Top Chef Stats
Compiled stats and facts across 20 seasons.
Total Seasons
21
Total Hosts
3
Total Judges
23
Total Chefs
286
Gender Breakdown
153133
Total Guest Judges
281
Most Frequent Guest Judge
11
Eric Ripert
Total Cities
49
Total Countries
9
Chefs from California
65
Chefs from New York
43
Chefs Who Are
“Not here to make friends.”
Average Quickfire Time (min)
39.92
Challenges with a Knife Pull
119
Challenges Cooking for Kids
13
Most Quickfire Wins
5
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
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
69
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 69 phone calls we see, only 12 chefs were eliminated that episode (and 17 were winners).
Coats by Season
Seasons 1-7
Season 8 - All-Stars
Season 9 - Texas
Season 10 - Seattle
Season 11 - NOLA
Season 12 - Boston
Season 13 - Cali
Season 14 - Charleston
Season 15 - Colorado
Season 16 - Kentucky
Season 17 - All-Stars L.A.
Season 18 - Portland
Season 19 - Houston
Season 20 - World All-Stars
Season 21 - Wisconsin
“This is Top Chef, Not _________.”
Top Sous ChefS 01
Top SommelierS 01
Top CaptainS 01
Top WaiterS 01
Top CookS 03
Top Line CookS 13
Top Home CookS 20
Top PussyS 05
Top ScallopsS 05
A Personality ContestS 02
A Popularity ContestS 04
A Housewives’ Cooking CompetitionS 01
Culinary Bootcamp VacationS 11
Fun and Games and Hot Air BalloonsS 03
A Wet T-shirt ContestS 11
A Butt-Rubbing ContestS 05
Restaurant Wars
Total Restaurants
43
Menus without Dessert
3
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
Winning Roles
Chefs Described As
“A force to be reckoned with.”
Quickfires
Total Quickfire Challenges
246
Total Quickfire Cash Won
$565k
% of Quickfires That Awarded Prizes
52%
Immunity
26%
Advantage
20%
Cash
9%
Choose Ingredients
9%
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
Mise en Place Quickfires
16
Pairing Quickfires
8
Blindfolded Quickfires
9
Top Chef Winners Who Won Their Season’s
First Elimination Challenge
Top Chef Winners Who Won Their Season’s
Restaurant Wars
Top Chef Winners Who Won Their Season’s
Last Chance Kitchen
Top Chef Voted Fan Fave
3
Most Times Voted Fan Fave
2
Sheldon Simeon
Chef Turned Judge
12
Also Competed on Masters
1
Bryan Voltaggio
Mise en place Races
255Peeled apples
252Peeled & deveined shrimp
114Shucked clams
170Peeled potatoes
150Tournée potatoes
161Cups diced onion
127Turned artichokes
126Separated eggs
120Peeled spot prawns
110Shucked oysters
100Cracked almonds
119Supremed oranges
90Peeled asparagus
65Broken down chickens
40Butchered beef tenderloin
42Butchered lamb racks
35Butchered Tomahawk chops
32Cleaned lobsters
32Cleaned Boston mackerel
16Cups brunoised apples
12Cleaned & butterflied sardines
10Cleaned & portioned cod
10Cleaned & portioned fluke
6Filleted hamachi
9Sharpened knives
6Broken down rabbits
4Filleted arctic char
4Filleted monkfish
3Crates shucked corn
3Pounds fresh fettuccine
2Filleted fresh-water eels
2Quarts brunoised shallots
2Quarts sliced mushrooms
Season Finales
Chefs Competed
49
Total Courses
203
Most Frequent Finale Diner
5
Hubert Keller
Winners Who Skipped Dessert
2
Runners-Up Who Skipped Dessert
5
Winners Who Made Risotto
0
Runners-Up Who Made Risotto
2
Is it beneficial to choose your team first?
Eh
Of the 15 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.
Total Cash Money Given Away
$4,095,000
Most Cash Won by a Top Chef
$270k
Buddha Lo
Most Cash Won by a Non-Winner
$45k
Kevin Gillespie
Other Prizes Awarded
Trips
38
Cars
12
Books
36
Knives
22
Computers
1
Super Bowl Tickets
6
Television Spots
2
Dishes in a Menu/Book
10
Chefs Eliminated for a Dessert
20
Eliminated for Seafood
108
Eliminated for Vegetarian Dish
37
Eliminated for Salad
14
Eliminated for Soup
12
Eliminated for Burgers
6
Eliminated for Risotto
7
Chefs Who Won an Elimination Challenge and Were
Eliminated the Next Episode
Voluntarily Left Competition
5
Disqualified from Competition
1
Cliff Crooks
Total Emmy Nominations
47
Total Emmy Wins
2
Official Top Chef Cookbooks
3