Host Gail Simmons says Top Chef Amateurs filmed in Portland was born out of pandemic

The season finale of Top Chef Portland will air tonight on Bravo, but there are more Top Chefs in store. After the revelation of the winner of season 18, Lovers of great chefs, a new spin-off that also filmed in the Pink City, will debut.

We literally finished shooting the finale of Top Chef, then we had three days to rest, get back together, slightly modify the kitchen to make it more conducive to this format, restock the kitchen, and started shooting again, says animator. Gail Simmons.

Simmons is well known to fans of the Top Chef food competition television franchise, having served as a judge on the show for several years, as well as appearing on Top Chef Masters, Top Chef Just Desserts and Top Chef Jr.

Speaking by phone from his home in Brooklyn. New York, Simmons says the idea of ​​making Top Chef Amateurs was a reaction to the fact that during the pandemic people were staying at home and cooking for themselves, after so many restaurants were forced to close due to security protocols.

Stuck at home, we all became short-lived cooks, says Simmons. If not for ourselves, then for our families. With home cooks often using social media to share their creations, Simmons says, it has become clear that hobbyists are capable of doing amazing things. At Top Chef, it got us thinking, maybe it’s time for home cooks to be part of this brand. Let’s see what happens when we let home cooks run free in Top Chef’s iconic kitchen.

Top Chef Amateurs filmed in the kitchen set that was set up at the Portland Exhibition Center for the Portland Top Chef season. In each 30-minute episode, two home cooks will compete in one-on-one challenges. Fans will be paired with Top Chef veterans, who will cook with the contestants. The Top Chef stars will also serve as guest judges to join Simmons in deciding who wins this episode of the week and takes home the $ 5,000 per episode prize.

Top Chef as a brand has always been focused on professional cooking and shows professional cooking at the highest level, says Simmons.

In contrast, Top Chef Amateurs is designed for home cooks and encourages them to continue cooking. Applicants came from all over the United States and, once in Portland, also had to observe the security measures put in place for the filming during the pandemic.

Every fan who came to tour with us has flown to Portland from anywhere across the country, says Simmons. Then they spent several days alone in a hotel room, had meals delivered, were tested several times for the coronavirus. The candidates went through it all, she says, to come to Top Chef’s kitchen to spend a day with us and then return home. It meant a lot that they were ready to do it.

They were selected very carefully, says Simmons of the amateurs, whose day jobs include dental hygienist, hairstylist, international business consultant, real estate broker, high school science teacher, engineer and architect.

For some contestants who were big Top Chef fans, being on Top Chef Amateurs was a wish, Simmons says, whether they grope through a Quickfire-type challenge or experience what it’s like to be at the table. judges.

Coming to Portland to film the show marked the first time many contestants had boarded a plane, let alone left their homes during the pandemic, Simmons says. It’s a great way to end such a tough year.

Examples of that tough year were in Portland during the filming of the Top Chef season here, says Simmons, who joined Chief Justice Tom Colicchio and host Padma Lakshmi throughout Season 18.

We arrived in Portland on the heels of major protests, says Simmons. When the production was shot here last September and October, the city center was barricaded. Shortly after they started shooting, massive forest fires broke out and we were all locked inside.

It seemed, Simmons said, that Portland really experienced almost a triple pandemic during our stay, with protests for racial justice, the pandemic, and the fires.

Related: As the final of Top Chef Portlands approaches, locals wonder: can the show help repair the city’s image?

Portland was, says Simmons, a complicated place. We were lucky that the city really rallied around us. And production was nimble enough to pivot, when needed. We have moved several times because of the fires and the protests.

Simmons hadn’t spent much time in Portland before filming the Top Chef season. She was impressed by the beauty of Oregon, which made outdoor shooting desirable.

For two and a half months, I moved my family there, says Simmons. My kids did it all. Every day off we had we did countless hikes, waterfalls, and beaches. We picked peaches and pumpkins. We went on boats and went to the ocean.

The scenery was breathtaking, says Simmons. And I think we really showed it on the show.

Simmons says Top Chef always looks at applicants with an eye for diversity, skills, and knowledge, in equal measure. This year’s cast, she says, brought a particularly deep and diverse range of backgrounds and experiences.

Putting each season in a different location and thinking about the cast, Simmons says Top Chef manages to show audiences the world through the lens of food. It’s really about defending the industry and defending these competitors. We support them all. Tom, Padma and I, who have all been doing this show for 15 years together, have always believed in it, and we’ve evolved and perfected that. It’s a compassionate show and an honest show.

I’m learning every word from the chefs, Simmons said. Amateurs included.

Top Chef Amateurs will be previewed with two consecutive 30-minute episodes, following the Top Chef Portland final; they air again at 10:29 p.m. on Thursday, July 1 on Bravo.

– Kristi Turnquist

[email protected] 503-221-8227 @Kristitturnquist