Top Chef Preview: Season 7 In DC

This week, Bravo will premiere the first episode of the new season of Top Chef. Set to take place in our nation’s capital, the series will feature 17 new contestants as they compete to out-cook one another in an effort to become the “Top Chef.

Here’s the information NBC Universal released on the seventh season of Top Chef and further down is the list of contestants as well as some video clips from the premiere.

Taste the culinary power on the seventh season of the No. 1 food show on cable, Bravo's Emmy and James Beard Award-winning series Top Chef: D.C., premiering Wednesday, June 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. The 17 new chef'testants come face to face in the nation's capitol for the ultimate power play that will determine just who has the chops to become Top Chef.

This season captures the varied tastes of Washington D.C. and features appearances by some of the town's top names including Apollo Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Assistant White House Chef Sam Kass, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, Congressman Aaron Schock of Illinois, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, CIA Director Leon Panetta and NBC White House Correspondent Savannah Guthrie. The challenges featured will be some of the most creative and inventive yet: the chefs take over the concession stands at the Nationals stadium, go inside the CIA's closely guarded headquarters and literally receive out of this world direction on one challenge from a NASA astronaut orbiting Earth.

Once again returning to the kitchen, cookbook author, actress and host Padma Lakshmi presides over the judge's table alongside head judge Tom Colicchio, recent James Beard Award-winner and chef/owner Craft Restaurants, and judge Gail Simmons of Food & Wine magazine. Joining the series as a regular guest judge is Eric Ripert, award-winning chef and owner of the acclaimed Le Bernardin restaurant in New York City, the 15th ranked best restaurant in the world.

The Emmy-nominated Magical Elves return to produce Top Chef: D.C. Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz (Top Chef Masters, Dance Your Ass Off), Liz Cook and Casey Kriley serve as executive producers. Chaz Gray serves as co-executive producer.

The 17 Top Chef: D.C. chef'testants will be whittled down week by week as they compete to outshine their competition. The winning chef will receive $125,000 furnished by Dial Nutriskin, a feature in Food & Wine magazine, a showcase at the Annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen and will earn the title of "Top Chef." Washington Hilton served as the production location for Top Chef: D.C.

- Alex Reznik, 33 – Hometown: Brooklyn, NY; Resides in Hollywood, CA

- Amanda Baumgarten, 27 – Hometown/Resides in Los Angeles, CA

- Andrea Curto-Randazzo, 39 – Hometown: Vero Beach, FL/Resides in: Miami Beach, FL.

- Angelo Sosa, 34 – Hometown: Connecticut; Resides in New York, NY.

- Arnold Myint, 32 – Hometown/Resides in: Nashville, TN.

- Ed Cotton, 32 – Hometown: Boston, MA; Resides in New York, NY.

- Jacqueline Lombard, 33 – Hometown: Boston, MA/Resides in Brooklyn, NY.

- John Somerville, 42 – Hometown/Resides in West Bloomfield, MI.

- Kelly Liken, 33 – Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA/Resides in: Vail, CO.

- Kenny Gilbert, 36 – Hometown: Cleveland, OH/Resides in: Telluride, CO

- Kevin Sbraga, 30 – Hometown/Resides in Willinboro, NJ.

- Lynne Gigliotti, 51 – Hometown: Philadelphia, PA/Resides in Hyde Park, NY.

- Stephen Hopcraft, 40 – Hometown: Cleveland, OH.; Resides in Las Vegas, NV

- Tamesha Warren, 24 – Hometown: Barbados; Resides in Washington D.C.

- Tiffany Derry, 26 – Hometown: Beaumont, TX/Resides in: Dallas, TX

- Timothy Dean, 39 – Hometown: Washington D.C./Resides in Baltimore, MD

- Tracey Bloom, 33 – Hometown: Rochester, NY/Resides in Atlanta, GA





Top Chef Season 7 premieres Wednesday, June 16 (9-10 p.m. ET) on Bravo.