Top Chef Season 14 Pits Newbies Against Veterans

Brace for the return of Top Chef, the cooking competition series that will seemingly never end. As previously reported, Season 14 will take place in Charleston; now, seven weeks away from the season premiere, Bravo has unveiled that this season will pit eight new contestants against eight veteran contestants from previous seasons.

This season’s new contestants are: Silvia Barban (Brooklyn, NY), Emily Hahn (Charleston, SC), Jamie Lynch (Charlotte, NC), Annie Pettry (Louisville, KY), Sylva Senat (Philadelphia, PA), BJ Smith (Portland, OR), Jim Smith (Montgomery, AL), and Gerald Sombright (Marco Island, FL).

The eight returning contestants vying for the title of “Top Chef” (and a pile of cash and prizes) this season haven’t yet been unveiled, but stay tuned; in the meantime, feel free to speculate wildly: Michael Voltaggio? Recent Eater Upsell guest Carla Hall? Dale Talde, who just shuttered one of his successful Brooklyn restaurants? Lovable villain Marcel Vigneron? Leah Cohen? Infamous late-night tweeter John Tesar? The pool of possibilities is vast.

Per Bravo, notable cameos this season will include Daniel Humm and Will Guidara, Jeremiah Tower, Dominique Ansel, Sean Brock, Michael Solomonov, and Darius Rucker (es, the guy from Hootie and the Blowfish), plus a tribute to Southern culinary legend Edna Lewis.

Also new to the show this season: Chicago-based chef and former MasterChef judge Graham Elliot, who will join the judging panel already presided over by Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons.

Watch a preview of season 14, premiering December 1 on Bravo, below:

• ‘Top Chef’ Season 14 to Film in Charleston, South Carolina [E]
• More Top Chef Coverage [E]