Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters” is firing up for a fourth season with a dozen award-winning chefs, who will compete in Las Vegas for $100,000 for their charity of choice — and, of course, the glory that comes with outshining their distinguished peers in the art of cooking.
The show has always featured gay and lesbian talent and this season is no exception, with returning judge, food writer and editor James Oseland and competing chefs Art Smith, Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier.
Smith, executive chef and co-owner of five restaurants, including LYFE Kitchen and Southern Art Restaurants, is making his second attempt to win “Top Chef Masters” after competing on the show’s first season. But there won’t be as much of him to see this season: After watching himself on season one and receiving a diabetes diagnosis, Smith dropped 100 pounds. He now watches what he eats and runs marathons.
Smith said he’s back for another round of the show because the first time was “just too much fun.”
“I had to do it a second time,” he said. “‘Top Chef Masters,’ season one, was a coming-out party. Well, I’m out and I’m pretty loud this time around. You’ll see a more svelte and lean chef Art Smith than before.”
With five restaurants to run and gigs as a contributing editor to O, the Oprah Magazine, and writing award-winning cookbooks, Smith has to put a lot on hold to do “Top Chef Masters,” but he said it’s worth it.
“You do [have to put a lot of your life on hold], but all the people that are in my life, they love that I do it and it is so good for business,” Smith said. “So they work extra hard for me when I’m not around.”
It helps that he’s competing for a good cause: Common Threads, a charity he helped launch.
“My partner and I founded a nonprofit called Common Threads here in the Kenwood Hyde Park area [in Chicago]. It’s a beautiful old neighborhood. We started with 15 kids and the premise of the program is teaching kids how to cook. We teach 7,000 kids in four states.”
It’s also worth mentioning that Smith was once the day-to-day chef to Oprah Winfrey, a job that might seem challenging but he said it was a breeze compared to running a restaurant.
“Oprah is easy,” Smith said. “She’s wonderful. We spent 10 years together. She’s a lovely boss. How many bosses can you cry your heart out with about the breakup with your boyfriend or celebrate your new boyfriend? When Jesus and I met, she said, ‘You found Jesus.’ So it was really an amazing experience. Running a restaurant is a huge challenge that requires a huge amount of effort. Being a chef in a personal situation, it’s just you. That’s easy. But when you have to command a fleet of people to do the thing that you need them to do, it’s tougher.”
Oseland, meanwhile is the only judge on “Top Chef Masters” who has appeared all four seasons — and he said there’s a good reason he keeps returning.
“This is going to sound like hooey but it’s not: I love doing it. It’s an incredibly interesting and fabulous thing to participate in and judge. It’s funny: I’ve thought about this over the duration of the last four seasons. As a judge, I really just am a step or two removed away from being a viewer. From the moment the thing starts to the moment the thing finishes, which is usually three-four weeks, I am on the edge of my seat. I don’t know who’s going to win an episode or who is going to be the ultimate winner. I don’t know who is going to be eliminated on any particular show. It’s a very thrilling thing to be a part of. It’s entertaining. It’s invigorating. From the moment the thing starts, I want to know. Hopefully that level of enthusiasm gets translated to the viewer.”
Oseland said he watches the original “Top Chef,” which focuses more on talented new chefs than the world-class purveyors on “Masters.” He said the vibe and competition on “Masters” are far friendlier than on “Top Chef.”
“This is very top-flight,” Oseland said. “These are genuine masters. In the context of the show, but also in life, I’ve observed that the higher-level professionals tend not to indulge in the backbiting and all the emotional dramatic shenanigans. You’re talking about people that, by and large, have been doing this for decades. To get by in the professional kitchen with its rigorous demands and being responsible for very beautiful food, you can’t be into the drama. You’d burn out after a couple of years.
“I don’t know what these folk were like early in their careers but, by the time they are at the level on ‘Top Chef Masters,’ these are not people who are going to be dicking around with each other. These are dyed-in-the-wool genuine professionals. They’re people who in many respects are real and genuine artists in their craft. To be in the presence of that level of excellence and that concerted focus, it’s a wonderful and stimulating thing. After all four seasons of doing it, I’ve walked away from each of them incredibly thrilled in what I’ve participated in, not to mention the amazingly delicious food that I’ve eaten during the series.”
When asked if it is difficult to sit in judgment of the works of chefs who are so revered and awe-inspiring, Oseland immediately replied, No.”
“I don’t know if that has something to do with my particular hardwiring but this is something that I do in my life as well as my participation on the show,” he said. “I tend to not be a great sugar-coater. I’m not viciously honest, on the other hand. The reason I’m there participating in the show is to give my opinion and not be a wilting flower about it. On the other hand, there are ways of crafting a sentence where it can eviscerate somebody’s ego. Or there’s a way in which you can say something like ‘I’m sorry, but with all due respect, this dish you made sucks.’ I guess I probably made a pact with myself from the first series where I’m not going to mince my words. I’m going to say what I think. A lot of people, so I hear, tend to think that I’m a picky and persnickety judge, which I suppose is probably true. One thing that is maybe not so obvious to people is that I am probably more hard on myself, including in what I cook, than I could ever be on anybody else. I’m just a picky person by nature.”
Smith is also a fan of the original “Top Chef” and, while he agrees the tone of “Masters” is friendlier, he appreciates the bold and assertive talent on “Top.”
“I’m 51 years old. I leave all that stuff for all the young kids to do,” Smith said of the more cutthroat nature of “Top Chef.” “I do love watching the kids. I’m freer than I have ever been but these kids, they are born that way. They have no fear whatsoever. That’s why ‘Top Chef’ is still popular, because the kids are so real. I think that when you get older you get wiser. You realize you’d better not burn any bridges because you’re going to see that person again. The master-chef world is small, so I think people understand the importance of how they are going to have to behave or it’s going to haunt them. I was told a long time ago to always look pretty in public, especially by Oprah Winfrey. I try very hard to stay pretty. I keep it together. It’s fun.” n
The new season of “Top Chef Masters” premieres 10 p.m. July 25 on Bravo. For more information, visit www.bravotv.com/top-chef-masters.