The Top Chef judges have eaten their fair share of five-star meals on camera, but are they able to stomach the less-than-stellar dishes?
“I don’t think we have to be forced [to eat anything],” Gail Simmons told Us Weekly exclusively before season 22 of the cooking competition premiered on Thursday, March 13. “I think seasons 1, 2, 3, there were a few things along the way, but that was before we had the level of talent [we have now].”
While the show has “always” featured professional chefs, Simmons, 48, noted that everyone was still “figuring out the formula” in the early seasons. “And from then on, it’s very rare to get bad food. Remember, these are not home cooks who were trying to be chefs … they are professionals at the highest level. And so these days — for the last several seasons, but certainly this season’s no exception — it’s not about eliminating the worst dish every episode.”
Simmons, who has been part of the Top Chef team since it premiered on Bravo in 2006, told Us that the better the chefs, the harder it is to judge. “The food is always so good,” she said. “We don’t spit things out. Things are rarely egregiously wrong at this point because they’re really talented.”
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Fellow Top Chef OG Tom Colicchio agreed that what they’re served is “usually not that bad” — with the exception of a few challenges — but it’s still “a lot of food.”
“Especially early in the season [with more chefs], we have to taste through 14, 15, 16 dishes,” he explained.
Now in her second season as host, former Top Chef winner Kristen Kish is still getting used to the sheer volume of food. “I think the only time I had — I wouldn’t say trouble — but the most full I felt where I was just like, ‘I think I need to take a nap and sit down,’ was after the poutine quickfire,” she told Us of the new season, which takes place across Canada. “It was all starch, cheese and a sauce. And you’re just like, ‘OK.’”
Simmons noted that the judges have an easier time when the chefs bring more variety to a challenge, adding, “We don’t get fatigue from the food that way.”
When season 22 premiered on Thursday, the trio of judges were joined in the Great White North by 15 new chefs fighting to earn $250,000 and prestigious opportunities. Simmons was “really excited” to bring Top Chef to her home country.
“I just think it feels different than any season we’ve ever done before in our kitchen,” she told Us, joking that she was “trying not to be biased.”
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Apart from showcasing the beauty of Canada, the new season brings a wealth of talent. “The contestants are so self-aware, so smart, and they really come in with strong points of view and that’s what we’re looking for. And we only usually get sort of three quarters of the way through the season,” Simmons continued. “This season out of the gate, they’ve really shown us who they are. They are vulnerable, they are skilled. I mean, there’s such an amazing range of cultures represented.”
With a higher level of talent comes more rigorous competition. “These are real chefs and the challenges are, they’re tough by design and I think what really comes through is how difficult of a job they have,” Colicchio told Us. “Halfway through the season, the chefs that are remaining are just looking at us going, ‘We’re exhausted.’ It’s a test of endurance [and] it’s a test of cooking skills.”
As for why Top Chef has been a mainstay of food TV for nearly 20 years? “It just gets better and better,” Colicchio added.
Top Chef airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET followed by Last Chance Kitchen. Episodes will be available next day on Peacock.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
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