| Season Number: | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bgcolour: |
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| Num Episodes: | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Network: | Bravo | ||||||||||||||||||
| Module1: |
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| Prev Season: | Miami | ||||||||||||||||||
| Next Season: | New York | ||||||||||||||||||
| Episode List: | List of Top Chef episodes |
Top Chef: Chicago is the fourth season of the American reality television series Top Chef. It was first filmed in Chicago, Illinois before concluding in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The season premiered on Bravo on March 12, 2008, and ended on June 18, 2008.[1] In the season finale, Stephanie Izard was declared the winner over runners-up Lisa Fernandes and Richard Blais.[2] Izard was also voted Fan Favorite.[3]
Sixteen chefs competed in Top Chef: Chicago.[4]
| Name | Hometown | Current Residence | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoi Antonitsas | Seattle, Washington | San Francisco, California | 30 |
| Jennifer Biesty | Brooklyn, New York | San Francisco, California | 35 |
| Richard Blais | Uniondale, New York | Atlanta, Georgia | 35 |
| Valerie Bolon | Chicago, Illinois | 32 | |
| Nikki Cascone | New York, New York | 35 | |
| Andrew D'Ambrosi | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | New York, New York | 30 |
| Lisa Fernandes | Toronto, Ontario | New York, New York | 27 |
| Erik Hopfinger | Chappaqua, New York | San Francisco, California | 38 |
| Stephanie Izard | Stamford, Connecticut | Chicago, Illinois | 31 |
| Antonia Lofaso | Los Angeles, California | 31 | |
| Spike Mendelsohn | Clearwater Beach, Florida | Washington, D.C. | 27 |
| Nimma Osman | Peachtree City, Georgia | Atlanta, Georgia | 26 |
| Mark Simmons | Invercargill, New Zealand | New York, New York | 29 |
| Ryan Scott | Los Banos, California | San Francisco, California | 28 |
| Dale Talde | Chicago, Illinois | New York, New York | 29 |
| Manuel Trevino | Laredo, Texas | New York, New York | 33 |
Richard Blais, Antonia Lofaso, Spike Mendelsohn, and Dale Talde returned to compete in .[5] Blais, Lofaso, Talde and Stephanie Izard later competed in Top Chef Duels.[6] Lisa Fernandes returned for [7]
| Episode # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quickfire Challenge Winner(s) | Richard Mark Jennifer Antonia Spike Dale Ryan Erik | Mark | Richard | Dale | Antonia | Jennifer | Richard | Antonia | Andrew Antonia Richard Stephanie | Spike | Antonia | Spike | Stephanie | |||||
| Contestant | Elimination Challenge Results | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Stephanie | WIN | LOW | WIN | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | LOW | LOW | WIN | HIGH | WIN | WIN | HIGH | WINNER | |||
| 2 | Lisa | IN | HIGH | IN (+) | HIGH | WIN | IN | LOW | LOW | LOW | LOW | LOW | LOW | LOW | ||||
| Richard | HIGH | IN | IN (+) | WIN | LOW | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | IN | HIGH | HIGH | WIN | |||||
| 4 | Antonia | HIGH | IN | HIGH | LOW | LOW | HIGH | LOW | WIN | HIGH | IN | HIGH | HIGH | OUT | ||||
| 5 | Spike | IN | LOW | IN (-) | LOW | LOW | IN | HIGH | IN | LOW | LOW | LOW | OUT | |||||
| 6 | Dale | IN | LOW | IN (-) | HIGH | HIGH | WIN | WIN | IN | LOW | WIN | OUT | ||||||
| 7 | Andrew | IN | WIN | IN (-) | HIGH | LOW | IN | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | OUT | |||||||
| 8 | Nikki | HIGH | LOW | IN (+) | IN | IN | LOW | IN | HIGH | OUT | ||||||||
| 9 | Mark | LOW | HIGH | IN (+) | IN | LOW | LOW | IN | OUT | |||||||||
| 10 | Jennifer | IN | HIGH | IN (-) | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||||||
| 11 | Ryan | LOW | IN | LOW | IN | IN | OUT | |||||||||||
| 12 | Zoi | IN | HIGH | LOW | LOW | OUT | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Manuel | IN | HIGH | IN (+) | OUT | |||||||||||||
| 14 | Erik | LOW | IN | OUT | ||||||||||||||
| 15 | Valerie | IN | OUT | |||||||||||||||
| 16 | Nimma | OUT | ||||||||||||||||
The chef(s) did not receive immunity for winning the Quickfire Challenge.
Episode 1's Quickfire Challenge resulted in the 16 contestants being split into two groups of 8: the winners and losers. No immunity was given to the winners. This was done for the purpose of the head-to-head cook-off in the Elimination Challenge.
Richard was originally awarded the win by the judges. Although he gave the win to Stephanie, and she shared the prize, he is considered the sole winner of the challenge, according to the Bravo website.
(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.
See main article: List of Top Chef episodes.