'Top Chef D.C.': Seventh season launches with ... a ringer?

As “Top Chef” moves from Las Vegas to Washington on Wednesday, there’s another “Top Chef” cook with a Michelin star under his toque: Angelo Sosa, who has cooked alongside Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Jean Georges), Alain Ducasse (Spoon Food & Wine) and Stephen Starr (Buddakan) and currently cooks at New York's Xie Xie.

And Sosa is not shy about promising a lot. “I want to be the first contestant,” he says in the opening episode, “to win every single challenge.”

Tom Colicchio, the show’s head judge and co-host with Padma Lakshmi, says the star power is intentional: “What would you rather watch?” he asks rhetorically of the difference between following fresh-off-the-boat culinary school grads and fast-rising stars with their own restaurants. “For the last several seasons, we’ve been going after professionals,” Colicchio said.

Colicchio cautioned that even though Sosa (at least as this season’s first episode makes clear) has tremendous ability, his expertise may actually encourage the other chefs to perform better, just as a hackers can shoot a better score when paired with a scratch golfer. “I think everybody will rise up,” he said.

Read more here about "Top Chef D.C."

-- Rene Lynch

Photo: Angelo Sosa in "Top Chef." Credit: David Giesbrecht / Bravo

And Sosa is not shy about promising a lot. “I want to be the first contestant,” he says in the opening episode, “to win every single challenge.”

Tom Colicchio, the show’s head judge and co-host with Padma Lakshmi, says the star power is intentional: “What would you rather watch?” he asks rhetorically of the difference between following fresh-off-the-boat culinary school grads and fast-rising stars with their own restaurants. “For the last several seasons, we’ve been going after professionals,” Colicchio said.

Colicchio cautioned that even though Sosa (at least as this season’s first episode makes clear) has tremendous ability, his expertise may actually encourage the other chefs to perform better, just as a hackers can shoot a better score when paired with a scratch golfer. “I think everybody will rise up,” he said.

Read more here about "Top Chef D.C."

-- Rene Lynch

Photo: Angelo Sosa in "Top Chef." Credit: David Giesbrecht / Bravo