# Top Chef: Texas > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Top_Chef:_Texas > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Top_Chef:_Texas.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Chef%3A_Texas > Source revision: 1350920194 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) ***Top Chef: Texas*** is the ninth season of the American [reality television](/source/Reality_television) series *[Top Chef](/source/Top_Chef)*. The season was filmed in various cities in [Texas](/source/Texas), including [San Antonio](/source/San_Antonio), [Dallas](/source/Dallas), and [Austin](/source/Austin,_Texas), before moving on to [Whistler, British Columbia](/source/Whistler,_British_Columbia) for the finale. The season premiered on November 2, 2011. This season of *Top Chef* featured a much larger number of contestants than any previous season, with 29 chefs.[1] *Top Chef: Texas* also introduced a new side competition to the series; in addition to the Quickfire and Elimination Challenges featured in televised episodes, the *Last Chance Kitchen* competition allowed eliminated contestants to compete head-to-head in a series of webisodes, with the winner eventually returning to the main competition.[1] In the season finale, [Paul Qui](/source/Paul_Qui) was declared the winner over runner-up [Sarah Grueneberg](/source/Sarah_Grueneberg).[2][3][4] Chris Crary was voted Fan Favorite.[5] ## Contestants Main article: [List of Top Chef contestants](/source/List_of_Top_Chef_contestants) The cast of *Top Chef: Texas* initially consisted of 29 contestants.[1][6] After the qualifying challenges in the first two episodes, the pool of chefs was narrowed down to 16. ### Eliminated in qualifying rounds Name Current Residence[a] Age Jonathan Baltazar Long Beach, California 36 Molly Brandt Hollywood, Florida 30 Chaz Brown New York, New York 29 Kimberly Calichio New York, New York 27 Andrew Curren Austin, Texas 32 Berenice deAraujo Miami, Florida 33 Janine Falvo Atlanta, Georgia 37 Simon Pantet Seattle, Washington 30 Colin Patterson Seattle, Washington 37 Laurent Quenioux Los Angeles, California 51 Tyler Stone Sacramento, California 22 Nina Vicente Seattle, Washington 29 Ashley Villaluz Seattle, Washington 25 ### Top 16 Name Hometown Current Residence[a] Age Nyesha Arrington Los Angeles, California 28 Lindsay Autry Fayetteville, North Carolina West Palm Beach, Florida 29 Ty-Lör Boring Kansas City, Missouri Brooklyn, New York 34 Chris Crary Bucyrus, Ohio Los Angeles, California 29 Richie Farina Riverview, Florida Chicago, Illinois 28 Sarah Grueneberg Houston, Texas Chicago, Illinois 29 Chris Jones Fort Lauderdale, Florida Chicago, Illinois 30 Beverly Kim Downers Grove, Illinois Chicago, Illinois 32 Edward Lee Brooklyn, New York Louisville, Kentucky 38 Whitney Otawka Hesperia, California Athens, Georgia 30 Paul Qui Springfield, Virginia/Houston, Texas Austin, Texas 31 Keith Rhodes Wilmington, North Carolina 39 Grayson Schmitz New Holstein, Wisconsin New York, New York 28 Heather Terhune St. Albans, Vermont Chicago, Illinois 39 Chuy Valencia Santa Rosa, California Chicago, Illinois 25 Dakota Weiss Quartz Hill, California Los Angeles, California 35 Nyesha Arrington later competed in *[Top Chef Duels](/source/Top_Chef_Duels)*.[7] Grayson Schmitz returned to compete in *[Top Chef: California](/source/Top_Chef:_California)*.[8] ## Contestant progress Episode # 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Quickfire Challenge Winner(s) Dakota Paul Lindsay Grayson Ty-Lör Paul Ty-Lör Lindsay Chris J. Grayson Edward Sarah Sarah Contestant Elimination Challenge Results 1 Paul WIN IN WIN IN IN IN WIN LOW WIN WIN IN WIN WIN WIN WINNER 2 Sarah LOW WIN HIGH IN IN WIN LOW HIGH LOW LOW LOW IN WIN IN RUNNER-UP 3 Lindsay LOW IN IN IN IN IN WIN IN HIGH HIGH WIN LOW WIN OUT 4 Beverly WIN LOW IN IN LOW HIGH LOW WIN OUT HIGH OUT 5 Edward WIN IN IN LOW WIN HIGH LOW LOW HIGH LOW LOW OUT 6 Grayson WIN IN HIGH IN LOW LOW WIN HIGH LOW HIGH OUT 7 Chris J. WIN IN LOW HIGH LOW IN LOW LOW HIGH OUT 8 Ty-Lör LOW IN LOW LOW WIN IN LOW OUT 9 Chris C. IN WIN LOW IN IN LOW OUT 10 Heather WIN IN IN WIN LOW OUT 11 Nyesha IN LOW IN HIGH OUT Dakota IN IN HIGH IN OUT 13 Whitney IN IN IN OUT 14 Chuy WIN WIN OUT 15 Richie WIN OUT 16 Keith OUT - The chef(s) did not receive immunity for winning the Quickfire Challenge. - Due to the qualifying rounds, the show did not use its traditional elimination format until the third episode. - Beverly won *Last Chance Kitchen* and returned to the competition. - As a reward for winning the Quickfire Challenge, Sarah was allowed to sit out the Elimination Challenge. - (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 Main article: [List of Top Chef episodes](/source/List_of_Top_Chef_episodes) ## *Last Chance Kitchen* Main article: [Top Chef#Last Chance Kitchen](/source/Top_Chef#Last_Chance_Kitchen) No. Title Original air date ## References **Notes** 1. The contestants' city and state of residence during time of filming. **Footnotes** 1. ["Bravo's 'Top Chef: Texas' Premieres Wednesday, November 2"](https://web.archive.org/web/20111101072224/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/09/21/bravos-top-chef-texas-premieres-wednesday-november-2/104451/). [TV by the Numbers](/source/TV_by_the_Numbers). September 21, 2011. Archived from [the original](http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/09/21/bravos-top-chef-texas-premieres-wednesday-november-2/104451/) on November 1, 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2015. 1. ["Top Chef: Texas Picks a Winner"](http://people.com/tv/top-chef-texas-picks-a-winner/). *[People](/source/People_(magazine))*. February 29, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2017. 1. Brion, Raphael (2012-03-01). ["Paul Qui Wins Top Chef Texas"](https://www.eater.com/2012/3/1/6609371/paul-qui-wins-top-chef-texas). *Eater*. Retrieved 2026-04-23. 1. Broyles, Addie (2012-09-24). ["Fan favorite Paul Qui of Uchiko wins 'Top Chef: Texas'"](https://www.statesman.com/story/entertainment/2012/09/24/fan-favorite-paul-qui-of-uchiko-wins-top-chef-texas/10193674007/). *Austin American-Statesman*. Retrieved 2026-04-23. 1. Schreffler, Laura (May 6, 2015). ["Chris Crary Makes Waves at SBE Hyde Sunset Kitchen"](http://hauteliving.com/2015/05/chris-crary-makes-waves-at-sbe-hyde-sunset-kitchen/567292/). *[Haute Living](/source/Haute_Living)*. Retrieved March 10, 2017. 1. ["Bios - Top Chef Season 9"](https://web.archive.org/web/20111119231848/http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-9/bios). *[Bravo](/source/Bravo_(American_TV_network))*. Archived from [the original](https://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-9/bios) on November 19, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2025. 1. Ng, Philiana (June 4, 2014). ["Bravo's 'Top Chef Duels' Lands Premiere Date, Celebrity Guests (Exclusive)"](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/bravos-top-chef-duels-lands-708946). *[The Hollywood Reporter](/source/The_Hollywood_Reporter)*. Retrieved December 11, 2019. 1. ["Meet Top Chef Season 13's Cheftestants: Part 3"](https://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-13/blogs/meet-top-chef-season-13s-cheftestants-part-3). *[Bravo](/source/Bravo_(American_TV_network))*. November 25, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2019. ## External links - [Official website](http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Top Chef: Texas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Chef%3A_Texas) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Chef%3A_Texas?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.