Reality TV sure does move quickly.
Bravo’s popular reality cooking competition only wrapped local production this past weekend, and now we have an official air date: The first episode of Top Chef‘s 7th season will premiere on Wednesday, June 16 at 9 p.m.
According to an announcement from the cable network, this season will feature guest appearances from famous-for-D.C. types like Buzz Aldrin, Nancy Pelosi, White House chef Sam Kass, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), CIA Director Leon Panetta and NBC White House Correspondent Savannah Guthrie. Celebrity chef Eric Ripert will serve as a regular guest judge.
A couple of the locations we’d heard were used for challenges can now be confirmed: Nationals Park, and a kitchen inside CIA headquarters, to start.
Bravo has also released the names of the 17 “chef’testants” who will be competing for the title of Top Chef. They are:
-Alex Reznik, 33 – Hometown: Brooklyn, NY; Resides in Hollywood, CA
-Amanda Baumgarten, 27 – Hometown/Resides in: Los Angeles, CA
-Andrea Curto-Randazzo, 39 – Hometown: Vero Beach, FL/Resides in: Miami Beach, FL.
-Angelo Sosa, 34 – Hometown: Connecticut; Resides in New York, NY.
-Arnold Myint, 32 – Hometown/Resides in: Nashville, TN.
-Ed Cotton, 32 – Hometown: Boston, MA; Resides in New York, NY.
-Jacqueline Lombard, 33 – Hometown: Boston, MA/Resides in Brooklyn, NY.
-John Somerville, 42 – Hometown/Resides in: West Bloomfield, MI.
-Kelly Liken, 33 – Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA/Resides in: Vail, CO.
-Kenny Gilbert, 36 – Hometown: Cleveland, OH/Resides in: Telluride, CO
-Kevin Sbraga, 30 – Hometown/Resides in: Willingboro, NJ.
-Lynne Gigliotti, 51 – Hometown: Philadelphia, PA/Resides in Hyde Park, NY.
-Stephen Hopcraft, 40 – Hometown: Cleveland, OH.; Resides in Las Vegas, NV
-Tamesha Warren, 24 – Hometown: Barbados; Resides in Washington D.C.
-Tiffany Derry, 26 – Hometown: Beaumont, TX/Resides in: Dallas, TX
-Timothy Dean, 39 – Hometown: Washington D.C./Resides in Baltimore, MD
-Tracey Bloom, 33 – Hometown: Rochester, NY/Resides in Atlanta, GA
You can find full bios for each contestant here. That’s a bit of a disappointing number of locals given the prominence of D.C. chefs who have competed in recent seasons. Timothy Dean, of the former TD Lounge in Baltimore’s Fells Point and Timothy Dean Bistro at National Harbor, appears to be the only local boy we can root for. UPDATE: Looks like I failed to notice that Tamesha Warren of The Oval Room is also on the show. Apologies to Warren! So that’s two locals.
Still, we’re admittedly excited to see how our city, and especially our city’s food culture, is portrayed on Top Chef.
