In her exit interview on the Feedbag, Top Chef’s latest victim, Ashley Merriman says what we already know about this season answers the question: “Is it fair to have pros on the level of the Voltaggio brothers competing against people like Ash and Robin? I mean, I eat at Trestle on Tenth, the restaurant where Ash works, and it’s wonderful, but it’s very simple food in a small room, and he’s not even the chef.” (She says, “Every chef there brings something to the table, whether or not your restaurant grosses 3 or 4 million a year.”) She also says she’s doing a project with “a really good, really well-known chef,” and over on Endless Simmer, she reveals it’s Alex Guarnaschelli. When we last spoke to reps about Richie Akiva’s and Scott Sartiano’s supper club in the Plumm space, they weren’t sure Guarnaschelli would be involved — we’ll see how this pans out.
