Justin Sutherland

"Top Chef" Kentucky begins as fifteen of the country's finest chefs are off to the races at Churchill Downs for the ride of their lives. After a lightning fast two minute mise-en-place focused Quickfire, the Chefs are challenged to make a dish that will appeal to a crowd of two hundred at a stakes-filled Kentucky Derby party. Churchill Downs' own Chef David Danielson serves as guest judge along with returning regulars Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi, and Graham Elliot.

In a massive twist, Padma's favorite challenge Restaurant Wars comes early this year, but before the chefs gear up for battle, they must first duke it out in an amuse bouche-based Quickfire for Top Chef alum turned James Beard Award winning chefs: Karen Akunowicz and Nina Compton. Then, the gauntlet has been thrown and with twelve chefs remaining, three restaurants will be battling for victory. James Beard Award winning restaurateur Caroline Styne joins as the guest judge along with Nilou Motamed. And if this unexpected chaos isn't enough, Tom leaves the Chefs breathless with an announcement that will change the course of the competition.

The chefs walk in on an epic battle of Last Chance Kitchen and are drafted into the fight. Once Tom declares a winner, the chefs immediately begin a challenge making dishes based on Prohibition Era cocktails. Chef Ken Oringer joins Padma, Tom and Graham at a Roaring 20’s party with Flappers and Dapper Dans.

A very pregnant Gail Simmons asks the chefs to feed her cravings in a special Quickfire delivery. Then it's time to celebrate two iconic Kentucky mainstays: local cuisine and bourbon. The Chefs head to Makers Mark, the oldest distillery in America to put their spins on a meal full of Kentucky classics including burgoo, Benedictine, mutton, hoe cakes and dumplings. This is a true battle for Kentucky as the chefs navigate their first team challenge - and one chef makes a potentially fatal shopping error. Can they recover or will they be scraping the bottom of the barrel to make it through? Food and travel editor, Nilou Motamed joins the judges this season, and Maker's Mark's in-house Chef, Newman Miller, sits on the panel as a guest judge.

The mayhem and drama continues of the biggest Restaurant Wars in the history of "Top Chef." Tom's announcement of a double elimination piles on even more pressure. "Top Chef" alum turned James Beard Award winning Chefs Karen Akunowicz and Nina Compton join the restaurant crawl along with Nilou Motamed and guest judge and James Beard Award winning restaurateur, Caroline Styne.