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Mar 25, 2024 · Top Chef season 1 aired almost two decades ago, and it's time to catch up with the original cast members of one of the best reality TV shows. The inaugural season of Top Chef aired in 2006 and pitted 12 supremely talented chefs in a competition to determine ultimate culinary supremacy.
- Jake Dee
- Melissa Kravitz
- Ken Lee. The first to be eliminated on the very first episode of Top Chef for tasting his sauce with a finger instead of a sanitary spoon (we've seen this result in less harsh punishment as the seasons have progressed), Lee has somehow managed to remain completely inconspicuous on the Internet.
- Cynthia Sestito. It's nearly impossible to watch an episode of Top Chef without being constantly reminded of what vehicle they're driving to what supermarket to buy groceries to cook in that special brand of cookware to be judged by a very important someone representing a very important food brand.
- Brian Hill. View on Instagram. Hill's reality TV career didn't stop with Top Chef. He also appeared on Food Network's Private Chefs of Beverly Hills (Hill's own former clients include Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, and Eddie Murphy), Spike TV's Bar Rescue, and as a guest celebrity judge on MasterChef and MasterChef Junior — the latter of which must hurt Tom Colicchio's feelings.
- Candice Kumai. Next eliminated: Candice, who has perhaps enjoyed more fame than any other contestant from Top Chef S eason 1. So famous is she now, that she was unable to answer our questions on her whereabouts, though her lifestyle website and publicist shared some scoop.
Sep 17, 2023 · However, in an unexpected turn of events, the chef ended up losing her restaurant in the Maui fires in August 2023. The chef has since arranged a GoFundMe page to restore the establishment. Nevertheless, she has also devoted herself to serving others in times of distress.
Season 1 of Top Chef took place in San Francisco and concluded in Las Vegas, Nevada. The season premiered on Bravo on March 8, 2006 and ended on May 24, 2006. Twelve contestants from around the United States lived together in a house for approximately 21 days competing in a series of challenges.
- Harold Dieterle. Location: San Francisco. Won: May 24, 2006. Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons. Other Finalist: Tiffani Faison. Now: Runs Tali, a gluten-free Italian restaurant in Kips Bay, New York.
- Ilan Hall. Location: Los Angeles. Won: Jan. 31, 2007. Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons. Other Finalist: Marcel Vigneron. Now: Runs Ramen Hood, a vegan restaurant in Los Angeles’s Grand Central Market.
- Hung Huynh. Location: Miami. Won: Oct. 10, 2007. Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons, TV personality Ted Allen. Other Finalists: Dale Levitski and Casey Thompson.
- Stephanie Izard. Location: Chicago. Won: June 18, 2008. Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons, TV personality Ted Allen. Other Finalists: Richard Blais and Lisa Fernandes.
Mar 18, 2024 · Catch up with all 19 Top Chef winners, from season 1's Harold Dieterle to season 19 and 20's Buddha Lo, as season 21 of the Bravo reality cooking show premieres on March 20, 2024.
I watched the later seasons I missed and then cycled back to season 1, and was surprised at the tone they started with. They asked the assisting chefs in the finale who should be top chef, and even told Tiffani that everyone thought it should be Harold. Unnecessarily mean spirited.
