| Season Number: | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| Bgcolour: |
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| Num Episodes: | 15 | ||||||||||||||
| Network: | Bravo | ||||||||||||||
| Module1: |
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| Prev Season: | New Orleans | ||||||||||||||
| Next Season: | California | ||||||||||||||
| Episode List: | List of Top Chef episodes |
Top Chef: Boston is the twelfth season of the American reality television series Top Chef. The season was formally announced on August 20, 2014, and premiered on October 15, 2014.[1] [2] Filming for Season 12 took place from May through June 2014 in locations around Boston, Massachusetts, concluding with a finale in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato and the surrounding area.[2] finalist and winner Richard Blais debuted as a recurring judge, joining Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, Hugh Acheson, and host Padma Lakshmi on the judging panel.[1] Last Chance Kitchen also returned for its fourth season, beginning with a two-part redemption mid-season and continuing until the first part of the finale.[3] In the season finale, Mei Lin was declared the winner over runner-up Gregory Gourdet.[4] Unlike previous seasons, no Fan Favorite vote was held.
According to reports by Deadline Hollywood, members of Boston's local Teamsters Union allegedly harassed and intimidated Lakshmi and other Top Chef staff during the production's June film shoot at the Steel & Rye restaurant in Milton, Massachusetts.[5] The Teamsters Local 25, upset that Bravo hired non-union personnel to drive cast and crew around Milton, protested the filming, threatening staff using racist, sexist, and homophobic language, and slashing the tires of several crew-owned vehicles.[5] While the network insisted the incident was isolated, sources for The Boston Globe reported that the threats did prompt Bravo to change the locations of some tapings.[6] Teamsters Local 25 later released a statement denying the allegations.[7] Four Teamsters were then indicted on charges of conspiracy to extort, attempted extortion, and aiding and abetting.[8] The trial began on August 1, 2017.[9] On August 15, 2017, a jury acquitted the four Teamsters of all charges.[10]
Sixteen chefs competed in Top Chef: Boston.[1]
| Name | Hometown | Current Residence | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Adams | Tyler, Texas | Portland, Oregon | 29 |
| Stacy Cogswell | Boston, Massachusetts | 33 | |
| Joy Crump | Coatesville, Pennsylvania | Fredericksburg, Virginia | 46 |
| Ron Eyester | Long Island, New York | Atlanta, Georgia | 40 |
| Gregory Gourdet | Queens, New York | Portland, Oregon | 39 |
| Aaron Grissom | Tacoma, Washington | North Hollywood, California | 27 |
| Adam Harvey | New York, New York | 29 | |
| Rebecca LaMalfa | Chico, California | Chicago, Illinois | 32 |
| Mei Lin | Dearborn, Michigan | Los Angeles, California | 28 |
| Melissa King | Los Angeles, California | San Francisco, California | 30 |
| George Pagonis | Washington, D.C. | 31 | |
| Michael Patlazhan | Brooklyn, New York | 31 | |
| Keriann Von Raesfeld | San Jose, California | 28 | |
| James Rigato | Howell, Michigan | White Lake, Michigan | 29 |
| Katsuji Tanabe | Mexico City, Mexico | Los Angeles, California | 33 |
| Katie Weinner | Rosemount, Minnesota | Salt Lake City, Utah | 35 |
Katsuji Tanabe returned to compete in .[11] Tanabe also appeared as a contestant on the first season of Top Chef México, the Mexican version of Top Chef from NBC Universo.[12] Gregory Gourdet and Melissa King returned for [13]
| Episode # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quickfire Challenge Winner(s) | Aaron Adam Doug Keriann | James | Gregory | Katsuji | Gregory | Katie | Gregory | George | Melissa | Mei | Doug | Gregory | |||||
| Contestant | Elimination Challenge Results | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Mei | WIN | HIGH | IN | IN | IN | HIGH | HIGH | LOW | WIN | WIN | HIGH | HIGH | IN | IN | WINNER | |
| 2 | Gregory | HIGH | WIN | WIN | WIN | WIN | LOW | LOW | HIGH | LOW | HIGH | LOW | LOW | HIGH | WIN | ||
| 3 | Doug | HIGH | IN | IN | IN | WIN | HIGH | WIN | WIN | HIGH | OUT | WIN | OUT | ||||
| 4 | Melissa | IN | LOW | HIGH | IN | LOW | LOW | HIGH | LOW | HIGH | LOW | WIN | WIN | OUT | |||
| 5 | George | OUT | HIGH | IN | LOW | LOW | OUT | ||||||||||
| 6 | Katsuji | LOW | HIGH | LOW | WIN | WIN | WIN | LOW | IN | OUT | |||||||
| 7 | Adam | IN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IN | HIGH | OUT | ||||||||
| 8 | Katie | LOW | HIGH | HIGH | IN | WIN | IN | LOW | OUT | ||||||||
| 9 | Keriann | IN | LOW | LOW | IN | WIN | IN | OUT | |||||||||
| 10 | Stacy | IN | IN | IN | LOW | LOW | OUT | ||||||||||
| 11 | Aaron | IN | LOW | IN | WIN | OUT | |||||||||||
| 12 | James | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||||||||
| Rebecca | IN | WIN | IN | OUT | |||||||||||||
| 14 | Ron | IN | LOW | OUT | |||||||||||||
| 15 | Joy | IN | OUT | ||||||||||||||
| 16 | Michael | OUT | |||||||||||||||
The chef(s) did not receive immunity for winning the Quickfire Challenge.
George lost the Sudden Death Quickfire Challenge and was eliminated.
Katie lost the Sudden Death Quickfire Challenge against George. As a result, George was reinstated into the competition.
There were no eliminations in Episode 11.
Doug 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.
See main article: List of Top Chef episodes.