Season 17 of Top Chef returns on March 19, 2020 for a brand new all-stars season. Fan favorites, front-runners, and finalists from the past 16 seasons risk it all for the Top Chef title. There will be 15 of the best contestants competing to prove why they deserved to win the first time, or even the second time. Everyone on Top Chef Season 17 represents some of the best ever to compete, but a few have a bit more of a competitive advantage.
Top Chef Season 17 takes place in Los Angeles, with Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons once again taking their places at the judging table. Padma Lakshmi also returns to host, and she helped get fans excited about Top Chef Season 17 by making the all-stars announcement at BravoCon. Recently, Bravo announced the names of the returning Top Chef all-stars. We’re excited to see everyone compete, but there are a few that we think have the best odds to take home the Top Chef Season 17 champion title.
Stephanie Cmar
Stephanie Cmar falls in the frontrunner category of Top Chef. She competed on Season 11 and left in the 6th place (7th when Louis Maldonado returned from Last Chance Kitchen). Prior to her elimination, Stephanie was one of the standouts of Season 11, and she appeared to be a major contender for the title. Stephanie doesn’t have the same multiple Top Chef appearances as some of her competitors, but her creative freedom as a private chef may end up being a huge strength. Additionally, Stephanie started working in the food industry at 15, which shows that she has stamina and devotion – key attributes to win any cooking show.
Jennifer Carroll
Top Chef fans met Jennifer Carroll in Season 6. She made it to the finals of that season, but finished in fourth place. Jennifer then returned for the first season of all-stars, Top Chef Season 8, and followed those two appearances with two more in Top Chef Duels and as part of Top Chef Season 15: Last Chance Kitchen. In addition to her Top Chef experience, Jennifer runs a catering and consulting company, and she has worked with some renowned chefs like Marcus Samuelsson. Jennifer has gained the experience, passion, and confidence to take home the Top Chef crown.
Angelo Sosa
Angelo Sosa made his Top Chef debut on Season 7, where he finished as the runner-up. He then returned the following season for all-stars. Since his last Top Chef experience, Angelo has been building his resume and now runs a restaurant that he owns called Death by Tequila. During Angelo’s Top Chef appearances, he showed a laser focus that often resulted in his dishes being in the top spots. More restaurant experience and the same resolve should easily make Angelo one of the frontrunners for Top Chef Season 17.
Gregory Gourdet
Over the course of Gregory Gourdet’s culinary career, he has been a James Beard semi-finalist three times, and watching him compete on Top Chef Season 12 made it easy to see why. During his season of Top Chef, Gregory made it to the finals and came in second to winner Mei Lin. Gregory’s bold flavors, global influences, and fearlessness made him a frontrunner all season. We expect him to make even bolder flavor moves in Top Chef Season 17.
Bryan Voltaggio
The Voltaggio brothers might be the most talked about contestants in Top Chef history. They are as much a part of the Top Chef family as Padma Lakshmi. OK, maybe not that much, but they’re still a big deal to the franchise. Bryan Voltaggio finished in the finals of Top Chef Season 6; he placed second against his brother, Michael Voltaggio. Later, Bryan appeared on Top Chef Masters, becoming the first Top Chef contestant to make the Top Chef Masters crossover. He once again finished in second place. Coming close to victory twice, Bryan must be hungry for the Top Chef win.
