NEED TO KNOW
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Since its 2006 premiere, Top Chef has had 22 seasons and 21 total winners
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Top Chef season 22 ends on June 12, with Tristen Epps, Bailey Sullivan and Shuai Wang heading into the finale
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Danny Garcia was crowned the winner of season 21 in June 2024
The knives are about to be packed one last time, as another season of Top Chef comes to a close.
The 22nd season of the longtime cooking competition series concludes on June 12 on Bravo, featuring three finalists: Tristen Epps, Bailey Sullivan and Shuai Wang.
At the helm this season are longtime judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, who were once again joined by former champ Kristen Kish. In season 21, Kish stepped into the host and judge role vacated by Padma Lakshmi, who left the series following season 20.
So where are the Top Chef winners now? Here’s everything to know about the previous champions, including the season and year they were crowned on the Bravo competition show.
Season 1: Harold Dieterle
The chef who started it all on the debut 2006 season in San Francisco, Harold Dieterle beat Tiffani Faison to be named the first Top Chef.
Afterward, he went on to open two New York City restaurants, the Asian-influenced Perilla and Kin Shop, and release a cookbook, Kitchen Notebook. These days he is principal at his events company, HD Hospitality.
Season 2: Ilan Hall
In its second season, the show traveled to Los Angeles and crowned young fusion foodie Ilan Hall the champ over frenemy Marcel Vigneron.
Hall opened The Gorbals restaurants in L.A. and N.Y.C., eventually closing both and debuting his latest hotspot, Ramen Hood, in L.A. in 2015. He hosted Knife Fight on Esquire Network and has appeared on a handful of cooking shows since, most recently Food Network’s Tournament of Champions.
Season 3: Hung Huynh
Miami set the scene for Hung Huynh, raised in his family’s Massachusetts restaurant, to best Dale Levitski in season 3.
The globe-trotter was eventually tapped to head up the trendy Catch chain that began in N.Y.C., and currently works as a consultant and private chef, with a goal to “revolutionize the way restaurants, farmers, cooks, and communities are integrated for the benefit of all,” according to his website.
Season 4: Stephanie Izard
Top Chef‘s first female winner, Stephanie Izard, stuck around Chicago after beating Richard Blais and Lisa Fernandes to open her inventive American Girl and the Goat restaurant, later expanding the mini-empire into Little Goat Diner, the Chinese-American Duck Duck Goat and Peruvian-inspired Cabra.
The James Beard Award winner has since expanded Girl and the Goat to L.A. and returned to Top Chef as a judge, in addition to competing on Food Network’s Tournament of Champions.
Season 5: Hosea Rosenberg
New Mexico native Hosea Rosenberg topped season 5 runners-up Carla Hall and Stefan Richter to take the title in N.Y.C.
He eventually settled in Colorado, where his Blackbelly restaurant centers on butchery and his Santo eatery showcases modern New Mexico cuisine.
He spends his time outside of the kitchen focused on finding a cure for multicentric carpotarsal osteolysis, a rare genetic disorder his young daughter Sophie was diagnosed with as a toddler.
Season 6: Michael Voltaggio
Season 6 in Las Vegas came with an interesting twist: two brothers competing against each other, with the ever-experimental Michael Voltaggio beating his fine-dining-focused brother Bryan (and chef Kevin Gillespie) in the finale.
The moment didn’t hurt the brothers’ relationship, however: in the years since, the Voltaggios have opened several restaurants together around the U.S. and even had a Food Network competition show, Battle of the Brothers.
After Top Chef, Michael opened several restaurants, which have since closed including Ink in L.A. He has also competed on Food Network’s Tournament of Champions and Bobby’s Triple Threat. In June 2024, he welcomed his third child, his first with wife Bria Vinaite.
Season 7: Kevin Sbraga
In Washington, D.C., New Jersey’s Kevin Sbraga took down fellow finalists Ed Cotton and Angelo Sosa, going on to open new restaurants in Philadelphia and Jacksonville.
Though he eventually wound down his eateries, in 2022, he announced he’d be back in the kitchen with Sonny & Sons chicken in Maryland’s Le Fantome Food Hall.
Season 8: Richard Blais
Season 8 of Top Chef was the first all-stars edition, bringing together seven seasons’ worth of fan favorites and runners-up who all fell to whiz kid Richard Blais.
In the years since, Blais has been pretty much everywhere, including the judges’ table on Top Chef. He has a handful of restaurants around the country, including San Diego’s Juniper & Ivy and Crack Shack, and is currently serving as a judge and mentor on Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef.
Season 9: Paul Qui
Deep in the heart of Texas, chef Paul Qui earned victory over Sarah Grueneberg — and earned serious accolades from judge Tom Colicchio, who called him the “most talented chef that we’ve ever had on the show.”
Qui went on to open restaurants in Austin and beyond, but made headlines in March 2016 when he was arrested and faced misdemeanor charged of assault and unlawful restraint following an incident with his girlfriend and her son, per the Austin American-Statesman.
Qui entered rehab and the charges were later dropped in April 2018, according to the outlet.
In late 2022, Qui opened a Japanese-influenced spot in Denver.
Season 10: Kristen Kish
Seoul-born Kristen Kish’s rise to the top in Seattle was a first: she was eliminated in week 11 but cooked her way back into the competition via Last Chance Kitchen, ultimately beating pal Brooke Williamson.
She has remained a major player in the franchise, returning as a guest judge, in addition to opening a handful of restaurants, including Austin’s Arlo Grey. Kish hosted Netflix’s Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend, and Restaurants at the End of the World on National Geographic.
She has been host and judge since season 21 of Top Chef, following host Padma Lakshmi’s exit.
Season 11: Nicholas Elmi
Born in New England and inspired by French cuisine, Nicholas Elmi won against fan favorite Nina Compton in the New Orleans season final.
He rooted himself in Philadelphia afterward, opening restaurants including Laurel, The Landing Kitchen and Lark, in addition to releasing a cookbook inspired by Philly’s cuisine.
Season 12: Mei Lin
Mei Lin was working at former champ Michael Voltaggio’s restaurant Ink. when she dominated on Top Chef‘s Boston season, besting Gregory Gourdet in the final.
Lin, who grew up in her parents’ Chinese restaurant in Michigan, went on to open two successful L.A. spots herself: Nightshade and Daybird. (The former closed its doors in 2020 during the pandemic.)
In addition to Top Chef, she won Food Network’s Tournament of Champions.
Season 13: Jeremy Ford
Miami’s Jeremy Ford took the crown on the California season, winning over Amar Santana.
Already established on the Florida food scene, Ford has gone on to open Stubborn Seed, The Butcher’s Club and Beauty & The Butcher, a spot inspired by his oldest daughter.
Additionally, he hosted TruTV’s Fast Foodies alongside fellow champ Kristen Kish and Top Chef alumnus Justin Sutherland.
Season 14: Brooke Williamson
Brooke Williamson returned on the Charleston edition that mixed new contestants with returning standouts, ultimately beating friend and fellow Top Chef veteran Shirley Chung in the finale after being eliminated on episode 11 and cooking her way back in Last Chance Kitchen.
While running her Playa Provisions restaurant in L.A., Williamson also appeared on television, appearing on everything from Top Chef Duels and Guy’s Grocery Games to Bobby’s Triple Threat and Knife Fight. She later won the first season of Food Network’s Tournament of Champions.
Season 15: Joe Flamm
Chicago-raised Italian chef Joe Flamm was another winner who spent time in Last Chance Kitchen before coming back and emerging victorious, topping Adrienne Cheatham to take the Colorado crown.
After pandemic-related delays he opened his Rose Mary restaurant in Chicago, melding his grandmothers’ Croatian and Italian roots. In 2022, he also began overseeing the Chicago’s BLVD Steakhouse, in addition to judging Top Chef. In December 2024, he opened another restaurant, il Carciofo.
Season 16: Kelsey Barnard Clark
One of the first Southern chefs to shine on Top Chef, Kelsey Barnard Clark beat Sara Bradley in the latter’s native Kentucky with her consistent cooking.
Already at the helm of her KBC restaurant and catering company in Alabama when she joined the show, she released a cookbook in 2021 and competed on Food Network’s Tournament of Champions.
In September 2024, she published her latest cookbook, Southern Get-Togethers: A Guide to Hosting Unforgettable Gatherings.
Season 17: Melissa King
In another all-stars season set in L.A., San Francisco’s Melissa King beat Bryan Voltaggio and Stephanie Cmar with her fresh flavors — and she won fan favorite, too. She donated that $10,000 prize to Asian Americans For Equality, Asian Youth Center, The Trevor Project and National Black Justice Coalition.
Still busy in the culinary world, King is also busy on TV, returning to judge Top Chef and serving as host of National Geographic’s Tasting Wild.
Season 18: Gabe Erales
Gabe Erales, who trained at the world-famous Noma before opening his own Texas restaurant, became known for his sauces, winning the Portland season over Shota Nakajima and Dawn Burrell. He was the first Mexican chef to win the series.
Immediately after his season aired, however, he was fired from his position at Austin’s Comedor for “repeated violations of the company’s ethics policy as it relates to harassment of women,” according to his boss Philip Speer.
He apologized in an open letter on Instagram, and Top Chef judge Padma Lakshmi publicly called on Bravo to investigate the allegations. The network didn’t further comment on the situation, per The New York Times.
In 2023, he opened Ometeo, a Mexican restaurant in Virginia.
Season 19 and 20: Buddha Lo
Aussie Buddha Lo’s cooking in Houston was literally out of this world (remember that NASA-inspired dessert?!), leading him through a steady season and to victory over Evelyn Garcia and Sarah Welch in the emotional finale.
He did it all over again in season 20, returning for a world all-stars edition in London that he dominated. There, Lo beat fellow Top Chef standout Sara Bradley and Top Chef Mexico winner Gabri Rodriguez.
Lo is the executive chef at Huso restaurant in N.Y.C. — which reopened following a fire, and later moved to Tribeca in February 2025. Lo is also now raising his twin daughters with his wife Rebekah Pedler.
In May 2025, he returned to guest judge on season 22 of Top Chef.
Season 21: Danny Garcia
David Moir/Bravo via Getty ; Amber De Vos/Getty
Danny Garcia on Season 21 of ‘Top Chef’ ; Chef Danny Garcia attends the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival In Good Company: A Wine Industry Welcome on April 10, 2025 in Pebble Beach, California.
Things got rocky for Danny Garcia — literally — when the final two episodes of Top Chef season 21 were set aboard a Caribbean cruise ship.
After being tasked with creating a multi-course meal, Garcia ended up beating out fellow finalists, Dan Jacobs and Savannah Miller, claiming the $250,000 prize.
Following his season 21 victory, Garcia opened his new seafood restaurant, Time and Tide, in N.Y.C., in October 2024.
Read the original article on People
