Amar Santana returns to Bravo’s ‘Top Chef’ as a guest judge

Amar Santana, left, has been selected as a member of a rotating judging and dining panel, made up of winners and finalists, who will appear on Season 18 of Bravo’s “Top Chef.” (Courtesy of Amar Santana)
Amar Santana, left, has been selected as a member of a rotating judging and dining panel, made up of winners and finalists, who will appear on Season 18 of Bravo’s “Top Chef.” (Courtesy of Amar Santana)

Amar Santana,  chef of Vaca and The Hall Global Eatery at South Coast Plaza, and Broadway in Laguna Beach, is back on “Top Chef.” But this time he won’t be competing.

He has been selected as a member of a rotating judging and dining panel, made up of winners and finalists from the Bravo series, including fellow contestant from Season 13 Kwame Onwuachi. In that competition, Santana finished as the runner-up, fighting his way back into the finale as a wild card pick for winning “Last Chance Kitchen.”

This time, Season 18 is set in and around Portland, Ore., on locations such as the Hood River Fruit Loop, the Columbia River Gorge, Mt. Hood Territory, Tillamoook Bay, the Tualatin Valley and Willamette Valley wine country. Shooting took place last fall under rigid COVID-19 protocols while wildfires raged.

Santana filmed the first eight episodes, which include the popular “Restaurant Wars” competition. New episodes begin airing on at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 1 on Bravo.

This story originally written by Anne Valdespino , and can be read in its entirety at OC Register.