Phillip Lopez Escapes to the Conference Championships

In a contest that was just ridiculously close, Phillip Lopez, chef/owner of Root and New Orleans' Hottest Chef, narrowly escaped from Round 2 of Eater National's Hottest Chef Competition. After claiming 50.6% of the vote?just 60 votes more than his competitor?Chef Lopez defeated Philly's champion, Jason Cichonsky of Ela.

With this win, Chef Lopez moves on to the Eastern Conference finals, which will begin tomorrow. In the finals, he'll face off against DC's John Critchley, chef at Urbana.

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