| Season Number: | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bgcolour: |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Num Episodes: | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Network: | Bravo | ||||||||||||||||||
| Module1: |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Prev Season: | Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
| Next Season: | New Orleans | ||||||||||||||||||
| Episode List: | List of Top Chef episodes |
Top Chef: Seattle is the tenth season of the American reality television series Top Chef. The season was announced on September 19, 2012, and premiered on November 7, 2012. The competition was initially filmed in Seattle, Washington before moving to Juneau, Alaska for three episodes, and then concluding in Los Angeles, California.[1] Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen, the web series introduced in the previous season which puts the eliminated contestants against each other in head-to-head challenges to battle for a chance to re-enter the main competition, also returned.[2] The winner continued to compete in the season finale.[3] In addition, viewers could vote each week for chefs eliminated from the Last Chance Kitchen to move on in the "Save a Chef" competition. The winner of the final vote was "saved", and earned a spot in the final round of the Last Chance Kitchen.[3] In the season finale, Kristen Kish was declared the winner over runner-up Brooke Williamson.[4] Sheldon Simeon was voted Fan Favorite.[5]
The cast of Top Chef: Seattle initially consisted of 21 contestants.[2] After the qualifying challenges in the first episode, the pool of chefs was narrowed down to 15. Former Top Chef competitors Josie Smith-Malave (), Chris "CJ" Jacobson (), and Stefan Richter () joined the competition during the second episode.
| Name | Hometown | Current Residence | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tina Bourbeau | New York, New York | 42 | |
| Stephanie Cmar | Boston, Massachusetts | 27 | |
| Anthony Gray | Macon, Georgia | Atlanta, Georgia | 35 |
| Gina Keatley | Boston, Massachusetts | Harlem, New York | 32 |
| Daniel O'Brien | Clarkson, New York | Washington, D.C. | 32 |
| Jorel Pierce | Denver, Colorado | 28 | |
| Name | Hometown | Current Residence | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth "Lizzie" Binder | Durban, South Africa | San Francisco, California | 37 |
| Chrissy Camba | Chicago, Illinois | 31 | |
| Micah Fields | Los Angeles, California | 28 | |
| Eliza Gavin | Telluride, Colorado | 38 | |
| Chris "CJ" Jacobson | El Toro, California | Studio City, California | 36 |
| Jeffrey Jew | Washington, D.C. | St. Petersburg, Florida | 34 |
| Kristen Kish | Kentwood, Michigan | Boston, Massachusetts | 28 |
| Danyele McPherson | Waynesville, North Carolina | Dallas, Texas | 31 |
| Carla Pellegrino | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Las Vegas, Nevada | 43 |
| Stefan Richter | Tampere, Finland | Santa Monica, California | 40 |
| Sheldon Simeon | Hilo, Hawaii | Lahaina, Hawaii | 30 |
| Josie Smith-Malave | Miami, Florida | San Francisco, California | 37 |
| John Tesar | New York, New York | Dallas, Texas | 54 |
| Joshua "Josh" Valentine | Del City, Oklahoma | Dallas, Texas | 33 |
| Bart Vandaele | Roeselare, Belgium | Washington, D.C. | 42 |
| Tyler Wiard | Denver, Colorado | 41 | |
| Brooke Williamson | Los Angeles, California | Redondo Beach, California | 34 |
| Kuniko Yagi | Maebashi, Japan | Los Angeles, California | 35 |
Jorel Pierce returned as Jennifer Jasinski's sous chef on the fifth season of Top Chef Masters. Stephanie Cmar returned to compete in .[6] Kristen Kish and Brooke Williamson later competed in Top Chef Duels.[7] Williamson, Sheldon Simeon, and John Tesar returned for .[8] Cmar returned again for [9] Kish took over hosting duties for Padma Lakshmi following .[10]
| Episode # | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quickfire Challenge Winner(s) | John Kuniko Sheldon | Josie | John | Bart Sheldon | Brooke | Kristen | Micah | Micah | Brooke | Stefan | Sheldon | Sheldon | Brooke | |||||
| Contestant | Elimination Challenge Results | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Kristen | IN | IN | WIN | IN | HIGH | WIN | IN | WIN | WIN | OUT | IN | WINNER | |||||
| 2 | Brooke | LOW | IN | IN | LOW | WIN | HIGH | WIN | HIGH | IN | IN | LOW | WIN | WIN | WIN | IN | ||
| 3 | Sheldon | HIGH | LOW | IN | IN | HIGH | HIGH | LOW | IN | WIN | WIN | HIGH | LOW | LOW | LOW | OUT | ||
| 4 | Josh | IN | IN | LOW | LOW | LOW | HIGH | LOW | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | WIN | HIGH | LOW | OUT | |||
| 5 | Lizzie | IN | HIGH | HIGH | IN | IN | HIGH | HIGH | LOW | LOW | IN | HIGH | HIGH | OUT | ||||
| 6 | Stefan | LOW | IN | HIGH | LOW | IN | HIGH | IN | IN | IN | IN | LOW | OUT | |||||
| 7 | Josie | LOW | LOW | IN | IN | IN | LOW | LOW | IN | LOW | LOW | OUT | ||||||
| 8 | Micah | IN | IN | IN | IN | LOW | LOW | HIGH | IN | OUT | ||||||||
| 9 | John | HIGH | IN | IN | LOW | HIGH | LOW | WIN | OUT | |||||||||
| 10 | Bart | LOW | IN | IN | IN | IN | LOW | OUT | ||||||||||
| 11 | Danyele | IN | IN | IN | IN | LOW | OUT | |||||||||||
| 12 | Eliza | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||||||||
| 13 | CJ | LOW | HIGH | LOW | OUT | |||||||||||||
| Tyler | IN | LOW | HIGH | OUT | ||||||||||||||
| 15 | Carla | IN | WIN | OUT | ||||||||||||||
| Chrissy | IN | IN | OUT | |||||||||||||||
| 17 | Kuniko | WIN | OUT | |||||||||||||||
| 18 | Jeffrey | 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 second episode.
Former Top Chef contestants CJ, Josie, and Stefan entered the competition following the Quickfire Challenge.
Due to the poor quality of the dishes served in the Elimination Challenge, no winner was declared.
Kristen 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 the 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.