Gail Simmons Is 'Sad' Padma Lakshmi Is Leaving 'Top Chef' but Excited for the 'Show-stopping' Finale (Exclusive)

The 'Top Chef' judge was in Chicago Monday night to co-host the James Beard Awards

Gail Simmons knows this goodbye is not for good.

On the heels of Padma Lakshmi's recent announcement that she'll be leaving Top Chef when season 20 wraps this week, her fellow judge told PEOPLE that, naturally, she's "sad."

"She's my friend and we've had so much fun together," Simmons, 47, said on the red carpet Monday at the 2023 James Beard Awards in Chicago, which she hosted alongside chefs Eric Adjepong, Esther Choi and Andrew Zimmern.

However, she added, "I still have her phone number, we still hang out. She's not leaving the world!"

Adjepong, a former Top Chef finalist, tipped his cap to Lakshmi, too, lauding her work as "an incredible fixture not only for the franchise but for food TV, period."

"I wish her nothing but love and success in all the endeavors she does," added Adjepong, 35. "She has a lot of projects she's working on, like her show Taste the Nation, and I'm sure she'll continue to impress us."

Related: Padma Lakshmi Announces She’s Leaving ‘Top Chef’ After 17 Years: 'Time to Move On'

Also impressing Adjepong and Simmons are this season's Top Chef: World All-Stars finalists, who will face off in the series finale this Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.

"It's just a show-stopping finale," Simmons teased. "The food is so beautiful and meaningful and I think that it's sort of a bit unexpected. It's a pretty epic room of chefs at our table, too."

The series, which filmed in London and Paris with a cast including winners and runners-up from the various Top Chef franchises around the world, "was just as fun to make as it is to watch," Simmons added.

Adjepong has also been watching, rooting for his fellow season 16 finalist Sara Bradley, who made it to the finale alongside Top Chef season 19 winner Buddha Lo and Top Chef Mexico season 2 winner Gabri Rodriguez.

"Seeing Buddha compete, and everyone else, it's totally inspiring," Adjepong said. "I've been a huge fan of Top Chef since its infancy so to see it graduate to 20 seasons is pretty cool."

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At Monday night's James Beard Awards, two Top Chef alumni were among the winners: Damarr Brown (emerging chef, Chicago's Virtue) and Gregory Gourdet (best new restaurant, Portland's Kann).

The awards recognized a diverse group of chefs this year, including the first Indigenous woman (Sherry Pocknett of Rhode Island's Sly Fox Den Too) and first Puerto Rican person (Natalia Vallejo of San Juan's Cocina al Fondo).

Founded in the 1990s, the James Beard Foundation works to celebrate and support chefs, restaurant workers, farmers and others who support America's food industry with the mission of "Good Food for Good."

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