The 11 Highest-Winning Top Chef-testants Of All Time

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The 11 Highest-Winning Top Chef-testants Of All Time

by Mariella Mosthof 6:04 pm, January 16th

Starting in Season 6, Top Chef: Las Vegas began a fresh twist on the show’s competition format that stuck: cash money muthafuckin’ prizes. Sure, the ultimate prize was always the $125,000 title of Top Chef. But shooting a season is a grueling 6-week process. Sneaking in a $10-15K cash prize every other Quickfire was good for morale, and imbued chefs with a renewed sense of competitiveness whilst whittling the pack around them down to the finalists.

For example, while Kevin Gillespie lost out on the title during his season, he won fan favorite, and was touted as having won more money than any other Top Chef-testant in history. He’s since been dethroned (after a considerable reign), but it got us thinking: what are the actual Top Chef power rankings? Who’s racked up the most money of all time? And how much money has been given away over the years? After being reduced to glorified data entry slaves, we crunched the numbers and came up with the 11 highest-winning chefs to date in the show’s ten-season history.

A few notes before we begin: while we’re sure winning entire monogrammed GE appliance suites and several-thousand-dollar sashimi knives is fun, there was no way for us to monetize those kinds of prizes. And since The Magical Elves only began giving out cash prizes in Season 6, you may notice that Seasons 1-5 alums are largely underrepresented in this list. We’re sorry.

Also, we made the executive decision to combine the winnings of any given chef across all seasons on which they appeared, which means that All-Stars have a bit of an advantage. But not much: there’s only one All-Star in the top four.

Check out the slideshow below and count down with us to the highest-winning Top Chef-testant of all time.

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1.#11 Jennifer Carrol | $25,000

Coming in at number 11 with a cool $25K is Jennifer Carrol of Top Chef: Las Vegas (Season 6) and Top Chef All-Stars (Season 8). During Season 6, she won $15,000 cash in the relay Quickfire, plus a $10K Macy's giftcard during the dinner party Elimination Challenge. She also won another $10K during a team Quickfire, but lost it to Michael Voltaggio in a double or nothing bet on the Elimination outcome. She came away empty handed from All-Stars.

2.#10 Tre Wilcox | $25,000 + Trip

At number 10 is Top Chef: All-Star Tre Wilcox, who originally appeared on Top Chef: Miami (Season 3). On All-Stars, he won $5K during a team Quickfire, and $20K during a solo Quickfire. For winning the Top Chef: Miami premiere episode Elimination Challenge, Tre also won a trip to New York, where Anthony Bourdain promised to take him out for yakitori. Still unclear as to whether that truly counted as a prize, or rather a source of extreme anxiety.

3.#9 Richard Blais | $27,000 + Car + Trip

On his first turn at Top Chef: Chicago (Season 4), Richard Blais walked away with a 2009 Toyota Corolla S, and a $2K gift card to Crate and Barrel for a winning Restaurant Wars concept (he later gave that gift card to Stephanie Izard, but we're counting it in Richard's booty, as he rightfully won it). On All-Stars (Season 8), he collected another $10K in an Elimination Challenge, $15K between two Quickfire wins, and trip to Barbados.

4.#8 Sarah Grueneberg | $30,000

Coming in at number 8 was Top Chef: Texas (Season 9) cheftestant Sarah Grueneberg. She peaked late in the competition, but came away with $10K off that ridiculous biathlon race against Beverly in Vancouver, and $20K for winning the season's very last Quickfire.

5.#7 Dale Talde | $30,000 + 2 Trips

Just edging out Sarah was Top Chef: All-Star Dale Talde, who won all his cash on his second turn (we first met Dale on Season 4's Top Chef: Chicago). He collected $30K on a single episode of Top Chef: All-Stars, racking up $5K for baking the Sesame Street gang's favorite cookie, and $25K in that disgusting all-nighter Target challenge. He also won two trips to Napa Valley, one on each season.

6.#6 Mike Isabella | $30,000 + Car

Mike Isabella, on the other hand, won a total of $30K and a car across his two seasons. He raked in $15K in a Top Chef: Las Vegas (Season 6) Quickfire, then saw that figure on Top Chef: All-Stars, and raised it by a Toyota Prius. Congrats, Mike. You win the $30K cash bracket.

7.#5 Tiffany Derry | $32,500 + Trip

Tiffany Derry lands on the list in a respectable fifth place, having won $12.5K across a couple of Quickfires on Top Chef: All-Stars (Season 8), and $10K each on a Top Chef: Washington DC (Season 7) Quickfire and Elimination Challenge. In one episode, she won the $10K Quickfire, plus the Elimination Challenge prize of a trip to Paris.

8.#4 Kevin Gillespie | $45,000

Top Chef winnings juggernaut Kevin Gillespie won a whopping $45K during Top Chef: Las Vegas (Season 6), setting the record for most money ever won on a single season. After collecting $15K in a Quickfire, he snagged a $30K prize for winning the Bocuse D'or Elimination Challenge, plus a spot to compete at the Bocuse D'or. (He later withdrew, citing a lack of preparedness as a reason.) Kevin held onto his record of winning the most money in a single season up until Season 9.

9.#3 Kristen Kish | $45,000

Technically, Top Chef: Seattle (Season 10)'s Kristen Kish has tied Kevin Gillespie with a $45K tally. But, we're only mid-season 10, and, if we follow our noses, we're fairly certain Kristen isn't finished crushing the competition and raking in cash. We might be wrong. And if we are, we'll concede to a tie. But we predict that, by the end of Season 10, Kristen will have worked her way to at least a Number 2 spot.

10.#2 Angelo Sosa | $50,000 + Trip

Most of Angelo Sosa's winnings come from dominating his first run on Top Chef: Washington DC (Season 7). If he hadn't fallen deathly ill in Singapore during the finale, many speculate that he could have won his season. He took $20K in two different Quickfires, plus a trip to London during a third Quickfire. Angelo later won an additional $10K in the Season 8 Premiere of Top Chef: All-Stars.

11.#1 Paul Qui | $60,000 + Car + Trip

And, finally, the winningest Top Chef-testant of all time is Paul Qui of Top Chef: Texas, who won a whopping $60K across five challenges, plus a Toyota Prius V and a trip to Costa Rica, all in a single season. Of course, he went on to be crowned Top Chef, but we remain in awe of his formidable kitty.

12.Honorable Mention: Carla Hall and Ed Cotton

A couple of chefs caught our eye for their unique winnings, even though they didn't necessarily haul in the most cash monies. Ed Cotton, in spite of pea-gate, won two trips in a single season on Top Chef: Washington DC -- one to Napa Valley and one to Australia. Carla Hall won three trips in one season on Top Chef: All-Stars (one to Italy, one to Amsterdam, and one to Tokyo), plus a 2009 Toyota Venza on Top Chef: New York (Season 5).

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2 thoughts on “The 11 Highest-Winning Top Chef-testants Of All Time”

David Johnson on January 17, 2013 at 5:50 am said:

Interesting. Don’t forget that both Tiffany and Carla won $10,000 for Fan Favorite. Carla also won two tickets to the Super Bowl in Season 5.

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Staci w on February 28, 2013 at 3:23 am said:

Interesting and good to know. I googled “how much do top chef winners get” and this came up.. Very informative. However on Paul’s what do you mean by “formidable kitty” ?

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