...then stay out of this spoiler. If you're hopelessly addicted to the guilty pleasure that is Bravo's Top Chef like yours truly, it definitely takes more than paprika to make you cry. So a minor detail like an inconsequential leak that can't be attributed to the Bush administration should be par for the course, right? Now that we're winding down to Part 2 of the grand finale that has already been mired by last-ditch allegations of cheating, Food & Wine magazine has put the exclamation point on a second season that will live in rerun infamy.

A minimum wager who now joins me on the unemployment line in F&W's public relations laid the mother of all goose eggs, "accidentally" leaking an online feature which inexplicably revealed who the big winner was before Bravo even had a chance to aggravate us all again with more product placement ads before the commercial break. Somehow I get the feeling Gail Simmons offered to use the culprit as a blood sacrifice. Does this put a damper on being excited for seeing the final cookoff in the comfort of my own bedroom with Haagen-Dazs as my companion? Hell to the no. My TiVo is programmed and ready to roll.

Just as long as Padma Lakshmi does in fact utter the melodious phrase of "please pack your knives and go" to Wolverine boy here... I'm good.

EDIT: The cat was already out the bag, but I still had a twinge of apprehension to make sure that the web rumblings did indeed come to pass. Maybe it was the Suriname cherries or the macadamia nut gazpacho with moi which sealed the deal, but yes Virginia, there is still justice on contrived cooking competitions. Two seasons in, two New Yorkers taking the crown. Congrats Ilan!

Labels: foodie, reality TV, Top Chef