No. of episodes 18 No. of contestants 29 Air date November 2, 2011 Number of episodes 18 | Original network Bravo Winner Paul Qui Host Padma Lakshmi Country of origin United States of America | |
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Original release November 2, 2011 (2011-11-02) – March 7, 2012 (2012-03-07) Judges Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, Emeril Lagasse, Hugh Acheson Winner Paul Qui | ||
Top Chef: Texas is the ninth season of the American reality television series Top Chef. The season was filmed in various cities in Texas, including San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin, before moving on to 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. Top Chef: Texas also introduced a new 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. In the season finale, Paul Qui was declared the Top Chef, defeating Sarah Grueneberg. Chris Crary received the Fan Favorite Award.
Contents
Contestants
The cast of the ninth season of Top Chef initially consisted of 29 contestants. After the qualifying challenges in the first two episodes, the pool of chefs was narrowed down to 16.
Contestant progress
^Note 1 : The chef(s) did not receive immunity.
^Note 2 : Due to the qualifying rounds, the show did not use its traditional elimination format until the third episode.
^Note 3 : Beverly won Last Chance Kitchen and returned to the competition.
^Note 4 : As a reward for winning the Quickfire Challenge, Sarah was given the choice to receive either a new car or a pass to the next round as her prize. Sarah opted for the pass, allowing her to sit out the Elimination Challenge.
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 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.