Gail Simmons Talks "Top Chef" Emmy and "Just Desserts"

So far, 2010 has been quite good to Top Chef -- after a successful second season of Top Chef Masters, Top Chef proper took home the Emmy for Best Reality Competition Series, winning for their sixth season, Top Chef: Las Vegas. If that's not enough, following this week's finale of Top Chef: D.C. is Bravo's newest spin-off, Top Chef Just Desserts. Top Chef mainstays Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio won't be indulging their sweet tooth for this new series, but one familiar face will remain. Taking on the role of host will be long standing Top Chef judge (and Kitchen Daily expert) Gail Simmons.

For Simmons, not only does Top Chef Just Desserts present a new set of cooking challenges, it also challenges her outside of the judging context -- she's known for being forthright with the contestants, but now she has the task of making them understand what to do -- which is quite different than just showing up, eating some food and talking about it.

Slashfood spoke with Simmons about Top Chef's recent Emmy win, the differences between Top Chef and Top Chef Just Desserts and making the transition from judge to host.

How surprised were you all to win the Emmy for Top Chef?
GS: The most surprised I think I've ever been about anything in my life. I can't imagine being more surprised than we were. It was the happiest moment for all of us. It was the culmination of so much work and we all really believe in the show and the brand. We were over the moon, screaming our heads off for 24 hours.

How did you all celebrate?
GS: Late into the night. After the Emmys, there's several parties -- the Governors Ball, our production company Magical Elves has a big party, so of course we celebrated with all of our producers and crew. I stopped at the HBO party, the AMC party. We just ran around town the whole night, drinking Champagne.

The Amazing Race had this category locked for seven years -- this was such a David vs. Goliath scenario.
GS: Not only were we blown away by the fact that Amazing Race didn't win, but also the fact that we did win. We were the ones that broke that streak; I think it was beyond imagination for a lot of us. I think we all thought that if Amazing Race didn't win, if anything, American Idol would win because it was Simon [Cowell's] last season and that got so much press. But the people that are voting are people in the industry and I think they really appreciate how hard we work and the production value and that we take it very seriously. It's a show about professionals and gives a glimpse behind the doors people normally don't get to see. We were just really honored that the television industry gave us that nod. It's one thing for the food industry -- we know the food industry has been encouraging -- but it's a whole other thing for the wider entertainment world to tell us we're doing the right thing.

Tell me about what's in store for Top Chef Just Desserts.
GS: So many things -- this has been a passion project for us for a long time and it seemed really natural. Desserts have been such an achilles heel on Top Chef for so many years. They're something chefs in the savory kitchen don't do, It's like the difference between a psychologist and a gastroenterologist -- they're both doctors, but that doesn't mean you want them doing each other's jobs. Same with savory and pastry chefs, they're both in kitchens but they're jobs are so different in the way they work, the way they create, their methods, their ingredients, their equipment. It's an entirely different language. What's extraordinary about pastry is the artistry, from sugar and chocolate, there's such technique. You really need to be a great technician. It's all about chemistry and mathematics, really. There's no little this or little of that. Once it's in the oven, that's that. There's such little room for error. So it's no wonder the chef's on Top Chef have never been able to excel at pastry.

What's different about the way this series engages the viewer's sweet tooth?
GS: I think people have always loved dessert -- it's beautiful, it's escapism, it's fantasy. It's sugar and butter and everything sweet and pink. We've seen a huge surge in dessert shows, but I think Top Chef Just Desserts will be different from all of them. It has all the makings of Top Chef -- the Quickfire challenges, the elimination challenges, the engaging personalities, and the professional skill and quality of the show as well.

It must have been intense to work around the clock like that.
GS: The first couple weeks, I was just smiling and giggling all the time, but then it got a little more difficult consuming that much sugar. I'm not complaining by any means, but I'd try to not eat that much in the morning because I knew I'd have to eat so many desserts throughout the day. But then, I'd finish the day realizing I'd eaten nothing with nutritional value -- just sugar and butter. I'd be craving a cheeseburger at 2:00 in the morning when I got off work! But I tasted some beautiful things. I think the viewers will find the desserts so fascinating and gorgeous, let alone the characters themselves. They're not only talented, they're completely over the top. They're unlike any cast we've ever seen on Top Chef. A pastry chef has a totally different personality, they're like a totally different species. They're fastidious, meticulous and kind of crazy, but super fun.

I feel like the format, in terms of the Quickfires, would really mess with their heads even more than usual because of the time constraints.
GS: You're perfectly right. We had to change the format a bit. We still have what we call a Quickfire, but they're not as quick as the ones on Top Chef. You need to allow for bake time. For the viewer, it doesn't matter. You don't need to see that it was in the over for 45 minutes. But we needed to account for a lot of that -- there was certainly a lot of baking time, freezing time, churning time. But each Quickfire will still showcase a specific skill, like speed or fruit or sugar. It's still to highlight one skill.

How did the transition from judge to host been?
GS: It remains to be seen, I think it went well. I think in some ways I had an advantage in that I'd been sitting to the left of the host position for so many years. I'd had the good fortune of being close to the host position and learning, and that it made the transition easier. Even though in theory I knew the job, I didn't realize how difficult the job really is. As a host you are there are to deliver the business. I'm not an actress, but I have to speak lines and deliver the rules and guidelines of each challenge. And you can't just make them up -- there's legal issues, there's very specific rules that the contestants need to know to move the challenges along. And being the host is double the hours of being a judge.

Top Chef Just Desserts premiers on Bravo, Wednesday September 15 at 11pm.

Watch Gail Simmons prepare everyday recipes in KitchenDaily's video series, Pantry Project.