Top Chef Masters begins new season which includes San Francisco chef Chris Cosentino

Gnocchi with red corn and popcorn shoots at Incanto, Chris Cosentino’s SF restaurant (July 2012 via Twitter)

As Top Chef fans know, July 25 is the premiere of the new season of Top Chef Masters; 12 chefs are competing including San Francisco’s Chris Cosentino.

Cosentino is quite a well-known celebrity chef these days. He has appeared on “The Next Iron Chef,” “Iron Chef America,” and “Chefs vs. City,” and he has two San Francisco food venues. The first is restaurant Incanto, the second Boccalone. The latter is a fabulous meat shop in the Ferry Building with more than 20 handmade cured meats to choose from, as well as panini. Cosentino’s other ventures include a new cookbook, “Beginnings: My Way to Start a Meal,” and a comic book.

The grand prize winner of Top Chef Masters is awarded $100,000 that goes to the charity of his or her choice. In addition, during each episode the winner of the Quickfire Challenge wins $5,000 and the Elimination Challenge winner gets $10,000 – all for charity. Cosentino is competing for the Michael J. Fox Foundation; his uncle died of Parkinson’s disease.

Another competitor of note this season is Art Smith, a veteran of the series and a two-time James Beard Award recipient. Smith’s restaurants include LYFE Kitchen in Palo Alto. Chef Smith competed in Season 1 but didn’t win. After seeing himself in an overweight state on TV and being diagnosed with diabetes, Smith lost 100 pounds. He has a very endearing TV presence and is a talented chef; I look forward to watching him this season.

The series airs on Bravo on Wednesdays at 10pm/9pm Central. The host is Curtis Stone; judges include popular author and former Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl.

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