The Commercial Appeal - Go Memphis
How the ‘Top Chef ’ bubble worked in Portland
Think of the NBA bubble, but with kitchens instead of courts.
Last September, Season 18 of Bravo’s “Top Chef” (premiering April 1) sharpened its knives and began filming during the pandemic, keeping its original location of Portland, Oregon, and reimagining some of the kitchen standards that make the Emmy-winning competition show sizzle.
This season’s “cheftestants,” as Bravo calls them, include 15 executive chefs and restaurant owners. All involved quarantined ahead of production, including the crew, host Padma Lakshmi, head judge Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons.
Lakshmi’s pre-production bubble in Portland included her 11-year-old daughter, Krishna. During Colicchio’s own lockdown, “I had my dog with me, so I went outside to walk her. And that was it,” says the judge, who stayed solo in an Airbnb. Both say they were tested every other day during the two-month taping.
The goal of filming Season 18 was to “keep people working” and COVID-FREE, says Casey Kriley, CO-CEO of production company Magical Elves. “We really spent six months preparing to try and shoot during the pandemic.”
But ‘Top Chef’ couldn’t ignore the reality of 2020
In step with the times, the season premiere opens with a somber look at the decimated restaurant industry, as chefs share personal stories of shutting down their acclaimed restaurants and furloughing staff. “Those are conversations I’ll never forget,” says contestant Sasha Grumman, wiping a tear. (A former chef de cuisine at an Italian Los Angeles hotspot, Grumman’s official bio currently lists her as starting a focaccia business during the pandemic.)
“Top Chef ” also rolled its cameras amid Black Lives Matter protests making international headlines in Portland. “Everything was so intense,” says Lakshmi, noting the unrelenting trifecta of the political climate, the pandemic and a deadly wildfire season that hit Oregon after they arrived. “One of the reasons we went to Portland is because it has such beautiful open space and glorious nature. Because of the fires we had to just completely lock down again in another way.”
What does Season 18 look like?
The new season was shot inside a cavernous convention center. “Once we were on the set, you had to wear masks the entire time, except when the judges and contestants were in the kitchen cooking or eating,” says Colicchio.
The judges’ table, refashioned as a giant horseshoe, seats the series’ most discerning palates six feet or more apart. The contestants grocery shop virtually and live in a hotel instead of sharing a house, to create physical distancing. Challenges were rethought, including the all-important ‘Restaurant Wars,’ now scaled back to “micro-restaurants” in which contestants serve a sevencourse tasting menu.
The show itself “wasn’t that different,” says Colicchio, a shrug almost perceptible by phone. “We couldn’t bring 200 people in to do big parties, but we worked around that, and we did other things. Restaurant Wars was a completely different Restaurant Wars. But I loved it.”
“Top Chef ” fans will notice some differences. For Quickfires (the first timed challenge of every episode), “I was no longer able to go around to (contestants’) stations to check out what they did,” says Lakshmi, who was brought plated dishes instead. “I gain a lot of information from looking at their station and seeing, are they a messy cook? Have they wasted a lot of food? I could try to see from far, but it wasn’t the same.”
Viewers will spot judges being served by waitstaff in masks and face shields. Production also rethought guest judges, given the strict quarantine standards: This season, “Top Chef ” alumni including Richard Blais, Melissa King, Brooke Williamson and Dale Talde step in as a rotating panel of judges, who “quarantined with us all the way though,” notes Lakshmi. (Massimo Bottura and Alice Waters pop in as guests, too.)
‘Top Chef’ set was divided into zones
As with other TV production, designated zones kept everyone apart as much as possible. “I couldn’t go into the culinary department where they were keeping the groceries, because that’s not my zone,” says Lakshmi, who resorted to phoning a friend. “We would stand across the soundstage and look at each other and be on the phone talking to each other.”
Lakshmi also applied new rules for her daughter, normally a regular on set. She visited “only on a handful of days; my crew couldn’t have family with them because of COVID,” she says. “I just thought that this is going to be such an emotionally taxing season anyway, that my daughter didn’t need to be running around on her scooter reminding everybody of their children at home.”
Fast forward to March: Coliccho, whose restaurants in Los Angeles and New York have reopened, sees hope for his industry. “The stimulus package has earmarked $28.6 billion for independent restaurants, so that’s a bright spot,” he says. “Little by little, we’re getting there.”
And the season’s biggest win?
“Top Chef,” which at times balloons to a crew of 190, emerged with zero cases of COVID, says Kriley, describing a “very emotional” last day of filming. “As difficult as all of the protocols were, they were more than worth it,” says Lakshmi. “And they were the least we could do, because it worked. Nobody got sick.”
Broadway’s coronavirus shutdown has an end in sight.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced comeback plans on March 25 to set up vaccination sites for Broadway performers and theater workers to ensure shows can return to the city this fall.
“It’s time to raise the curtain and bring Broadway back,” he said during a virtual news conference, promising to “move heaven and Earth.”
Broadway theaters abruptly closed March 12, 2020, knocking out all shows – including 16 that were scheduled to open.
Producers, citing health and city authorities, extended the shutdown through at least June 7.
Along with vaccination efforts, the city’s plan for reopening this fall includes pop-up coronavirus testing sites near theaters, crowd management before and after shows and a mobile vaccination unit for off-broadway performers and workers.
“We’ll do everything in our power to bring Broadway and off-broadway back strong,” de Blasio said, calling on New York state to issue clear guidance for mask usage and coronavirus testing for workers and audiences to ensure reopening can go on as planned.
The announcement did not include information regarding what theater capacities might look like upon reopening. All New York state movie theaters were allowed to reopen this month, with capacity restricted to 25% and no more than 50 people per screen.
Assigned seating, social distancing and masks (except when eating or drinking) are required.
The financial demands of Broadway shows don’t favor keeping seats purposefully empty.
The average operating costs for a play are about $300,000 per week, and weekly costs run $590,000 for musicals.
The Actor’s Equity Association, a labor union that represents more than 51,000 theater actors and stage managers, called Thursday’s announcement “important recognition … that a strong theatre industry means a healthy, strong economy.”
“Mayor de Blasio clearly understands that we cannot socially distance in our work, making the availability of vaccines and testing critical for maintaining a safe workplace,” said Mary Mccoll, executive director of Actors’ Equity Association. “We have been having conversations with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment about safety on a regular basis throughout the pandemic. It is clear that we were heard and the city is pushing forward-looking policy changes that will serve the entire theatrical community.”
“Hadestown” star André De Shields, 75, joined the March 25 conference virtually to cheer on the efforts to bring theater back.
“New York is on its way back, but it will not completely arrive until not only Broadway but all theater across this great city has returned,” he said. “What’s important about the theater are the stories we love to share. That’s the power of our profession. We know, through our storytelling, we can transform individual lives. We can alter governments. We can be the change we want to see in this world. Broadway is the cultural spine of this city.”