12th Avenue Neighborhood & Business District

photo courtesy of bravo tv

I have a hard time wacthing Top Chef so early in the competition. There are still too many chefs competing and some get lost in the mix.  So this is all that I learned about Robin on the last episode of Top Chef - she can make an appetizer called, "Duck Mole with Cocoa Nibs and Apricot". The judges didn’t hate it, but they weren’t particularly enthusiastic about it either. The ladies team also lost the team challenge in a BIG way, and luckily Robin was not one of the bottom four competitors. I am really looking forward to learning more about her cooking - maybe even seeing some of my favorite Crave dishes appear at some point!

UPDATE: Apparently there are rumors swirling about the other Seattle chef (Ashley Merriman of Belltown’s Branzino) making it to the final round. Read all about it here.

I finally watched the first episode of Top Chef last night. I was so excited to see Robin Leventhal , former owner and chef of Crave, perform. (I have posted my missing-Crave-on-12th-sadness here recently.)  Sadly for me but lucky for her, she pulled the "immunity chip" in the first group exercise of the episode. When given the opportunity to exchange this chip for a chance to win a 15k vacation package, she passed to preserve her "free ride" through the first episode. To this choice fellow chef/competitor Michael Isabella from Jersey immediately wrote Robin off as not confident enough to compete and exclaimed, "This is one less old lady I have to worry about."  I’m not worried about you Robin.  (Picture thanks to Bravo TV.)