From the archives: On `Top Chef,’ immunity is a spice

Elimination is a dish best served cold. It’s an inferior pan-seared halibut and an abused shrimp with broccoli stir-fry that chills the mood of the judges on “Top Chef,” debuting tonight on Bravo.

The cable network is dovetailing it with the second-season resolution of its well-liked “Project Runway.” “Top Chef” is a spinoff, involving some of the producers on “Runway” and also the amateur moviemaking “Project Greenlight.”

“Project Chef” (why isn’t it called this?) involves contestants having to whip up not a couture dress but a couture dish. The opening 12 in tonight’s premiere have culinary experience that varies from some (the snooty sommelier from Nobhill, the nouvelle eatery in Las Vegas’ MGM Grand) to none. Regardless, they all get a handsome apron and access to a very large kitchen outfitted with Kenmore Elite appliances and Calphalon cookware.

Having missed the boat on the professional culinary square-offs “Iron Chef” and “Iron Chef America” on the Food Network, I can’t attest to how this one stacks up by comparison. But “Top Chef” seems like a no-brainer, an extension both of the interactivity of TV cooking and the art-and-craft side of reality shows, in which people are actually making things as opposed to just asses of themselves.

Judging the would-be chefs with evident dubiousness are Tom Colicchio, the decorated chef and co-owner of New York’s Gramercy Tavern, foodie food expert Gail Simmons and host Kathie Lee Joel (Billy Joel’s wife), who, according to her helpful bio, once served as “the house fishmonger” at Jeff & Eddy’s restaurant in the Hamptons.

“Top Chef” is set in San Francisco; tonight the contestants get thrown backstage at Fleur de Lys, where, under the intimidating gaze of chef Hubert Keller, they see if they can last on the line for 30 minutes. “Nerves,” “food knocked over” and “wrong footwear” are among the reasons chef Keller dismisses them out of hand. The winner of this so-called quick-fire challenge gets — no, not a job with chef Keller, but something even more valuable — immunity.

The first episode ends with each contestant trying to conjure a signature dish, in three hours, having shopped on a budget of $30. There are braised lamb enchiladas, a chicken shiitake roulade and a threesome of Colorado lamb.

Nouvelle cooking has become — like singing, surviving in the wild and climbing the corporate ladder — not just a TV spectator sport but a participatory fantasy.

In that sense, “Top Chef” is less about recipe-information sharing than about the perfectionist yearning to cook restaurant-quality food. You also can’t blame the guy trying to win the role of egomaniac — it is, after all, a well-worn culinary construct.

Divided into two teams, the contestants get not just to cook but to judge (read: snipe at) one another’s skills. But ultimately they leave and it’s up to the experts. Shortly thereafter, elimination is served.

‘Top Chef’

Where: Bravo

When: 11 p.m. Wednesday; regular time 10 p.m., beginning March 15

Ratings: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children younger than 14).