No. of episodes 15 No. of contestants 17 Number of episodes 15 Winner Jeremy Ford | Original network Bravo Host Padma Lakshmi Country of origin United States of America | |
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Original release December 2, 2015 (2015-12-02) – March 17, 2016 (2016-03-17) Judges Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, Emeril Lagasse, Richard Blais | ||
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. 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. Top Chef: California had a two-night premiere on December 2–3, 2015. Host Padma Lakshmi and head judge Tom Colicchio returned, alongside judges Gail Simmons, Emeril Lagasse, and Richard Blais, among others. 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. In the season finale, Jeremy Ford was declared the Top Chef, defeating Amar Santana. Isaac Toups received the Fan Favorite Award.
Contents
Contestants
17 chefs were selected to compete in Top Chef: California, including one returning contestant, Grayson Schmitz, who originally competed in Top Chef: Texas.
Contestant progress
^Note 1 : The chef(s) did not receive immunity.
^Note 2 : Angelina lost the Sudden Death Quickfire Challenge against Wesley and was eliminated.
^Note 3 : Amar lost the Sudden Death Quickfire Challenge against Carl and was eliminated.
^Note 4 : As the winner of the Quickfire Challenge, Jeremy automatically advanced to the finale; therefore, he did not have to compete in the Elimination Challenge.
^Note 5 : Amar won Last Chance Kitchen and returned to the competition.
Last Chance Kitchen
The Last Chance Kitchen is a web series featuring challenges in which the ousted chefs compete for a chance to re-enter the main competition. Each week, two or more chefs compete against each other in the Top Chef kitchen, with the results judged solely by Tom Colicchio. The winner(s) of each week moves on to face the next eliminated Top Chef contestant(s), while the loser is eliminated from the competition for good. The champion of the Last Chance Kitchen returns to compete in the season finale.