| Season number | 13 |
|---|---|
| Bgcolour |
|
| Num episodes | 15 |
| Network | Bravo |
| First aired | December 2, 2015 |
| Last aired | March 17, 2016 |
| Prev season | Boston |
| Next season | Charleston |
| Episode list | List of Top Chef episodes |
| Host | Padma Lakshmi |
|---|---|
| Judges | Tom Colicchio Gail Simmons Emeril Lagasse Richard Blais |
| Location | San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Oakland, and Palm Springs, California |
| Finals venue | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Num contestants | 17 |
| Winner | Jeremy Ford |
| Runner up | Amar Santana |
| Fan Favorite | Isaac Toups |
Top Chef: California is the thirteenth season of the American reality television series Top Chef. The season was announced by Bravo on April 14, 2015.[1] Similar to Top Chef: Texas, filming took place in several locations across California, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Oakland, and the greater Palm Springs area, concluding with a finale in Las Vegas, Nevada.[1][2] Top Chef: California had a two-night premiere on December 2–3, 2015.[3] Host Padma Lakshmi and head judge Tom Colicchio returned, alongside judges Gail Simmons, Emeril Lagasse, and Richard Blais, among others.[3] The companion web series, Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen, also returned, premiering immediately following the second part of the season premiere on December 3, 2015.[4][5] In the season finale, Jeremy Ford was declared the winner over runner-up Amar Santana.[6] Isaac Toups was voted Fan Favorite.[7]
Contestants
Seventeen chefs competed in Top Chef: California, which included one returning contestant, Grayson Schmitz, who originally competed in Top Chef: Texas.[8][9][10][11]
| Name | Hometown | Current Residence[a] | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karen Akunowicz | Kearny, New Jersey | Boston,Massachusetts | 37 |
| Angelina Bastidas | Miami, Florida | 25 | |
| Carl Dooley | Boston, Massachusetts | 30 | |
| Garret Fleming | Rockford, Illinois | Washington, D.C. | 33 |
| Jeremy Ford | Jacksonville, Florida | Miami, Florida | 30 |
| Renee Kelly | Shawnee, Kansas | Merriam, Kansas | 34 |
| Phillip Frankland Lee | Los Angeles, California | 28 | |
| Marjorie Meek-Bradley | Ukiah, California | Washington, D.C. | 30 |
| Kwame Onwuachi | The Bronx, New York | Washington, D.C. | 25 |
| Amar Santana | Queens, New York | Orange County, California | 33 |
| Grayson Schmitz | New Holstein, Wisconsin | New York, New York | 32 |
| Jason Stratton | Seattle, Washington | 35 | |
| Frances Tariga-Weshnak | Manila, Philippines | New York, New York | 33 |
| Isaac Toups | Rayne, Louisiana | New Orleans, Louisiana | 36 |
| Wesley True | Mobile, Alabama | Atlanta, Georgia | 38 |
| Giselle Wellman | San Diego, California | Los Angeles, California | 31 |
| Chad White | Spokane, Washington | San Diego, California | 32 |
Kwame Onwuachi returned for Top Chef: Colorado, competing in the Last Chance Kitchen.[12] Karen Akunowicz returned for Top Chef: All-Stars L.A.[13] Amar Santana returned for Top Chef: World All-Stars.[14]
Contestant progress
| Episode # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quickfire Challenge Winner(s) | Amar Frances Renee | Grayson | Wesley | Jason | Chad | Jeremy | Karen | colspan=2 | Isaac | Marjorie | Jeremy | Jeremy | |||||
| Contestant | Elimination Challenge Results | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Jeremy | WIN | IN | HIGH | WIN | IN | IN | IN | HIGH | LOW | LOW | LOW | WIN | IN | WINNER | ||
| 2 | Amar | HIGH | HIGH | IN | IN | IN | HIGH | IN | HIGH | LOW | WIN | IN | OUT | WIN | RUNNER-UP | ||
| 3 | Isaac | IN | HIGH | IN | IN | IN | LOW | IN | LOW | WIN | IN | IN | LOW | OUT | |||
| Marjorie | IN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | LOW | HIGH | LOW | HIGH | LOW | OUT | ||||
| 5 | Carl | HIGH | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | HIGH | IN | HIGH | HIGH | WIN | OUT | ||||
| 6 | Kwame | IN | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | HIGH | LOW | IN | LOW | HIGH | OUT | |||||
| 7 | Karen | IN | IN | HIGH | HIGH | LOW | WIN | IN | IN | HIGH | OUT | ||||||
| 8 | Phillip | IN | LOW | IN | IN | LOW | IN | LOW | WIN | OUT | |||||||
| 9 | Chad | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | HIGH | OUT | ||||||||
| 10 | Jason | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | LOW | OUT | |||||||||
| 11 | Wesley | IN | IN | LOW | IN | HIGH | OUT | ||||||||||
| 12 | Angelina | LOW | HIGH | LOW | LOW | IN | OUT | ||||||||||
| 13 | Giselle | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||||||||||
| 14 | Grayson | LOW | LOW | IN | OUT | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Frances | IN | LOW | OUT | |||||||||||||
| 16 | Renee | IN | OUT | ||||||||||||||
| 17 | Garret | OUT | |||||||||||||||
- The chef(s) did not receive immunity for winning the Quickfire Challenge.
- Angelina lost the Sudden Death Quickfire Challenge and was eliminated.
- Amar lost the Sudden Death Quickfire Challenge and was eliminated.
- As the winner of the Quickfire Challenge, Jeremy automatically advanced to the finale; therefore, he did not have to compete in the Elimination Challenge.
- Amar won Last Chance Kitchen and returned to the competition.
- (WINNER) The chef won the season and was crowned "Top Chef".
- (RUNNER-UP) The chef was a runner-up for the season.
- (WIN) The chef won the Elimination Challenge.
- (HIGH) The chef was selected as one of the top entries in the Elimination Challenge, but did not win.
- (IN) The chef was not selected as one of the top or bottom entries in the Elimination Challenge and was safe.
- (LOW) The chef was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Elimination Challenge, but was not eliminated.
- (OUT) The chef lost the Elimination Challenge.
Episodes
<onlyinclude></onlyinclude>
Last Chance Kitchen
| No. | Title | Original air date |
|---|
References
- Notes
- ^ The contestants' city and state of residence during time of filming.
- Footnotes
- ^ "'Top Chef' Season 13 Is Heading To...". The Daily Dish. April 14, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
- ^ Vena, Jocelyn (February 12, 2016). "Top Chef Will Roll the Dice in Las Vegas for a Two-Part Season Finale". The Daily Dish. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
- ^ Bryant, Jacob (October 19, 2015). "'Top Chef' Sets Season 13 Premiere Date, Celebrity Guests". Variety. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
- ^ Vena, Jocelyn (October 19, 2015). "Top Chef Season 13 Kicks Off in December with Cameos from Chrissy Teigen and MC Hammer". The Daily Dish. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
- ^ "Bravo Media's "Top Chef" Returns to Its Roots in California with a Two-Night Season Premiere Event on Wednesday, December 2 and Thursday, December 3". The Futon Critic. October 19, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
- ^ "Jeremy Ford on Top Chef Win: "You Can Clearly Tell From My Expression It Was a Complete Surprise"". Miami New Times. March 23, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- ^ "UPDATE: Isaac Toups wins Top Chef fan favorite". KATC. March 18, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- ^ "Meet Top Chef Season 13's Cheftestants: Part 1". Bravo. November 25, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
- ^ "Meet Top Chef Season 13's Cheftestants: Part 2". Bravo. November 25, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
- ^ "Meet Top Chef Season 13's Cheftestants: Part 3". Bravo. November 25, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
- ^ "Meet Top Chef Season 13's Cheftestants: Part 4". Bravo. November 25, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
- ^ Rosenfeld, Laura (November 29, 2017). "What?! A Top Chef Alum Could Return to the Competition in Season 15". Bravo. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
- ^ Huff, Lauren (December 12, 2019). "Unpack your knives: Top Chef announces all-star lineup for season 17". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- ^ Leasca, Stacey (January 25, 2023). "'Top Chef' Is Back, These Are the All-Stars Competing This Year". Food & Wine. Archived January 25, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 25, 2023.