3 ms·
The 'Top Chef' Industrial Complex
- TMWNN 4y agoFrom the article: >Entering its 20th season, the sprawling Bravo franchise has changed the way Americans eat and become a mirror of the restaurant industry. [...] >“We want to hear ‘Michelin star,’ ‘James Beard Award,’” said Ms. Arquines as Mr. Lichtenstein toggled back and forth between camera angles. “And sprinkle in some personality.” >Working on “Top Chef” since it debuted in March of 2006, the duo has molded the series into one of the most influential forces shaping the way Americans think about restaurants and chefs. The show, which began as a long-shot marriage of reality television and cooking-competition programming, has also changed the way Americans eat. >Scores of its roughly 300 contestants have leveraged the show to open restaurants and grow empires in cities like Chicago, New York, Honolulu, Houston and Miami, and to draw attention and tourists to smaller markets like Boulder, Colo., Athens, Ga., and Paducah, Ky. [...] >Appearing in the series is the most effective career accelerant available to working chefs, according to nearly all of the 32 past competitors interviewed for this article.