Top Chef Amateurs premiere video exclusive: Ready to get cooking?

For food fans, Top Chef is the gold standard of culinary competitions and Top Chef Amateurs is welcoming aspiring chefs to unpack their knives and get cooking. In this Top Chef Amateurs premiere video exclusive from Bravo, fans get a glimpse into the excitement that this new culinary competition offers.

On July 1 at 9 p.m., the Top Chef Amateurs premiere will get home cooks a taste of what it is like to be cooking with their favorite Top Chefs. Although many people will be still talking about the crowning achievement of the newest Top Chef winner, the reality is that home cooks look to those Top Chefs for culinary inspiration.

As seen in the exclusive Top Chef Amateurs premiere clip, the excitement for these aspiring chefs is over the top.

Bravo describes Top Chef Amateurs, the new Bravo culinary competition, as follows:

"In each 30-minute episode, two amateur chefs will compete head-to-head in some of the most iconic challenges from the “Top Chef” archives including the mis-en-place race, blind taste test and they’ll even try to break the curse of “Top Chef’s” most dreaded dish – risotto. Putting their kitchen skills to the test are a wide variety of amateur chefs ranging from an ex-CIA agent to a dental hygienist-turned-food-blogger as well as an architect. The amateur chefs will be paired with different “Top Chef” finalists, frontrunners and fan-favorites who will cook alongside them and help the amateurs battle against the clock."

For the premiere episode, Melissa King and Richard Blais assist the competing chefs. With Joe Flamm and Eric Adjepong joining Gail Simmons at the judging table, these dishes better impress. As a young grad student goes against a seasoned writer, it will be interesting to see which cook can break the dreaded scallops and risotto curse.

Looking at this new culinary competition, it is a perfect way for home cooks to build their confidence and enhance their culinary skills. As Dale Talde said in a recent interview, home cooks need to find that food inspiration. Often, it comes from seeing their favorite chefs on television and those moments can translate into the home kitchen.

While no one is expecting these aspiring chefs to be worthy of a James Beard Award (yet), the reality is that this show proves that food connects people. That delicious dish tells a story. Even if most people might not cook side by side with a Top Chef, they can be inspired to cook a delicious meal that makes a lasting impression and creates a memory that they continue to crave.

Be sure to watch the Top Chef Amateurs premiere on Bravo, July 1 at 9 p.m. EST.

What Top Chef dish would you like to re-create? Has Top Chef inspired you to get into the kitchen and cook?