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Obsessed: The Podcast

How ‘Top Chef’ Stays So Relevant 20 Years In

Obsessed: The Podcast

The Daily Beast

Tv & Film

4.5686 Ratings

🗓️ 28 March 2026

⏱️ 39 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Kevin Fallon sits down with legendary Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio to go behind the scenes of one of TV’s most beloved competition shows, from filming in extreme locations to what really goes into judging a dish. Joined by producer Rachel Passer, the episode dives into why Top Chef stands apart from other reality series, blending high-stakes competition with deeply personal food stories. Tom shares insight into the creative process of chefs, the challenges of the restaurant industry, and how the show has evolved over the years. Plus, Kevin and Rachel debate their own food opinions—some more controversial than others. Follow Kevin Fallon on Instagram ⁠@kpfallon⁠ Follow Matt Wilstein on Instagram ⁠@mattjwilstein⁠ New episodes every Thursday, and Saturday; ⁠early drops on YouTube⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:48.8

ups, online, in person and on the go. Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup. Almost all of our Power Chef episodes, it's on location. And when you think about shooting on location, everywhere we go, we have to set up a kitchen. We have to bring all the pots and pans and all the blenders. And there's a whole team that people have to set up a kitchen and make sure that there's

1:11.3

enough electricity, you know, not only for the cooks, but for the cameras and everything else. And so it's a major undertaking to move. We shot in Alaska. There were bears in the tree right above our, we were shooting and eating. There were three bears up there for the tree. So, you know, the snakes weren't that bad. I mean, I would have been Kristen crawling on that table and like screaming.

1:27.9

It would be cool if we were doing an Apple challenge and the snake came out.

1:30.5

That would have been Kristen crawling on that table and, like, screaming.

1:28.1

It would be cool if we were doing an Apple challenge and the snake came out. That would have been

1:31.0

biblical.

1:31.9

Been very biblical.

1:35.5

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Obsess the podcast. I'm Kevin Fallon, here to guide you through all the TV shows, movies, and celebrity nonsense that

1:45.0

we think is unmissable. And I am very excited about today's episode. Our interview guest today

1:51.1

is Tom Colicchio, the judge of Top Chef, which is one of my favorite, actually no, I will

...

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