The fifth season of a reality competition series with a fascinating window into the competitive, pressurized environment of world-class cookery and the restaurant business at the highest level. Showcasing some of the brightest up-and-coming talent in the culinary world, the competing chefs will meet in New York and battle for the title of “Top Chef.” The series - hosted by Padma Lakshmi and presided by head judge Chef Tom Colicchio - features sixteen chefs that will intensely peel, whisk, grate and mince their way through a series of challenges, all with one goal--to be the “Top Chef.”