Top Chef: Portland
Top Chef: Portland is the eighteenth season of the American reality television series Top Chef. It was first announced by Bravo on September 28, 2020. The season was filmed in Portland, Oregon, and surrounding areas, including the Hood River Fruit Loop, Columbia River Gorge, Mount Hood, Tillamook Bay, Tualatin Valley, and Willamette Valley wine country. The winner received.
Numerous production changes were made in response to COVID-19, and the pandemic's impact on the food industry became a recurring theme for challenges and discussions throughout the season. Due to the difficulty of bringing in guest judges and diners for individual episodes while observing pandemic safety protocols, in addition to series mainstays Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and Padma Lakshmi, the season features a rotating judging and dining panel consisting of various Top Chef alumni.
Top Chef: Portland premiered on April 1, 2021, and concluded on July 1, 2021. In the season finale, Gabe Erales was declared the winner over runners-up Shota Nakajima and Dawn Burrell. Nakajima was voted Fan Favorite.
Production
Production ran from early September through late October 2020. In response to COVID-19, a comprehensive health and safety plan was developed by Bravo and Magical Elves Productions in accordance with CDC guidelines, state and local orders, and safety policies from NBCUniversal. According to Magical Elves Productions co-CEO Casey Kriley, the company spent six months planning how to film during the pandemic. The cast and production crew, totaling around 150 people, were kept isolated in a bubble, similar to those used for sporting events, at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco Portland. They were tested for the coronavirus every other day. Due to the size of the production crew, the departments were broken up into separate zones that worked at different times.Sanitation protocols were changed. The judges were not allowed to share plates of food; tasting spoons had to be discarded after every taste; and contestants were each given their own individual spice containers, instead of sharing them. Other production changes included curbside pickup and delivery from Whole Foods Market instead of in-store shopping; the exclusion of challenges involving large dinners, tasting events, and crowds; as well as a bigger kitchen set and judges' table to allow for more social distancing. According to Colicchio and Simmons, nobody became ill during filming.
The producers were committed to their decision to go with Portland, Oregon, as a host for Top Chef, despite ongoing civil unrest in the city including protests over the police murder of George Floyd and killing of Breonna Taylor. While the show was able to avoid the protests, which were largely concentrated to downtown Portland, the producers did not anticipate the effects of the 2020 Oregon wildfires, which " a massive curveball" into the production schedule. At times, the producers were unable to shoot outdoors, or even indoors, due to the smoke caused by the wildfires, forcing them to shift the schedule and filming locations around.
Contestants
Fifteen chefs competed in Top Chef: Portland. The cast consisted entirely of executive chefs and restaurant owners, making it the first season of Top Chef to not include any sous-chefs among the competitors.Dawn Burrell returned to compete in Top Chef: World All-Stars.
Contestant progress
Episodes
''Last Chance Kitchen''
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