`Top Chef'
title from one of her cookbooks).
• “Hell's Kitchen” (too harsh for my taste).
• “Iron Chef America” (lighten up, people).
• “The Rachael Ray Show” (a bit too talky and perky).
• “Chopped” (fun, but who would really eat that stuff?).
• “Worst Cooks in America” (Ugh! Why would you want to watch such unappetizing food, people?).
• “MasterChef” (I'm so over Gordon Ramsay).
• “The Great British Bake-Off” (fun, and so veddy British).
Want more? How about the ego-driven “Beat Bobby Flay”; the flamboyant “Cake Wars”; the saccharine “Cupcake Wars”; and the most recent entry, Gordon Ramsay's “Next Level Chef” (see above for my opinion of him).
The message: LOTS of us love to watch cooking shows. Confession: I binge-watched all nine seasons of “Holiday Baking Championship” in January. (Don't judge me; it was a bad month.)
You may have noticed by now the one biggie that's not yet been mentioned. It's the whole reason I'm writing this, to offer up persuasive arguments as to why this one reality cooking show is better than all others in the genre.
Since “Top Chef” debuted on Bravo in 2006, it's been seen by millions of viewers and has been nominated five times for a Primetime Emmy, winning twice. (The Season 2 finale alone had 3.9 million viewers.) In 19 seasons, it's been set in cities across the country from San Francisco to Boston with finales in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Singapore, China and Italy, among other locales — and the 20th season, an all-stars competition
filmed in England, premieres at 9 p.m. Thursday.
OK, on the extremely remote chance that you've never seen it, here's the premise:
Each season, between 12 and 19 contestants compete for the title of Top Chef, getting a cash prize (now up to $250,000) and a serious boost in culinary cred. In two cooking trials per show, each chef's work is critiqued by constants Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio, as well as a guest judge, among them foodie giants like Anthony Bourdain, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Hugh Acheson, Jacques Pépin, Eric Ripert, Hubert
Keller, Graham Elliot and Ted Allen.
And each season of “Top Chef” is like a good novel, boasting everything you might want out of any TV show: heroes (Fatima Ali, Fabio Viviani) and antagonists (Stefan Richter, Marcel Vigneron); a fascinating plot; a high degree of suspense; twists and turns; and a satisfying conclusion — even if you don't always agree with the judges.
The Bay Area has been represented in nearly every season. Last season, it was Vallejo pastry star Monique Feybesse and chef Robert Hernandez, a former chef de cuisine at San Francisco's Octavia.
The season before: Oakland chef Nelson German of alaMar Kitchen and Sobre Mesa. The list — Jen Biesty, Preeti Mistry, Ryan Scott — goes on and on.
And how many other cooking shows have had quite as many spinoffs? (I counted 12.) In addition to “Top Chef Masters” and “Top Chef Junior,” Bravo has extended the brand to just desserts; brought chefs back for all-star duels; launched a Spanish-language version; and even followed the chefs after their time on the show.
Oh, and there is also a “Top Chef” computer game, a cooking school and a variety of cookbooks.
But beyond all of the inherent drama and the dynamic personalities lies the main reason to love “Top Chef”: the food. You will be in awe over how these chefs create such glorious dishes under such duress, in some extreme conditions, in such a short amount of time. Even the failures look better than anything I can do.
Confession No. 2: At the height of COVID-19 isolation, when I was tired of crossword and jigsaw puzzles, I watched 18 seasons of “Top Chef.” Night after night after night.
It was a rough pandemic, but I'm grateful to “Top Chef” for helping me through.