Top Chef Stats

Compiled stats and facts across 20 seasons.

Total Seasons

21

Total Hosts

3
Kristen KishPadma LakshmiKatie Lee

Total Judges

23

Total Chefs

287

Gender Breakdown

154133

Total Guest Judges

296

Most Frequent Guest Judge

11
Eric Ripert
map of the world with dots on various locations

Total Cities

50

Total Countries

10

Chefs from California

65

Chefs from New York

43

Average Quickfire Time (min)

39.57

Challenges with a Knife Pull

123

Challenges Cooking for Kids

13

Most Quickfire Wins

5
Sam TalbotAntonia LofasoBrooke Williamson

Most Elimination Wins

9
Paul Qui

Most Overall Wins

11
Paul Qui

Best Win Percentage (GOAT)

41%
Melissa King

Top Chef with Least Wins

3
Kevin SbragaKelsey Barnard

Challenges Won with Immunity

15

Best Last Chance Kitchen Streak

8
Louis Maldonado

First chef to win a full episode

1
Michael Midgley

Most full episode wins

3
Stefan Richter

Total phone calls home

70

Does a phone call home predict anything?

Yes
When we see a phone call, 84% of the time that chef is called to judges table.

Is a phone call a very bad sign?

No
Of the 70 phone calls we see, only 12 chefs were eliminated that episode (and 17 were winners).

Coats by Season

white Top Chef chef coat

Seasons 1-7

black Top Chef chef coat

Season 8 - All-Stars

blue Top Chef chef coat with texas on the shoulder

Season 9 - Texas

blue Top Chef chef coat with space needle on the shoulder

Season 10 - Seattle

white Top Chef chef coat with fleur de lis on the shoulder

Season 11 - NOLA

white Top Chef chef coat with B on the shoulder

Season 12 - Boston

white Top Chef chef coat with a bear on the shoulder

Season 13 - Cali

white Top Chef chef coat with S.C. on the shoulder

Season 14 - Charleston

white Top Chef chef coat with mountains on the shoulder

Season 15 - Colorado

white Top Chef chef coat with whiskey barrel on the shoulder

Season 16 - Kentucky

black Top Chef chef coat with knife emblem on the shoulder

Season 17 - All-Stars L.A.

white Top Chef chef coat with pine tree emblem on the shoulder

Season 18 - Portland

white Top Chef chef coat with HTX emblem on the shoulder

Season 19 - Houston

deep blue/black Top Chef coat with lion heraldry style coat of arms on the shoulder

Season 20 - World All-Stars

white Top Chef coat with Wisconsin written in script on the shoulder

Season 21 - Wisconsin

Restaurant Wars

Total Restaurants

45

Menus without Dessert

4

Seasons Not Responsible for Decor

4

Average Food Budget per Diner

$47

Restaurant Wars Tom Missed

1
Chicago

Restaurant Wars with No Winner

2
Los Angeles, Miami

Seasons with Sous-Chef Help

2
Chicago, Colorado

Seasons That Served on Different Days

2
Texas, Charleston

Seasons with Teams Separated by Gender

1
Texas

Is it beneficial to choose your team first?

No
Of the 15 teams who chose first when building their team, only 4 won Restaurant Wars.

Is it beneficial to serve the judges first?

Yes
Of the 19 teams who served the judges first, 13 won Restaurant Wars.

Eliminated Roles

Executive Chef
8
Front of House
7
Line Cook
7

Winning Roles

Executive Chef
6
Front of House
6
Line Cook
7
Entire Team
1

Quickfires

Total Quickfire Challenges

255

Total Quickfire Cash Won

$645k

% of Quickfires That Awarded Prizes

51%

Immunity

25%

Advantage

22%

Cash

9%

Choose Ingredients

8%

Choose Teammates

2%

Skip Challenge

Is winning an advantage actually beneficial?

Yes
With an advantage, 70% of chefs were safe from the bottom and 24% won the challenge.

Chefs eliminated after winning an advantage

6
Spike MendelsohnRadhika DesaiBrother LuckMichelle MinoriJoe SastoJamie Tran

Mise en Place Quickfires

16

Pairing Quickfires

8

Blindfolded Quickfires

11

Top Chef Voted Fan Fave

3
Stephanie IzardKelsey BarnardMelissa King

Most Times Voted Fan Fave

2
Sheldon Simeon

Chef Turned Judge

12
Richard BlaisCarrie BairdNina ComptonTiffany DerryGregory GourdetMelissa KingKristen KishEdward leeKwame OnwuachiAmar SantanaDale TaldeBrooke Williamson

Also Competed on Masters

1
Bryan Voltaggio

Mise en place Races

apple255

Peeled apples

shrimp252

Peeled & deveined shrimp

clam114

Shucked clams

potato170

Peeled potatoes

potato150

Tournée potatoes

onion161

Cups diced onion

artichoke127

Turned artichokes

egg126

Separated eggs

prawn120

Peeled spot prawns

oyster110

Shucked oysters

almond100

Cracked almonds

orange119

Supremed oranges

asparagus90

Peeled asparagus

chicken65

Broken down chickens

beef40

Butchered beef tenderloin

lamb42

Butchered lamb racks

beef35

Butchered Tomahawk chops

lobster32

Cleaned lobsters

fish32

Cleaned Boston mackerel

apple16

Cups brunoised apples

fish12

Cleaned & butterflied sardines

fish10

Cleaned & portioned cod

fish10

Cleaned & portioned fluke

fish6

Filleted hamachi

knife9

Sharpened knives

rabbit6

Broken down rabbits

fish4

Filleted arctic char

fish4

Filleted monkfish

corn3

Crates shucked corn

pasta3

Pounds fresh fettuccine

eel2

Filleted fresh-water eels

shallot2

Quarts brunoised shallots

mushroom2

Quarts sliced mushrooms

Season Finales

Chefs Competed

52

Total Courses

215

Most Frequent Finale Diner

5
Hubert Keller

Winners Who Skipped Dessert

2
Kristen KishHosea Rosenberg

Runners-Up Who Skipped Dessert

5
Gregory GourdetBrooke WilliamsonDale LevitskiCasey ThompsonSara Bradley

Winners Who Made Risotto

0

Runners-Up Who Made Risotto

2
Amar SantanaTiffani Faison

Is it beneficial to choose your team first?

Eh
Of the 16 chefs who chose sous chefs first, 7 won the finale.

Is it beneficial to serve the judges first?

Yes
Most finales are served head-to-head. But of the 4 chefs who served the judges first, 4 won the finale.

Most Cash Won by a Top Chef

$303k
Danny Garcia

Most Cash Won by a Non-Winner

$45k
Kevin Gillespie

Other Prizes Awarded

Trips

39

Cars

12

Books

36

Knives

22

Computers

1

Super Bowl Tickets

6

Television Spots

2

Dishes in a Menu/Book

10

Eliminated for Seafood

114

Eliminated for Vegetarian Dish

38

Eliminated for Salad

14

Eliminated for Soup

12

Eliminated for Burgers

6

Eliminated for Risotto

8

Voluntarily Left Competition

5
Lee Anne WongHowie KleinbergMia Gaines-AltOtto BorsichCynthia Sestito

Disqualified from Competition

1
Cliff Crooks

Total Emmy Nominations

47

Total Emmy Wins

2

Official Top Chef Cookbooks

3