-Hi. I'm happy to be here.
I feel like it's been a long time.
-It's been a while. By the way, you smell fantastic, as well.
-Thank you. I make it myself.
-Yeah -- Do you really? -Yeah, because I get a headache
from store-bought perfumes,
so I just made it with essential oils.
-Oh, my gosh. It's fantastic, whatever it is.
-It's like cooking, right? -Yeah, I guess so.
By the way, speaking of cooking, St. Patrick's Day is today.
Irish cuisine -- not really that advanced.
What would you --
[ Laughter ] I can --
I'm Irish. I can say that we boil everything.
-Okay. Alright. -We boil ev --
[Irish accent] What is it? Eggs, oatmeal, whatever.
Boil it. Yeah.
I's like, "What? Corned beef? Have you tried boiling it?"
Yeah, it's like -- Cabbage -- we just boil it.
[Normal voice] But what would you say --
What should people eat on St. Patty's day?
-I mean, I'm not familiar --
so familiar with Irish food, believe it or not.
But I think something green, right?
So have chlorophyll, which is really good for your gut.
Like -- No, it's really good.
-Chlorophyll? -Yes.
-What are you talking about? -Or, like, a green juice.
Have a green juice.
Maybe put some whiskey in it 'cause it's St. Patrick's day.
-Now we're talking. That's what I'm talking about.
-But eat your greens. Eat your greens.
-Yeah. I was reading a little bit about you.
And growing up in new York, one of the things that you like --
'Cause I know -- I have your cookbooks.
I watch you all the time on all your cooking stuff,
besides "Top Chef."
And I found out that one of the things that was a treat for you
growing up was to go to the hot-dog cart.
-Yes, but I didn't eat meat then, so -- I mean, I -- Yes.
We would actually -- I grew up in New York City.
So my mom and I were vegetarian, but we would always salivate
watching all these people get hot dogs.
So we had the hot-dog --
We asked the hot-dog guy for the hot dog without the hot dog.
But all the fixings, so, like, sauerkraut, onions,
mustard, relish, ketchup, everything.
It's good!
[ Laughter ] It's really good!
That's what makes it taste good.
I mean, have you ever had a New York hot dog boiled
in that New York water?
-[Irish accent] Boiled? Ya say boiled?
Ha! Bingo!
I love it! -Exactly!
-[Normal voice] I actually ordered one of the --
-Oh, shoot. -I ordered a Padma.
-Aww.
-This is the hot dog with everything, with nothing.
-Everything and nothing all at once.
-So it's everything with nothing at once.
You go, "Everything with no hot dog."
-Alright. We -- Can I -- Am I supposed to taste this?
-Yeah, do you want to? -Yes, I do.
You made it for me.
Alright, so, do you want to make it more fun?
-Sure. -Okay, should we have
an eating contest and see who can eat it faster?
-No.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Come on! Come on!
-Are you out of your mind? No.
I'm telling you -- I'm giving you the --
I will throw up all over the place.
I don't know if I will like this.
I don't think I'm going to enjoy this.
-You've had everything on here before. I know you have.
-It just doesn't seem --
It seems like it's missing something.
Alright. -Ready?
-Cheers. -One -- Cheers.
♪♪
[ Laughter ]
-It's good. It's good.
It has the hot sauce, the red onions. This is good.
Stop playing music, please. Because --
Because they just want me to eat it fast--
who can eat it fast-- I'm not doing it.
No, I don't want to do it. -Oh, come on.
-But I feel like it's the end of the hot dog
when the hot dog falls out of the bun
and you have one bite left, but you've already paid $1.50
for the hot dog.
So you're like, "I might as well finish the end."
-Also look at your bite. Your bite is small.
-What are you talk-- What are you doing?
You come out here swinging like that?
My bite is small? -Come on.
-No, I don't want to eat this. I really don't like this.
I think this is -- this is not -- this is not for me.
-Okay, fine.
-Do you want me to take another bite?
-Yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-I'll do anything for you. -Thank you.
Keep going. Keep going. Keep going!
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
You have the condiment sweats.
Not the meat sweats, but the condiment sweats.
-I was looking for any spit bucket or anything.
No one cares. No one cares.
No. I love you. This is good. This is great.
I would let you have all of it.
Save it for you after the show.
-Now I eat meat, obviously. -You do, yeah.
-I eat everything, you know, with "Top Chef,"
but I'm still pretty plant-based.
-Can you -- Can you answer --
There are some food debates that are online,
and I thought that it'd be fun answering these
and just settling it once and for all.
Is a hot dog a sandwich or a hot dog?
-I mean, it's a poor excuse for a sandwich,
but it's technically a sandwich.
Anything between bread. [ Audience groans ]
-This is -- The crowd turned on you.
[ Laughter ]
-I mean, in July, when you're grilling the hot dog it's good,
but not when you're boiling it.
-What are you talking -- A hot dog is good, but I'm --
That's not the question -- "Is a hot dog good?"
-It is -- It is --
-The answer is, yes, the hot dog is good.
-Yes, it's technically a sandwich.
-What?
[ Laughter ]
-Anything -- because the Earl of Sandwich
invented the sandwich.
How far do you want me to go with this?
-The Earl of Sandwich. -It's true.
Alright. Ready? Settle this debate.
Is there a food that's not made better with chocolate or ranch?
[ Laughter ]
I would say... not necessarily, right?
Have you ever had a chocolate-covered something
that was gross? -Oh, hell yes, I have.
And it was the worst thing I've ever eaten on "Top Chef."
-Wait. Which one? 'Cause I watch all the --
-It was Ilan Hall. -I love Ilan.
-So do I.
But he really tested me there. It was in Santa Barbara.
It was a -- -You remember the location.
-I remember what I was wearing.
It was this beautiful chocolate ganache
that he did really well, and I bit into it
and I thought it was a piece of fruit or something
because it kind of felt like that or a raisin.
It was a piece of liver.
[ Audience groans ] So chocolate-covered liver.
Not good. It would have been better with ranch.
-Oh, my g-- Oh, my gosh.
Alright.
If -- Are you cooking if you don't use heat?
-Yes, you are. You can marinate things, and they will cook.
Like, if you leave fish, that's a ceviche.
Yeah. I mean, we had this debate on my first season,
the second season finale between Ilan, again, and Sam,
and Sam marinated something,
and Tom was like, "But he didn't cook anything!"
And I'm like, "Yes, he did. He just didn't use heat."
-Ah. Alright, So you are cooking. I agree with that.
Yeah, yeah.
Could a bowl of cereal be considered a soup?
I don't know where we're getting these.
-Only if you're Questlove. -I don't know where --
-Do you like -- -He loves cereal. Come on.
-I do. -What's your --
What's your cereal?
-I like Qu-- Do you know Quisp?
-They don't make Quisp.
-They got Quisp for my birthday.
-They don't make Quisps. -They still make it.
-Where did you get the last box of Quisp?
-They -- For my birthday, people sent me Quisp.
-I was at his birthday,
and he literally had 20 boxes of cereal...
-Oh, yeah, he does like cereal. -...and every milk, yes.
Like, did you know there were Frosted Flakes
that were strawberry? Yeah.
-No. -They're great.
-Oh, yeah. He knows all that stuff.
-He knows all that stuff. -Oh, that's good. Yeah.
But, no, it can't be considered a soup. It's a cereal.
-Yeah. Maybe it's a dessert more than a soup.
[ Audience murmurs ]
The way you say it, true, of course, probably, yeah, yeah.
Can we talk about "Top Chef," okay?
-Yes, please. -Season 20.
Can you believe it's season 20?
-No, I can't. When I took the job umpteen years ago --
-We've known each other for 20 years.
-We have. -Isn't that wild?
-You look the same. -You do.
You look younger and better.
-[ Laughs ] Thank you. It's all that food I eat.
I mean, it's been a really wild ride.
I just took the job because I thought it would be
a little push for my cookbook,
which was coming out the year of that.
So you didn't think you'd go, like, past two seasons?
-No, it was a little cable show.
I mean, I didn't do it for a season,
so I did get to see it, and I thought
it was a really cool show. -Yeah.
-And so I liked it. I just, you know --
I was talking to them about the first season in development.
Then I went off to shoot a movie with Sean Bean, actually,
and they didn't want to wait,
so they did it with somebody else.
And then it was nice. You know, it was a good show.
And then they asked me, second season,
"Are you free now?" And I said, "Yes."
And I've been with the show ever since.
-Wowzers. That's awesome. Well, you're the face.
I couldn't imagine it without you.
-Thank you. -You're so good.
Talk to me about this season. What is this now?
This is very interesting, 'cause now it's --
It's become global now, "Top Chef."
-Yeah, this is like the mega season.
It's hard to top yourself. It's like an old marriage.
When you've been on TV so long,
you got to keep it fresh, keep it, you know, exciting.
So, this season, it's really international.
We always try to keep it diverse, but we have --
"Top Chef" is in 174 territories.
So, like, I'm dubbed in all kinds of languages,
which is really funny to watch.
But there are 29 countries where they have their own franchise,
so we took winners and finalists from 11 of those.
So, we have, like, Brazil, Thailand,
Mexico, Italy, the Middle East,
you know, all these different top chefs.
-All the best. -Yeah.
And so it's the best of the best of the world.
They've already been on "Top Chef,"
they've already won, or they've already made it to the finale.
-Wow. So you're watching the best.
I will say also -- -It's like the Olympics.
It's like "Top Chef" Olympics.
-"Top Chef" is one of those shows, too,
where the winners actually go on to become giant stars.
-Yeah.
-They have restaurants. They have franchises.
They're like giants now in the culinary world.
-Yeah. Hell yeah. I mean, you can look at any show you want --
you know, "American idol,"
any show, any reality competition show --
and no show produces genuine captains of their industry.
And they -- I think the show is self-selecting,
you know, because it's so hard to do.
-Yeah. -And you've got to be insane
to want to do it.
I would never compete on "Top Chef."
-Really? -But -- Yes.
It's even harder than it looks on TV.
And you've been on the show, but you weren't in the kitchen.
But you were eating with us. -No, I was --
Yeah, they left me outside in the parking lot.
Yeah, they go -- -"You just stay here."
-"We'll bring the food to you, Jimmy. You stay in the park--"
But -- Oh, it's tough.
-It was -- I mean, it's great, you know?
-Carla was my -- was the winner of mine.
-Oh, really? -And she went on --
-And look how well she's done. -She's the best.
-Carla Hall. -We love you, Carla.
-I mean, the Voltaggio Brothers. Richard Blais.
-Richard Blais is great. -Stephanie Izard.
Kristen Kish. -Yeah, it's amazing.
-I can keep naming people that we all know now.
-I want to show a clip.
Here's Padma Lakshmi in "Top Chef: World All-Stars."
Take a look at this.
-Hello, Chefs!
Welcome to season 20 of "Top Chef."
-Alright!
[ Applause ]
-Since "Top Chef" premiered in 2006,
there have been 29 international versions,
with over 100 winners from around the globe.
You represent some of the best of the best.
-I recognize Samuel, because I always watch "Top Chef: France"
and I know he's a great chef.
This competition's going to be fire.
-Oh, yeah. Padma Lakshmi, our bud.
"Top Chef: World All-Stars" airs Thursdays
at 9:00 p.m. on Bravo.
We're doing something brand-new with Padma after the break.
Stick around, everybody.