Bravo’s Top Chef announces its season 18 in Portland, Oregan
Bravo’s Top Chef will kick off its season 18 in April this year. It will have 15 chefs and restaurant owners from across the country competing for the title and $250,000.
While the chefs compete with each other, the safety precautions due to the ongoing pandemic cause a lot of changes in this year’s competition. A few of the guest chefs can be seen taking part in the competition on video conference calls. The contestants also cook for the Top Chef Drive-In restaurant.
Padma Lakshmi will be hosting this season too. For the first time ever, previous Top Chef winners and finalists — including Kristen Kish, Edward Lee, and Nina Compton — will be joining a rotating judging and dining panel alongside head judge Tom Colicchio, and judge Gail Simmons.
The chefs will also be competing for a feature on the Food & Wine magazine, and an appearance at the annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.
Here is a full list of contestants.
- Brittanny Anderson (Richmond, Virginia)
- Avishar Barua (Columbus, Ohio)
- Dawn Burrell (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- Gabe Erales (Austin, Texas)
- Nelson German (Oakland, California)
- Byron Gomez (Aspen, Colorado)
- Sasha Grumman (Houston, Texas)
- Roscoe Hall (Birmingham, Alabama)
- Sara Hauman (Portland, Oregan)
- Kiki Louya (Detriot, Michigan)
- Maria Mazon (Tuscon, Arizona)
- Shota Nakajima (Seattle, Washington)
- Gabriel Pascuzzi (Portland, Oregan)
- Jamie Tran (Las Vegas, Nevada)
- Chris Viaud (Milford, New Hampshire)
Top Chef season 18 premieres Thursday, April 1 at 8 p.m. EST on Bravo.
