Last week, Bravo released its March schedule, which includes the fourth and latest season of the hit reality competition, Top Chef.  The series will premiere on Wednesday, March 19, and will continue to fill in that night’s 10pm timeslot.  At present, the hour belongs to Project Runway, the season finale of which is scheduled to air on March 5.  The network’s first annual A-List Awards will then fill the slot on March 12.

The new season of Top Chef is set in Chicago.  Filming began even before the show’s third edition came to an end onscreen. Several local publications, including the Chicago Tribune, had followed the production of the show’s fourth season, which is why even though the network has yet to release more concrete details about the new season, there is already a good amount of information on the internet, including the nature of the challenges.
Warning: may contain spoilers.

As per the Chicago Tribune, last year’s “Meals on Wheels Chicago” was the setting for one of the episodes on Top Chef 4.

“In one sense it was all so hush-hush; with the chef-testants sequestered away in their own kitchen area working up four different first courses for this dinner, courses the guests were asked to vote on,” the paper reports, adding that Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi and judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons were seated at the prime table.

The paper also reports of another challenge that took place in the Ravenswood Manor, where “the crew invaded four homes and filmed in four home kitchens,” as well as of another that was held in the Green City Market.

Filming wrapped up early November, with Lakshmi saying that “it went really well and I ate like a pig.”

“It’s all amazing,” she added.  “The fact that this show just keeps getting more popular and it’s attracting a higher caliber of chefs is what impresses me.  And the food is outstanding.”

-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Bravo, Chicago Tribune, realitytvwanted.net
(Image Courtesy of Bravo)

small_logo

Staff Columnist, BuddyTV