With 20 seasons under its belt, “Top Chef” has always evolved in order to maintain its position as TV’s most prestigious cooking competition show. But when heading into Season 21, the Bravo mainstay had to make its greatest gear shift yet: After an international season that gathered contestants from a slew of global spinoffs in London, longtime host Padma Lakshmi announced her exit from the role after more than 15 years as the series’ grounded center.

Fortunately, Lakshmi’s successor is already well-known to the franchise’s fans. After winning Season 10, in 2012, Kristen Kish has topped the shortlist of “Top Chef” alumni who burnish the show’s credibility with their subsequent success. In 2018, Kish opened her own restaurant, Arlo Grey, inside Austin’s The Line hotel. She’s also developed experience as a presenter, co-hosting the Netflix reboot of “Iron Chef” with Alton Brown and traversing the globe for National Geographic’s...