Every reality competition with judges has a “mean one.” Simon Cowell’s scathing remarks have made plenty of “American Idol” contestants cry.
For the first couple of seasons of “Top Chef,” the Emmy Award–winning Bravo TV series now in its seventh season, that judge was Gail Simmons.
But behind the scenes, the personality of the vivacious and fast-talking Simmons, who tap dances for the producers and refers to herself as the “little sister” of the show, stands in sharp contrast to her earlier television persona.
And now the Jewish native of Toronto has a new role: host and consulting producer of “Just Desserts,” a new Bravo show that will challenge pastry chefs. It premiered two weeks ago.
While Simmons, 34, a special projects manager at Food and Wine magazine, is perhaps one of the best-known food critics in the country now, at first she had no interest in pursuing a path in the culinary world, let alone one on television.
“I kind of joke that I’m not a food critic but that I play one on TV. It has become a self-fulfilling prophecy,” said Simmons, whose sharp tongue has noticeably mellowed over the past couple of seasons of “Top Chef,” which pits young, talented, fame-hungry chefs against one another in grueling culinary challenges. “I always loved food, but in truth it never entered my mind as an occupation until college.”
Few were raised in as epicurean a household as Simmons.
Her mother, Renee Simmons, wrote a food column for the Globe and Mail, Canada’s largest newspaper, in the 1970s and ’80s, and she later opened a cooking school in the family’s home.
“My mom built our kitchen as a teaching kitchen where people can sit around and watch you cook,” Simmons said.
Her childhood home was a fairly traditional Jewish household, complete with hearty servings of Eastern European Jewish food, especially for the holidays.
“We had Shabbat dinner every Friday night, without fail,” Simmons said. “There was always challah and my mother’s outstanding chicken soup.”
Ask Simmons about her favorite Jewish food memories and she points to two foods: brisket and latkes.
“My mom’s brisket is killer. So are her latkes,” she said. “They’re the standard by which I will forever hold all other briskets and latkes.”
Simmons pursued degrees in anthropology and Spanish at McGill University in Montreal and planned to work for a nongovernmental organization in the developing world. After graduation, however, she took an internship at Toronto Life, a lifestyle magazine.
“I loved it; I found myself drawn to the food editor,” she said. “And that’s when I realized, wow, there could be a job here for me.”
Following stints at a couple of publications, Simmons moved to New York to attend the Institute of Culinary Education. After graduation, she cooked at some of the city’s most exclusive restaurants, served as an assistant to prominent food critic Jeffrey Steingarten and worked as events manager for chef Daniel Boulud’s dining group before joining the staff of Food and Wine in 2004.
In 2006, when Bravo approached Food and Wine about a partnership for a new show called “Top Chef,” Simmons was chosen to represent the magazine as a judge. Although she often followed her critiques with positive feedback, the show’s producers edited out the latter in their effort to make each judge into a distinctive character, Simmons said.
On “Just Desserts,” Simmons will be spending more time in front of and behind the camera. She is a consulting producer on the show, in which pastry chefs will be tested in a variety of culinary arts.
Making the job even more difficult is the fact that as host, Simmons has to taste each dish, sampling as many as a dozen sugary desserts in a single show.
“I was bouncing off walls at the end of most days,” she said.
Devra Ferst is editor of the food blog the Jew and the Carrot, a new Forward and Hazon partnership.