‘Top Chef’ season 11 rumored to be set in New Orleans

The new season of “Top Chef” is getting set to film in some of the months ahead, and now, some early reports are suggesting that we may now know the official home city. (Granted, many of you predicted this one.)

Both Eater and Reality Blurred are reporting some strong evidence that season 11 of the Bravo cooking competition will be held in New Orleans, citing a job listing that was posted on Facebook (but later taken down) that said the show would be in the area from May to July. If tradition holds, the show would spend most the season in the city, and then move somewhere else for the final few rounds of the competition. (Last season, that destination was Alaska.)

The Big Easy would be the perfect setting for the show, if for no other reason than that show judge Emeril Lagasse is a staple of the city and has a popular restaurant in the area. Plus, it’s one of the major cooking hubs in America that has surprisingly never hosted the competition for the majority of a season. Just think of all of the great food possibilities there: gumbo, crawfish, blackened fish, and this is without even mentioning all of the pastries in the French Quarter. We also always prefer the show when it is set in a coastal city, that way there is a rich array of seafood available to all of the contestants.

Now, we just have to hope that the show implements a few other changes to the new season, including making it a little bit more difficult for the “Last Chance Kitchen” winner to waltz straight into the grand finale. Also, that last episode in front of a live audience was pretty terrible.

What do you think about the idea of a “Top Chef” in New Orleans? Bravo is not confirming anything right now, but we’ll have some more scoop on the subject soon.

Photo: Bravo