What’s “Top Chef” cooking this time? Well, the fifth season of the Bravo show, debuting tonight at 10 p.m., deals with apples and the Big Apple, evidently, and while some chef-testants are permanently worried about their appearance and are obsessed with their hairdos, others strive to cope with the racy rhythm of the competition.

Head judge Tom Colicchio explained that the city of New York opened many cuisine-related opportunities and inspired most of the program’s challenges. Nevertheless, before entering the real “Top Chef” kitchen in order to give pro cooking a shot and try to win the top prize, which includes $100,000, this season’s competitors will have to go through a quickfire test first that consists of peeling, dicing and preparing apples without leaving any flesh on the fruit’s skin. Ouch. And the loser leaves the show undoubtedly.

However, that should not stand in the way of the chefs, as they are said to be extremely skilled and capable.

British journalist Toby Young will join host Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons at the jury’s table and will decide along with the other three judges who stays and who goes home. Eric Ripert and Wiley Dufresne will return to the cooking competition as guest judges, while Martha Stewart, Jean-Georges and the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl are among the celebrities who will help the jury deliberate for the first time.