Top Chef in the Media

[tv echo]

Here's What 'Top Chef' Is Really Like, According To Judge Gail Simmons
By Megan Schaltegger   Apr 21, 2025
https://www.delish.com/food-news/a64514759/what-top-chef-is-really-like-judge-gail-simmons-interview/ 

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"If we’re talking about an elimination challenge, the show takes about two to three days to shoot each episode. So the first day is a quick-fire challenge in the studio, and then the reveal and the elimination challenge will be that day," she explains. "The chefs usually go and shop for their challenge and then come back and have some sort of prep and cook time in the kitchen."

"They are about 12-hour days, in general," Simmons continues. "About three hours before we start shooting, I start hair and makeup. Sometimes I start on set; sometimes I start on location; sometimes I start in my hotel room. Everything is subject to our location and specific challenges that day."
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While the final judge's table cut for the show usually runs about 12 minutes, the actual process is much longer—something Simmons doesn't think "most people realize."

"At the end of the day when we wrap our challenge, we usually get a bit of a break while our entire crew moves back to the stage, resets for Judge's table, and we discuss the dishe and speak to the chefs," she explains. "We debate who should win, who should be eliminated, and then we eliminate someone. That process, in general, takes about three to four hours."
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Until the series wraps, the judges and contestants don't interact outside of providing on-screen feedback. "I have no relationship with [them]," Simmons says. "While we're shooting and even until we finish airing the show, I really stay away from them. We don't go anywhere near them in the production process, and they keep us completely separate."

"They have, you know, guardians and supervising producers with them at all times," she adds. "So it's not like we can all just hang out when the cameras are down. We don't really talk to each other. We don't even really look at each other unless we're on camera. I don't want to get to know them. I mean, that's, like, literally the point of the game—that it's fair and objective, right?"
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While Simmons says it's impossible to stay in touch with every single former contestant ("There are hundreds of them," she explains), she is in touch with at least two or three from every season. "Sometimes the winners, sometimes not," she says. "I adore so many of them. I'm so, so proud of so many of them, and I see them at events. I go to their restaurants. If I'm traveling, I visit them when I can because eating in our kitchen on Top Chef is not the same as finally visiting them in on their turf.

Edited April 22 by tv echo

[ProudMary]

6 hours ago, tv echo said:

While the final judge's table cut for the show usually runs about 12 minutes, the actual process is much longer—something Simmons doesn't think "most people realize."

We sure haven't been getting a 12 minute Judges' Table this season! That's been one of my biggest disappointments.

[tv echo]

Top Chef Recap: Pizza Pity Party
By Caroline Framke   Apr 24, 2025
https://www.vulture.com/article/top-chef-recap-season-22-episode-7-you-wanna-pizza-me.html 

'Top Chef' Season 22 recap: Canada's history as the birthplace of Hawaiian pizza
Does pineapple belong on pizza? The "Top Chef" competitor discuss
Elisabetta Bianchini    April 25, 2025
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/top-chef-season-22-recap-canadas-history-as-the-birthplace-of-hawaiian-pizza-100013699.html 

[tv echo]

“Top Chef” judges spill what they really think about Season 22 in Canada… [VIDEO]
NBC California Live    April 25, 2025
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/california-live/top-chef-judges-spill-what-they-really-think-about-season-22-in-canada/3687067/ 
 

When Kristen Kish, ‘Top Chef’ Host, Hits the Mute Button
By Leigh-Ann Jackson   April 26, 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/arts/television/kristen-kish-top-chef-memoir.html 

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In her new memoir, “Accidentally on Purpose,” Kristen Kish reflects on her childhood as a Korean adoptee in Michigan, coming out as gay in her late 20s, winning Season 10 of “Top Chef” and struggling with anxiety.
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Kish, 41, in her book recounts an upbringing filled with meatloaf, casseroles and Sunkist candies. Such down-to-earth predilections have stuck with her despite her upscale culinary career.
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In a phone interview last month, the globe-trotting restaurateur shared her favorite travel snacks, how she keeps in touch with her parents and the thing you’ll probably see her doing while she’s cooking. These are edited excerpts.
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Black Baseball Caps
I always travel with a backward flat brim and a forward dad hat. I’ll wear one and have another hanging off my backpack. The backward hat’s for walking around. The forward hat’s for airplanes and cars (I can’t lean back with the backward). It’s purely mental stability, like a security blanket.

Mute Button
You know when you’re watching something and all of a sudden you’re like, “Oh my God, the noise is just too much”? I will sit there and mute the TV and keep watching it. It’s not that I need 10 minutes of quiet, I just need a few seconds of relief. I also definitely mute during commercials.
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Deep Pockets
A lot of women’s pants have little pockets that go down maybe three inches. I need them to touch my thigh. Because I’m not a purse kind of person, I like to fit my wallet, keys and mints all in my pocket if I can. I have a stylist for any clothes that I wear in public or on television. When fending for myself, I’m going to wear pants that are two times too big, comfortable and with deep pockets. Lululemon dance studio relaxed fit mid-rise cargo pants are so comfortable. Not only do they have deep pockets, they also have cargo and back pockets.

Edited Saturday at 02:28 PM by tv echo