Top Chef Winners: Where Are They Now?
1. The winner of the first season of Top Chef took the top prize in October, 2005. Before being on the Bravo show, he had trained at the Culinary Institute of America and in the kitchens of The Hamptons' Della Femina and NYC's The Harrison. He left The Harrison in 2006 and opened his own spot Perilla, named for an Asian mint-like herb. The Greenwich Village "neighborhood" restaurant opened to pretty good reviews and is still going strong today.
2.
Ilan Hall took top honors in the show's second season. Previously, he had trained at Italy's Lorenzo de Medici School, the Culinary Institute of America, and at a laundry list of prestigious NYC kitchens, including Casa Mono. After winning the show, Hall opened his first restaurant, The Gorbals, in LA in 2009. After being shuttered by the health department due to an inadequate water heater, the restaurant, known most for its bacon-wrapped matzah balls, reopened.
Ilan Hall took top honors in the show's second season. Previously, he had trained at Italy's Lorenzo de Medici School, the Culinary Institute of America, and at a laundry list of prestigious NYC kitchens, including Casa Mono. After winning the show, Hall opened his first restaurant, The Gorbals, in LA in 2009. After being shuttered by the health department due to an inadequate water heater, the restaurant, known most for its bacon-wrapped matzah balls, reopened.
3.
The charasmatic Vietnamese-American chef was a favorite on the show's third season. Born in Vietnam, Huynh earned a degree from the Culinary Institute of America and served as sous chef at the ultra-luxe Vegas spot Guy Savoy. Since the show's finale in 2007, Huynh served as guest executive chef at NYC's Solo, competed in the Bocuse d'Or (where he won the Best Fish award), and is now cooking at NYC's Buddha Bar (despite some buzz that the chef was going to open his own kosher restaurant).
The too-nice-for-reality-TV chef won the show's fourth season. After earning a sociology degree from the University of Michigan, Izard studied culinary arts at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute. Izard closed her own restaurant Scylla to compete in Top Chef, and has been busy since getting her second restaurant, "Girl & The Goat" (background on the name here), opened in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. It will be opened by the end of the month. She recently shared her recipe for asparagus, rhubarb, and goat cheese salad with Time Out Chicago.
The Colorado-based chef made odd use of his BA in Engineering Physics. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Rosenberg worked in the kitchens of West Coast chefs like Wolfgang Puck. He became sous chef at Colorado's Jax Fish House in 2004 before going on Top Chef. Since the show, he's been traveling and helping to support sustainable agriculture.
The sixth season winner has been working in restaurants since he was 15. After training in Europe, he moved back to the States to work in West Virginia's Greenbrier Hotel, Healdsburg's Charlie Palmer's Dry Creek Kitchen, and Jose Andres' Bazaar in LA. Since winning the show, he's served as Chef de Cuisine at The Dining Room at The Langham Hotel in Pasadena, California.
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