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Does Ruth Reichl Think We’re Ruth Bourdain? Maybe. Probably Not.

Photo: Courtesy of Bravo

So what kind of judge will Ruth Reichl be when the third season of Top Chef Masters kicks off tonight? By the looks of a Times preview, she’ll be injecting a little bit of Bourdain into her Ruthie. Sample comments: “Loathsome!” and “Something about this shouts, ‘Hotel food.’” As for the real RuthBourdain, Reichl tells Bravo she has a theory about who the mysterious tweeter might be: “There is actually a little suspicion in the back of my mind that it may be one of the people who was a judge this year.” Could it be Grub Street’s own Alan Sytsma? We can now announce that he’ll be a guest judge this season (he’ll be recusing himself from writing or editing posts about the show, save for offering some behind-the-scenes insight when the show airs), but — for the record — he says he isn’t RuBo. Maybe Saveur editor James Oseland? Eh. We may have to wait till the Twitter page inevitably snags a Beard Award in May. In the meantime, Michael Alan Connelly’s great Top Chef Masters recaps start again tomorrow.

Who is @RuthBourdain? [Bravo]
’Top Chef Masters’ Downsizes [NYT]

Does Ruth Reichl Think We’re Ruth Bourdain? Maybe. Probably Not.