Season 10
Famed chef and restaurant mogul Wolfgang Puck joins as a judge this season, alongside Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, Hugh Acheson, and Emeril Lagasse, with Padma Lakshmi returning as host, as 21 cheftestants compete for the Top Chef crown.
Top Chef offers a fascinating window into the competitive, pressure-filled environment of world-class cookery and the restaurant business at the highest level.
The series features aspiring chefs who compete for their shot at culinary stardom and the chance to earn the title of Top Chef.
Each episode holds two challenges for the chefs. The first is a Quickfire test of their basic abilities and the second is a more involved elimination challenge designed to test the versatility and inventiveness of the chefs as they take on unique culinary trials such as working with unusual and exotic foods or catering for a range of demanding clients.
The challenges not only test their skills in the kitchen, but also uncover if they have the customer service, management and teamwork abilities required of a Top Chef.
The competing chefs live and breathe the high-pressure lifestyle that comes with being a master chef and each week someone is asked to "pack up their knives" and go home.
The winning chef will receive $125,000, a feature in Food and Wine magazine, a showcase at the Annual Food and Wine Classic in Aspen, and earn the title of "Top Chef."
Broadcast Notes
Season 10 premiered on M-Net Series Reality on Saturday 23 August 2014, at 19h00. Thereafter new episodes broadcast in a triple bill weekly, at 17h00.
Season 10 originally aired on SABC3 on Wednesdays at 15h00. It moved an hour earlier to Wednesdays at 14h00 from 4 October, 2017.
Season 10 Chefs
(See below for links to bios)
Anthony Gray, 35 - Macon, Georgia
Bart Vandaele, 41 - Washington, DC
Brooke Williamson, 33 - Los Angeles, California
Carla Pellegrino, 43 - Las Vegas, Nevada
Chrissy Camba, 30 - Chicago, Illinois
Daniel O'Brien, 32 - Washington, DC
Danyele McPherson, 31 - Dallas, Texas
Eliza Gavin, 38 - Telluride, Colorado
Gina Keatley, 32 - New York, New York
Jeffrey Jew, 34 - Washington, DC
John Tesar, 54 - Dallas, Texas
Jorel Pierce, 28 - Denver, Colorado
Joshua Valentine, 32 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Kristen Kish, 28 - Boston, Massachusetts
Kuniko Yagi, 35 - Los Angeles, California
Lizzie Binder, 37 - Napa, California
Micah Fields, 28 - Los Angeles, California
Sheldon Simeon, 30 - Lahaina, Hawaii
Stephanie Cmar, 27 - Boston, Massachusetts
Tina Bourbeau, 42 - New York, New York
Tyler Wiard, 41 - Denver, Colorado