The title of Top Chef is awarded to the winner of each season of Top Chef. The title is the same regardless of the version of the show; i.e. the winners of Top Chef Just Desserts and Top Chef Canada are also Top Chefs. The exception to this rule is the title Top Chef Master, which is granted to the winner of a season of Top Chef Masters.In the interests of fairness, each show's Top Chefs will be listed separately.
Second-place (and in some cases third-place) contestants (i.e. those who compete in the final challenge of that season) earn the title Top Chef Finalist.
Other contestants may add the honorific Top Chef Contestant (sometimes with their placing in the season; e.g. Top Chef 6th Place Contestant to their resumes, but not as a title. The exception to this rule are contestants who earned the right to return to the competition by winning their season's Last Chance Kitchen, a competition premiering in 2011-12's Top Chef (Season 9); these contestants earn the title Top Chef Last Chance Champion.
List of Top Chef Masters[]
| Name | Place of Residence |
Season |
|---|---|---|
| Rick Bayless | Chicago, Illinois | 01 Masters |
| Marcus Samuelsson | New York, New York | 02 Masters |
| Floyd Cardoz | New York, New York | 03 Masters |
| Chris Cosentino | San Francisco, California | 04 Masters |
| Douglas Keane | San Francisco, California | 05 Masters |
List of Top Chefs[]
| Name | Age | Place of Residence |
Season | # QFW | # EW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harold Dieterle | 28 | New York City, New York | 01 (San Francisco) | 2 | 1 |
| Ilan Hall | 24 | New York City, New York | 02 (Los Angeles) | 1 | 2 |
| Hung Huynh | 29 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 03 (Miami) | 4 | 1 |
| Stephanie Izard | 31 | Chicago, Illinois | 04 (Chicago) | 2 | 4 |
| Hosea Rosenberg | 34 | Boulder, Colorado | 05 (New York) | 1 | 2 |
| Michael Voltaggio | 30 | Pasadena, California | 06 (Las Vegas) | 2 | 3 |
| Kevin Sbraga | 30 | Willingboro, New Jersey | 07 (D.C.) | 1 | 1 |
| Richard Blais | 38 | Atlanta, Georgia | 08 (All-Stars) | 4 | 4 |
| Paul Qui | 31 | Austin, Texas | 09 (Texas) | 2 | 8 |
| Kristen Kish | 28 | Boston, Massachusetts | 10 (Seattle) | 1 | 4 |
| Nicholas Elmi | 32 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 11 (New Orleans) | ||
| Mei Lin | 28 | Dearborn, Michigan | 12 (Boston) | 1 |