I'm *thrilled* for the (hopefully) spoiler. I'm soooo over Angelo I'm glad to see a likelihood that he won't win, especially after last night's disappointment. Also, I don't know if anyone else noticed, Ed was on Iron Chef America last weekend - with Richard Blais - as Cat Cora's sous chef. Does that mean he too doesn't win this season? If that's the case, then the answer is clear.
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9-09-2010 @11:53AM david johnson said... Amanda -- I wouldn't necessarily put 2 and 2 together about Ed. There's a good chance Iron Chef America was recorded before Top Chef DC even began filming.
9-09-2010 @12:46PM Amanda said... TC started filming in April, ICA in July.
9-10-2010 @9:06AM Jasper said... ICA started filming in July for *next* season's shows. They filmed that battle almost a year ago.
9-10-2010 @11:10PM Stephanie said... How about CJ from Season 3? Great personality, absolutely adorable, and an extremely talented chef! I'd love to see him as an All-Star...
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9-12-2010 @8:05PM Bernie B said... The people not already listed that I would like to see again are from Seasons;
1: Lee Anne Wong
2: Josie Smith-Malave
3: CJ, Casey Thompson
6: Kevin Gillespie
Sadly, I don't know if Lee Anne can participate in these anymore since she helped produce the show for awhile. I'm really over Tiffani Faison and wish she would just fade into the background since she won a reunion show already. Hopefully she gets cut early on.
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9-16-2010 @3:11PM Skoolie said... at first I read Stephen as Stephan and got excited. oops.
Who I'm excited about that is on the list.
Richard Blais (Season 4's runner-up)
Fabio Viviani (Season 5's resident scallop critic)
Michael Isabella (Season 6's loudmouth)
Carla Hall (Season's 5 soul enthusiast)
Jamie Lauren (Season 5's Team Rainbow Standout)
Antonia Lofaso (Season 4's Nicest Contestant Ever)
Jennifer Carroll (Season 6's Eric Ripert protégé)
Who's missing that I wish was there.
Stephan - I'd love to see a Jamie Stephan cooking team.
Andrew (culinary boner) - would make an awesome comedy team with Fabio
Kevin G. - Meat mmmm BBQ mmmm
Sam Talbot
Michael Midgley season 2
CJ
Radhika - thought she got shafted a bit in restaurant wars plus she is so cute I just want to pick her up and put her in my pocket.
Eli
and Yes Lisa - not for the drama but because she really was a good chef, I think she got a bad edit, and I think it would be fun to watch her prove everyone wrong.
Also an All Star Season needs All star guest judges
Eric Ripert
Anthony Bourdain
Wolfgang Puck
Ted Allen
Jeffery Stiengarten
Gale Greene
an Iron Chef - pick one :)
I say All stars should be set in Seattle though and then you could feature Tom Douglas and Tilth owner Maria Hines and other pacific northwest foodies.
also a elimination challenge with all seasons winners judging the food.
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