On Wednesday night, “Top Chef: Wisconsin” premiered on Bravo – and Milwaukeeans from all corners turned out for a screening of the first episode at Discovery World. We took to the red carpet to talk to the host of celebrity guests from the show, including judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, along with this year’s new host Kristen Kish.
Here’s what they had to say about the new season of the reality cooking competition, filmed in Wisconsin.
“When you look at the agriculture, the produce of the state of Wisconsin, it really blew us away,” said ‘Top Chef’ perennial judge Gail Simmons. “We came in peak summer season, which was so beautiful. … And the people. Not just the locals, but also what we found amazing was learning the origin stories, the immigrant pathways and communities that settled here and really made Wisconsin unique. It’s those stories and those unique mashups of people and place that make [Wisconsin] really special.”
The season features 15 chefs competing for a grand prize of $250,000 dollars. The crew of “cheftestants” includes one Wisconsinite, Dan Jacobs, co-owner of Milwaukee’s DanDan and EsterEv restaurants.
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“I was surprised how mentally tough this whole thing was,” Jacobs said.
When asked how nerve-wracking the competition became, he said, “On a scale of 1-10? Like a 13. I mean, it was crazy. Some things were worse than others, but man, you never lose that feeling of butterflies in the stomach – and having to go the bathroom. As soon as the stage guy would yell out, ‘Quiet on the set,’ it was like, ‘Ope, gotta go to the bathroom.’”
The judges and contestants stayed in Milwaukee for about seven weeks filming the show. Simmons called out a few of her favorite dining spots in the city, including Zócalo Food Park and Uncle Wolfie’s Breakfast Tavern which she said was their “hangout spot” while they were in town.
Kristen Kish, a former contestant on the show who is returning this year as host, was especially impressed with Three Brothers Serbian restaurant.
“Because I had never dined out in Milwaukee before, every restaurant I was going to I was like, ‘Oh who knew,’” Kish said. “One of the first restaurants we went to was Three Brothers, and I didn’t know there was a top-notch Serbian restaurant in Milwaukee. My wife is half-Serbian so we always seek a Serbian restaurant out.”
“I think it’s funny – every time Wisconsin comes to mind, we always go to dairy, and I start to feel a little bit bad,” Kiss added. “Wisconsin is more than just dairy. But let’s not forget the fact that the dairy in Wisconsin is some of the most exceptional dairy in the world.”
One episode in the upcoming season features a traditional Wisconsin fish boil, an explosive culinary practice that shocked judge Tom Colicchio.
“The fish boil, for instance. As a chef you look at that and go, ‘This can’t be good.’ But it was fantastic,” Colicchio said. “So you start to question yourself. All the stuff you think you know, and then you see something like that.”
“Top Chef: Wisconsin” airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. on Bravo for the next fourteen weeks.
“We have such great opportunities here just to showcase ourselves hospitality-wise on a national and international level,” said Jacobs. “And I want people to walk away from things like Top Chef and the RNC thinking, ‘I had such a great time while I was here in Milwaukee.’ It’s such a great city. It’s such a vibrant, well-organized and tight-knit chef community. I want us to get this recognition.”
Paul Bartolotta, the co-founder and owner of the The Bartolotta Restaurants, was instrumental in persuading the “Top Chef” team to come to Wisconsin – and he’s featured in the first episode of the new season as a guest judge.
“It was a community effort to get [“Top Chef”] to be here,” Bartolotta said. “They were thinking originally maybe Midwest, you know, Minneapolis, Chicago, maybe even Detroit. I’m like, ‘No. Milwaukee. Wisconsin.’ … I love our city. I grew up here. I’ve had restaurants here now 30 years with my brother. … The reality is the city is now ready to be seen on a national or international stage. … It’s about time.”
