Pack your knives; Seattle is a finalist to host Top Chef

BY Josh Kerns  on January 31, 2012 @ 12:54 pm (Updated: 7:13 am - 2/1/12 )

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Seattle could be home to the next season of the popular reality TV cooking show Top Chef. (Bravo photo)

Pack your knives. Seattle could be home to the next season of the popular reality TV cooking show Top Chef. But the region needs to put its money where its mouth is.

"They really want to be here, but they need to feel the love," says Tom Norwalk, President of the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Norwalk says the tourism promoter has been working with the show for several years and while the producers love the city's cuisine and culinary talent, it ultimately comes down to which city is willing to pay producers enough to cover a significant amount of their production costs.

"And so this will take a sizable chunk of money from the leisure tourism promotion budget to really compete and be on an equal footing with another city."

Norwalk estimates the cost could be in the neighborhood of $200,000 to $300,000. He says the city narrowly lost out to Austin, Texas for the season currently airing.

But Marketing Director Ali Daniels says that's a minimal investment for millions of dollars worth of exposure.

"So basically, we would get 12 one-hour advertisements for our city."

Daniels says the producers are interested in profiling both destinations in city and surrounding areas, such as the wineries in Woodinville and the San Juan Islands.

The show would be taped in the spring and air this fall.

Josh Kerns, MyNorthwest.com Reporter
Josh Kerns is co-host of KIRO Radio's Seattle Sounds (Saturday nights 7-8) and a digital content producer for MyNorthwest.com.
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Comments (8)


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  • imanegro wrote...
    Gee
    January 31, 2012 2:17 pm
    I wonder if Seattle will cave and cough up some dough.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Nickatnyt wrote...
    It's a no-brainer
    January 31, 2012 2:44 pm
    But because the leadership in Seattle has no brains then it won't happen. Would be hilarious if Vancouver, BC found a way to steal the next Top Chef season.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • AJ O'Carrell wrote...
    @Nickatnyt
    January 31, 2012 3:23 pm
    There is already a Top Chef Canada. magnet:?xt=urn:btih:0e29684bcb223c6ae28435203db72c9fd2da2622&dn=Top+Chef+Canada+S01E02&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.ccc.de%3A80
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • awbitf wrote...
    It's about time
    February 1, 2012 8:07 am
    they have a place that is so key to the seafood world.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Padre wrote...
    It's about freakin' time!
    February 1, 2012 8:39 am
    Gotta have a QuickFire challenge with geoduck. And you have to wonder how many appearances Tom Douglas would make on the show! LOL. Note: Seattle chefs were abject failures during the current TC season in Texas.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • jarero wrote...
    Um...
    February 1, 2012 9:43 am
    Who gives a crap about this stuff??
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • jpetro wrote...
    Great
    February 1, 2012 10:30 am
    show
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Hawk wrote...
    This would be great
    February 2, 2012 11:05 am
    It would be great marketing for the city! It would also be great exposure to the city for some really excellent chef that may choose to make this their new home. And what would it take to get invited to the restaurant wars episode?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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