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Chef and restaurateur Tom Colicchio, 61, is back as the head judge and executive producer of Bravo’s _Top_ _Chef_, which begins its 21st season on March 20. In addition to the show,

Colicchio owns five restaurants and plans to release a memoir, _Why_ _I_ _Cook_, in October. He shares how he likes to spend his downtime, his favorite family dishes to whip up and who he’d

love to join him at the dinner table. _This_ _interview_ _has_ _been_ _edited_ _for_ _length_ _and_ _clarity._ How do you think _Top Chef_ has shaped food television? I don’t watch food TV,

so it’s hard for me to comment on it. I know how it shaped the culinary world. When I was asked early on what I wanted out of the show, I wanted our industry to take it seriously. I didn’t

want it to be just some entertaining [program]. If you look at the amount of chefs that have come through _Top_ _Chef_ and how much they’re contributing . . . they’re opening up multiple

restaurants, they’re winning awards, they’re working, they’re giving back. I think that’s what the legacy of _Top_ _Chef_ is going to be. The show is known for its timed challenges. If you

have 30 minutes to make something satisfying for your family, what’s your go-to dish? Oh, I do it every night. I cook for my family most nights, and I don’t make big elaborate meals. I can

get a roast chicken with vegetables on the table in 30 minutes pretty easily, or a quick pasta with clams and mussels. Whatever I’m cooking, it doesn’t usually take more than 30, 40 minutes

tops. Colicchio is a head judge and executive producer of Bravo’s "Top Chef." Season 21 of the show begins March 20. Ernesto Ruscio/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images If you

could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? Maybe crab. I’m often on the water, and I think that crab is one of those seafoods that tastes so much like the

ocean — more than anything else — in my opinion. Speaking of being on the water, where is your favorite place to fish? It changes. If I’m 40 to 80 miles offshore when the sun’s coming up,

that’s the best place to fish. It doesn’t matter where. I do have a soft spot for the Marquesas, which is west of Key West. It’s the first place I caught a permit [fish] on a fly [rod],

which is one of the holy grail fishes that you can catch on a fly. It’s very, very difficult. It’s the only fish that I actually know how many I’ve caught in my lifetime — that’s the only

one I keep track of.