And then there were … 21. Seasons of “Top Chef,” that is.
A new season of Bravo’s “Top Chef” kicks off at 9 p.m. March 20 in a flurry of novelty that includes a new location, new rules, a new host and racing sausages. (Yes, really.)
Fan fave and season 10 winner Kristen Kish takes on host duties this season, joining judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. This season of “Quickfires” and elimination challenges take the cheftestants to cherry country, cranberry bogs and a Milwaukee Brewers game, where a race among sausage mascots is apparently a thing.
Kristen Kish is the new host of Bravo-TV’s popular “Top Chef” series, which launches its 21st season on March 20, 2024. (Courtesy Natalie Engel/Bravo TV)
This season’s 15 contestants include James Beard nominees and rising stars from across the country, including three with Bay Area ties. Among them: Rasika Venkatesa, whose resume includes stints at Yountville’s triple Michelin-starred French Laundry and San Francisco’s Michelin-starred Mourad, where she was chef de cuisine.
TOP CHEF — Season:21 — Pictured: Laura Ozyilmaz — (Photo by: Stephanie Diani/Bravo)
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 carry cash prizes, and elimination challenges will confer immunity.
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That trip to a Brewers game will see cheftestants vying to elevate a quintet of sausage options — brats, chorizo, Polish, Italian and classic hot dogs, the same varieties that inspired the team’s adorable racing mascots. A supper club challenge includes a Quickfire trip to a farmers market with guest 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.