Bravo offers the second season of its popular cooking competition series, "Top Chef", starting at 11pm on Wednesday, October 18th. Then, it will enter the normal 10pm time slot on Wednesday, October 25th. In the second season, the 15 most impressive new chefs in the United States hope to follow in the footsteps of the first season champion Harold Dieterle, who plans to open the Manhattan restaurant Perilla later this year. The series features 15 ambitious chefs competing for the opportunity to become cooking stars and have the chance to earn the long-standing title of "Chef"; Top chefs; Each episode has two chef challenges. The first is a quick test of the basic abilities of chefs, and the second is a more complex elimination challenge aimed at testing chefs' versatility and creativity in conducting unique cooking experiments, such as handling unusual and exotic foods or serving a range of demanding customers. These challenges not only test their skills in the kitchen, but also reveal whether they possess the customer service, management, and teamwork skills required by top chefs. Competitor chefs live and breathe the high-pressure lifestyle brought by becoming chefs, and every week someone is asked to "put away their knives"; Then go home. Actress and award-winning writer Padma Lakshmi joined the second season as a top chef, introducing challenges to contestants and sitting in the judges every week. Lakshmi is currently writing her second cookbook for Miramax Books, which will be published in the spring of 2007. The book brings together over 150 recipes and captivating personal memoirs from around the world. This is a sequel to her successful first cookbook "Easy Exotic", for which she won the International Versailles Best Cooking Book Award. Tom Colicchio is one of the most famous figures in the culinary industry and co-founder of Gramercy Tavern and Craft Restaurants in New York City. He will serve as the head chef/judge in the new season, guiding chefs to tackle challenges and demanding that they only perform at their best. Food expert and tough critic Gail Simmons' food& Wine magazine has also returned as a regular judge for the series. In addition, there is a special invited judge every week who is one of the most respected figures in the culinary industry. The second season also has a dazzling new background - Los Angeles City. The contestants will reside in the culturally prosperous city center, where most of the production activities for this season will be concentrated. The chefs for the second season of "Top Chefs" are: ? Elia L. Aboumrad-23 Las Vegas, Nevada ? Otto Borsich-46 Los Angeles, Nevada ? Marisa Church-28 San Francisco, California ? Clifford Crooks-28 West Caldwell, New Jersey ? Carlos Fernandez-36 Fort Lauderdale, Florida ? Betty Fraser-44 Los Angeles, California ? Mia Gaines-32 Oakdale, California ? Ilan Hall-24 New York ? Michael Midgley-28 Stockton, California ? Josie Smith - Alave-31 Brooklyn, New York ? Emily Sprissler-30 Las Vegas, Nevada ? Sujai Steinhauer 29 New York, New York ? Sam Talbot-28 New York ? Frank Terzoli-39 San Diego, California ? Marcel Vigneron-26 Las Vegas, Nevada