As if chef Mike Isabella needed any more fanfare surrounding the upcoming opening of his new Penn Quarter restaurant Graffiato, he’s got a 50-50 shot of becoming the next “Top Chef.”
It’s down to only two cheftestants on the Bravo show “Top Chef: All Stars,” with Isabella battling Atlanta-based chef Richard Blais on Wednesday’s finale. All the chefs who participated this season were coming back for a second go at the title.
Along the way Isabella beat out pal Spike Mendelsohn, owner of Capitol Hill restaurants the Good Stuff Eatery and We, the Pizza, and Carla Hall, who was the first of the final five to be cut from the finale episodes in the Bahamas.
“This season with the ‘All-Stars’ there’s no throwaways,” he dished to us back in December. “If you have a bad day or not as a good day as someone else, you go home.”
Unfortunately for us, Isabella won’t be in D.C. for the finale, but will be cooking with Blais in New York City. Mendelsohn and Hall won’t be hanging out either, they’ll be in Chicago. But that doesn’t stop Mendelsohn’s family from throwing a party. The Good Stuff Eatery will be serving a special cherry blossom shake and We, the Pizza will have a special of two slices of pizza and a soda for $10. The Capitol Hill parties start at 9 p.m. The finale airs at 10 p.m. on Wednesday.
