Top Chef Hits Town

 Miss the party? Check out photos from the event here. 

June’s just halfway over, but it’s already been a terrific month for Washington pride. Stephen Strasburg brought a Nationals crowd to its feet in a standing ovation with his electrifying pitching debut on June 8. And last night, a similar phenomenon on a smaller scale occurred when watchers jammed Chef Spike Mendelsohn’s Capitol Hill burger joint, Good Stuff Eatery, to cheer on local contestants in the premiere of the seventh season of Bravo’s Top Chef at a party sponsored by Good Stuff and Washingtonian. They may not have gotten what they hoped for on television—Washington-native cheftestant Timothy Dean was in the bottom four, though he avoided elimination—but as Chef Spike tested new milkshake flavors and recipes for his soon-to-open pizzeria, the audiences weren’t left hungry as they watched the cooking on screen.

Mendelsohn worked the counter and circulated sample pies from We, The Pizza, set to open next door to Good Stuff Eatery on July 12. The slice I tasted was more New York than Neopolitan, with a solid crust necessary to hold up the load of olives, cheese, tomatoes, and peppers. His staff passed around some sample milkshake flavors, too, including a surprisingly tangy apple-maple concoction. And Mendelsohn visited with Carla Hall, the season-five runner-up who now runs Alchemy Caterers, and won, at least for the evening, Washingtonian’s prize for best celebrity guest at a party by showing up with a basketful of cookies and posing for multiple pictures with smitten and adorably jittery fans.

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Alyssa Rosenberg