Chef loses; brewpub wins!

It may have been a guilty pleasure, but I've been watching weekly episodes of Hells Kitchen, Fox TV's 'reality' cooking program, hosted by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey. I've been watching because a chef from a local (to me) brewpub has been a contestant.

Tennille Middleton is the chef at the Sweetwater Tavern, a brewpub in Falls Church, Virginia. She had survived elimination over 12 episodes. (Read my review of the program here.) But last evening, although it had been a good fun for her, she failed to make the cut. The program's loss is our gain: she remains at Sweetwater.

• Sweetwater actually lies just outside the Falls Church city limits, in Fairfax County, Virginia, but it shares a Falls Church City zip code.
• In 2010, Falls Church will be gaining a brewpub (Mad Fox Brewing Company) within its city limits.
• I sometimes assume that readers will understand beer-related jargon that I take for granted. A brewpub is a restaurant that includes a brewery on its premises. Since a brewpub combines the functions of a brewery, a beer distributor, and a beer retailer —three functions that most US states keep separate by law— brewpubs exist as special exemptions to these laws, which are known collectively as the 'three-tier system'.