But the season, which premieres on Bravo today, arrives at the weirdest possible time in United States-Canada relations: Our typically amicable alliance has taken a nosedive in recent weeks after President Trump announced plans to levy tariffs of 25 percent on Canadian imports and made comments about Canada becoming a U.S. state. Trump’s plans have been a confusing whiplash of foreign policy, now having been delayed and then suspended.
The damage has been done, however. Earlier this month, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, a major buyer of alcohol, pulled American-made spirits from shelves. Canadians, who are the largest group of international visitors to the U.S., have been ditching their travel plans. “Canadians feel disrespected, and that’s very challenging to them because we have always been such loyal, loyal partners,” Catherine Prather, president of the travel professionals group National Tour, told NPR. Some Canadians are boycotting U.S. products. The threat of retaliatory tariffs has followed.
As of this writing, the official Top Chef Instagram has been business as usual. You wouldn’t guess from looking at it that we’re in an impending trade war with the country it’s promoting. Nor is there any mention of the current situation in early screeners of the premiere, which were circulated among media last month.
Instead, in the Season 22 Top Chef premiere, famous Canadian culinary figures, including Noma’s former director of fermentation David Zilber, show off a Canadian bounty. For the first elimination challenge, the chefs must cook using pantries inspired by each of Canada’s five regions: Canada’s west coast offers Red Fife wheat and salmon; its prairie region produces canola oil and lentils (Canada is the world’s largest lentil producer); its central region grows peaches and corn; its Atlantic region provides cod and potatoes; and its north region yields oats and Arctic char. Even if the show doesn’t state it outright, it ends up a reminder of how important Canadian agriculture is, including to the U.S., with Canada our largest supplier of agricultural imports. In 2022, Canada supplied 20 percent of our fresh vegetable imports.
In the context of the current political situation, the Top Chef premiere feels slightly ominous to watch: We know something that everyone here doesn’t, and it will continue to be that way for the rest of the season. But if anything, current affairs offer a new sense of intrigue to a season that would otherwise be more of the same (a lot more — as with last season, the episodes are still a “supersized” 75 minutes). How bad would things have to get for Bravo to acknowledge the situation? We’ll see!
Top Chef is ultimately a promotional opportunity. Tourism boards lobby, often financially, for the show to feature their destination. For this season, Top Chef worked with Destination Canada, the Canadian tourism board. Accordingly, the season will traverse the country from Toronto, home of judge Gail Simmons; to Calgary; Montreal; Canmore, Alberta; and Prince Edward Island. And in this respect, the show is actually arriving at the perfect time: at a moment when, to many, Canada suddenly looks even more appealing than usual.
The Top Chef premiere airs Thursday, March 13 at 10:15 p.m. ET / 7:15 p.m. PT.
