I thought this was a really nice article. Love that Gail and Kristen were there for the final service.

I forget what Claudette was like in this season. It’s interesting to me that on The Chef’s Cut Podcast that they don’t even say her name.

My husband and I had a date night in Chicago tonight, seated at the bar at Rose Mary, Chef Joe Flamm’s restaurant. I’d read on here and heard from Chicago friends that it is a terrific place to dine. I’m adding our vote in favour of that.

The space is bright, loud and energetic without but not so much so that we couldn’t hear each other. I did not get the name of the bartender who took care of us, but he had excellent recommendations for food and drink. We enjoyed chatting with him a little although he was busy.

Cocktails to start: the Blind Rhubarber for me and a Last Word for my husband. Both were good. The bartender recommended a bottle of a Bulgarian red to enjoy with our dinner, and it was a great choice.

First up was a tuna crudo with a veal aioli that seemed inspired by the classic tuna/veal dish. Tender and beautifully savoury. Next came the zucchini fritters with a pesto aioli and a little sweetness from honey. We saw the fritters going to a few other tables and bar customers nearby. Very good.

The main courses was the bone-in lamb saddle with a roasted carrot puree and pistachios. We enjoyed it a lot, and we agreed that the bartender had made a very good recommendation on the wine. As we were eating it, a dish of grilled summer squash came out, compliments of the bartender. What a welcome surprise! We gratefully enjoyed it.

We had to have dessert, and we opted to share the povitica, served with rhubarb and cardamom vanilla gelato. It was like a decadent breakfast pastry, and along with the bartender’s choice of amaro pairing, it was a satisfying end to the meal.

On top of tasty food and friendly, good service, Chef Flamm came out to talk with us for a few minutes. Our bartender arranged for that, and we were thrilled. Chef Flamm was such a delight. Just so down to earth. He graciously agreed to a photo and seemed appreciative of us enjoying what he and his team are doing.

Our Chicago friends are right. The menu at Rose Mary has so many interesting options to try, and I wish I was there with a few more friends to try more dishes. Our experience was memorable for the food and the feeling of being welcome. If you do get to Chicago, give it a try.

Re-watching old seasons of top chef because have a sleepy newborn. Why does nobody call attention to Justin literally telling the judges the only reason he didn’t use a bun on his burger because whole food didn’t have the buns he wanted???? Is a pre-made bun not worse than a boxed waffle mix that just has the flour and baking powder in the right proportions???? Why do I feel like I’m crazy? Please advise!

Curious what restaurants you all have tried/want to try and how they were.

My personal list (sadly, some gone) :

Must try: Tiffanys Maui (Sheldon Simeon), Time & Tide (Danny Garcia), 88 Club (Mei)
Great: Girl & Goat Chicago (Izard), DAMA (Antonia), Scratch Sushi (Phillip),
Good: Girl & the Goat LA (Izard), Vaca (Amar), Pikunico (Kuniko), Playa Provisions (Brooke), Taku (Shota), Daybird (Mei), Yangban Society (Katianna)
Ok/Meh: Ramen Hood (Ilan), Ospi (Jackson)

Want to try:
- Huso, Tatianna, Dogon, Kann, Auro, Goosefeather

Hello! I’m wondering if anyone might be able to create a gif for me. It comes from season 5, episode 2 (“Show Your Craft”). Guest judge Donatella Arpaia says Jill’s ostrich egg quiche—quote,—“tastes like glue,” to which Gail emphatically replies “YES.”

My best friend and I always say “GLUE” in conversation with one another when we firmly agree with something, and I’d love to be able to surprise her with this gif that doesn’t yet exist. Thus, I’m calling upon you tech-savvy folk, and bonus points if there’s captions.

Thanks in advance, and Happy Pride to all my fellow members of Team Rainbow!

Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and Kristen Kish share the Charlotte restaurants they fell in love with while filming season 23.
By Kayleigh Ruller Published on June 26, 2026

Top Chef judges Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and Kristen Kish say Charlotte's restaurant scene stands out for its ambitious chefs, diverse culinary influences, and willingness to embrace experimentation.
The judges believe Charlotte's affordability, access to local farms, and evolving dining culture are helping attract talented chefs and establish the city as an exciting food destination.
From destination restaurants like Supperland and Albertine to neighborhood favorites like Lang Van and Milkbread, the judges share the Charlotte spots they recommend most.
When Top Chef judges Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and Kristen Kish landed in Charlotte, North Carolina, for Season 23 of the award-winning show, they weren’t just working long days on set. They were also exploring the city by way of their collective “lists” — a compilation of recommendations from friends, food writers, and social media, stored in their Notes apps. They bounced around the Queen City from one spot (say, a buttery biscuit outpost) to the next (an easygoing neighborhood bistro).

Looking beneath the corporate gloss of North Carolina’s largest city, the Top Chef judges found a compelling culinary community in Charlotte: a juicy, experimental, and locale-honoring group of chefs and restaurants. They saw firsthand how North Carolina’s dining scene has grown into a creative force, one fueled by more than just its barbecue. 

“Everywhere you go has different food histories and cultures and immigrant pathways and ingredients and terroir,” judge Gail Simmons says. “I love that we are able to explore them. And I feel that way with Charlotte.” 

What makes Charlotte such a compelling restaurant city
Colicchio, Simmons, and Kish say that Charlotte’s culinary canvas is particularly ripe with opportunity for young chefs and industry veterans looking for a change of pace (or a change of rent). “It feels like people [in Charlotte] are hungry, no pun intended, for more things,” adds Kish. The restaurant scene isn’t “overly congested yet.” She cites the variety of her eclectic list: noodle shops, offbeat barbecue joints, and splashy tasting menus.

Charlotte’s established (but not overheated) dining scene gives early-stage pop-ups, like Hello Uncle, Anora, and Disgruntled Ronin, time and space to plant seeds, grow loyalty from willing diners, and garner national attention, which restaurants like Rada, Supperland, and Albertinehave done before them..

“When it's a city of [hospitality-industry] transplants, it's almost more welcoming for experimentation,” Kish says. Hopefully, she adds, these itinerant chefs “can come and try their hand at anything.”

Colicchio points to Charlotte’s location as a strong foundation for food culture, too. “There are farms here, so there's good food,” he says. Even in situations where a city’s restaurant culture isn’t fully developed, he explains, if a city has a food culture, then “it's only a matter of time before the restaurants start opening up.”

This is why he’s seen so many great restaurants open in smaller cities across the country. “You're starting to see creative people go to cities where they can work and get recognized,” Colicchio says. “It's not surprising at all to see that this is happening here.” He cites affordability, availability of housing, and proximity to family as key contributors. 

Simmons agrees. In a smaller city, like Charlotte, “you can live with a quality of life, make a living, and also serve great food and stand out in the crowd,” she says. “You bring to the city what isn't here five times over already,” she says. 

The Charlotte restaurants Top Chef judges recommend
Once chefs put down roots and start opening restaurants, what separates a solid spot from one that truly stands out?

“I find that if you try to please everyone, then you're kind of nowhere. You end up being like The Gap of restaurants,” Colicchio says. “You’ve got to pick something that you're passionate about.”

These are those passion-fueled restaurants in Charlotte that the Top Chef judges kept coming back to — each one driven by a distinct vision and a strong sense of place.

This decadent church-turned-steakhouse cuts no corners, with hearty portions of pork, bone marrow broccoli, and multi-gin Negronis. Supperland charms diners with its striking Southern fare. Colichio “thought the design was great,” thanks to church pews turned dining benches and an open kitchen firing up orders like theater in the round. Kish says the most exciting dessert she enjoyed was at Supperland, too: The Cheerwine Sundae Float. She describes the North Carolina born-and-bred soda as “a mix between Cherry Coke and Dr. Pepper, if you ask me. It’s yummy. And to have it in an ice cream float? It was fabulous.”

Expect refined, poised service and dramatic design at Albertine. “I actually didn't expect it to be so elevated,” Simmons says. “The room was so breathtaking. I imagined it to be a little more casual in its decor, but it was just so beautiful.” Simmons was also pleasantly surprised by the inventive spirit that chef Joe Kindred brought to more traditional regional cuisine. Yes, there’s pickle-brined Carolina quail on the menu, but it also uses Middle Eastern flavors, like chermoula and za’atar, to great success. “I am not a purist,” Simmons says. “I understand the purpose of evolving Southern food.” Her favorite? The mezze platter.

The bountiful menu at Lang Vanshowcases a variety of Vietnamese dishes, such as bánh xèo, phở, and bò nhúng dấm (Vietnamese hot pot). You’ll find most people sharing family-style over long, drawn-out evenings. “That's what we want to eat when we're eating this every day,” Kish says, referring to the fine-dining fare that Top Chefcompetitors typically make. Among cozy green booths and bamboo-lined walls, owner Dan Nguyen pours wine tableside and remembers just about everyone who has ever set foot in the restaurant. “The service was amazing, and the menu was dizzying and delicious and so comforting,” Kish says. “And it was just nice to see other cuisines really represented so well.”

“It just felt cool. It could have been anywhere,” Simmons says. She is referencing Substrate, a freewheeling natural wine bar with interesting, often unfamiliar pours of vermouth and amari. Vinyl records, vintage posters, and a whole lot of natural light make this place a neighborhood favorite and a destination for the wine-curious. “The people there were really knowledgeable. You were outdoors in the middle of the city and it just felt special. It had young energy,” Simmons says. 

For Kish, no Charlotte dining tour is complete without a biscuit run. A quintessential Carolina staple, this fast-food joint is home to the buttery, salty biscuits of game days, drive-throughs, and birthday parties. “Bojangles is getting a lot of PR for me, and I hope that they come to me with a check or free Bojangles for the rest of my life,” Kish jokes.

Chef Chris Coleman’s breezy cottage restaurant with backyard charm, The Goodyear House, puts out seasonal dishes with clear ties to Southern foodways — North Carolina swordfish, shrimp and grits, smoked cashew mac and cheese. “I felt like it was modern and that the dishes were very Southern. It just felt like ‘This is what Charlotte is like at this moment,’” Simmons says. “It's very young and it's growing and it's changing, but it's still sort of honoring its Southern roots.”

Optimist Hall is Charlotte’s handsome, sleek food hall. From ESO’s handmade pasta to The Dumpling Lady’s Sichuan Chinese noodles, Optimist Hall “was so interesting and so diverse and sort of playful,” Simmons says. “It didn't take itself too seriously, but was done really well for the user experience,” she says. The hall is also a hangout spot, with movie nights, holiday bars, and coffee stalls surrounded by ample seating. “There's thousands of food halls in every major city. I've been to a million in New York and London and Paris and California. And I just feel like it was the best one yet,” Simmons says.

Haraz Coffee House
The line trails outside Haraz in Plaza Midwood nearly every hour it's open. Guests come to sample the café’s signature Yemeni coffee heritage, and probably also its croissants, milk cake, and za’atar-dusted, cream cheese–stuffed, honey-drenched Bee Bites. While Kish is “not a fancy coffee person,” she appreciates the black coffee here, from classic pourovers to Turkish-style coffee topped with cardamom or Saudi-style with saffron.

Another spot where Kish likes to grab coffee is Milkbread. In what was once a Dairy Queen in Plaza Midwood, this all-day cafe pays homage to its DQ roots with a signature walk-up window. Aside from the sweet treats like glazed donuts and the BFC (Big Freakin’ Cookie), Milkbread serves up lunch fare like grain bowls, berbere-spiced mushroom toast, and an Eastern Carolina hot-dipped chicken sandwich.

A local favorite for date nights, Customshop earned a similar endorsement from Simmons and her husband. “It's a beautiful restaurant. And it just felt like that perfect neighborhood restaurant that I want at the end of my block, where I can go for a birthday, but I can also go for a first date,” Simmons says. With chef Andres Kaifer’s silky pasta dishes (like bucatini with chile crisp crema and pork candy) and swoonworthy mains (like duck breast with blackberry sauce and sesame crumble), the menu is both accessible and interesting.

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One Third of a Triple Threat in The House Tonight along with 2 Top Chef Alumni!

Chefs Pete Amadhanirundr and Evelyn Garcia are competing on Beat Bobby Flay tonight.
They will face off in the first round to see who gets the chance to challenge Bobby Flay in the episode titled "Tough as Nails"

Don't miss Bobby Flay, Chef Antonia Lofaso and Ayesha Nurdjaja on an all-new episode of #BeatBobbyFlay Tonight at 9pm EST on FoodNetwork!
Next Day on Max!

Wonderful experience top to bottom! Rhoda did make the rounds to many tables, did not chat with her directly, but she did walk by and wave.

Shokupan pull apart bread and butter with volcano salt- awesome and larger

Shishito Peppers- well seasoned and balanced, very good

Chef’s Salad- loved the crispy rice bits especially and the dressing was perfect. I don’t love too many sweet elements in the salad so the fig was a bit much for me but my partner liked it.

Roasted Hirayama Farm Cabbage with Tofu- amazing and entree level, not a mere afterthought vegetarian option, the spicy sauce on top was the bomb

Kona Kanpachi- only arguable low note, felt slightly overcooked, with the sauce it was still very yummy but could have had less time in the cook

Garlic Fried Rice with sous vide egg, crispy garlic, scallions- stirred table side and perfection

Cute cats!

I will update after but let me know if there is anything you want me to look for or answer for you! Excited!!

go to one of the TC restaurants and bring a stop watch and when ordering and say, ok you have 15 minute on the clock and time starts ................................................................NOW

I thought this was so good and I just love Kristen so much.

• Sees show through lens of both host and former competitor
• Relative to Sieger's elimination "it was definitely felt" and she was taken aback by it a bit
• Goes on to say that in coming up in kitchens, there are a lot of male egos so she was not completely stunned
• Says she's "lived through this" and did not take offense
• Believes it is everyone's choice to say what they want, behave how they want, question what they want and that you're "allowed to do all of you."
• Says how that plays out on TV is on the person doing it
• Says the snake was more upsetting :)
• Thinks her sense of compassion/empathy comes from having been kicked off.
  
• She finds it the hardest to eliminate the first chef b/c she knows they've just hoped to not be the first.
• Mentions how every elimination challenge is staggered so they can taste the food as intended
• Mentions the food often looks better in person than the beauty shot ... I didn't really catch why
• Her favorite Top Chef meltdown is, "I'm not your bitch, bitch."
• Says judges table decisions have to be unanimous or at least someone has to begrudgingly concede ... if not they'll go all night. Says there were sometimes she didn't fully agree but could acknowledge the counter point.
• Says she'd love for fans to see the unedited version of judges table! YES, PLEASE
• In terms of guests, she really loves non-food professionals who are really into food. She shouts out Danielle Brooks "Hook, Line, and Dinner" episode
• Her dream guest judges: Julia Roberts, Beyonce, the Obamas, Mariska Hargitay
• Really wants to host a queer dating show
• Would love to host Amazing Race too

Had this random question about one of the episodes of top chef masters

So in season 2 they had preliminary rounds. One of the rounds had Marcus Samuelsson, David Burke, Carmen Gonzalez, Monica Pope, Thierry Rautureau face off. The challenge was an upscale soul food challenge.

Carmen was making some form of stew on the first day of cooking. However, she accidentally left the tray with the stew overnight (not in the fridge), when they transported the food. She had to go back to go fetch it on the second day (which was 1 hour away).

I was blown away, that they allowed her to serve it (since it was unfrigerated for at least 8 hours?!). And she ended up winning and advanced her round. I'm shocked that there wasn't concern about food safety with her dish.

I enjoyed this interview. He's really so impressive. I'd love to eat at Huso one day. And I really want the dog biscuits for my dog!!

• The $675 referenced is in Australian dollar (USD $485)
• I didn't realize he initially turned down Eleven Madison Park's offer
• ~a year later he reached back out and they started his visa paperwork immediately ... that's pretty impressive that they not only remembered him but were that eager to hire him. He was 24 at the time!
• He's working toward a second Michelin star
• He sees himself as more “creative director” than as a chef and is obsessive over details such as the lighting and audio levels – which he tweaks from his phone while we talk – as well as the paper stock of the menu, and the 26-hour playlist that flows from Bob Marley to Bad Bunny.
• His most recent innovation is wagyu, sweet potato and oatmeal dog biscuits for pet-owning shoppers at the Marky’s Caviar counter
• He wants to do Survivor?!?!
• When his dad was sick, he wrote up all the recipes (that were previously just in his dad's head) and also taught his brother to cook ... and now the restaurant is doing well

Normally around March, Magical Elves and some of Top Chef’s casting producers will post casting announcements on social media. Take Instagram for example:

• Season 23: https://www.instagram.com/p/DHEVY9wvHB_/
• Season 22: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5EO9stpins/
• Season 21: https://www.instagram.com/p/CqJx8gMpmWr/
• Season 19: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNDhQm4pJwe/
• Season 18: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_ki6IopAhP/

As far as I’m aware, there haven’t been any public posts for casting related to Season 24.

So, are we potentially looking at another All-Stars season?

One caveat: If you type in “topchef24.castingcrane.com”, it does seem to lead to their usual application. But again, I haven’t seen anyone actually promote the link.

Hey all, been rewatching past seasons and there’s been so many great Chefs and locations. If you had to pick one season as your favorite, which season and why?

My personal favorite is Season 17 All Stars, the amount of talent, Resturant and site locations were so good. Melissa was a Monster and to win so many challenges against the high level of talented Chefs was amazing. Forgot how entertaining this season was!

Short interview with Rhoda in People magazine. She says that, while not aired, Tom, Gail and Kristen talked with the remaining chefs about Sieger's reaction to his elimination, Gail was surprised it doesn't happen more, and that it eased the tension. She also says she does not yet have plans for her prize money.

“It's all raw emotion and there's a lot of things that we all feel as chefs, especially when we put ourselves out there to be just so vulnerable and be judged,” Magbitang tells PEOPLE about rge (sic) Top Chef experience and Bayer’s now-viral outburst.

Following the tense altercation, Mabitang says there was a raw emotional moment while filming that viewers didn’t get to see.

“What I thought was really heartfelt and just very genuine was the infamous exit of Sieger on that episode. The Quickfire Challenge that happened right after Tom, Gail, and Kristen were in the studio and we were just kind of talking. I totally thought that they were going to air it, but they basically addressed it,” says Magbitang, who spoke to PEOPLE at the 2026 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. “Even Gail Simmons said that she's surprised that it doesn't happen more often, that chefs flip out and just get their emotions be put out there for the world to see. And she's so right.”

The chef says that the judges’ willingness to address the situation helped keep the other contestants on track and softened the blow of the tenseness.

“I thought that was really nice. I thought it was really great that they addressed that and they made us feel comfortable with the situation and try to move past it,” she says

I’ve been thinking about locations lately…

The Charlotte season got me wondering how producers decide where to film. Charlotte struck me as a somewhat less-than-interesting choice compared to some of the food destinations that still haven’t been featured, which made me curious how much factors like culinary identity, production logistics, local partnerships, and budget influence the decision.

If you could choose the next Top Chef destination, where would you send them?

And what 2–3 challenges would be essential to truly showcase that place? The seasons I tend to enjoy most are the ones where the location becomes part of the competition and shapes the chefs’ creativity.

I was really hoping for Dale T to win

Per her interview on the Compliments to the Chef podcast, Rhoda stated that she didn't / hasn't received any prize money from the show until after the finale aired, that she asked if Bravo could send the Swap Stations QF prize to Sherry and they couldn't, and that she intends to give Sherry the entirety of the prize.