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Top Chef ™ is an American reality competition television series which has run since March 2006. The show features professional chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.
The Top Chef ™ chef-contestants are judged by a counsel of exemplary, world-renowned professional chefs and famous names from the food and wine industry. The show is produced by Magical Elves Productions.
The success of the show has resulted in multiple spin-offs, such as Top Chef Masters ™, Top Chef: Just Desserts ™, Top Chef Junior ™, Top Chef Amateurs ™, Top Chef Family Style ™ and Top Chef VIP ™. Many global derivations of the show have also been created.
Top Chef ™ is a streamed cooking show that uses a progressive elimination format. The beginning of each season starts with twelve to nineteen professional chefs selected through auditions. The chefs are brought to the season's host city or state, which typically inspires themes throughout the season. The chefs live in a provided apartment, house, or hotel during the season, with limited access to outside communication. In each episode, the chefs participate in a Quickfire Challenge and an Elimination Challenge (described below). The winner of the Quickfire Challenge is typically granted immunity from elimination, a prize, or another benefit for the following Elimination Challenge. As the name suggests, the loser of the Elimination Challenge is eliminated from the competition. This format continues until two or three chefs remain. Each finalist is then challenged to create a full-course meal; the chef with the best meal, as determined by the judges, is declared the "Top Chef" of the season. Towards the end of the season, when only three or four chefs remain, the show moves to another location, often somewhere exotic, for the final rounds.
The twenty-first season, Top Chef: Wisconsin ™, opened on March 20, 2024, where the regular hosts are Kristen Kish (primary host) accompanied by Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons. Padma Lakshmi was a very popular host who left the show at the end of the 2023 season.
In the Top Chef ™ Quickfire Challenge, chefs must cook a dish that meets certain requirements (for example, using specific ingredients or inspiring a particular theme) or take part in a Top Chef ™ challenge (for example, a mise en place relay race or a taste testing contest).
In the Quickfire Challenge the Top Chef ™ contestants are usually given an hour (often less) to complete these tasks. The Quickfire Challenge traditionally begins with the host saying, "Your time starts now," and ends with the host saying, "Hands up, utensils down." A guest judge often selects chefs (typically three) as the best in the challenge. They also typically name the three dishes that they liked the least. Traditionally, the winning chefs were often granted immunity from the episode's Elimination Challenge but from Season 21, Kristen Kish removed the issuing of immunity from the Quickfire Challenges and instead rewarded it as part of the Elimination Challenge (see below). As the number of contestants dwindles, immunity is withdrawn completely, and instead, the winner receives an advantage (such as being the team leader for a group challenge or getting the first pick of ingredients) or a prize (such as chef's knives, wine, or cash).
In the Elimination Challenge, the Top Chef ™ contestants prepare one or more dishes to meet the challenge requirements, which often drive towards a theme and are usually more complex and need a longer time to complete than a Quickfire Challenge.
Top Chef ™ Elimination Challenges may be individual, or team, challenges. Occasionally they require the contestants to produce more than one course. Teams are either selected thought mutual agreement from the contestants, but are more often determined by a process such as "drawing knives" from a knife block. Ingredients for all challenges generally allow chefs access to the Top Chef ™ pantry and an Elimination Challenge also includes purchasing the ingredients from a grocery store within a specified budget and shopping time limit. The Top Chef ™ contestants will then cook for up to five judges and a number of guests. Even in team challenges, each professional chef is judged on their own merit, with team-building behavior often taken into account.
After the Elimination Challenge, the chefs report to the Judges' Table, where the judges will deliberate on their choices for the best and worst dishes. The judges may also consider guests' comments, if available. The top individuals or teams are called in and may be asked questions about their dishes or preparation before they are notified of their placement. One (occasionally two) of the chefs are named the winner of the challenge and may be awarded an additional prize. The same procedure is repeated with the poorest performing chefs or teams. From this group, one or more chefs are chosen for elimination, with the host asking the chef(s) to leave by saying, "Please pack your knives and go."