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Top Chef Masters

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Top Chef Masters
GenreCooking
Reality competition
Presented by
Judges
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes41
Production
Executive producers
  • Dan Cutforth
  • Jane Lipsitz
Running time42 minutes
Production companyMagical Elves Productions
Original release
NetworkBravo
ReleaseJune 10, 2009 (2009-06-10) –
September 25, 2013 (2013-09-25)

Top Chef Masters is an American reality competition series that aired on the cable television network Bravo between June 10, 2009 and September 25, 2013. A spinoff of Bravo's hit show Top Chef, the show was produced by Magical Elves and mostly filmed in Los Angeles. Professional chefs competed to win $100,000, an amount won by Rick Bayless, Marcus Samuelsson, Floyd Cardoz, Chris Cosentino, and Douglas Keane. A combination of Stone, James Oseland, Gael Greene, Jay Rayner, Gail Simmons, Ruth Reichl, Krista Simmons, Francis Lam, and Lesley Suter judged each series, while Kelly Choi hosted the first two series and Curtis Stone hosted the final three.

Background and history

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Top Chef was launched on Bravo in 2006 and featured civilians called 'cheftestants' competing for $100,000, a feature in Food & Wine magazine, and a showcase at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.[1] The programme frequently had guests as judges, prompting the programme's judges Tom Colicchio and Hubert Keller to consider mounting a derivative of the programme for professionals.[2] Bravo announced Top Chef Masters in July 2008[3] and its lineup in April 2009; ex-model Kelly Choi was to host, while the judges comprised Saveur editor-in-chief James Oseland, New York Magazine restaurant critic Gael Greene, and British writer Jay Rayner.[4] Rayner's participation prompted explainer articles as to who he was, as American audiences were unfamiliar with him.[5]

Episodes were filmed in Los Angeles, with production handled by Magical Elves, and each featured a quickfire challenge scored blind out of five and an elimination challenge.[4] Winners won $100,000 for a charity of their choice.[6] The first season was won by Rick Bayless, who beat two runners up including Keller.[7] Among the guest judges for that series was Colicchio and Gail Simmons,[4] who joined the panel for season two;[8] that series was won by Marcus Samuelsson.[9]

Choi was replaced with Australian chef Curtis Stone in January 2011[10] and Greene and Rayner with Gourmet writer Ruth Reichl[6] that March,[11] with Stone also judging.[6] Rayner attributed his sacking to the production company not wanting two non-American voices judging.[12] From season three, winning a quickfire challenge won $5,000 and an elimination challenge $10,000, and chefs were no longer graded on a scale.[11] The season was won by Floyd Cardoz.[13]

Production moved to Las Vegas for the fourth season, which was judged by Oseland, Reichl, journalist Krista Simmons, and Gilt Taste editor Francis Lam[14] and won by Chris Cosentino.[15] For the fifth and final series,[16] the series returned to Los Angeles.[17] Chefs were paired with sous chefs, who competed in Battle of the Sous Chefs, a parallel online-only series presented by Hugh Acheson; winning and losing sous chefs won their master chefs advantages and disadvantages. Episodes were judged by Oseland, Lam, Reichl, Los Angeles Magazine editor Lesley Suter, and a returning Gail Simmons, who was head judge.[18] Douglas Keane won the series.[19]

Seasons

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Season Winner Charity Air dates Host Judges
1 Rick Bayless Frontera Farmer Foundation June 10, 2009 – August 19, 2009 Kelly Choi James Oseland
Gael Greene
Jay Rayner
Gail Simmons
2 Marcus Samuelsson UNICEF Tap Project April 7, 2010 – June 9, 2010
3 Floyd Cardoz Young Scientist Cancer Research Fund April 6, 2011 – June 15, 2011 Curtis Stone James Oseland
Gael Greene
Ruth Reichl
4 Chris Cosentino The Michael J. Fox Foundation July 25, 2012 – September 26, 2012 James Oseland
Ruth Reichl
Krista Simmons
Francis Lam
5 Douglas Keane Green Dog Rescue Project July 24, 2013 – September 25, 2013 James Oseland
Gail Simmons
Ruth Reichl
Lesley Suter
Francis Lam

References

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  1. ^ Abad-Santos, Alex (March 11, 2016). "After 10 years, Top Chef is still one of the best reality television shows around". Vox. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  2. ^ Graser, Marc (November 6, 2012). "Fresh ingredients infuse 'Top Chef'". Variety. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  3. ^ Paolo (July 21, 2008). "Top Cheffage: Bravo Announces "Top Chef: Masters"". Eater SF. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Paolo (April 7, 2009). "Top Chef Masters Lineup Revealed, Premiere Set". Eater SF. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  5. ^ Pickard, Anna (June 17, 2009). "Who the hell is Jay Rayner?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c Ozersky, Josh (April 13, 2011). "Why Top Chef Masters Is So Depressing". TIME. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  7. ^ "'Top Chef Masters' finale: Watching the pros do their thing". Los Angeles Times. August 20, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  8. ^ "Top Chef Masters Will Be Back With Gail Simmons". Grub Street. October 22, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  9. ^ Bulaong, Lia (June 10, 2010). "Marcus Samuelsson, Winner of Top Chef Masters Season Two". Eater. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  10. ^ Brion, Raphael (January 13, 2011). "Bravo: Curtis Stone to Host Top Chef Masters Season 3". Eater. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  11. ^ a b "Top Chef Masters 3: Ruth Reichl and Christina Hendricks to Judge Floyd Cardoz, Traci Des Jardins, and More". Grub Street. March 2, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  12. ^ Ulla, Gabe (February 15, 2011). "Jay Rayner on Leaving Top Chef: Masters, David Chang, Saveur, and Anonymity". Eater. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  13. ^ Hunter, Marnie; Fletcher, Brekke (March 25, 2020). "'Top Chef Masters' winner dies after coronavirus diagnosis". CNN. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  14. ^ Brion, Raphael (May 24, 2012). "Top Chef Masters Season 4 Announced, Premieres July 25". Eater. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  15. ^ Brion, Raphael (September 27, 2012). "Chris Cosentino: Winner of Top Chef Masters Season 4". Eater. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  16. ^ Bryant, Zoe (June 17, 2021). "Top Chef Masters: Every Winner (& The Charity They Supported)". ScreenRant. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  17. ^ "Curtis Stone teases new season of "Top Chef Masters" - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. July 16, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  18. ^ Abramovitch, Seth (June 6, 2013). "'Top Chef Masters' to Return with Web-Only Companion Series 'Battle of the Sous-Chefs' (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  19. ^ "Interview with 'Top Chef' Douglas Keane". Healdsburg Tribune. March 27, 2025. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
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