# How do the judges on Top Chef eat so much? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2011, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-judges-on-top-chef-eat-so-much/581891 "2011-05-14T12:53:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-judges-on-top-chef-eat-so-much/581891/1 "2011-05-14T12:53:39Z")
I was watching the Maroon 5 episode of Top Chef Masters, and I was amazed at all the food they were served. I saw decent portions of every food item on all dishes, and even just a taste of everything served at the two consecutive meals would’ve had me groaning on the floor. Every week these very thin people seem to eat at least twice what I eat at a setting. Is there some trickery going on? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-judges-on-top-chef-eat-so-much/581891/2 "2011-05-14T13:05:55Z")
I don’t think they necessarily eat everything on the plate every time, and it’s probably their one major meal of the day. Note during the quickfire challenges they are often presented with a whole plate of food, sometimes a whole steak or piece of fish, and the host and judge only take one bite of each dish. Also, often times they have the “cheftestants” bring 2 plates of 2 different dishes and the judges pass them around, especially early in the season when there are still over a dozen contestants. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-judges-on-top-chef-eat-so-much/581891/3 "2011-05-14T13:31:13Z")
Read [this article](http://joshsgarage.typepad.com/articles/2009/01/how-padma-from-top-chef-stays-supermodel-fit.html) about Padma Lakshmi, who is the only person on the show who tastes everything made during every episode. Basically she works out a lot and eats sparingly when not on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-judges-on-top-chef-eat-so-much/581891/4 "2011-05-14T13:51:45Z")
This isn’t _Top Chef_, but on a “behind-the-scenes” episode of _No Reservations_ they showed that during shooting days, Anthony Bourdain has to starve himself most of the day so that he can stuff himself while on camera. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-judges-on-top-chef-eat-so-much/581891/5 "2011-05-14T13:56:15Z")
Same thing with the _Man Vs. Food_ guy. He basically doesn’t eat the day before. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-judges-on-top-chef-eat-so-much/581891/6 "2011-05-14T15:57:32Z")
This is why food proportions are much smaller in places where you get to try food. Just not on TV. (Iron Chef may do it right. I haven’t watched the new version.)