The cooking show that made cooking cool, Top Chef, premieres it’s new season tomorrow night on Bravo. This time all the action will heat up in the city that never sleeps, New York. I don’t know about you, but I could NOT be more excited.
Recently, host Padma Lakshmi and judge Tom Colicchio spoke about the new season.
“I was so excited for it to be in New York. I really was,” Lakshmi told reporters during a Friday conference call. “I mean I’m very proud of this show for, you know, like not only going to fine restaurants… but also really looking at the city holistically,” Laksmi said.
Colicchio added, “What’s interesting about this season, it was somewhat of a difficult shoot. Usually if we’re on location somewhere else we sort of create our own little universe,” Colicchio told reporters. “I think because we were shooting in New York and we all live in New York, we’re going back to our regular lives as soon as we were off the set, at least I was.”
“Obviously shooting in New York lent itself to a lot of just amazing things that New York has to offer – you know, a lot of different ethnic cuisines,” he said. “That sort of worked itself into the challenges at a lot of different locations.”
Top Chef: New York’s 17 contestants range from 21- to 44-years-old, hail from across the country and have a wide variety of culinary credentials. “They’re an interesting bunch,” said Lakshmi. “I thought they really held their own. I think the one thing I noted this season is that it was really interesting to watch the evolution of more than a few of them. I think they really are – were very quick learners. And so some of the contestants over the course of the challenges and weeks really surprised us.”
Lakshmi added the amount of food and lack of time does make the judges’ job more difficult. “The amount of food consumed is staggering,” she said. “And also, we — especially in the first half of the show when we have so many contestants — you know, I feel and I’m sure Tom would agree the (onus) is on us to make sure we sample every contestant’s dish adequately, you know, in fairness. So it does become difficult.”
Responding to critics comments that the show is more about mass-media production that discipline and technique, Lakshmi had this to say.
“I think that Top Chef also does a great service in informing people about food and cooking technique, and eating right and using good local ingredients,” she said. “You’ll see that a lot, especially on this season. And so for that, too, I think it – yes it has – TV has changed the way people look at food for the good, you know, for the better I believe.”
I am a huge fan of the show and can’t wait for tomorrow’s premiere!!!
[images: WENN]
