The new season of the Emmy Award-Winning culinary competition Top Chef will return on December 7 with a new crop of 15 chefs battling it out to win bragging rights and $125,000.
Challenges will occur across Colorado in Denver, Aspen, Telluride, and Boulder and include deconstructing the famed Denver omelet, cooking Rocky Mountain oysters, and tailgating with the Denver Broncos.
Here’s a look at each of the chefs competing in the show’s 15th season.
Fatima Ali, New York, NY: She’s currently working to open her own restaurant focused on modern Pakistani cuisine and she was the first Pakistani woman to win Chopped.
Tyler Anderson, Simsbury, CT: The chef-owner of Millwright’s Restaurant and Tavern has been nominated for James Beard Best Chef Northeast for four straight years.
Carrie Baird, Denver, CO: She’s the executive chef at Bar Dough, an Italian restaurant featuring wood-fired pizza and pasta.
Adrienne Cheatham, New York, NY: After spending eight years working for Eric Ripert at Le Bernardin, she worked with Marcus Samuelsson to open Streetbird and later became executive chef of Red Rooster.
Laura Cole, Denali National Park, AK: Once the head chef at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station, she’s moved to slightly warmer climes to become chef-owner of 229 Parks Restaurant.
Joseph Flamm, Chicago, IL: Working for great chefs including Stephanie Izard and Art Smith, Flamm is now the executive chef at Michelin-starred Spiaggia.
Rogelio Garcia, San Francisco, CA: Working for some of the Bay Area’s best chefs, including Thomas Keller and Michael Mina, Garcia cooks Spanish-influenced cuisine at Traci Des Jardins’ Commissary.
Tanya Holland, Oakland, CA: Holland prepares her modern take on soul food as the chef-owner of Brown Sugar Kitchen, earning a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
Bruce Kalman, Los Angeles, CA: This New Jersey native cooks farm-to-table and nose-to-tail Italian food at his restaurant Union in Pasadena and Knead Pasta Bar in downtown LA’s Grand Central Market.
Brother Luck, Colorado Springs, CO: Luck’s restaurant Four is influenced by Spain, Native American, and Latin American cuisines.
Melissa Perfit, San Francisco, CA: Cooking for more than a decade for Bay Area chefs including Michael Mina and Charles Phan, she is now the executive chef of Bar Crudo.
Tu David Phu, Oakland, CA: Now the chef and founder of AN: A Vietnamese Dining Experience, he hosts pop-up dinners in the Bay Area.
Joe Sasto, Los Angeles, CA: Michael Mina’s Cal Mare opens later this year in the Beverly Center, where he’ll step in as chef de cuisine.
Christopher Scott, Brooklyn, NY: After 15 years in working in Philadelphia, Scott is chef-owner of soul food restaurant Butterfunk Kitchen.
Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins, San Diego, CA: Drawing on her time growing up in San Diego and Tijuana, her new restaurant El Jardin will explore modern Mexican cuisine when it opens in 2018.
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