Top Chef (2006– )

Stars:

Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi, Gail Simmons

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 29 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Tom Colicchio	...	Himself - Head Judge (140 episodes, 2006-2013)
Padma Lakshmi	...	Herself - Host (131 episodes, 2006-2013)
Gail Simmons	...	Herself - Judge (99 episodes, 2006-2013)

Storyline

---

Plot Keywords:

Cooking Competition | Cooking | Competition | Food | Non Fiction

---

Genres:

Reality-TV

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 February 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Top Chef All-Stars

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Magical Elves Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The 2nd season winner was Ilan Hall with the runner up being Marcel Vigneron.

---

Connections

Referenced in Scream 4 (2011)
mentioned in dialogue

User Reviews

a dash of cooking, a splash of personality mix well

I started watching this reality series with the second episode during the first season. I have loved it ever since. I really like the challenges. I have heard the complaint that it is not always about the cooking but being a top chef is about the cooking.. the challenges in my opinion are set up to evaluate how the chefs interact with each other, co-workers, underlings, and customers. I think the show is designed to challenge the chefs in ways that they are not accustomed to but yet, the effect is the same as things that happen every single day in the kitchen. THe challenges force the chefs to look deep within themselves. What I mean is that the challenges are set up to encourage out of the box thinking, what happens when half the staff is out with the flu, the delivery truck is 6 hours late, the market sent the wrong type of lettuce/squash/herb, the freezer went out, the house is overbooked by double, as someone got a date wrong on the books so 2 whole seating's are scheduled for the same time, when something gets burned etc. This show just puts what normally might happen over 6 months of problems squashes it into a couple of days, a group of people stuck together away from home, living together, working together,cooking together-from all walks of life, all kinds of cooking experience and education. Add it all together, stir it up and you get a great show