‘Top Chef’ Judge Tom Colicchio Sets Table For Season 22 & What’s to Come

Tom Colicchio has enjoyed watching the evolution of Top Chef going into Season 22. This time around Bravo’s popular culinary competition series goes to Canada. The 15 cheftestants look to impress not only the head judge, but home country girl Gail Simmons and host Kristen Kish. 

On the line is $250,000, $125,000 flight credit to spend on travel with Delta Air Lines, a feature in Food & Wine magazine and an appearance at the annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. Sweetening the already biggest prize package in show history, the winner will also receive the opportunity to headline their own exclusive dinner at the historic James Beard House in New York and present at The James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards in Chicago. 

They’ll have a chance to further add to their bank with up to $150,000 in cash there for the taking during the Quickfire and Elimination challenges. Stopping by throughout the season include alums Richard Blais, Sara Bradley, Nina Compton, Danny Garcia, Ali Ghzawi, Gregory Gourdet, Nicole Gomes, Buddha Lo, Dale McKay and Spike Mendelsohn. Episodes will also feature a rotating team of judges representing some of the best the Great White North has to offer. 

Challenges include creating a dish served cold in honor of the nation’s favorite sport, hockey, and putting unique spins on poutine and maple syrup. Top Chef will take the competitors to iconic spots like the iconic CN Tower. The signature Restaurant Wars is back with a twist as Kish and the judges set guardrails on overused concepts they don’t want to spur fresh and out-of-the-box ideas.  

Colicchio sat down with us to talk about taking the show to new places and hopes for the future. 

Tom Colicchio — (Photo by: Marcus Nilsson/Bravo)

What goes into how you choose a destination? 

Tom Colicchio: We’ve been all over the states, and there have been places we still have to go to, but for us it’s about partnerships. We’re looking into if the locale has enough locations we can use since we shoot on location than we do in a studio. So, that’s really important. We’re also looking for partners who can help us navigate wherever we are. Destination Canada has been great, so it made it really easy for us…Every season wherever we’re shooting, it’s almost like an additional contestant. It’s the backdrop for everything. Not only the locations, but the cities become the backdrop. So, this year will be fun as it’s Canada-centric. 

The visiting chef judges are Canada-centric too. 

I think what helps is we use a lot of local chefs who come on as guest judges. Some of the challenges that were more specific. 

What does it mean to you to have the show’s longevity? 

I think part of it is that the show doesn’t get stale. We’re always changing it up. Whenever we change it up, it’s done organically. We see what may work. We realized early on we used to give the same information to the viewer. Whenever we were giving the information to the viewers, we were giving it to the chef. We would do that three times. That got stale. One day we were in Chicago and there was a challenge. A bunch of us were sitting on a stoop talking about what we just had. We were still mic’d. The producers said to save it for the judge’s table. We’re like, “Shoot it now.” We turned that into a thing. We’ll make changes. It keeps the viewing audience on its toes. Sometimes they like the changes. Sometimes they don’t, but that’s how I think we keep it fresh. Every season also brings a new crop of chefs. It’s a whole new show, challenges, and new ideas. 

Pictured: (l-r) Kristen Kish, Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons — (Photo by: David Moir/Bravo)

Do you think we’ll see another All-Stars season? 

Probably, at some point. We keep going. It’s very difficult to have a winners season, which everyone wants. A lot of the chefs can’t take seven weeks off for it. Most people don’t know these chefs are sequestered and not allowed to go out, TV or phones. Unless it’s a call for some specific reason we’re going to shoot it. They just can’t go call home. They don’t have recipes, magazines, TV, nothing. Plus, if you’re a winner, I don’t know if you’ll want to do it again because there is a chance you’ll lose. I can see us doing a season of all the runner-ups. A second chance type season. This way the one who fell short can win. 

Kristen came last season. What do you think she has brought to the table? 

I think the main thing is she has been through the show and won. Automatically, she has a rapport with the chefs none of us can have. She has been in their shoes, knows the ups and downs. There is a certain empathy she has being in their shoes. There is a certain respect the chefs have knowing she was a winner. 

Related

'Married to Medicine': Dr. Mimi Sanders Unpacks Beach Conflict & Girl Group Drama

What do you think of the lineup this season? 

This season will be great. Out of all the seasons, you’ll probably see the most consistent cooking. The food will be consistently good from challenge-to-challenge. There are so many chefs contributing creatively and doing some great work. 

Last question, what’s your favorite part about Canada? 

That it’s close to home [laughs]. I get to go home a lot. I’m eating so much when we’re shooting. Even on my days off, I don’t go out too much. I may go to two or three restaurants when I go out. I can’t eat like I used to. Especially, when you’re eating 14 dishes in one day. The next day I don’t even want to look at food. I haven’t been out as much. Plus, I like the down time. I like a day off with nothing to do. I’ll make phone calls home and stuff like that because I’m running a business. I’ll play guitar. There is a show called woodshedding where you spend a lot of time with your instrument and four to five hours. I was looking forward to going to Calgary. I thought that would be a lot of fun. There I could see about getting some trout fishing in. 

Top Chef Season 22 premiere, March 13, 9/8c, Bravo