The new Houston-based season of ‘Top Chef’ debuts March 3 (Via EaterHouston)
This season, which was taped last fall, is also set to pay tribute to Texas’ female trailblazers and will host a block party fundraiser to preserve Freedmen’s Town, the historic neighborhood in Houston’s Fourth Ward that served as a prime settlement for African Americans after emancipation.
Among the many notables appearing this season will be local chefs including Lucille’s executive chef Chris Williams, Greg Gatlin of Gatlin’s BBQ, chef Christine Ha of The Blind Goat and Xin Chao, andalumna Dawn Burrell, a finalist from last season who will serve as a “Top Chef All-Star,” lending “guidance and expertise” to the contestants among other previous competitors.
The competition, which features working chefs from around the world, is stiff, but placing them in a state like Texas, with a sprawling food scene, also ups the challenge — and contestants are well-aware. “You don’t mess with Texas,” said one chef, “and yet,” another says, “they sent us to Texas to mess it all up.”Top Chef,magazine, and an appearance at the annualLast year’s winner — Gabe Erales of Austin — did not participate in the post-win activities, media interviews or appearances associated with