'Top Chef' Tom Colicchio on Next Show: 'Best New Restaurant'
Tom Colicchio’s new cooking competition show, Best New Restaurant, airs at 10 p.m. this Wednesday, January 21, on Bravo. Joining him at the judges’ table are Maggie Nemser, the editor-in-chief of BlackboardEats.com, and Jeffrey Zurofsky, Colicchio’s partner in ’wichcraft. Gordon Ramsay is the executive producer. Bon Appétit magazine is involved. All three judges get help from hidden camera-wired “Undercover Diners” at competing restaurants.
But make no mistake: This is Tom’s show.
The idea: 16 restaurants from around the country work their ways through an array of challenges. One example is the “Pressure Test,” in which 30 hungry diners descend on the restaurants without any notice. Can each business handle the stress of a packed house? If so, it moves on to the next round, and ultimately Colicchio crowns one restaurant the winner. Along with that title comes $100,000, a feature in Bon Appétit, and a showcase at food festival Vegas Uncork’d.
We spoke with Colicchio about Best New Restaurant; here are a few things he thinks you should know:
"This is not a food competition show, this is a restaurant competition show. We’re looking at the entire operation—servers, design, hospitality—it’s so much more than the food.”
"It starts with the phone call: How well are they dealing with the reservation? They should never say, ‘No.’ Even if you’re all booked on a Saturday night, you offer another night. You never say ‘no’ and hang up the phone."
"You have to have great food, of course, but you need to have the organization to put that food out on time. Servers have to be well-trained, and know the menu, and know the dishes. The design has to flow right: Lighting has to be good, sound has to be good. And overall, these people have to have a real desire to make other people happy and really take care of them."
"This isn’t about what I personally like. I never judge based on what I like to eat; that’s irrelevant. The first thing I do is I conduct a 30-45-minute interview. I ask [the restaurant owners] questions: What are they trying to attempt here? What’s important to them? Intention is always really important to me. So once I understand their goal, whether it’s a barbecue place or a white-tablecloth one, I can judge whether or not they are accomplishing it."
"The most important elements of a high-quality restaurant? Food, service, hospitality. That’s it!"
"Some restaurants get bogged down by the smallest little things, and then there are times when you expect them to get tripped up and they don’t. I think people are going to see how restaurants really work [on this show]. The guts, the inside, the problems you have, the importance of the waiter—all of it."
More cool food TV:
The Great British Bake-Off comes to America
Laila Ali’s late-night chef fight
Vivian Howard hunting ramps on A Chef’s Life
What’s your go-to food TV show?
