The ATL was all over Sonoma County this weekend. Top Chef Contestants Eli Kirshtein & Kevin Gillespie visited their good friend and Atlanta native Hardy Wallace aka Dirty South Wine aka A Really Goode Job winner. Hardy and the crew at Murphy-Goode in Healdsburg threw a little shindig for locals to meet, eat and drink with the two Top Chef favorites. Kevin and Eli spent most of the evening taking photos with the adoring Sonoma County fans and signed Viking helmets in honor of the Vikings epic win over the Green Bay Packers. Not that either chef really cared about the football game, but Dave Ready Jr., winemaker at Murphy-Goode, is what one would consider a Vikings Superfan. An equivalent to a “cheesehead” in Packer Country. Kevin and Eli are definitely fan favorites as they aren’t like the bickering Voltaggio Brothers or Jennifer Carroll who started out as my favorite, but her lack of confidence is starting show. You might notice I left out one cheftestant, Robin. Hmmm Robin. Moving on.
The local rumor mill has been swirling since Top Chef Judges Tom & Padma were spotted in Healdsburg a week ago that the season finale was filmed here in Sonoma County. I might be a little biased, but I dare say that Sonoma County can top the Napa finale in Season 1. Considering farm-to-table cooking and a commitment to crafting award-winning wines has been part of the Sonoma County heritage for years, I think this will be the best Season Finale ever. Even local food blogger Heather Irwin got wind that the award-winning Cyrus restaurant was closed last week for some unknown reason. And if Heather blogs about it then it MUST be true.
So fans of Top Chef unite! Who is your pick to win this season? What do you think will be the final challenge? What chefs should be part of the finale?
My picks for local celebrity chefs would be Douglas Keane from Cyrus, Charlie Palmer, Josh Silvers from Syrah & Duskie Estes from ZaZu.
And just for fun, here is a pic of Kevin’s pig tattoo which should have been entered in our Sonoma Wine & Food Tattoo Contest!
Check out the fun Kevin & Eli had with their pal Hardy during their first trip to Sonoma Wine Country:
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One Trackback[...] off by telling us how to cook not one, not two but six folks, six game hens. We also found out that Top Chef was going to be in Healdsburg and managed to tie-in a reference to the movie 2012. This so terrified us we found some clips of [...]