Lemon Parfaits with Tart Cherries

Top Chef judge and executive producer Gail Simmons reimagines an infamous dessert from the show.

- Audrey Morgan

LONGTIME TOP CHEF JUDGE GAIL SIMMONS gets asked one question all the time: Does she re-create contestants’ dishes at home? “Absolutely not,” she says with a laugh. “Nobody does, not even the chefs.”

Except she did once, for Food & Wine’s January 2010 issue. For a story called “Rescue That Top Chef Recipe,” Simmons developed recipes inspired by dishes that failed on-air, like the overcooked Broccolini that season 3’s CJ Jacobson made in an airplane oven and the undercooked pork belly that cost Richard Blais the season 4 win.

Simmons was just the person for the task: She had trained in the kitchens of Le Cirque and Vong in New York City and worked at F&W. At the time Top Chef premiered in 2006, “We really thought it was going to be a one-and-done, like, ‘Go do this crazy thing for us, and then come back to your job [at F&W],” she recalls. She had no idea if the pilot would even air, and there were concerns that the show would be more like Survivor for chefs than a serious cooking show. But the participation of lauded chef Tom Colicchio helped to convince skeptics. In the end, the show found a key through line by spotlighting young talent and quickly garnered millions of weekly viewers.

Those viewers would’ve recognized the recipes Simmons selected for the 2010 story. Who could forget Carla Hall’s curdled soufflé that never made it to the table, or Ariane Duarte’s lemon meringue “martini” that then-host Padma Lakshmi spit out? But the magazine article didn’t just aim to amuse Top Chef fans. Inspired by contestants' downfalls, Simmons offered cooking tips to empower home cooks.

Take that infamous lemon dessert, served in a martini glass. Simmons balanced the too-sweet curd with plenty of zest, called for dried tart cherries instead of canned ones, and paired it with a buttery shortbread cookie: instant success.

A lot has changed since that story ran.