Top Chef Amateurs: Things Fans Don’t Know About Judge Gail Simmons

Gail Simmons is known for her appearances on Top Chef Amateurs and Top Chef, and we’re here to share information about the cooking show host and judge. When she isn’t appearing on Good Morning America or hosting a cooking competition, Gail is an accomplished author and philanthropist. However, she wasn’t always interested in the world of food.

Since she’s the daughter of a food columnist and cooking instructor, it would have made sense for Gail to develop an early interest in all things culinary. However, it wasn’t until her senior year at Montreal’s McGill University that Gail became interested in food. After spending a semester abroad in Spain during her junior year, her fascination with food blossomed. Back in Montreal, the future Top Chef legend began cooking for herself while exploring the local markets. Eventually, she followed in her mother’s footsteps and took up a food journalist post at the McGill Tribune, after noticing that the publication didn’t include restaurant reviews.

After graduating from McGill in 1998, Gail moved to New York City (where she still lives with her husband and two children) to attend the Institute of Culinary Education. She worked as an apprentice at Le Cirque 2000 and Vong and was an assistant for food critic Jeffrey Steingarten at Vogue. She was also a special events manager for Daniel Boulud’s restaurant empire.

Along with her extensive hosting experience and culinary accolades, Gail is also an accomplished author. She has written for a variety of publications, including Toronto Life, National Post, and Food & Wine. The Top Chef Amateurs star’s tenure at Food & Wine was highlighted by her creation of the #FWCooks series, which is one of America’s premier culinary events. Aside from her work as a food journalist, she has published two books that emphasize her love of food. Her cookbook, Bringing It Home: Favorite Recipes from a Life of Adventurous Eating, featured recipes and techniques inspired by her international travels and was nominated for an IACP award for Best General Cookbook.

Gail has also written for her alma mater, sharing her experiences after discovering her passion for food, stating that to her, food is a window into the culture, history, traditions, and rituals of people. In her opinion, when people gather around a table, it shows who they are and where they’re from. The Top Chef celeb’s commitment to creating meaningful food and lifestyle-related content additionally inspired her and producer Samantha Hanks to create a content company called Bumble Pie Productions in 2014. The company is dedicated to discovering and promoting female voices and has collaborated with Drew Barrymore’s production company to produce Star Plates, which premiered in the fall of 2016 on the Food Network. 

As for her philanthropic endeavors, Gail has served on a handful of boards, including the American Institute of Wine & Food, Hot Bread Kitchen, the Women at NBCU Advisory Board, and the food rescue and delivery organization, City Harvest. She is also an active supporter of Common Threads, an organization that teaches low-income children to cook. Gail from Top Chef Amateurs is a founding member of the Food & Wine Grow for Good Campaign, which raises money for sustainable agriculture. In 2013, she was appointed to a mentoring role as Babson College’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence, and three years later, the Top Chef Amateurs star received the Award of Excellence from Spoons Across America, a non-profit dedicated to educating children on the benefits of eating healthy diets.

Source: Gail Simmons/Instagram, McGill Tribune

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