Top Chef 11: New Orleans (Premiere TBD 2013) - News & Speculation

[MFWalkoff]

Bravo Media Picks Up "Top Chef" for Season 11 and Kicks Off Nationwide Casting Calls

Casting calls for the new season begin this Monday, February 11 in Austin.

[via press release from Bravo]

NEW YORK - February 6, 2013 - Hot off the grill - Bravo's Emmy and James Beard Award-winning series and the No. 1 rated food show on cable, "Top Chef," will be returning for an eleventh season. Open calls for chefs interested in competing in the high-stakes culinary competition series will be held in cities across the country starting on February 11th.

For additional casting information and to download an application, visit Casting - Bravo TV Official Site. "Top Chef" season 11 casting calls are as follows:

AUSTIN
Monday, February 11, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Uchiko

BROOKLYN
Wednesday, February 20, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Talde

LAS VEGAS
Wednesday, February 20, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
STK in The Cosmopolitan

CHICAGO
Sunday, February 24, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Girl & The Goat

MIAMI
Monday, February 25, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Michy's

LOS ANGELES
Friday, March 1, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
The Foundry on Melrose

No word yet on premiere date or the new season location. Also, there's no word at the Bravo site about any new seasons for Top Chef: Masters or Just Desserts this year.

[MFWalkoff]

'Top Chef' Season 11 Heads to...

By Monica A. Reyhani | 1 hour ago

Time to mix yourself a Sazerac! (Y'know, if you're not busy...)

Bravo Media’s Top Chef, in partnership with the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation and the Louisiana Office of Tourism, are pleased to announce that the new season of the Emmy and James Beard Award-winning show will take place in New Orleans. The vibrant food scene of New Orleans will be a welcome addition in the 11th season of the series.

Fresh off a season in Seattle, fans will remember that Top Chef traveled from New York to now-judge Emeril Lagasse's adoped hometown of New Orleans for its fifth season, with Hosea Rosenberg emerging as the winner.

Our mouths are salivating already.

Good choice! Still no premiere date announced, but then I don't think they've even started filming yet...

[MFWalkoff]

Controversy before the first oyster is shucked...

Top Chef's oil spill money prompts b.s. from Bravo, Anthony Bourdain vs. Andy Cohen vs. David Simon + reality blurred

It's always bugged me that Top Chef asks for cash from a host city on top of the usual tax breaks they get, and especially from a city that's been through what NOLA has been through. But I don't know about the whole "BP fund" angle is about, and I'd bet that there's a logical explanation for it. But we won't get it from flighty partyboy Andy, and I'm glad that others like Bourdain and David Simon are calling him out and making him act like an adult in an adult's job. Maybe someday he'll actually behave that way...

But it won't sour me on the upcoming season, or make me start grabbing for those knee-jerk, childish "OMG BOYCOTT NEVER WATCHING AGAIN" cliches. We're watching reality TV shows, not live genocides or government coups.

But I bet we won't be seeing Bourdain back on the show for a while, lol. Which would be a shame if so.