Cooking With the Top Chef Judges

Bravo is riding high on the series finale of Project Runway, which scored the highest ratings in the history of the network in the coveted 18-49 demo last week. How do you keep momentum like that rolling? With an even better reality show, Top Chef, which starts its fourth installment tonight on the network that has raised the bar for reality television. The newest Top Chef picks up its knives and heads to the Windy City, where 16 new contestants will vie for the title prize. The location and the chefs may be new but the host and the head judge - the lovely Padma Lakshmi and the intense Tom Colicchio - have stayed the same. They spoke to us this week about the return of Top Chef and what fans can expect from the exciting new season. Sit down and have a bite.

On the biggest mistake new chefs make:

Tom Colicchio: “I think they try to do too much.”

Padma Lakshmi: “I was going to say the same thing.”

Colicchio: “Yeah, most of the dishes. They need to edit or if they removed a few of the ingredients from the dish, the dish is actually a stronger dish. I know I did it in my career. It just comes through experience and confidence. And I think the older you get and the more confident you are, you don’t need to rely on the bells and whistles.”

Lakshmi: “I agree. And also, the better the chef the less ingredients they actually use because they know what flavors they want. They know how to achieve that and the flavors are strong and clear, and come through, and aren’t muddled.”

Tom on how many contestants are unable to make classic dishes:

“That always surprises me. It really does. But I think that’s indicative of culinary school these days and of young cooks and young chefs or what their focus is sort of coming up. It used to be - back when I came up 25 years ago, you learn the classics because that’s what you were cooking in kitchens. But nowadays, I think there’s so much interest elsewhere. I think they’re casting a broad net and that often they don’t have to go through those dishes and learn them. And I’m - we’re always surprised, yeah.”

On the major differences to the show this season:

Colicchio: “You know, I think what happens is as the seasons go on, we’re getting better chefs applying. This season you’re not going to find a first year culinary student. You’re not going to find a housewife who can cook. You’re going to find professionals. In most cases, they are running kitchens, are the -at a sous chef level, chef level, chef cuisine level. Some own their own businesses. And so I think that it’s become accepted in our industry that this is something that’s worth while and that I think better chefs are coming out every year.”

Lakshmi: “Also I think a great credit to Tom and the producers as well is that it really is about the food. You’ll never find us attacking anybody personally or getting involved in their little spats, whether we know about them or not or learn about them after the fact. I think we’ve done - in the four seasons of Top Chef that have been on or about to go on the fourth season, I think what the great thing is, is that I have people all the time who come up to me on the street and say well, you know, ‘I made this dish yesterday for my husband.’ So I feel kind of tickled at the thought that we’re actually educating the TV viewer across the nation about these culinary terms and what it means to do a chiffonade versus a julienne or whatever.”

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