“Top Chef” season 15 ended on March 8, 2018 with host Padma Lakshmi revealing the winner chosen by two renowned chefs — Tom Colicchio and Graham Elliot — and award-winning food writer Gail Simmons. To be showcased on this Emmy-winning show for months on end has boosted the profile of all previous 14 winners of “Top Chef.”
We wanted to know what happened to these 14 folks in the years since they took the title. We did some digging and discovered that some of them are running their own restaurants while others work for established locations or freelance.
In the photo gallery above and the text below, we recap each of the first 14 seasons of “Top Chef,” noting the locations, the judges and other finalists. And we update the resumes of all of the winning chefs.
SEE ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ winners: Where are they now, who is your favorite from seasons 1 to 16? [POLL]
Season 1: 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.
Season 2: 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.
Season 3: 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
Now: Culinary consultant to Hilton Resorts World Bimini in the Bahamas.
Season 4: 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
Now: Runs three Chicago restaurants: Girl and the Goat, Little Goat Diner, Duck Duck Goat.
Season 5: Hosea Rosenberg
Location: New York
Won: March 4, 2009
Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons, writer Toby Young
Other Finalists: Stefan Richter and Carla Hall
Now: Runs Santo, a restaurant in Boulder, Colorado that serves local cuisine.
SEE ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ winners: Rank Michelle Tribble against 16 past picks of Gordon Ramsay [POLL]
Season 6: Michael Voltaggio
Location: Las Vegas
Won: Dec. 16, 2009
Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons, writer Toby Young
Other Finalists: Bryan Voltaggio and Kevin Gillespie
Now: Runs Strfsh and the Voltaggio Brothers Steak House in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Season 7: Kevin Sbraga
Location: Washington, D.C.
Won: Sept. 22, 2010
Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons, chef Eric Ripert
Other Finalists: Angelo Sosa and Ed Cotton
Now: Will run Fitler Club in Philadelphia.
Season 8: Richard Blais
Location: New York
Won: April 6, 2011
Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons, chef Anthony Bourdain
Other Finalist: Blais, who had been Top Chef: Chicago runner-up, defeated Mike Isabella, a Top Chef: Las Vegas contestant
Now: Runs the Crack Shack chain of casual fish restaurants, which has locations in San Diego, Encinitas, Costa Mesa, and Los Angeles.
Season 9: Paul Qui
Location: Texas
Won: March 7, 2012
Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons, chef Emeril Lagasse, chef Hugh Acheson
Other Finalist: Sarah Grueneberg
Now: Runs Pao at the Faena Hotel in Miami
SEE ‘The Voice’ winners: Where are they now (Season 1 – 13)?
Season 10: Kristen Kish
Location: Seattle
Won: Feb. 27, 2013
Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons, chef Emeril Lagasse, chef Hugh Acheson, chef Wolfgang Puck
Other Finalist: Brooke Williamson
Now: Hosts “36 Hours” on the Travel Channel, just published her first cookbook, “Kristen Kish Cooking.”
Season 11: Nicholas Elmi
Location: New Orleans
Won: Feb. 5, 2014
Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons, chef Emeril Lagasse, chef Hugh Acheson
Other Finalist: Nina Compton
Now: Runs the restaurant Laurel and the bar ITV in Philadelphia.
Season 12: Mei Lin
Location: Boston
Won: Feb. 11, 2015
Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons, chef Hugh Acheson, chef Richard Blais
Other Finalist: Gregory Gourdet
Now: Will be opening a restaurant in Los Angeles.
Season 13: Jeremy Ford
Location: California
Won: March 17, 2016
Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons, chef Emeril Lagasse, chef Richard Blais
Other Finalist: Amar Santana
Now: Runs the restaurant Stubborn Seed in Miami.
Season 14: Brooke Williamson
Location: Charleston
Won: March 2, 2017
Judges: Chef Tom Colicchio, food writer Gail Simmons, chef Graham Elliot
Other Finalist: Williamson , who had been Top Chef: Seattle runner-up, defeated Top Chef: New Orleans contestant Shirley Chung
Now: Runs four eateries in Los Angeles: Da Kikokiko, Hudson House, Playa Provisions and Small Batch.
SEE exclusive odds: Who will win ‘Top Chef’?
Be sure to make your predictions so that the contestants can see how they’re faring in our racetrack odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before the next episode airs on Bravo. You’ll compete to win a spot on our leaderboard and eternal bragging rights. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
