Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons on Top Chef.Photo:David Moir/Bravo via Getty
David Moir/Bravo via Getty
On the heels ofPadma Lakshmi’s recentannouncement that she’ll beleavingTop Chefwhen season 20 wraps this week, her fellow judge told PEOPLE that, naturally, she’s “sad.”
“She’s my friend and we’ve had so much fun together,” Simmons, 47, said on the red carpet Monday at the 2023 James Beard Awards in Chicago, which she hosted alongside chefsEric Adjepong, Esther Choi andAndrew Zimmern.
However, she added, “I still have her phone number, we still hang out. She’s not leaving the world!”
Chef Eric Adjepong at the 2023 James Beard Awards.Jeff Schear/Getty
Jeff Schear/Getty
“I wish her nothing but love and success in all the endeavors she does,” added Adjepong, 35. “She has a lot of projects she’s working on, like her showTaste the Nation,and I’m sure she’ll continue to impress us.”
Also impressing Adjepong and Simmons are this season’sTop Chef: World All-Starsfinalists, who will face off in the series finale this Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
“It’s just a show-stopping finale,” Simmons teased. “The food is so beautiful and meaningful and I think that it’s sort of a bit unexpected. It’s a pretty epic room of chefs at our table, too.”
The series, which filmed in London and Paris with a cast including winners and runners-up from the variousTop Cheffranchises around the world, “was just as fun to make as it is to watch,” Simmons added.
Top Chef season 20 finale.Fred Jagueneau/Bravo via Getty
Fred Jagueneau/Bravo via Getty
Adjepong has also been watching, rooting for his fellow season 16 finalist Sara Bradley, who made it to the finale alongsideTop Chefseason 19 winnerBuddha LoandTop Chef Mexicoseason 2 winner Gabri Rodriguez.
“Seeing Buddha compete, and everyone else, it’s totally inspiring,” Adjepong said. “I’ve been a huge fan ofTop Chefsince its infancy so to see it graduate to 20 seasons is pretty cool.”
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At Monday night’s James Beard Awards, twoTop Chefalumni were among the winners:Damarr Brown(emerging chef, Chicago’s Virtue) andGregory Gourdet(best new restaurant, Portland’s Kann).
The awards recognized a diverse group of chefs this year, including the first Indigenous woman (Sherry Pocknett of Rhode Island’s Sly Fox Den Too) and first Puerto Rican person (Natalia Vallejo of San Juan’s Cocina al Fondo).
Founded in the 1990s,the James Beard Foundationworks to celebrate and support chefs, restaurant workers, farmers and others who support America’s food industry with the mission of “Good Food for Good.”
source: people.com
