''Top Chef: San Francisco'', originally broadcast simply as ''Top Chef'', is the first season of the American reality television series ''

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo on March 8, 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional chef ...

''. It was first filmed in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, before concluding in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. The season premiered on March 8, 2006, and ended on May 24, 2006. The show featured chefs from around the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

living together in one house and competing in a series of culinary challenges. The prizes for the winner of the competition included a feature in ''

Food & Wine Magazine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and se ...

'', a showcase at the annual ''Food & Wine'' Classic in Aspen, Colorado, a Kenmore Elite kitchen set, and . The series was hosted by Katie Lee Joel, in her only season as host, and judged by chef Tom Colicchio and food writer

Gail Simmons Gail Simmons (born May 19, 1976) is a Canadian-American food writer and cookbook author. She has served as a permanent judge on Bravo's Emmy-winning series ''Top Chef'' since the show's inception in 2006. Simmons was previously the head critic on ...

. In the season finale,

Harold Dieterle Harold Dieterle III (born June 11, 1977, in West Babylon, New York) is an American top chef, best known as the winner of the first season of the Bravo television network's reality television series ''Top Chef''. After winning ''Top Chef'', he o ...

was declared the winner over runner-up

Tiffani Faison Tiffani Faison is an American celebrity chef and restaurateur. She is based in Boston, has served as a judge on Food Network's television series Chopped, and is a four-time James Beard Award Finalist for Best Chef: Northeast (2018, 2019, 2020, 20 ...

Contestants

Twelve chefs were selected to compete in ''Top Chef: San Francisco''. Tiffani Faison and Stephen Asprinio returned to compete in '' Top Chef: All-Stars''. Faison later competed in ''

Top Chef Duels ''Top Chef Duels'' is an American reality competition series which premiered on August 6, 2014, on Bravo. The culinary show is one of the several spin-off series of the popular cooking competition show ''Top Chef'' aired on the same network. A ...

''. Lee Anne Wong returned for '' Top Chef: Colorado'', competing in the ''Last Chance Kitchen'', and '' Top Chef: All-Stars L.A.''

Contestant progress

: The chef(s) did not receive immunity for winning the Quickfire Challenge.
: Cynthia voluntarily withdrew from the competition due to her father's illness.
: Andrea was brought back in Episode 3, after being eliminated once, when Cynthia chose to leave.
: The judges did not feel that anyone had distinguished themselves in the Elimination Challenge, so no winner was named.

: (WINNER) The chef won the season and was crowned "Top Chef". : (RUNNER-UP) The chef was a runner-up for the season. : (WIN) The chef won the Elimination Challenge. : (HIGH) The chef was selected as one of the top entries in the Elimination Challenge but did not win. : (IN) The chef was not selected as one of the top or bottom entries in the Elimination Challenge and was safe. : (LOW) The chef was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Elimination Challenge but was not eliminated. : (OUT) The chef lost the Elimination Challenge. : (WDR) The chef voluntarily withdrew from the competition.

Episodes

References

;Notes ;Footnotes

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Top Chef (Season 1) Top Chef 2006 American television seasons Television shows set in San Francisco Television shows filmed in California Television shows filmed in Nevada Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area es:Miguel Morales (cantante)