Padma Lakshmi Brings “America’s Culinary Cup” Showdown to CBS

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CBS has announced a new cooking competition series, America’s Culinary Cup (working title), from well-known food expert Padma Lakshmi. The show is described as a high-stakes culinary battle featuring top chefs.

Here’s the Lowdown: CBS has ordered America’s Culinary Cup, set to air during the 2025-2026 broadcast season. Padma Lakshmi, known for her work on “Top Chef” and “Taste the Nation,” created the series and will serve as host and executive producer. The show will bring together an invitation-only group of highly skilled chefs from around the United States to compete in a new kind of contest.

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What This Means Now: The competition will push the limits of the chefs’ abilities, covering things like food invention, staying power, presentation, and guidance skills. Lakshmi stated the show will feature elite chefs representing their cooking styles. She compared the contest to the thrill of sports, where people root for their favorites.

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The Bigger Picture: Getting a show with Padma Lakshmi signals CBS’s interest in adding a major cooking competition to its schedule. Her reputation in the food world lends weight to the project, which aims to find the nation’s best culinary talent through a rigorous championship-style format. The show adds to CBS’s lineup planned for the future broadcast season.

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