Top Chef is a very popular cooking reality show that airs on Bravo. The premise is that great chefs from many different culinary backgrounds come together to compete. Chefs are eliminated one by one until there is only one remaining chef who wins the title of Top Chef.

Top Chef episodes normally follow the same basic setup. At the start of an episode, chefs compete in a Quickfire Challenge. The winner of this challenge wins immunity, an advantage in the Elimination Challenge, or a great prize. All of the chefs will also compete in an Elimination Challenge. These Elimination Challenges can be team or individual oriented. Judges pick the winners and losers of a challenge. Winners normally get a prize and the loser is sent home. The challenges often combine crazy ingredients with crazy situations to provide a lot of entertainment.

The main judges for Top Chef are normally Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons. Padma Lakshmi is often a judge and also serves as the host of the show. There are many different special judges that will appear including famous chefs, celebrities, top food critics, and various other important people. The show currently has aired for nine seasons and has become so popular that spin offs including Top Chef Masters have been created.

The second season was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for Reality Programming and Outstanding Reality Competition Program by the Primetime Emmy Awards. At the 62 Prime Time Emmy Awards Top Chef won the Outstanding Reality Competition Program Category.