‘Top Chef’ isn’t back for its tenth season just yet (that will be Nov. 7 at 10:00 p.m.), but until then you can get started learning about the new cheftestants. Bravo has announced the 21 competing chefs who will be joining the show — which includes celebrity judge Wolfgang Puck. Judges Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, Hugh Acheson and Emeril Lagasse as well as Padma Lakshmi will also be back.
This season the competition goes back to the basics, with culinary challenges that require a mastery of the primary skills of a chef. The “Top Chef: Seattle” twenty-one will be pared down week by week and the winning chef will receive $125,000, a feature in Food & Wine magazine, a showcase at the Annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen and, of course, the title of “Top Chef.”
Following are the 21 “Top Chef: Seattle” hopefuls:
– Lizzie Binder, 37 – Napa, California
– Tina Bourbeau, 42 – New York, New York
– Chrissy Camba, 30 – Chicago, Illinois
– Stephanie Cmar, 27 – Boston, Massachusetts
– Micah Fields, 28 – Los Angeles, California
– Eliza Gavin, 38 – Telluride, Colorado
– Anthony Gray, 35 – Macon, Georgia
– Jeffrey Jew, 34 – Washington, DC
– Gina Keatley, 32 – New York, New York
– Kristen Kish, 28 – Boston, Massachusetts
– Danyele McPherson, 31 – Dallas, Texas
– Daniel O”Brien, 32 – Washington, DC
– Carla Pellegrino, 43 – Las Vegas, Nevada
– Jorel Pierce, 28 – Denver, Colorado
– Sheldon Simeon, 30 – Lahaina, Hawaii
– John Tesar, 54 – Dallas, Texas
– Joshua Valentine, 32 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
– Bart Vandaele, 41 – Washington, DC
– Tyler Wiard, 41 – Denver, Colorado
– Brooke Williamson, 33 – Los Angeles, California
– Kuniko Yagi, 35 – Los Angeles, California
What do you think of the Seattle line-up?