Kristen Kish

With the top eight chefs remaining, it's time for the perennial favorite - Restaurant Wars. This year, the chefs are split into teams and tasked with creating a Chef's Table restaurant concept where they will serve a seven course high-end tasting menu to the judges and All-Star panel.  Gregory Gourdet and Kristen Kish join Padma, Tom and Gail at the judges' table.

"Top Chef" kicks off as 21 chefs from around the country enter the kitchens of our judges - Tom Colicchio, Emeril Lagasse, Hugh Acheson and the newest addition, Wolfgang Puck. Each judge tests their group of chef'testants in their own real-world challenge.

There are 15 chefs that make it to Seattle, with their sights set on the Top Chef title. As a surprising twist changes the course of the competition, one chef cranks up the heat her own way, and one turn of the Seattle Space Needle determines who will go home. Famed Seattle chef and restaurateur Tom Douglas joins Gail Simmons, Emeril Lagasse, head judge Tom Colicchio and host Padma Lakshmi.

Butchery is king as two giant slabs of beef on meat hooks await the chefs for this week's Quickfire. For the Elimination Challenge, the Chefs go back in time as they're tasked with re-creating an original 1950's menu from one of the best restaurants in the country. Push comes to shove in the kitchen, as the chefs serve up the classics while trying to save themselves from a double elimination. Emeril Lagasse and Hugh Acheson join head judge Tom Colicchio and host Padma Lakshmi.

The Chefs team up and head to the "Soul of Seattle," world-famous Pike Place Market for an early morning Quickfire. The day doesn’t end there, as Chefs will have to use their skill and imagination to highlight some of the rarest ingredients found at the market for their Elimination Challenge. Every team will have to work hard to impress, as they’ll be cooking for the people who know these products best, the Artisans. Tom shocks the chefs with an unexpected Judges Table. Gail Simmons and Hugh Acheson join head judge Tom Colicchio and host Padma Lakshmi.