What is a “Wheelhouse”?
“Wheelhouse” is one of those terms that I figured out in context quickly. In someone’s wheelhouse means something they’d be especially good at. The term was used several times in Season 5 of Top Chef, but I kept forgetting to look it up.
According to Urban Dictionary and Word Detective, “wheelhouse” is a baseball term meaning the area of greatest potential for a hitter. More generally it means in one’s area of expertise. It likely originates either from a boat term for the elevated captain’s wheel room, or a locomotive term for the swinging power of the roundhouse.