Pitting some of the best professional chefs in the country against each other, Top Chef quickly became one of the most popular reality TV competition shows, thanks to its tough challenges and even tougher judges. Premiering on Bravo in 2006, season 23 of the show hit the air on March 14, 2025. Previous Top Chef winners have used the platform provided by their victory to launch successful culinary careers, so time will tell who the winner will be and what they'll do with their platform. However, the show's format means that it isn’t necessarily the best chef who wins the series.

One bad day in the kitchen could easily see the most impressive cook being asked to pack up their knives and go. However, to see who the best Top Chef show chefs really are, it is important to see what they did when they left the reality TV series. Win or lose, the best of the best took the experience and created a career outside of the reality TV confines, either by creating their own successful restaurant or — in some cases — by returning to TV and helping find the next batch of top chefs.

10 Brooke Williamson

Season 14 Champion

Brooke Williamson took two attempts to get her hands on the Top Chef crown. After finishing as runner-up in season 10, she made a winning comeback in season 14, which saw returning cheftestants take on rookie chefs. At 22, Brooke Williamson became the youngest female chef ever to cook at the James Beard Foundation House, the high temple of American culinary arts, and she brought that same sense of determination and creativity that had seen her chosen for that honor to the Top Chef kitchen.

Williamson has continued to showcase her skills on other cooking shows, including dominating performances on Tournament of Champions, where she won the first season of the competition series. She also appeared on Top Chef Duels, Guy's Grocery Games, and Knife Fight. She has worked as a judge on BBQ Brawl and was the host and a mentor on MTVC's House of Food. She also stars on Bobby's Triple Threat​​​​​​.

9 Harold Dieterle

Season 1 Champion

Harold Dieterle was the winner of the very first season of Top Chef back in 2006, and though some would argue that the quality of the cheftestants has only increased in that time, there is little doubt that Dieterle is one of the most talented cooks to appear on the show. New York Magazine food critic Adam Platt even described Dieterle​​​​​​'s dishes as the most original Top Chef creations. Dieterle opened several restaurants since taking the Top Chef title and now works as a consultant for others in the culinary industry.

He opened his first restaurant, Perilla, in 2007 in New York City, and three years later, he opened his second, Kin Shop, a Thai restaurant. He then opened an Italian and German restaurant called The Marrow in 2012 in New York City, which only lasted for two years. By 2015, he had closed all of his restaurants and said he needed a break from the industry. In 2019 and 2024, he helped open two more restaurants as a consultant and has also worked on the TV series Feed the Beast as a consultant as well.

8 Hung Huynh

Season 3 Champion

Set in Miami, season 3 of Top Chef was won by Vietnamese American contestant Hung Huynh, who had dominated from day one and was the hot favorite to win in the finale against fellow cheftestants Dale Levitski and Casey Thompon. Huynh used his knowledge of Asian flavors and ingredients to great effect in developing his dishes, even creating his take on a classic fish and chips using a Japanese fish called hamachi.

He always performed well when cooking fish dishes, so it is hardly surprising that he went on to open a series of seafood restaurants. He opened The General, Catch, and Catch Miami​​​​​​but but left in 2015. He began creating pop-up events in 2016 and worked as a consultant for different restaurants before helping open Warrior, an Asian-fusion restaurant and lounge on the Sunset Strip in California in 2018. Huynh now works as the Director of Culinary Innovation for Omei Restaurant Group in Orlando, Florida.

7 Melissa King

Season 17 Champion

Melissa King secured one of the most impressive victories possible. During season 12, she finished in fourth place and was impressive throughout, but then she returned for the All-Stars season 17 set in Los Angeles. She used her Californian cuisine to her hometown advantage, racking up wins throughout the season despite facing some of the stiffest competition in series history. She won six elimination challenges and three Quickfires, displaying how impressive she is in the kitchen.

Thanks to the All-Star appearance, she ended up with the most single-season individual challenge victories of any competitor in the show's history.

It was a huge return, and she avenged her previous loss on the show with the comeback victory. Thanks to the All-Star appearance, she ended up with the most single-season individual challenge victories of any competitor in the show's history. In 2022, she appeared as a judge on Food Network's The Julia Child Challenge. She has made a career choice to forego owning a restaurant and instead owns a company that has created King Sauce, which she offers to other restaurants and companies.

6 Bryan Voltaggio

Runner-Up In Season 6

As if Top Chef isn’t dramatic enough, season 6 added a little extra spice by pitting two brothers against each other. The siblings, Bryan Voltaggio and his younger brother Michael Voltaggio, took the top two spots in the competition, with Bryan going on to become the first cheftestant to compete in both Top Chef and Top Chef: Masters (a spin-off series which only features award-winning chefs). Despite never winning the top prize, there is no doubt that Bryan is one of the most technically gifted cooks the show has seen.

A lot of fans still believe Bryan should've won his Top Chef season. After appearing on Top Chef, Voltaggio had a great career as a restauranteer. Before the show, he was the head chef at Charlie Palmer Steak. Years later, he worked with his brother to open STRFSH, a fast-casual fish sandwich shop in Santa Monica, California. That ran from 2017 to 2021. The brothers also ran Estuary in Washington, D.C., from 2019 until 2022.

5 Stephanie Izard

Season 4 Champion

Richard Blais is considered one of the best and most successful contestants to ever compete on Top Chef. However, in his first season on the show, he lost to Stephanie Izard, who was not only crowned the Top Chef champ in season 4 but was also voted the Fan Favorite by the viewers. The first woman to win the series, Izard also won a prestigious James Beard award for her menu at one of her three Chicago restaurants.

The final episode of season 4 saw a closely fought culinary battle between Izard and Richard Blais, who went on to win the All-Stars season and prove just how high the standards were this particular year. After Top Chef, she opened Girl and the Goat in Chicago in 2010 and was nominated for the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. Food & Wine magazine also named Izard one of the Best New Chefs. She opened a second restaurant in 2011 (Little Goat) and a third in 2015 (Duck Duck Goat). She has since expanded her first to a second location in Los Angeles.

4 Mei Lin

Season 12 Champion

Having spent part of her early career working as a sous chef for Top Chef alum Michael Voltaggio at his restaurant Ink (which he opened after winning Top Chef), she then set out to match his success on the reality TV competition series. Since she worked under Voltaggio, it was no surprise that Mei Lin took the competition by storm when she won Top Chef season 12 in Boston. Lin had also worked for Top Chef judge Wolfgang Puck at his Las Vegas restaurant Spago.

After her win, Lin became Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef and contributed recipes to Winfrey's cookbook, Food, Health & Happiness.. She then opened a restaurant called Nightshade in the Los Angeles Arts District in 2019. Her restaurant was a James Beard Foundation Award finalist for Best New Restaurant, but she had to close her doors after the pandemic. Lin has since opened Daybird in Los Angeles. Ultimately, Lin impressed in the season 12 finale with a strawberry lime curd that judge Tom Colicchio said was the best dessert he had ever tasted on the show.

3 Richard Blais

Top Chef All-Stars Champion

Season 4 runner-up Richard Blais returned triumphantly to the Top Chef kitchen for the All Stars competition in 2011 and was one of the few cheftestants who managed to win while remaining popular with his rivals. While Blais was a "villain" in season 4 when he lost to Stephanie Izard, he returned as a more popular contestant in the All-Star season (season 8) and won it by beating Mike Isabella and Carla Hall. It was a huge moment and helped launch his career.

After winning in 2010, Blais opened his restaurant and published a cookbook (Try This at Home: Recipes From My Head to Your Plate) that was nominated for a prestigious James Beard award – an annual award given out for extraordinary culinary achievements. Blais also made a couple of guest-judging appearances on the fantastic reality cooking series (seasons 12, 13, and 18). In 2024, Blais partnered with Hyatt Regency in Scottsdale, Arizona, to debut new hotel dining experiences.

2 Kristen Kish

Season 10 Champion

Brooke Williamson finished as runner-up to Kristen Kish in season 10, and Kish’s culinary career has gone from strength to strength since she won Top Chef in 2013. The Korean-born chef combined Asian flavors brilliantly with her classical training, as well as being a natural in front of the camera. However, Kish’s win didn’t come easily, as she had to face the Last Chance Kitchen five times on her way to the final.

After her Top Chef success, Kish opened her restaurant in Austin, Texas, and she even co-hosted a TV show on the Travel Channel called 36 Hours. In 2021, she returned to reality TV to star in Fast Foodies and a Nat Geo series called Restaurants at the End of the World. She has even returned to the Top Chef world. After Pa Lakshmi stepped away from the franchise to pursue other efforts, Kish accepted the job to become the new host of Top Chef, proving that she is one of the most successful icons to come from the series.

1 Michael Voltaggio

Season 6 Champion

The youngest of the two Voltaggio siblings who competed against each other in Top Chef season 6, Michael won the Top Chef title and bragging rights over older brother Bryan Voltaggio. Michael was a tour de force that session, with a "High" ranking for the chefs in six weeks, a win in four weeks (including the finale), and only one week with a "Low" score. The finale saw both brothers in action against Kevin Gillespie, and it was Michael who won it all, while his brother took second place.

Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio described Michael Voltaggio as the most talented chef he had seen on the show.

After his appearance on Top Chef, he opened an award-winning sandwich restaurant called ink.sack, which he shockingly designed and opened with almost no fanfare. He ran it from 2011 until 2018. After that, he and his brother opened a restaurant called STRFSH, a fast-casual fish sandwich shop in Santa Monica, which they ran from 2017 to 2021. Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio described Michael Voltaggio as the most talented chef he had seen on the show (via Los Angeles Magazine).