This Wednesday, Bravo will unveil its 5th season of Top Chef, with a special supersized episode.  The newest season will feature the return of Padma Lakshmi as host and Tom Colicchio as head judge.  Today, the two participated in conference call with the press, dishing on the new season and covered the all important topics like: which previous contestants are successful, the deal with the new judge, the food technique that annoys them in panel, and what makes the upcoming Top Chef: New York stand apart from previous seasons.  Check out the answers to those questions and more by clicking below!

On this year's cast:

Padma: "They're an interesting bunch. Like most of our casts, they come from all over. It was interesting to watch the evolution of more than a few of them. Some of the contestants over the course of the weeks really surprised us."


On the simple foods that they enjoy at home:

Padma: Grilled Cheeses, scrambled eggs

Tom: A good burger, dry cereal


On whether or not they gain weight while filming a season of Top Chef:

Padma: "Yeah, I gained about 10 to 15 pounds over the course of six weeks. I've never gone up two dress sizes, but I certainly always go up one dress size without fail. Tom is probably better at taking small bites than I am. I haven't quite mastered that yet."


On what makes season 5 stand apart from the rest:

Tom: "What's interesting about this season, it was somewhat of a difficult shoot I think. Because we were shooting in New York and we all live in New York, we'd go back to our normal lives off the set. It seemed harder to get back into the show. It was a lot of fun, but it was challenging as well."


On Tom being considered a sex symbol:

Tom: "I would say it's safe to assume more women watch the show than men, or at least straight men, or else I think Gail would fill that role. I don't know."

Padma: "I know. I think it's about Tom's authority. I think there's something sexy about authority."


On what makes a great cook:

Tom: "There's so much technique, obviously knife skills play a part in it. They don't have to, but they do. I think also having a command of seasoning, how to balance the flavors."

Padma: "To me the definition of a good cook is someone who really has a command and mastery of their ingredients and knows how to manipulate those ingredients. To manipulate the combination of those ingredients and know how to make that dish better than the collection of things on the plate."


On which previous contestant is the most successful:

Padma: "I would say Harold is doing really well. I think Harold is one of those guys who is very even keeled. I've tasted his food, it's delicious. I think that slow and steady wins the race. He's not somebody who's going to charge headlong into something without thinking on it."


On the food ingredient or technique that makes them roll their eyes:

Tom: "No, there's no dealbreaker. I think this season we see some very basic but well done food. One thing I'm tired of? Truffle oil, mostly because there's no truffle in there at all. I don't like to see that. There's really no trendy stuff that we're looking for. It's what's good, what tastes good and what makes sense."

Padma: "I'm with Tom, I really roll my eyes at truffle oil as well. I will say I'm always excited when a contestant shows me a new ingredient I haven't used. Whether that ingredient works in the recipe that they're doing is another question."


On guest judges fans can look forward to:

Tom: "Eric Ripert, Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters, Martha Stewart, Jacques Pepin..."


On new judge Toby Young:

Padma: "I found him very charming, very witty, and very sweet. I can only tell you from my experience with him, but that's what it was."

Tom: "The name of his book was How to Lose Friends & Alienate People. He lived up to that. Not with the judges, but with the contestants. He's very brash and opinionated."


On where the heck Ted Allen went:

Tom: "Ted got a show picked up on Food Network, and Food Network has this little policy that if they have a show on Food Network they don't want them appearing on Bravo."


On Tom's guilty pleasure snacks:

"I love beef jerky. I love licorice."



- Gina Scarpa and Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Writers
(Image courtesy of Bravo)