“London is a food gateway,” says Gail Simmons. “It’s a multicultural city like nowhere else in Europe, with its own food traditions, but really, from a food perspective, it’s a story of immigration.”
Now in its 20th season, shot in London with a global cast of previous winners, Top Chef is the most famous competitive cookery show you’ve never heard of – if you’re a British reader. Not only is it the No 1 food show on cable in the US – the previous series had 7.3 million viewers – but the format has been exported to 29 countries, although not yet to the UK, perhaps because we have our own blockbuster shows: MasterChef, Great British Menu and, of course, Bake Off.
