Grayson Schmitz

A collection of the country’s best Chefs converge in Los Angeles for the toughest season of Top Chef yet, where they will hit the road and compete in six cities across the Golden State. To get their feet wet, the Chefs face off in a fan favorite Quickfire challenge – the Mise En Place race. Then, under the glamour of the Hollywood sign, the Chefs must make dishes that stand out for a group of top food critics and reporters in order to survive the first elimination. Legendary chef Emeril Lagasse rounds out the judging panel alongside Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons.

The "Top Chef" California Road Trip embarks to its first destination: Santa Barbara. Stopping at the Harbor, the Chefs pick up fresh sea urchin to use in their first Sudden Death Quickfire Challenge. For the Elimination Challenge, the Chefs go from friends to enemies when "surf and turf" becomes "surf versus turf" as they serve to a daunting table of celebrated chefs and judges.

To better introduce the Chefs to the city of Los Angeles, Padma challenges them to create and open four distinct pop-up restaurants reflecting the culture of the respective neighborhoods they land in. Tom, Padma, Gail and guest judge and Pop-Up King Ludo Lefebvre eat their way through Mexican, Persian, Korean and even Vegan cuisine to pick the best dish that celebrates LA’s mosaic of cultures.

Supermodel Chrissy Teigen entices the Chefs to make their best Quickfire "date" dishes. And in a Top Chef first, the Chefs cater a wedding for twenty five gay couples in an Elimination Challenge. Minister Padma Lakshmi officiates, and once the festivities are over, Chef Art Smith and the other judges divorce one Chef from the competition.

The chefs four-wheel into their second destination of their California Road Trip -- Palm Springs. In the heart of the desert, world-renowned chef Jose Andres tasks the cheftestants to use solar powered stoves for one hot Quickfire. Then, the Chefs must avoid culinary sand traps when they cook on a world-famous golf course. Chefs John Besh and Mary Sue Milliken join Tom Collichio, Padma Lakshmi and Richard Blais on the course.