In the last season of Top Chef, Justin Warner took home the title and became the winner. Audiences loved him for his creativity in cooking dishes that were both delicious and interesting! With Season 9 premiering on October 12th, we have to wonder who will be crowned this year’s winner? We’ll just have to tune in to find out!
Contestants are :
Michael Voltaggio, Mike Isabella, Spike Mendelsohn, Marcel Vigneron, Casey Thompson from Season One
Aliya Jiwani from Season Two
Stefan Richter from Season Three
Danyele McPherson with Adam Gertler and Merril Hoge from Season Four
Stephanie Izard from Season Five
Courtney Lapresi with Jonathon Sawyer and Louella Hill from Season Six.
Who is the winner?
The winner of Top Chef Season Eight was Justin Warner, son of Top Chef. Audiences loved him for his creativity in cooking dishes that were both delicious and interesting.
Who is the winner?
This season’s judges are Top Chef Tom Colicchio, chef and restaurateur Hugh Acheson, cookbook author Deborah Madison.
Michael Voltaggio: Born in 1978, this LA-based chef has been cooking since he was six years old. He attended the Culinary Institute of America where his professors encouraged him to challenge himself and try new things.
Top Chef Season Eight was one of the most popular seasons in Top Chef history with a total audience that consistently averaged over two million viewers each week and an average at-home audience who watched an episode live, tuned in to watch it on DVR within three days or streamed it online
What did they cook?
This season, the contestants made dishes that were not only delicious and interesting. But they also had to go out of their comfort zones with food from different cultures like in episode two when the contenders cooked Afghan-style lamb chops and rice pilaf. There was a competition for dessert as well with an apple pie sampler plate being one of the dishes.
And with only one winner, you know there will be more than a few tears shed and broken hearts.
What is the prize?
A scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America, a year’s worth of supply from Bertolli olive oil and pasta sauce, $125,000 in cash. Not bad for someone who can’t cook!
How long does it take?
Each season typically takes place over about nine weeks with about ten hours of footage getting edited down to about 23 minutes per episode.
Who were the sponsors?
Each season had different sponsors, but the list has included Bertolli olive oil and pasta sauce, Food Network Magazine, Hellman’s mayonnaise.
Top Chef Season Eight: Top Chef is an American reality TV cooking show which airs on public television network PBS in the United States. The show features chefs competing against each other for a chance to become the next head chef at a prestigious restaurant.
Top Chef Season Eight is now underway, and this season’s winner will receive cash prizes totalling $125,000 in addition to a scholarship from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) for one year. The show has been on air since 2005 with over ten hours of footage getting edited down to just a couple of hours.
Who got eliminated in the last hour?
This is a show about cooking, so it’s important to be able to cook well. Different chefs have different strengths and weaknesses but the one major thing that all contestants need in order to make it far on this show is confidence. This year there are 18-chefs competing against each other for an opportunity of a lifetime: head chef at the ‘CIA Congress’ in Lyon, France.
Each chef is vying to become the Top Chef and win a cash prize of $125,000 and the coveted head chef position at this six-star restaurant for one year. The winner also gets free tuition through the Culinary Institute of America (CIA).
The show airs on Thursday nights at around nine o’clock on the Bravo channel.
Since this is a TV show, you may notice that many of these dishes are what would be called “fancy food.” There’s an art to making complicated dishes look simple to create drama and suspense in cooking competitions like Top Chef. Keep in mind when watching that any time you see something that looks like a main course, it’s always intended to be shared with others.
The chefs are judged on:
Their ability as head chef in their own kitchen (commanding the crew)
They’re also evaluated by how well they deal with stress and pressure from judges.
Some of this season’s most notable contestants are:
Tom Colicchio, head judge and owner of Craft restaurant in New York City. He’s been a mentor to many Top Chef contestants on both the original show as well as this season.
Hung Huynh, known for his Vietnamese cuisine at LudoBites restaurants (named after chef Lu Duong)
Richard Blais, winner of Top Chef season two
Stephen Asprinio Jr., Executive Chef at Hotel Del Coronado in California. Known for his seafood dishes and innovative use of ingredients like a saltwater foam to top dishes.
