

From All-Stars to Lone-Stars Top Chef is headed to Texas.

Fans hungering for a taste of Season 9 have some new information to satiate them until Top Chef returns -- the ninth season of the Emmy-Award winning (and recently nominated once again) show will head South, to the great state of Texas.

Whether Padma Lakshmi will be donning a cowboy hat remains to be seen, but we know she'll be saddling up with the regular judges chef Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and new two new faces -- famed chef and restaurateur Emeril Lagasse and critically acclaimed chef Hugh Acheson. Emeril is known for bringing the heat, and Hugh's certainly not known for holding back (just relive some of his best zings from his run on Top Chef Masters for a refresh), so it seems like they'll fit right in.

And since everything's bigger and such the competition will be in not one, but three cities -- Austin, Dallas and San Antonio. We hope the cheftestants cowboy boots are made for walking (sorry, had to!)



What other Texas-style beans are there to spill? Season 9 also promises many surprising twists and turns and never-before-seen challenges and events when it returns in the fall.

Think everything is better in Texas (including Top Chef)? Battle it out in our Tweet Battles.