Top Cheffage

Grub Street tracked down Food & Wine's Gail Simmons, otherwise known as Top Chef judge #3, for a little insight into this season: She loved filming in New York if only to sleep in her own bed; would want Julia Child as a guest judge (obviously not going to happen), or Alice Waters or Thomas Keller (obviously didn't happen). She also divulges what makes a good Top Chef: "There's a lot of really not-good contestants. I think you need to be someone who plays it for what it is. It's a competition but it's fun. At the end of the day, it's not life or death. You're not doing brain surgery or dealing with foreign politics. You're cooking!...You need to know how to cook! It helps." [Grub Street]