Top Chef Washington D.C. Details: Angelo Sosa, Jacqueline Lombard and Ed Cotton as Contestants, Eric Ripert as Judge

Bravo announced the details of Top Chef Washington DC, and hooray: Joining Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, and Gail Simmons as a regular guest judge is chef Eric Ripert (Is Toby Young out as judge?). Also, three NYC chefs will be competing this season: Jacqueline Lombard, recently of Gansevoort 69, Angelo Sosa, the chef/owner of Xie Xie, and Ed Cotton of two-week-old Plein Sud.

Season seven will also include appearances by Apollo Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, White House chef Sam Kass, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, and CIA Director Leon Panetta. Top Chef Washington D.C. premieres Wednesday, June 16th.

The full press release, including all of the contestants, over at Eater National. >>>