And then there were… 21. Seasons of “Top Chef,” that is.
A new season of Bravo’s “Top Chef” starts at 9 p.m. March 20 with new features such as a new location, new rules, a new host and a race with sausages.
Kristen Kish, a favorite among fans and winner of season 10, is taking on the role of host this season, alongside judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. This season, the cheftestants will participate in challenges in cherry country, cranberry bogs and a Milwaukee Brewers game, where they will race against sausage mascots. sausage mascots is apparently a thing.
This season’s 15 contestants include James Beard nominees and rising stars from across the country, including three with Bay Area connections such as Rasika Venkatesa, who has worked at Yountville’s French Laundry and San Francisco’s Mourad, where she worked as chef de cuisine.
David Murphy worked at San Francisco’s Madera and at Whitechapel before opening his Shuggie’s Trash Pie + Natural Wine, which was named one of the best new restaurants in America in 2022 by Esquire.
And Mexican-born chef Laura Ozyilmaz hails from New York City’s Eleven Madison Park and San Francisco’s Saison. Ozyilmaz was a co-founder and co-executive chef at that city’s buzzy Noosh, until a major falling out with another co-owner in 2019. She and her husband, Sayat, returned to San Francisco’s dining scene last year with Dalida, an elevated Middle Eastern restaurant in the Presidio that was named one of the best new restaurants in America by Esquire last fall.
They’re the latest in a long line of Bay Area chefs competing on one of the small screen’s most popular culinary competitions. And this season brings a few surprises.
Quickfires will have cash prizes, and elimination challenges will grant immunity.
At a Brewers game, cheftestants will compete to enhance a range of sausage options – brats, chorizo, Polish, Italian and classic hot dogs – the same types that inspired the team’s cute racing mascots. A supper club challenge involves a Quickfire visit to a farmers market with special judge and Oakland native W. Kamau Bell. And the season finale sends the team off to the Caribbean aboard Holland America’s MS Eurodam cruise ship.
“Top Chef” airs on Wednesdays from 9 to 10:15 p.m. on Bravo; streaming episodes air the next day on Peacock.
