Top Chef: Miami is the third season of the American reality television series Top Chef. It was first filmed in Miami, Florida, before concluding in Aspen, Colorado. The season was Emmy nominated for Outstanding Reality Competition Series, and garnered the Emmy Award for Best Editing in the category. Season 3 premiered on June 13, 2007 and ended on October 10, 2007. Padma Lakshmi returned with Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and new judge Ted Allen, who switched off with Simmons throughout the season. Top Chef: San Francisco contestant Lee Anne Wong was brought in as a food consultant and assisted in planning the challenges. Production took place in April and May 2007 in Miami Beach, Florida, with production activity centered at the Fontainebleau Hotel. The winning recipe from each week's episode of Season 3 was featured on Bravo's Top Chef website and prepared by Lee Anne Wong in a web series called The Wong Way to Cook. In the season finale, Hung Huynh was declared the winner over runners-up Dale Levitski and Casey Thompson. Thompson was voted Fan Favorite.
Contestants
Fifteen chefs competed in Top Chef: Miami. NameHometownCurrent residenceAgeLia BardeenTacoma, WashingtonBrooklyn, New York28Camille BecerraElizabeth, New JerseyBrooklyn, New York34Sandee BirdsongSt. Simons Island, GeorgiaMiami Beach, Florida39Clay BowenColumbus, MississippiSanta Barbara, California28Micah EdelsteinBridgewater, MassachusettsBoca Raton, Florida33Hung HuynhPittsfield, MassachusettsLas Vegas, Nevada 29Chris "CJ" JacobsonEl Toro, CaliforniaVenice, California31Howie KleinbergMiami, Florida31Dale LevitskiChicago, Illinois34Sara MairKingston, JamaicaMiami, Florida34Brian MalarkeyBend, OregonSan Diego, California34Sara NguyenSanta Monica, CaliforniaChicago, Illinois25Joey PaulinoLong Island, New YorkNew York, New York29Casey ThompsonCedar Hill, TexasDallas, Texas29Tre WilcoxDuncanville, TexasCedar Hill, Texas30
Dale Levitski, Casey Thompson, and Tre Wilcox returned to compete in Top Chef: All-Stars. Chris "CJ" Jacobson returned for Top Chef: Seattle, and later competed in Top Chef Duels. Thompson returned again for Top Chef: Charleston. Brian Malarkey returned for Top Chef: All-Stars L.A. Sandee Birdsong became the supervisor for Top Chef culinary production team from the seventh season onwards.
Contestant progress Episode #12345789101112131415Quickfire ChallengeWinner(s) Micah Hung Brian Casey Joey Casey Dale CJ DaleHowieHungSara M. Brian Hung Hung Casey ContestantElimination Challenge results1 HungHIGH IN IN HIGHLOW LOWHIGH IN HIGHLOWHIGHWIN IN WINNER2 DaleLOW IN HIGH LOW IN HIGH IN IN HIGHLOW HIGHLOWWIN Casey IN IN IN LOW LOW HIGH LOW IN LOW WIN WIN HIGH IN 4 BrianLOW WINLOW HIGH IN INHIGH IN LOWLOWLOW HIGHOUT 5 IN IN LOWLOW IN LOWHIGH IN WIN HIGH LOWOUT6 CJ IN IN LOW IN IN WINLOW IN LOWHIGHOUT7 HowieLOW LOW WIN LOW WIN LOWLOW IN HIGHOUT8 TreWINLOW IN IN IN WINWIN IN OUT9 Sara N. IN HIGH IN INLOW IN OUT10 Joey IN LOW IN LOW HIGH OUT11 Lia IN IN LOW WINOUT12 Camille IN IN IN OUT13 Micah IN HIGHOUT14 Sandee IN OUT15 ClayOUT : The chef(s) did not receive immunity for winning the Quickfire Challenge. : As a reward for winning the Quickfire Challenge, Dale was allowed to sit out the Elimination Challenge. : There were no eliminations in Episode 9. (WINNER) The chef won the season and was crowned "Top Chef". (RUNNER-UP) The chef was a runner-up for the season. (WIN) The chef won the Elimination Challenge. (HIGH) The chef was selected as one of the top entries in the Elimination Challenge, but did not win. (IN) The chef was not selected as one of the top or bottom entries in the Elimination Challenge and was safe. (LOW) The chef was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Elimination Challenge, but was not eliminated. (OUT) The chef lost the Elimination Challenge.
Episodes
References Notes
Footnotes
External links Official website