Top Chef
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Top Chef | |
|---|---|
| Image:Topchef.jpg </small> | |
| Genre | Reality, competition |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Starring | Tom Colicchio Gail Simmons Padma Lakshmi (Season 2) Katie Lee Joel (Season 1) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original channel | Bravo |
| Original run | March 8, 2006– |
| No. of episodes | 19 (as of November 22, 2006) |
Top Chef is an American reality competition show airing on the Bravo cable television network in which chefs compete against each other in weekly challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants eliminated each week. The winning chef receives $100,000 in seed money to encourage his or her culinary career, is featured in Food & Wine magazine, and appears at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colorado. The winner is also awarded a suite of Sears Kenmore kitchen appliances, and the Kenmore brand is heavily featured on the show. Sears has been a series sponsor since season 1, along with Calphalon and Toyota. A new sponsor for season 2 is Glad, which is underwriting the $100,000 prize money.[1] The show is produced by Magical Elves Productions, the same company that created Project Runway.
Contents |
[edit] Season 1
See Top Chef (Season 1) for more information.
[edit] Contestants
- Stephen Asprinio, age 24, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Andrea Beaman, age 38, New York, New York
- Harold Dieterle, age 28, New York, New York
- Tiffani Faison, age 28, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Brian Hill, age 37, Los Angeles, California
- Candice Kumai, age 23, Pasadena, California
- Kenneth Lee, age 31, Los Angeles, California
- Dave Martin, age 40, Long Beach, California
- Miguel Morales, age 27, New York, New York
- Lisa Parks, age 45, Los Angeles, California
- Cynthia Sestito, age 52, East Hampton, New York
- Lee Anne Wong, age 28, New York, New York
Ages listed at time of Top Chef taping in October-November, 2005.
[edit] Episodes
Each episode included two challenges. The Quickfire Challenge was a short, simple challenge with a varying reward each week. The Elimination Challenge was a more complex challenge that determined who was sent home. One or more guest judges joined the show each week to evaluate both the Quickfire and Elimination challenges. Each week's elimination was announced in a segment called "Judges' Table."
[edit] Season 1 elimination challenges
| Chef | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10R | 11 | 12 | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harold | WIN | IN | LOW | HIGH | LOW | IN | HIGH | LOW | HIGH | IN | WIN | Winner of Top Chef Season 1 | |
| Tiffani | HIGH | IN | LOW | WIN | WIN | HIGH | HIGH | LOW | LOW | IN | OUT | elimin: Finale (2) | |
| Dave | IN | LOW | LOW | IN | WIN | LOW | WIN | LOW | WIN | OUT | elimin: Finale (1) | ||
| Lee Anne | IN | IN | LOW | IN | HIGH | WIN | LOW | LOW | OUT | elimin: Napa’s Finest | |||
| Stephen | HIGH | HIGH | IN | LOW | HIGH | HIGH | LOW | OUT | elimin: Wedding Bell Blues | ||||
| Miguel | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | LOW | LOW | OUT | elimin: Restaurant Wars | |||||
| Andrea | LOW | OUT | IN | HIGH | LOW | OUT | elimin: Food of Love and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner | ||||||
| Lisa | IN | LOW | IN | LOW | OUT | elimin: Blind Confusion | |||||||
| Candice | LOW | IN | IN | OUT | elimin: Food on the Fly | ||||||||
| Brian | IN | HIGH | OUT | elimin: Nasty Delights | |||||||||
| Cynthia | IN | LOW | LEFT | voluntarily left show | |||||||||
| Ken | OUT | elimin: Who Deserves To Be Here |
- Green background and WIN means the chef won that episode's Elimination Challenge.
- Yellow background means the chef won that episode's Quickfire Challenge.
- Blue background and HIGH means the chef was in the top during that episode's Elimination Challenge.
- Yellow background and HIGH means the chef won that episode's Quickfire Challenge and was in the top during that episode's Elimination Challenge.
- Red background and LOW means the chef was in the bottom and risked elimination in that episode's Elimination Challenge.
- Yellow background and LOW means the chef won that episode's Quickfire Challenge, but was in the bottom, and available for elimination in that that episode's Elimination Challenge.
- Grey background and OUT means the chef lost that week's Elimination Challenge and was out of the competition.
- Episode 3: Andrea was brought back, after being eliminated once, when Cynthia chose to leave because her father was ill.
- Episode 5: Chefs worked in teams of two with two winners and one eliminated.
- Episode 8: No winner.
- Episode 10: Reunion. No challenges.
[edit] Season 2
See Top Chef (Season 2) for more information.
[edit] Contestants
Eliminated or withdrawn from competition
- Suyai Steinhauer, age 29, New York, New York - episode 1
- Otto Borsich, age 46, Las Vegas, Nevada - episode 2
- Emily Sprissler, age 30, Las Vegas, Nevada - episode 3
- Marisa Churchill, age 28, San Francisco, California - episode 5
- Josie Smith-Malave, age 31, Brooklyn, New York - episode 5
- Carlos Fernandez, age 36, Fort Lauderdale, Florida - episode 6
Still competing (alphabetical order)
- Elia L. Aboumrad, age 23, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Cliff Crooks, age 28, West Caldwell, New Jersey
- Betty Fraser, age 44, Los Angeles, California
- Mia Gaines-Alt, age 32, Oakdale, California
- Ilan Hall, age 24, New York, New York
- Michael Midgley, age 28, Stockton, California
- Sam Talbot, age 28, New York, New York
- Frank Terzoli, age 39, San Diego, California
- Marcel Vigneron, age 26, Las Vegas, Nevada
Ages listed at time of Top Chef taping in June-July, 2006.
[edit] Episodes
Each episode include two challenges. The Quickfire Challenge is a short, simple challenge with a varying reward each week. The Elimination Challenge is a more complex challenge that determines who goes home. One or more guest judges join the show each week to evaluate both the Quickfire and Elimination challenges. Each week's elimination is announced in a segment called "Judges' Table."
[edit] External links
[edit] Show-related sites
[edit] Contestant and judge sites
- Stephen Asprinio official web site
- Andrea Beaman official web site
- Marisa Churchill official web site
- Tom Colicchio - Craft Restaurant official web site
- Harold Dieterle - Perilla Restaurant official web site
- Katie Lee Joel - Olive and Peach official web site (No longer being updated)
- Padma Lakshmi official web site
- Dave Martin official web site
- Dave Martin - Lola Restaurant official web site
- Miguel Morales official web site
- Harold Dieterle MySpace.com page
- Marisa Churchill MySpace.com page
- Miguel Morales MySpace.com page
- Perilla Restaurant MySpace.com page
- Cynthia Sestito MySpace.com page
- Lee Anne Wong MySpace.com page
- Otto Borsich and Josie Smith-Malave The Art Institutes promotional site
- Lee Anne Wong French Culinary Institute event hosting information site
[edit] Reviews
- Top Chef is Heating Up But Where's the Sizzle The Boston Globe - April 12, 2006
- Fan forum on Televisionwithoutpity.com
- Top Chef TV Guide Community: Top Chef
