Gail Simmons

The other day I went to Eric Ripert’s cookbook launch party, and I was seated at a table next to Gail Simmons. It’s still a crazy thing for me to have watched someone on TV for 20 years, and then to meet them in person. I’ve watched every season of Top Chef, and more than anyone else on the show, Gail always seemed like someone that I would want to hangout with IRL. She’s vibrant, whip smart, and opinionated, but also unpretentious. Maybe she always seemed like someone like me, she’s a food writer afterall. And let me tell you, she's as fun in real life as she is on TV, more fun even. At lunch she told me about her new book, Guesting. There are so many books about how to be a host. This is a book about how to be a guest. I immediately told her that it was a brilliant idea, and had one million questions for her. Rather than annoy everyone at our table, and ruin lunch, I asked her to come on the pod to talk guesting etiquette, and of course we had to talk a little Top Chef.

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