Bravo’s ‘Top Chef’ Filming Next Season in Charleston
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) The day after Bravo’s hit cooking competition series “Top Chef” crowned its 13th winner, the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau announced the series would be filmed in Charleston for the 14th season.
That means contestants will likely spend a lot of time in mid-size SUVs traveling back and forth across the Ravenel Bridge to Whole Foods in Mount Pleasant.
Charleston is the perfect location to inject our next batch of chefs. We know Charleston and are excited by the food, people and possibility it brings with its rich cultural and historical background which has played an important role in shaping South Carolina’s unique cuisine,” saidShari Levine, the Executive Vice President of Bravo Media.
For those who want to be on the Charleston-based “Top Chef,” the dates for casting calls have already passed, but the final group of chefs will come from Los Angeles, Portland, Las Vegas, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Philadelphia and New York.
“We are thrilled that ‘Top Chef’ has chosen Charleston, South Carolina as the site for season fourteen. As the Southeast’s premier dining destination, we look forward to sharing our 300 year culinary heritage with ‘Top Chef’s’ passionate and devoted viewers,” saidChief Executive Officer of Charleston Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Helen T. Hill.
The choice of Charleston may be a natural one for more than just its widely heralded creative food scene. The show’s head judge Tom Colicchio said in 2012 that Charleston was one of his favorite places to visit.
In a Yahoo Insider travel blog, Colicchio posted a love letter to the city’s food scene, saying the city has a one-of-a-kind character that he feels the moment he steps off the plane and extends through every facet of Lowcountry life.
“It’s humid, but you get this real smack of salt and marsh. Automatically, you feel relaxed, you slow down, your pace slows down a bit. You talk a little slower,” Colicchio said in the blog. “You know, if you’re there for a week or so, you may even slip in a few y’alls.”
In the blog, Colicchio noted McCrady’s, Hominy Grill, Husk, and Bowen’s Island as some of his favorite places to eat, possibly hinting at a number of the guest chefs who will make appearances in the 14th season.
Husk’s Sean Brock has already appeared in the series during a finale filmed in Mexico in 2015.
The show is hosted by Padma Lakshmi. Head judge Tom Colicchio, alongside judges Gail Simmons, Richard Blais, and a pair of celebrity chef judges also appear in each episode.The winner earns $125,000, a feature in FOOD & WINE magazine and a showcase at the annual FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen.
The series airs regularly Thursday nights at 10 p.m.
