‘Top Chef’ Season 22 Premieres With Fierce Competition and Canadian Flair

Top Chef is back with a fresh batch of talented cheftestants, the largest grand prize package in the show’s history, and Canadian tuxedos.

The hit Bravo show returned tonight for its 22nd season, this time set in Canada. And to celebrate, Gail Simmons, Kristen Kish, and Tom Colicchio donned denim-on-denim to welcome the new contestants.

In a baby blue-hued denim trousers and top number, Kish, now in her sophomore season, continues to shine. “Regardless of the job, I think the second year is slightly more comfortable, and I found more of my confidence,” Kish told Food & Wine. “Going into season 22, I started fully confident that I knew exactly what I was supposed to be doing.” 

Colicchio agreed. “It’s just been great,” he added. “It feels like she’s been there forever.”

The season’s 15 new contestants come from a selection of award-winning kitchens in Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, Maine, and beyond. For example, Vincenzo “Vinny” Loseto is the chef de cuisine at Press restaurant in Napa, while Katianna Hong, based in Los Angeles, owns Yangban, which was a semi-finalist for Best New Restaurant in the 2023 James Beard Awards. Representing Canada, Montreal-born Massimo Piedimonte is the chef and owner of Cabaret l’Enfer in Montreal, Quebec.  

Guest judges include homegrown celebrities like Michael Cera and Sarah Levy from Schitt’s Creek. Food & Wine editor-in-chief Hunter Lewis and James Beard Foundation CEO Clare Reichenbach were also judges.

The contestants are competing for the largest grand prize package in the show’s history. For the first time, the Top Chef winner will headline their own dinner at New York’s James Beard House and have the opportunity to present at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards in Chicago. This is in addition to receiving Delta SkyMiles Diamond Medallion Status, a $125,000 flight credit for travel with Delta Airlines, a feature in Food & Wine magazine, an appearance at the annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, and a $250,000 cash prize provided by sponsor Saratoga Springs water.

As with season 21, there’s no immunity for Quickfire Challenge wins, but chefs have the chance to win cash prizes during each one, as well as during select Elimination Challenges, for a total of $150,000. In the premiere episode, one group of three shared the first $15,000 prize for an entry that particularly impressed Simmons, who remarked, “That dish felt like it had been on your menu for years.” 

Beyond the winning trio, the kickoff Quickfire Challenge had a host of lauded bites, hinting at this season’s collective talent level. Even Colicchio had praise. “I get grumpy when the food isn’t good,” he told the contestants. “I’m not grumpy right now. I’m really happy.”

The season will be filmed against some of Canada’s most beautiful backdrops, with episodes set in Toronto, Montreal, and Prince Edward Island — as well as Calgary and Canmore in Alberta. Beyond touching on Canadian classics like poutine, challenges highlight the country’s diverse regional cuisine.

In a way, each of the country’s five geographical regions was represented in the first Elimination Challenge, when the cheftestants were asked to take the judges “across Canada through food.” The five guest judges included prominent Canadian chefs, such as food scientist David Zilber, author of the Noma Guide to Fermentation and a Toronto native, and Inuit cultural educator and chef Sheila Flaherty.

“If there was a culinary Canadian version of Mount Rushmore, these are the faces right here,” said Houston-based cheftestant Tristen Epps. 

Each guest judge showcased six of their region’s most notable ingredients, including cod and dulce from the Atlantic Provinces, red lentils and sour cherries from the Prairies, and beets, crowberries, and Arctic char from the North. Cheftestants were invited to use three of these ingredients to highlight that region, while also incorporating a personal touch into their dish.

As the judges gathered around the table to await the dishes from the first Elimination Challenge, they poured wine and Kish raised her glass with a toast, “Cheers to Destination Canada, and Gail, welcome home.

As for the result of the premiere challenge? Despite a few hiccups (one contestant found herself a single fish short while plating her entree, while another accidentally left off a key sauce), the judges had plenty of positive feedback. “There’s clearly a lot of promise here,” Colicchio noted after the tasting. 

A lot of promise, indeed. Kish tells Food & Wine that some Season 22 bites were mind-blowing. 

“There were two plates of food that, I think we all could agree — that not only was it just exceptional food for the challenge itself, but [they were] some of the greatest bites of food,” she said. “It was just outstanding.”