Two Stellar Houston Chefs Will Appear on the Forthcoming Season of Bravo’s ‘Top Chef’

When Bravo reality TV show Top Chef returns to the airwaves in April, two Houston chefs will showcase the city’s top culinary talent.

A press release issued by the network announcing the new cast revealed that former Kulture chef Dawn Burrell and former Rosalie executive chef Sasha Grumman will be two of the 15 competing chefs in the show’s upcoming season. Filmed in Portland, Oregon, the show will feature the chefs competing in a variety of challenges, ranging from crabbing on the Oregon coast to feeding workers on the frontlines of COVID-19, according to the release.

It’s a big month for Burrell, who just announced that she would join chef Chris Williams’s newly formed Lucille’s Hospitality Group and open a new “Afro-Asian” eatery called Late August that’s expected to arrive sometime in 2021. Prior to that, Burrell scored a nod from the James Beard Foundation as a semi-finalist for Best Chef: Southwest in 2020 during her time as executive chef at Kulture.

Grumman, who most recently worked at Rosalie, the chic restaurant inside Downtown’s C. Baldwin Hotel, has been slinging focaccia, cinnamon rolls, and other baked goodies via pop-up business called the Fierce Chef Alimentari during the pandemic. According to her Top Chef bio, Grumman plans to take that business national.

Grumman and Burrell will be joined by 13 other chefs from across the country, including Gabe Erales, formerly of Comedor in Austin, and Las Vegas chef Jamie Tran. Padma Lakshmi will host, and chef Tom Colicchio will serve as head judge.

The first episode of Top Chef is set to air on Bravo on April 1.

• Lucille’s Chef Chris Williams Is Majorly Expanding His Culinary Empire [EHOU]
• Houston Makes Strong Showing Among 2020’s James Beard Award Semi-Finalists [EHOU]