More Sizzle at Stake for 'Top Chef: Chicago'

By John Crook, Zap2it, Zap2It.com | March 12, 2008

'Top Chef' host/judge Padma Lakshmi

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The culinary accent is on a hometown specialty and favorite classic dishes as "Top Chef" returns to Chicago to launch its fourth season with a special 75-minute episode Wednesday, March 12, on Bravo.

Joined by guest judge Rocco DiSpirito, returning host Padma Lakshmi sizes up 16 rising chefs within minutes of the opening in a quick-fire challenge built around deep-dish pizza, a staple among Chicago foodies.

Then, the chefs must weather their first elimination challenge in the form of head-to-head cookoffs of such classic dishes as eggs Benedict, crab cakes, lasagna, shrimp scampi and steak au poivre, evaluated by Lakshmi, DiSpirito, returning head judge Tom Colicchio and guest Anthony Bourdain.

And the stakes are high: In addition to earning the title of Top Chef along with major name recognition in the food industry, the winning chef receives $100,000 in seed money to help open a restaurant, a feature in Food & Wine magazine, a showcase at the annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colo., and a gourmet vacation in the French Alps.

Based on the first episode, this lineup of chefs may be the strongest the show has fielded to date, which ensures that the focus stays on the food, not pumped-up personal drama among the contestants.

"It isn't that the chefs get better; it's that the pool gets deeper," Colicchio says. "In the first season, there were probably three chefs who had a serious shot at winning. By season three, there were more of them, and by season four, it's a pretty deep pool of serious contenders.

"In season three there was more of an effort to bring in a higher level of chef, so we were dealing with people who had spent a little more time in the kitchen and were a bit more mature. You can't expect a first-year culinary student to be able to compete with a chef who has been around for five to eight years. I know they want to get young, fresh faces that play better on TV, but I think [the casting people] have realized that if you are going to be serious about this, you need to get serious talent."

That third season, which was won by Asian-American chef Hung Huynh, marked a reassuring return to form for "Top Chef" after season two tilted bizarrely into a bitter personality clash between eventual winner Ilan Hall and the runner-up, Marcel Vigneron.

Hostilities escalated against Vigneron until some of his housemates tried to hold him down and shave his head, resulting in the expulsion of contestant Cliff Crooks, one of the season's strongest chefs.

"Yes, I call that our 'Lord of the Flies' moment," Lakshmi says of the dust-up. "Since that was my first season, it was a hazing for me as well. It didn't help that we were going through a heat wave in Los Angeles while we were filming that season, and we were filming in a kitchen where it was even hotter than it was outside in the afternoon, since we had to turn off the air conditioner during filming because of the noise. So there was that at work.

"Also, one season had been aired, so some of the contestants had gotten -- well, not media-savvy, evidently, but media-aware. I think they got it into their head that if they were strong personalities and very aggressive and had a lot of bravado and a strange machismo, they would stand out more and get more airtime. During that sophomore season, they just seemed to think, 'I'm going to make sure my personality stands out in whatever way that is.'"

Happily, no such psychodrama has marred season four to date, Lakshmi says, although she and Colicchio both emphasize that the judges don't fraternize with the contestants and aren't aware of tensions that erupt solely on the homefront.

In addition to introducing each week's challenges to the contestants, however, Lakshmi says she faces a challenge of her own: keeping her weight under control while chowing down on all those dishes each week.

"My middle nickname is 'Are You Gonna Eat That?'" Lakshmi jokes. "I have a naturally high metabolism, and I also work out a lot. I box three times a week and lift weights at the gym to keep my figure. I jump rope. I roller-skate. Whatever it takes.

"It's not easy. During the course of the season, I do get a little rounder and a little plumper. How could I not? I gain 10-12 pounds over the course of the season, those six weeks, and then I work hard and lose it again and it's fine. With my wardrobe for the show, I have dresses that I wear early on because I know I won't be able to fit into them later on."