Bravo Tommy Garcia/Bravo
Top Chef cast members Gail Simmons, Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi and Graham Elliot
When the 16th season of “Top Chef” debuts Dec. 6 on the Bravo network, local viewers will likely recognize many familiar faces and places among segments filmed in and around Lexington, Louisville and Lake Cumberland. And for viewers outside of the Commonwealth, the Kentucky–centered season is sure to cast an inviting light on the state.
“All sites and [previous locations of Top Chef] have raved about the ‘Top Chef impact,’” said Kentucky Tourism Commissioner Kristen Branscum, who was instrumental in bringing the Emmy and James Beard Award-winning show to Kentucky and helped negotiate as much as $3.5 million in production cost rebates through the Kentucky Tourism Board. “Destination exposure to an international audience provides validation for food in the state. Even locals become aware of culinary offerings in their area.”
More than 2 million total viewers tuned into the previous season of “Top Chef,” which filmed in Colorado. Shortly after that season ended, Conde Nast Traveler proclaimed Denver as “officially a food city” and cited “Top Chef” as a “bellwether of foodie fame.” Prior to that, the show filmed in Charleston, South Carolina. While Explore Charleston deputy director Perrin Lawson couldn’t offer specific figures on the tourism impact, “when the show aired, it certainly had the desired intent of further validating the perception of Charleston as a premier culinary destination,” he said.
1 of 7
Bravo David Moir/Bravo
Louisville chef Ed Lee and Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari appear as guest judges during an episode filmed, in part, at Rupp Arena.
2 of 7
Bravo Michael Hickey/Bravo
Local viewers will likely recognize many familiar faces and places among segments filmed in and around Lexington, Louisville and Lake Cumberland.
3 of 7
Bravo Michael Hickey/Bravo
4 of 7
Bravo Michael Hickey/Bravo
NUP_182923_2045.JPG
Chef David Viana, from Asbury Park, New Jersey, was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2018.
5 of 7
Bravo Michael Hickey/Bravo
Cooking challenges during the season include classic Kentucky staples such as fried chicken, benedictine, burgoo and, of course, bourbon.
6 of 7
Bravo Michael Hickey/Bravo
Cooking challenges during the season include classic Kentucky staples such as fried chicken, benedictine, burgoo and, of course, bourbon.
7 of 7
Bravo Michael Hickey/Bravo
Cooking challenges during the season include classic Kentucky staples such as fried chicken, benedictine, burgoo and, of course, bourbon.
The Kentucky season will include segments filmed at Churchill Downs and Keeneland, the Muhammad Ali Center and in front of a Kentucky-blue clad crowd at Rupp Arena, with Coach John Calipari as a guest judge. And while Kentucky staples such as burgoo, benedictine, bourbon and fried chicken will factor into challenges, viewers can also expect elements that reflect a more contemporary, less-heralded side of the state.
“Top Chef” host and executive producer Padma Lakshmi said she was “pleasantly surprised” by the diversity of both the people and the cuisine in Kentucky, and that the show strives to reflect more than surface-level perceptions. “It’s very important to us to highlight not only the major attractions of the town or the state that we’re going to that everybody knows about, like the Derby, but also to hit other places that people maybe don’t know about and give our viewers a sampling of what it’s really like,” Lakshmi said.
For the first time, this season’s lineup of contestant chefs—including Paducah chef and restaurant owner Sara Bradley—will also grow their own produce and use their harvests in one of the final challenges.
Bravo Michael Hickey/Bravo
Sara Bradley, chef/owner of Freight House restaurant in Paducah (front row in green apron), is among the 15 contestants vying for the title of “Top Chef” during the show’s 16th season.
While bourbon, horses and basketball may be the traditional calling cards that attract attention to Kentucky, the diverse talent and creativity of Kentucky chefs, coupled with direct relationships with local growers and producers, has of late cast a broader spotlight on the state.
“Using our agricultural wealth to inform the choices we make as chefs is what gives Kentucky’s cuisine—no matter what kind of recipe you’re using and no matter how global the approach—its true flavor and identity,” said Lexington restaurateur Ouita Michel, who also helped attract the show to the state and will make an appearance during the season. “That’s what is so exciting about what Samantha [Fore] is doing with Tuk Tuk and others like her. We need to have diverse, exciting cuisine that’s vibrant. But if you have no sense of place and no sense of history, you just kind of float. You could be anywhere.”
“Using our agricultural wealth to inform the choices we make as chefs is what gives Kentucky’s cuisine—no matter what kind of recipe you’re using and no matter how global the approach—its true flavor and identity.” — Ouita Michel
Chef Ed Lee, owner of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, author and a former “Top Chef” contestant who also will appear as a guest judge this season, also cites an intersection of place, time, tradition and talent in contributing to Kentucky’s culinary moment.
“To me it’s about the entire experience. It’s not just food,” Lee said. “It’s about coming here and embracing what Kentucky has to offer. It’s about embracing farms. It’s about training staff to talk about Kentucky.”
Lee says that when he was a contestant on “Top Chef,” during season nine, Kentucky never would have entered into the conversation about serious culinary destinations. Now, due to a variety of factors and increased publicity and recognition, the state has garnered a reputation for having serious culinary chops.
“At 610 Magnolia, 10 years ago, we would have maybe a table a night that was from out of town,” Lee says. “Now, on any given Saturday night, 100 percent of my restaurant is from out of town. That’s a huge shift, and they’re coming from all over.”
Mary Quinn Ramer
Mary Quinn Ramer
Mary Quinn Ramer, president of VisitLEX, says her organization started seeing culinary ranking higher as a driving factor in travel decisions about eight years ago. VisitLEX launched its food-focused travel campaign, Beyond Grits, in 2012.
“We didn’t call it farm to table, because frankly that’s just how we eat,” Ramer said. “If you take the tremendous assets we have from a natural, agricultural standpoint, and then you factor in being a university city and having the presence of global industries like that of the
Thoroughbred, for a town of 300,000, Lexington has a diverse and interesting culinary scene that you may or may not find in other cities our size.”
Earlier this year, the Kentucky Tourism Council announced a new Kentucky Culinary Trail and Better in the Bluegrass campaign, a program that pairs iconic regional foods with state parks and recreational areas around the state. “Among millennials, 95 percent will travel just for food and drink, and passenger buses are making three to four food stops in a city. We want them to do it all here,” tourism commissioner Branscum said. “People care about their food dollars and it is a driver to visit a destination.”
An authentic representation of the culture and cuisine is also important. And how we represent that speaks to the quality of the culture and values of the larger community, Michel said.
“If we support local, sustainably sourced foods in our food culture, we’re also communicating something about the way we see economic development and the fact that we see it in a very progressive way,” she said. “But if we only have corporate-run, corporate-owned fast-food style restaurants, then that expresses that we’re more of a throw-away culture. Especially in Lexington, we have changed the way people see our community, and that’s why you see all these national articles coming out.
“A lot of times national exposure does not really put local butts in seats, but it is part of how we craft a vision together,” she said. “I think this is the first time we’ve really had all pistons firing in Kentucky.”
And, as evidenced by recognition from “Top Chef” and other media outlets, the culinary world has taken notice.