Since Top Chef Season 5's cheftestants moved into their HQ at 20 Bayard and the Magical Elves crew began setting up film shoots in late July, it has been the goal of many a TC fanatic (ourselves included) to figure out who exactly made it into this season and how and when they got axed. So far, we've received intel on about eight of the suspected 16 cheftestants. To keep all the info in order and easy to digest, we welcome Eater's Great Top Chef Map, a look at where the rumored and confirmed cheftestants hail from, how they were outed, and what their experience was prior to the show. As always, if you have any new intel of more info on the chefs, send it our way.
Fabio Viviani
563 W Los Angeles Ave
Moorpark, CA 93021
Restaurant: Owner, head chef at Cafe Firenze
Location: Moorpark, California
Misc: Spotted in the original papparazzi shots, the Miss Universe challenge, …
and the Le Bernardin stake-out. He hails from Florence, opened his restaurant in California last year, keeps a blog about his restaurants and travels, and has a girlfriend named Jessica.
[link]
Leah Cohen
74 7th Ave S
New York, NY 10014
Restaurant: Sous Chef at Centro Vinoteca
Location: New York, NY
Misc: Leah is a sous chef at Anne Burrell's Centro Vinoteca but also spent time at Eleven Madison …
Park and spent a year at La Mandia, in Sicily (1 Michelin Star).
[link]
Danny Gagnon
51 Edgemere St
Montauk, NY 11954
Restaurant: most recently the sous chef at East by Northeast
Location: Montauk, NY
Misc: The CIA grad "drops F bombs like it's his job."
[link]
Jeff McInnis
1 Lincoln Rd
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Restaurant: Executive Chef at the DiLido Beach Club, Ritz-Carlton
Location: Miami, FL
Misc: A number of commenters on Eater and other sites have outed Jeff and reps …
at his restaurant in Miami tell us he's on "vacation."
[link]
Stefan Richter
1223 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90403
Restaurant: Founder, operator of Stefan's European Catering
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Misc: Eater LA outed this chef and learned that before opening his catering …
company, Richter did a brief stint at Enoteca Drago when it opened in 2004. Before that the he Finland-born, German-raised chef was at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara, he was a sous chef for the Bellagio opening team in 1998, and worked at the Villagio Inn in Napa.
[link]
Patrick Dunlea
1946 Campus Dr, NY 12538, USA
Restaurant: CIA student
Location: Hyde Park campus
Misc: While some commenters are skeptical that the Bravo crew would select a culinary school student, his …
classmates on campus and friends are pretty sure he's in the season.
[link]
Jill Snyder
930 N Charles St
Baltimore, MD 21201
Restaurant: Executive Chef at Red Maple
Location: Balitmore, MD
Misc: The Snyder rumor is completely unconfirmed but has been spread by more than a few sources. …
Amuse Biatch uncovered her Top Chef audition video, and she could be a person described in an early sighting as: "Tall, thin pretty/crunchy looking female, no makeup." But you never know.
[link]
Jamie Lauren
398 Hayes St
San Francisco, CA 94102
Restaurant: Executive Chef at Absinthe
Location: San Francisco, CA
Misc: Eater SF has suspected Lauren for awhile now, and a commenter agrees: "I have it on pretty …
good authority that Jamie Lauren from San Francisco is on the show too. A friend of mine overheard some conversation regarding her being away from Absinthe. So, it seems Eater was right yet again."
[link]
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