‘Top Chef’ star hopes no lawmaker is ‘pro-hunger’

Tom Colicchio recently visited Washington, but the famed chef wasn’t in town for the latest “Top Chef” taping. He was talking hunger.

The Bravo cooking competition judge is the executive producer of “A Place at the Table,” a documentary on what filmmakers Lori Silverbush and Kristi Jacobson call the “skyrocketing hunger rate” in the United States.

Colicchio, who has been a longtime supporter of hunger issues, is urging lawmakers to take action, saying, “We got to hope that no member of Congress wants to be labeled ‘pro-hunger.’”

Silverbush, who happens to be married to the TV star, calls hunger “a political condition.” Saying she was thrilled to premiere the film in Washington earlier this month, Silverbush explains, “There are politics in play in keeping 50 million Americans food insecure and, as a result, there are manmade solutions and policies that can fix it. So coming to where those policies are decided and where people are who can impact it the most is really exciting.”

Jacobson adds, “So much of the solution to this problem lies within these streets, and roads, and hallways.”

The documentary’s creators say they were inspired in part by the groundbreaking 1968 CBS program, “Hunger in America.”

“It was shocking and Americans didn’t stand for it,” Silverbush says. “And they picked up the phone and they called up their legislators and they said, ‘Fix this.’ And they did.”

She says of the movie, which follows the lives of a diverse group of Americans struggling to put food on the table and features an interview with Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.), “No matter what political party you’re affiliated with, I don’t think you can meet the people and experience the stories that you will experience from watching our film and not feel obligated to do something about it.”

The serious subject of hunger turned a bit lighter when ITK asked Colicchio, who owns several Craft restaurants across the country, if there are any lawmakers for whom he’s dying to whip up a meal.

“I can tell you who I wouldn’t like to cook for,” Colicchio replies with a laugh. “The president comes to mind,” he says. “I cooked for [the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.)]. I’m a political junkie and it was a real thrill to be able to do that.”

“A Place at the Table” premieres in theaters nationwide and on iTunes on Friday.

Photo: Tom Colicchio/Magnolia Pictures

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