Bravo's Top Chef franchise will debut the new spinoff show Top Chef Amateurs, and we're here to share information about the upcoming series. Top Chef superfans will soon be able to unpack their knives and show their culinary skills on the spinoff. The show will premiere on July 1, with back-to-back episodes airing right after the Top Chef Portland season finale. Gail Simmons, who has been a Top Chef judge since 2006, will serve as the main host.
For 18 seasons, only professional chefs have competed in the cooking competition show. However, this time will be different. 24 talented home cooks and franchise superfans will get a chance to compete in the Top Chef kitchen that they'd previously only seen on TV. Instead of having 24 chefs compete at once, there will be new contestants competing in each episode. Each 30-minute episode will feature two competitors going head-to-head in some of the most well-known challenges from previous Top Chef seasons. Some of the challenges include creating a dish inspired by the seven deadly sins, the mise-en-place race, a blind taste test, and an attempt to create the most dreaded Top Chef dish, risotto.
The accomplished home cooks all come from different walks of life. There will be a former CIA agent, a school cafeteria worker, an architect, and a food blogger. The contestants will have help in the kitchen from some familiar faces. They will be paired with a Top Chef All-Star, who also served on the season 18 rotating panel of judges. The All-Stars will also rotate as judges, alongside Gail, in each episode. Some of the alums making an appearance this season are Eric Adjepong, Jennifer Carroll, Richard Blais, Shirley Chung, Bronx-born Kwame Onwuachi, Dale Talde, Stephanie Cmar, Tiffany Derry, Joe Flamm, Gregory Gourdet, Melissa King, and Isaac Toups.
According to Today, a Bravo rep explained that the show was filmed with the same health and safety plan as the regular season of Top Chef. The amateurs will also be bringing the heat in the same kitchen used during season 18 in Portland. In each episode, contestants will be competing for $5,000.
Top Chef Amateurs is the eighth installment of the Top Chef franchise. According to Gail, it'll be an emotional series. In an interview with The Daily Dish, Gail explained that because more people are cooking with recipes out of necessity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was only right to shine a spotlight on all of the skilled home cooks. "It kinda became therapy for everyone," Gail said. "I can’t even tell you the number of times I burst into tears while shooting Top Chef Amateurs because I was just, like, so moved by these people," she continued.
Fans were able to watch a sneak peek of an emotional episode of the show. It aired after Top Chef on May 27. After so many years of watching professional chefs cook five-star meals, it'll be a nice change to see longtime supporters compete in the Top Chef kitchen. This spinoff is something to get excited about.
Source: Today, BravoTV's Daily Dish