CBS is serving up a new food competition series.
The network has cooked up a greenlight for America’s Culinary Cup, hosted by former Top Chef star Padma Lakshmi.
This comes six months after Deadline revealed that the project was in the kitchen at the network.
The series, which will air as part of CBS’ 2025/26 slate, was created by Lakshmi, who will exec produce alongside by former NBCUniversal content chief Susan Rovner. It is produced by Lakshmi’s Delicious Entertainment and Rovner’s nascent Aha Studios.
America’s Culinary Cup will feature a cast of the nation’s most decorated chefs as they compete in the kitchen.
Watch on Deadline
“We’re inviting elite chefs from across the country to represent their unique culinary style and battle it out,” said Lakshmi. “This competition echoes the thrill of sports and the American spirit as we cheer on our favorite chefs. I’m very excited to work with CBS and partner with Susan on America’s Culinary Cup.”
It marks the first new cooking series for the network for some time. CBS Entertainment chief Amy Reisenbach has made it clear that she was in the market for a food show, telling Deadline last year that she was a “big fan” of cooking shows.
Lakshmi and Rovner worked together when the former was the host and exec producer of Bravo’s Top Chef and Rovner was Chairman of Entertainment Content across NBCUniversal’s Television and Streaming division.
Lakshmi created Hulu series Taste The Nation, which ran for two seasons on the streamer, but is best known as host and exec producer of Top Chef, which she worked on for 19 seasons and left last year. Lakshmi drew five Emmy nominations for Outstanding Host for A Reality-Competition Program for her role on Top Chef, which was nominated for 47 Emmys during her tenure. She is also the author of cook books Easy Exotic and Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet as well as kids books Tomatoes for Neela and memoir Love, Loss and What We Ate.
Last year, Rovner launched Aha Studios, where she is CEO, a production company that works across scripted, unscripted and documentary content. She was Chairman, Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming from 2020 to 2023, working across NBC, cable networks including Bravo, USA Network and E! and Peacock, where she was responsible for greenlighting series such as Night Court, Ted, Traitors and Poker Face. Before that, she was President of Warner Bros. Television.
Lakshmi is repped by CAA, Yorn, Levine, Barnes, Krintzman, Rubenstein, Kohner, Endlich, Goodell & Gellman and The Initiative Group. Rovner is repped by CAA and Felker, Toczek, Suddleson, McGinnis, Ryan LLP.