• As if pleading guilty to a felony embezzlement charge wasn’t bad enough, Washington City Paper’s Tim Carman reports that Italian chef Roberto Donna, of the late Galileo and Bebo Trattoria, may owe hundreds of thousands of dollars for what a judge ruled as “minimum wage, overtime, and equal pay violations.” Thursday, Donna will face a hearing to figure out what he owes the 11 employees—bussers, servers, and even his personal assistant—who are bringing the complaint. What will the chef’s latest set of problems do to his forthcoming resurrection of Galileo? Carman notes that the day of ruling, Donna posted an ad on DonRockwell.com looking for a mixologist for a bar to open in August.

This week’s Top Chef featured a Quickfire of lobbyist-friendly toothpick snacks, followed by an elimination challenge that sent the contestants to cook a “power lunch” at the Palm, using the restaurant’s proteins. Saddled with swordfish, Miami chef Andrea Curto-Randazzo dished it up pan-seared with a vanilla/mustard beurre blanc. Alas, the judges found her dish too “sweet” and “totally unfocused” and sent her home. She chatted with us about the case of the missing pea puree, her rivalry with fellow Miami chef Michelle Bernstein, and why she wouldn't do the show again.

Nobody walks in Los Angeles. But by a series of dumb tourist moves and poor planning, I found myself wandering the streets of downtown LA one balmy weekend in June. Lo and behold, there was life—better yet, there was food.

The trip to LA was pleasure with purpose. One of my daughters had been studying in South America for five months. Her first stop back in the States was Los Angeles. I decided to meet her and spend the weekend there.

I don’t do trip planning. I’m lucky to book a flight and a room the day before I travel. Searching online for a hotel in Los Angeles confounded me. Hollywood? West Hollywood? Beverly Hills? Santa Monica? Culver City? I settled on downtown, which seemed central and familiar. I booked a room at the Standard Hotel. I had never heard of the place.

“Why would you stay in downtown LA?” my cousin from Encino asked. “There’s nothing there.”

Did anyone else think it was a tad gruesome to open tonight's episode with shots of the city's cemeteries and the Vietnam War Memorial, and have the first line out of someone's mouth be, "People in our room keep getting whacked"? No, just me? Carry on, then.

Tabard Inn’s crab tart has an impressive record: In a restaurant with a rotating menu, the dish has never come off in more than 25 years. Its lengthy stay is thanks to a generation of indecisive diners; the dish was chosen, says restaurant manager Neidra Holmstrom, to “cater to those that wanted a little breakfast or brunch during our lunch hours.” Here’s how to make it at home.

Have a restaurant recipe you’d like sniffed out? E-mail recipesleuth@washingtonian.com.

Carla Hall says that Kenny's dish had "too much going on." Photograph courtesy of Bravo TV.

This week, Alchemy Caterers’ Carla Hall weighs in on last week’s hard lessons and which contestants might still be around because they make for good TV.

How did you feel about last week’s Elimination Challenge [episode 6 recap here], where the chefs got to judge each other’s food and then nominate one person for the winner’s circle and one for the loser’s circle?
“When I found out the chefs had the power to put their fellow chefs in the top or the bottom, I was surprised. My first thought was that they’d judge each other much harder than they’d want to be judged, because I think the chefs can be rather critical of each other and not very objective. As a whole, we’ve seen this group of chefs get quite competitive and seemingly nasty to each other. I’m hoping that the judges weighed in on this decision more than what we saw.”

Do you think the chefs put Kenny in the bottom as a strategic move?
“I think the other chefs went into the process wanting to strategize and knock Kenny out of the race. However, Kenny’s dish had too much going on. I appreciate the fact that he’s super-talented and fast, but I think the duo [of lamb that he prepared] needs to be a super-duper onesie.”

What do you think of Tamesha going home? Do you think she should have been able to last longer?
“I was surprised that two of my favorites, Tamesha and Kenny, were in the bottom. I expected Tamesha to go much further. Like I’ve said before: You’re only as good as your last dish, and Tamesha’s dish sounded a bit weird. It’s funny that the simple dishes were at the top and the ‘over-thought’ ones were at the bottom. Hmmm.”
 

In restaurant critic Todd Kliman's chat today, a reader said that he or she had recently splurged on a meal at Komi. "The food was amazing, the ambiance was great, and the service was impeccable," the reader wrote. "My only complaint? I was told the chef doesn't allow photos of the food to be taken."