"top chef exit interview" news and stories

Here's this week's installment of Slashfood's exclusive exit interviews with the latest "Top Chef All-Stars" contestant to get the boot. In an effort to prevent spoilers, we've included the text after the jump.

Earlier today, Slashfood posted an interview with Top Chef: DC Runner-Up Angelo Sosa, now, here's our one-on-one with Ed Cotton.

If you could have chosen to not have a sous chef, would you have?
EC: Well, I definitely knew I needed a body to help me. For the amount of things I decided to do for my menu, if I would've done that myself, they would've just told me to stop cooking. Because it wouldn't have been good.

That would've been a first in Top Chef history: to just say stop.
EC: Yeah, I think so [laughs].

What was the thinking behind your final menu?
EC: Chef Tom and Eric went out to the market and brought back some beautiful slipper lobsters and duck, so I was excited and really wanted to showcase the ingredients and be really seasonal about it. Respect the ingredients. I love clean, straight forward and flavored food with great technique behind it.

From episode one, it was clear that Angelo Sosa was going to be around for a long time -- he just couldn't stop winning. But around the midway point, his cooking started tapering off, just as Ed Cotton started coming on strong. They both couldn't have been more different -- Angelo was the sensual chef, Ed was the jocular one around the kitchen. But they did have a few things in common: both come from prestigious tutelage, with Angelo learning from Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Ed with Todd English. Both are currently based in New York City: Angelo, as the proprietor of Xie Xie and Ed at Plein Sud in Tribeca. And both ended up in the finale and lost to Kevin.

Slashfood spoke with both Ed and Angelo the day after the Top Chef: D.C. finale -- we're happy to report they both were in good spirits.

First , Angelo Sosa.

Top Chef has always espoused an "any given Sunday" approach to the competition, but while we've seen some underdogs make it far in the past, Top Chef: D.C. winner Kevin Sbraga really came out of nowhere to win the title. He now joins the likes of Michael Voltaggio, Stephanie Izard and Hung Huynh in the coveted Top Chef stable. As the final challenge asked the chefs to cook the "meal of their life," Kevin offered four courses -- including a killer dessert -- that showed a wide range of culinary knowledge and a willingness to embrace his local surroundings.

His "Singapore Sling 2010" -- a play on the famous cocktail -- was reportedly so good, Chef Tom Colicchio took to his blog, saying "he arrived with the know-how to dash off a great panna cotta and found a way to integrate it into a dish, allowing himself to be inspired by the fruits he found. It was smart. In fact, it was sensational."

Currently the executive chef at Rat's Restaurant at the Grounds for Sculpture, Kevin received his training from Johnson and Wales in Miami and has worked as the Chef de Cuisine at The Grill at Philadelphia's Ritz-Carlton Hotel. In 2008, he won the Best Meat Presentation at Bocuse d'Or USA -- so he does have some experience with winning.

Slashfood spoke with Kevin about his underdog win in Singapore, how he did the "Singapore Sling" and what he plans to do with his prize money, now that he's reigning Top Chef.