‘Top Chef Estrellas’ Premieres Sunday With A Sous Style Twist (Video)

Top Chef Estrellas is putting a different spin to the Top Chef franchise when it premieres February 16 on Telemundo. Instead of the contestants coming from a culinary background, the participants will feature Latin stars (hence the word “estrellas”) such as pop star Christian Chavez, Argentine actor David Chocarro and Mexican actress Erika De La Rosa cooking up dishes for their favorite charity.

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The charity angle obviously makes the idea much more palatable, and Top Chef Masters contestant Lorena Garcia is also on hand to judge the competition and ensure the stars learn the proper way of cooking and plating the perfect dish. While promoting Top Chef Estrellas several weeks ago at the Television Critics Association press tour, Garcia claimed the novice chefs did a solid job in the competition.

“I was going in (having) high expectations as a chef, because I’ve been a judge on Top Chef on Bravo,” said Garcia. “I figured, why not do the same (with Top Chef Estrellas) and see what we can take from this talent. They were committed to the competition. They really studied and got prepared. So to me, it was always about the dish (and) having a high expectation from them. Each and every one of them did their work and they were actually able to progress and grow through the competition.”

During the interview, I asked Lorena Garcia and Top ChefEstrellas host Aylín Mujica if the daunting quickfire challenges will still be a big part of the show. Check out the video to listen to them talk about the program (Chocarro is also featured in the clip – and many apologies for the horrible placement of my camera).

 Check out Top Chef Estrellas Sunday, February 16 on Telemundo (8 pm/7c), as eight celebrities (David Chocarro, Dr. Nancy Alvarez, Fernando Arau, Christian Chavez, Christian de la Campa, Erika De La Rosa, Lorena Herrera, and Cynthia Olavarria) cook it out for their favorite charities.