Can't wait to read the review. Both of the Voltaggio brothers are doing quite well on Top Chef.

Prediction -- the Top Chef competition will eventually come down to Bryan Voltaggio and Kevin Gillespie, a 26 year old from Atlanta, Georgia, whose imaginative dishes have delighted the judges almost every week since the current season began.

I used to watch Top Chef all the time, but my dislike of Padma Lakshmi and to a lesser extent Tom Colicchio has driven me away from the show.

I watch occasionally, but lately the recap on Reality Check is better and funnier than actually watching.

In December 08 my in laws gave us a gift certificate for a 7 course tasting menu at Volt in the kitchen at the chef's table. It was a great experience and the flavors were top notch but we were disappointed that Bryan didn't make the rounds to the kitchen tables to at least say hello, which would have been a nice touch. Even with the gift certificates, it was an expensive meal- about $500 for 4 people with wine. Given the very small portions, we left a little hungry. That being said, the presentation was beautiful, the service was great and we will give it another try sometime soon!

I wish you had not shown my least favorite part of Volt in your picture the "lounge" where they point you for the wonderful express lunch when the 10 seat bar is full. It is almost impossible to eat at the sofa lounge. I look forward to your review and pictures of my favorites parts of Volt.

I went to Volt on 10/7 for my 9th anniversary. Made the reservation through OpenTable with absolutely no problems. Had a wonderful meal and even got to see Chef Voltaggio wandering around. The chefs table was overbooked so some of those diners had to eat in the regular dining rooms. Even so, Chef came out to some tables and served a course here and there.

Although Chef Voltaggio is one of my favorites this season, I think Kevin Gillespie will probably win Top Chef.

Robert, I assume you are male based on your name, how could you possibly dislike Padma Lakshmi? She's ridiculously beautiful and loves food and is a good cook.

tread lightly here EL- this guy is well revered way before Top Chef and well deserved. The food is unquestionably beyond anything happening in Frederick-nee- Maryland at the moment- However, he has been known to foam, deconstruct and even given to whimsy on occasion(albeit rarely)
I hope you enjoyed this gem as much as those of us who loved it even before top chef!

Ps- kevin in the final for sure- pig tatoo! u betcha!

I call 'em as I see 'em, as usual. EL

Robert, I assume you are male based on your name, how could you possibly dislike Padma Lakshmi? She's ridiculously beautiful and loves food and is a good cook.

Corey, there are plenty of beautful yet annoying women in the world. Men, too.

Wait a minute, there is a beautiful woman on TV, and no one told me?

Where did I put the cable to that antenna?

Hal and Robert, I've never heard anyone call Padma annoying before. What do yall find annoying about her?

I completely agree with Hal and Robert. Padma is constantly making snarky little comments, which in my book makes her annoying. Collichio also makes snarky comments and can be simply mean, but at least he has the culinary experience to back it up.

I really don't like the tone this year. Very harsh.

Corey, I've never seen the show (no cable here). I was just defending RoCK's right to dislike her.

I find Padma quite pretentious, especially the way she enunciates every word so deliberately. I also don't find her that attractive, nor have I ever learned anything about food from listening to her.

Collichio has very little consistency. He'll tell someone to change one minute, and then chide them for not being themselves the next. I think he just likes to hear himself talk.

can't wait to try this place. probably won't have time till after the wedding/honeymoon though. =)

can't wait!

oh, and the last three are going to be Bryan, Kevin, and either Michael or Jennifer.

Jennifer's on even when she's sick....

Bryan and Kevin are clear favorites though. And Michael's awesome but he's not always consistent

My experience of Padma is that she's very honest about what she's tasting. She does address her fellow judges when talking about the food she's tasting in front of the chef, rather than addressing the chef directly, perhaps that's where people feel some snarkiness. I don't see it though.

Tom's integrity is what ties the show together in my opinion. I find his commentary to be very straightforward and I have not identified any philosophical inconsistencies to date. Robert, do you have any specific examples in mind?

Hal, we have no right to dislike really beautiful people. I don't think that's really debatable.

"But I do think it's the reason so many Baltimoreans are discovering it right now."

With all due respect, Volt has been open since July 2008 and Tom Sietsema in the Washington Post reviewed it on Oct. 5, 2008. Volt is frequently mentioned by readers in his Q&As. I read (and enjoy) your blog frequently since I discovered it late last year, but have been extremely puzzled why Volt hasn't been reviewed in the Sun earlier. Much earlier. It could and should have been reviewed before the chef left to compete on Top Chef.

To be honest, I figured it was a Sun budget issue, i.e., multiple (and expensive) visits for a review weren't justifiable in cost to the higher-ups. Which is fine, but I don't think the reasoning of "oh, Baltimoreans are JUST discovering Volt recently so I'll review it" is valid.

That wasn't my reasoning, and I didn't mean to suggest it was, although I can see how you could read my post that way. I just thought it was interesting that people are quite suddenly talking about Volt (to me) in a way they hadn't before, and I can't think of another reason except the TV show. If you're ever puzzled about why I haven't reviewed something in the future, please feel free to e-mail me directly. (Or post a comment on the blog.) EL

My wife and I made a point of going to Abacrombie since our home-town girl Jesse Sandlin was competing on Top Chef. I hadn't been there before and wanted the chance to try her food before she left the show (which she did all too soon, but at least she lasted longer than our Baltimore girl did last season). I had never heard of Volt before this season of the show started. If Bryan does turn out to be the winner - a strong possibility- I wonder what he'll do with that large infusion of cash?

Count me as another one of those who can't stand Padma Lakshmi. Tried watching Top Chef for the first time last year and ended up watching the opening of the show, hearing Padma speak and then signing off the show entirely. I can't stand her and won't watch the show because of her (at least that's the first reason).

And while I don't necessarily agree with Collicchio on things, I respect the fact that he's actually a chef with experience rather than simply being married to Salman Rushdie and published a cookbook.

I think Sara's comments underscore the problem here. A while back, Large complained how she was losing "prominence," yet it is only now, a year after Sietsema, that Volt is getting attention from Large. If we're talking about seeking out the coming trends in local/regional cuisine, I'd say Large is a bit late to the game.

Granted, Volt is in Frederick and perhaps it's a bit outside the scope of The Sun, but if the interest is in regaining prominence and maintaining credibility, perhaps it's time that our critic of record start getting back into the game instead of relying on the blog readership.

Please make this your last post on this blog. Thanks. And don't misquote me. I wasn't complaining; I said it was "a relief to me." Here is the link. EL

Ironically, I e-mailed EL recently after having another lunch at Volt to ask about her not having reviewed. She properly replied that she couldn't talk about when she might visit but based on that bacon comment I figured it was coming. Also, I thought based on the recent discussions here about modern or trendy techniques (depending upon your view) that Volt was even more relevant.

Also, like she has said above the national attention brought upon Volt by the TV show seemed to warrant it to me.

I first started visiting Volt in January of this year when Washingtonian listed it as the #15 Restaurant. I have visited for the express lunch, I have visited for the fixed price lunch, I have visited for (DC) Restaurant Week and the chef's table. I have not gone to Table 21 yet, 21 "inventive" dishes is a bit trying.

That being said I can't disagree more with the people attacking her for not reviewing the place earlier.

It doesn't surprise me that Washingtonian and the Post reviewed this earlier. Without knowing the specific circulation I'm sure the Post and Washingtonian reach much farther up the I 270 corridor than the Sun does on the I 70 corridor. As a resident of Montgomery County I am far more likely to visit Frederick (or Baltimore) than my friends in Baltimore are to come this way. Just look at the recent discussions here about those "remote" restaurants Bistro Blanc and Ranazul (Howard County).

She doesn't need me defending her, but I believe the absence of Volt was not based on the Sun's pocketbook (several Baltimore restaurants are equal in price if not more) but rather because Frederick is a destination dining experience for most Baltimore residents not an every night decision that warrants more ink.

Sara, with all due respect, in defense of EL, she first mentioned Volt in this very blog a few days before it opened, as you can readily confirm for yourself from this post.

As for the timing of the review, there are only so many Sunday reviews in a year, and Frederick is a long drive for a meal. EL is a fan of Pizzeria Mosca in Los Angeles, but I don't expect to see a Sunday review of that place any time soon just because it happens to be trendy.

EL puts her foot down--yay!

A little respect, if you please.

Jay C can post on his own blog (of his business) which he posts on here all the time. I guess this means I will have to suffer through his posts on Chowhound more often now.

BTW, for any top chef fans, or people interested, there's a good iama of someone who's worked behind the scenes on top chef:
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9r106/i_worked_behind_the_scenes_on_top_chef_season_5/

the person claims that Padma is a bit of a premodonna and padma and tom don't get along that well.