The Boston Season of 'Top Chef' Debuts Tonight

Season twelve of Top Chef, a Bravo series that pits chefs from around the country against each other in a variety of high-pressure challenges, was filmed in and around Boston over the spring. (One local, The Regal Beagle's Stacy Cogswell, competes this season.) To get ready for tonight's season premiere, here's some recommended reading:

• The Globe discusses some of the shooting locations, from the Museum of Science to a cranberry bog in Worcester, and provides some "fun facts" about the 4800-square-foot Top Chef kitchen, which was out in an industrial park in Woburn.
• The Globe also checks in with some well-known local chefs who appear on the first episode, including Ming Tsai, Barbara Lynch, and Michael Schlow. "I don’t really watch that kind of television," Lydia Shire, also in attendance, told the Globe — she prefers football. But she had a fun day. "It was nice to see a mixture of older and younger chefs."
• And the Globe's critic, Devra First, implores the show to avoid "resort[ing] to Boston cliches." She'd rather see Boston's "topnotch chefs" and exciting culinary scene highlighted than hear talk of "chowda" in "Beantown."
• In the Boston Globe Magazine, Top Chef judge Gail Simmons gives a brief toast to the city, where she's also an entrepreneur in residence at Babson College.
• Zagat interviews Cogswell, asking about her future plans and more, and also provides a guide to Boston restaurants with connections to Top Chef.
• BostInno checks in with Schlow, who has appeared as a Top Chef Masters contestant and serves as a guest judge in this season of Top Chef. He prefers judging.
• WBUR provides updates on New England chefs who have previously appeared on the show.
• Bonus: Head over to Eater National to vote in a poll predicting the season's winner.
• Bonus 2: BostonChefs.com has printable Bingo cards.