‘Top Chef’ Winners Ilan Hall, Kristen Kish, Joe Flamm and More: Where Are They Now?

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'Top Chef' Winners Ilan Hall, Kristen Kish, Joe Flamm and More: Where Are They Now?

Top Chef has crowned 18 winners since it debuted in March 2006, including Ilan Hall, Stephanie Izard, Joe Flamm and more — and the Bravo hit shows no signs of slowing down. However, Top Chef has changed and evolved over the years. As diehard fans may recall, the first season of the reality TV staple was different from the show viewers know and love today. For starters, while Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons served as judges during season 1, Padma Lakshmi was nowhere in sight. Instead, the inaugural season was hosted by Katie Lee. Lakshmi began hosting in season 2 and holds the job to this day. Similarly, Colicchio and Simmons still serve as judges, though they have been joined by a rotating cast of other culinary pros over the years, such as Emeril Lagasse and the late Anthony Bourdain. "There was a moment of us not really knowing where this would take us and thank goodness it resonated. We worked really hard to make something that everyone is proud of," Simmons told Entertainment Tonight in April 2021 as she reflected on the past 15 years of the fast-paced cooking series. [jwplayer V63EaKWP-l3ahXupL] As with most reality competition shows, some Top Chef winners have fared better than others since their time on the show. Harold Dieterle, for example, was the first person ever to be crowned Top Chef and later opened three eateries in New York City's West Village after his victory. After those restaurants eventually shuttered in 2014 and 2015, Dieterle then took a break from the business for a few years. He returned in October 2019 with the debut of Ten Hope, a Mediterranean eatery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where he is a consulting chef. He also runs HD Hospitality, a restaurant consulting business. Izard, who walked away victorious at the end of Top Chef's fourth season, used her talent and success on the Bravo hit to establish a group of restaurants in Chicago, including the wildly popular Girl & the Goat, Duck Duck Goat and more. Aside from an impressive crop of winners, Top Chef has minted other cooking stars who didn't place first in their respective seasons, but went on to make big waves in the culinary world nonetheless. Carla Hall, for example, failed to win during seasons 5 and 8 (the first all-stars cycle), but still nabbed a cohost position on The Chew in September 2011. She occupied that role until the show's series finale in June 2018. Scroll through for updates on Top Chef winners! [podcast_block]

Credit: Courtesy Harold Dieterle/Instagram; Bravo

Harold Dieterle (Season 1, San Francisco)

The first season of the Bravo hit (and the only one Lee hosted) was set in San Francisco but concluded in Las Vegas. Dieterle beat out fellow competitors Dave Martin and Tiffani Faison for the top spot. After his win, the New York native opened a trio of restaurants in the Big Apple's West Village: Perilla, Kin Shop and the Marrow, the last of which closed in 2015. The following year, the Culinary Institute of America graduate served as a consultant for the AMC TV series Feed the Beast, which was set in a fictional restaurant. He is now a consulting chef at Ten Hope, a restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that opened in October 2019.

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Ilan Hall (Season 2, Los Angeles)

Hall beat out his old culinary school rival Marcel Vigneron to take top honors in season 2. After the show, the New York naive opened The Gorbals in Los Angles, which was in business for five years before closing permanently in 2014. A second outpost of The Gorbals debuted in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 2014, but shuttered two years later. These days, Hall runs Ramen Hood in Los Angeles' Grand Central Market, which counts Chrissy Teigen as a fan. Hall also hosted Knife Fight, a cooking competition show on the Esquire Network, which ran for four seasons before ending in 2017.

Credit: Bravo; Courtesy Hung Huynh/Instagram

Hung Huynh (Season 3, Miami)

The Vietnam native, who cooked at Per Se and Guy Savoy before competing on Top Chef, beat fan favorites Casey Thompson and Dale Levitski in the season's three-way finale. After leaving the show, Huynh helped open and run the immensely popular Catch restaurant in NYC’s Meatpacking District for years before departing the celebrity hot spot in 2015. In November 2019, the Culinary Institute of America grad opened the Asian fusion restaurant, Warrior, on L.A.’s famed Sunset Strip.

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Stephanie Izard (Season 4, Chicago)

Top Chef's first female winner beat out Richard Blais for the top prize in 2008. Two years after her victory, the Illinois native opened Girl & the Goat in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. Her second Chicago restaurant, Little Goat, opened in 2011, followed by Duck Duck Goat, which debuted in 2015. Izard opened Cabra Chicago, a Peruvian-inspired eatery, in 2019 and is currently working on a Girl & the Goat outpost in Los Angeles.

Credit: Courtesy Hosea Rosenberg/Instagram; YouTube

Hosea Rosenberg (Season 5, New York)

Fan favorites Fabio Viviani, Hall and Stefan Richter all lost to the New Mexico native in season 5. Following his successful stint on the show, Rosenberg opened Blackbelly in Boulder, Colorado, in 2014 and followed up with the debut of Santo in Boulder three years later. In March 2020, the culinary pro was focused on finding a cure for multicentric carpotarsal osteolysis, an extremely rare and painful genetic disorder that afflicts his young daughter, Sophie.

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Michael Voltaggio (Season 6, Las Vegas)

The LA-based chef with a fondness for molecular gastronomy edged out his older brother, Bryan Voltaggio, in a finale that highlighted the siblings' contrasting cooking styles. Though Michael's first restaurant, ink, has since closed, he partnered with Bryan to run Estuary in Washington, D.C., Voltaggio Brothers Steakhouse in Oxon Hill, Maryland, and Voltaggio STRFSH in Santa Monica. He also hosted a Travel Channel show called Breaking Borders in 2015 that featured him traveling to conflict areas around the world to see how food could bring people together.

Credit: Bravo; Courtesy Kevin Sbraga/Instagram

Kevin Sbraga (Season 7, Washington, D.C.)

The season 7 champ was crowned despite only winning one elimination challenge during the whole competition, and Bravo accidentally spilled the beans a few hours early when the network mistakenly posted a video naming Sbraga as the winner. While the New Jersey native managed to open several restaurants in Philadelphia and one in Jacksonville, Florida, after his win, they have all since closed. In August 2019 he opened Sonny & Sons in Indiana, but that eatery has shuttered as well. He planned to tackle the Dallas food scene next.

Credit: Bravo; Shutterstock

Richard Blais (Season 8, New York)

After losing to Izard in season 4, the New York native nabbed the Top Chef title in the show's first all-stars season, during which every chef was a contestant who had lost in previous years. In 2014, Blais opened Juniper & Ivy restaurant in San Diego. In addition to that eatery, the "Starving For Attention" podcast host owns a fast-casual fried chicken chain called the Crack Shack, which has several locations around Southern California. Blais is also a frequent Top Chef guest judge and makes appearances on other Food Network shows.

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Paul Qui (Season 9, Texas)

The James Beard award recipient dominated his season, winning a whopping nine of 17 challenges overall, before being named Top Chef. He opened his eponymous restaurant in Austin, Texas, shortly after his win, but a disturbing 2016 domestic violence incident with his then-girlfriend led that eatery to close. Qui eventually reopened that space as Kuneho, but that restaurant has since shuttered as well, as has Houston's Aqui, which Qui opened in 2017. Qui previously faced charges of driving while intoxicated in connection with two auto accidents that occurred in October 2019. He was arrested two months later after a toxicology report found alprazolam, cocaine and THC in his system. 

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Kristen Kish (Season 10, Seattle)

Though the South Korea native was actually eliminated during her season, she managed to cook her way back into the competition via the Last Chance Kitchen challenge. She then went on to defeat Brooke Williamson in order to nab the Top Chef title. Since appearing on the Bravo staple, Kish hosted the Travel Channel series 36 Hours with former soccer player Kyle Martino in 2015. Two years later, she published her first cookbook, Kristen Kish Cooking. In June 2018, the culinary pro opened a restaurant called Arlo Grey in Austin, Texas. She began hosting TruTV's Fast Foodies competition series in 2021. 

Credit: Bravo; Courtesy Nicholas Elmi/Instagram

Nicholas Elmi (Season 11, New Orleans)

Following his February 2014 win, Elmi went to Philadelphia to open Laurel, a French-American restaurant that has earned plenty of accolades since its debut. After Laurel, which is still popular today, the Massachusetts native opened a bar called In the Valley, as well as Royal Boucherie, a French-inspired American brasserie. In September 2019, Elmi released his first cookbook — Laurel: Modern American Flavors in Philadelphia. Elmi left Royal Boucherie in early 2021 to focus on launching his next eateries.

Credit: Courtesy Mei Lin/Instagram; Bravo

Mei Lin (Season 12, Boston)

Michael Voltaggio's protégé traveled the world hosting pop-up dinners with fellow chefs following her 2015 win. She later opened her first restaurant, Nightshade, in Los Angeles in January 2019. Lin also sells small-batch chili oil and sauces under the brand name, UMAMEI, and was a semifinalist for the 2020 James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: California.

Credit: Bravo; Courtesy Jeremy Ford/Instagram

Jeremy Ford (Season 13, California)

After his Top Chef victory, the Florida native left Jean-Georges’ Matador Room to open Stubborn Seed in Miami Beach. He also owns Krun-Chi, a Korean eatery in Miami, and plans to open a casual seafood restaurant in 2021.

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Brooke Williamson (Season 14, Charleston)

After her bitter defeat in season 10, the Los Angeles native returned to the competition in 2016 for redemption and was ultimately named Top Chef. Since her win, Williamson and her husband, Nick Roberts, have opened several restaurants in and around her hometown. The Tripel served "good beer and good food to good people since 2011," according to its Instagram account, while Hudson House specialized in Asian-inspired comfort food. (Both restaurants were forced to close in 2020 due to COVID-19.) Williamson is also the co-owner and co-chef of Hawaiian-inspired Da Kikokiko and multi-part concept, Playa Provisions.

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Joe Flamm (Season 15, Colorado)

The former executive chef at Michelin-starred Italian restaurant, Spiaggia, had a tough road to victory but was ultimately named Top Chef in March 2018. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Flamm announced his plans to open an Italian eatery in Chicago with a menu that will "focus on Adriatic drinking food from Croatia and Italy." According to Flamm's Instagram, the restaurant will open its doors in April 2021.

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Kelsey Barnard Clark Season 16, Kentucky)

Prior to Top Chef, the culinary pro owned a restaurant and catering company called KBC in Dothan, Alabama. After her win, Clark returned home to continue running her successful business. She appeared as a guest judge on Top Chef: All-Stars L.A in 2020.

Credit: YouTube; Courtesy Melissa King/Instagram

Melissa King (Season 17, Los Angeles)

Having previously made it to the finals during season 12 of the Bravo series, the California native defeated all-star competitors Bryan Voltaggio and Stephanie Cmar in the June 2020 finale of season 17. King currently holds the record for most single-season challenge wins in Top Chef history. The Asian-fusion cuisine expert has collaborated with ice cream company Humphrey Slocombe on a number of unique flavors, including Hong Kong milk tea ice cream. She also created King Sauce, a small-batch line of signature condiments, and has been hosting virtual cooking classes amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Credit: Courtesy of Gabe Erales/Instagram

Gabe Erales (Season 18, Portland)

The season 18 winner was crowned in July 2021 — but not all Top Chef fans were pleased. Following the finale, some viewers expressed their disappointment after discovering Erales was fired from his job as executive chef at Comedor in Austin, Texas, in December 2020 amid allegations of misconduct. (Us reached out to Erales and Bravo for comment at the time.)

He is the head chef and owner of Bacalar, a Mexican-inspired restaurant set to open in Texas in fall 2022.