Top Chef

This week’s guest judge is Patrick O’Connell, the chef and restaurateur who founded The Inn at Little Washington, a country inn/restaurant. This place is cool for a few reasons, the most crucial of which being that it was converted to an inn from an old garage. Additionally, it has been around since 1978, has been awarded five James Beard Awards, and is consistently ranked high on every important restaurant list that matters. The menu features a ton of locally grown products, which probably explains why O’Connell is the guest judge for a farm challenge. The chef himself is not only self-taught, but has also been referred to as “the Pope of American Cuisine,” a pretty big title to be carrying around all day.

Even more flattering? Andrew Lloyd Webber once said of The Inn, "For my money this little hotel provides the best overall dining experience I can remember in a long while, perhaps my best ever." This might seem like a really random endorsement to mention (because it is), but the dude is responsible for Cats. How could we not mention it?