Top Chef'sTop Draw

 One of the most interesting reality shows is Top Chef. It's a fascinating look at chefs and their dishes along with how they can  be up for a challenge.This is why it's one of the longest running realty competition shows on TV these days. It appeals to humanity's two favorite  things blood lust and food.

Regular contributor Brett Anderson wrote about this crowd pleaser in today's New York Times Food section. Top Chef is such a part of the zeitgeist.It has introduced audiences to various chefs , previously unheard of along with broadening people's horizons by visiting various cities.It now has a global audience of millions and the winner not only receives interantional attention but $250,000. The twenty seasons show has made its'host Padma Lakshi a household staple  along with promoting such vibrant and bold chefs as Eric Adejepong, Nini Nguyen and Kristin Kish to name a few. It gives viewers a window on such diverse cities as Portland Oregon and Paducah Kentuvcky,bringing tourism and adventurous foodies to their local restaurants.How did this show come about? Thank Project Runway, the first successful show of their shared production company Magical Elves. Food was also th e focus of another one of their shows , the famed "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy". It also helped the show that Tom Colicchio, a famous chef in his own right pushed it.

Yet there were some qualms. Early on food writer Gail Simmons was nervous about the genre. She had nightmares that it could be like a food version of another famous and long running reality show "Survivor" she feared she 'd be tied to a tree and eating insects. Yet Top Chef was more.It took from the widely popular Japanese cooking competition program "Iron Chef" with behind the scenes  of such reality hits like "Real World". It was an instant hit.In the process it  conditioned a large segment of the population and a generation of chefs to believe that cooking professionals should be able to prove their worth in a spectacle , worthy of the gladiators at the Colisseum. Unfortunately for the contestants there are down sides to  being on the show. They have no idea how they'll be portrayed in story lines created by producers until they watch the episodes. There is cyber bullying witnessed by Season 11 winner Nicholas Elmi  he was called a coward under a reposted picture of his young son dressed as the Cowardly Lion. Then there's the isolation where contestants  basically are treated like sequestered jurists during a high profile murder trial. They're cut ooff from family friends and all forms of communication. It is a lonely , sometimes frustrating period. They are also paid next to nothing, which is similar to young cehfs working gratis or for pennies at popular eateries.

No matter how people feel about it Top Chef will always be a top rated show. foodies love the recipe challenges as well as the drama.It combines hmanity's favorite things, competition and food.