Top Chef Legacy: Cookbooks and memoirs from Top Chef contestants
Cheftestants’ legacy can live on in their written works. Based on my research, there have been 51 chefs (including Tom, Gail, Padma, and Katie) who have written 99 books. Most of them are cookbooks, but there are also memoirs and children’s books.
In my own kitchen, I have Sheldon Simeon's cookbook, Shirley Chung’s cookbook, and Kwame Onwuachi’s memoir (which has a couple recipes sprinkled throughout). My favorite recipes from Sheldon are sushi pan dynamite and loco moco; from Shirley, it’s her congee recipe; and Kwame’s suya spice blend has become a staple.
Chefs from all seasons except the two most recent seasons (Wisconsin and Destination Canada) have written books. Of the newbie-only seasons, Season 15 (Colorado) was the season that had the most chefs write books (seven chefs wrote nine books). The most prolific writers have been Carla Hall (Season 5 - New York), Candice Kumai (Season 1 - San Francisco) and Fabio Viviani (Season 5 - New York), writing eight, six and four books, respectively. Richard Blais (Season 4 - Chicago), Edward Lee (Season 9 - Texas), Nina Compton (Season 11 - New Orleans), and Tanya Holland (Season 15 - Colorado) all wrote three books.
Two chefs wrote cookbooks before their time on Top Chef: Tanya Holland and Eliza Gavin (Season 10 - Seattle).
Ten winners have written books. Stephanie Izard (Season 4 - Chicago) and Kelsey Barnard Clark (Season 16 - Kentucky) have each written two books. Kristen Kish has a new book coming out this year, which will be her second book. Melissa King will also have a book out later this year.
The main hosts and judges have written 21 books, with Katie Lee writing five and Padma Lakshmi writing eight. Kristen Kish wrote her first book prior to becoming the host of Top Chef Season 21 (Wisconsin), but after her win on Season 10 (Seattle).
Peruse the list of the cookbooks and more here. See if your favorite chef has a book you haven’t yet read! Is there one you’d recommend for the rest of us?
You may need to click on the table to expand it and see the full content. Let me know if there are books that should be on here but aren’t. *Updated after posting to add additional books from Brian Malarkey, Brooke Williamson, Brother Luck, Carla Hall, Charbel Hayek, Chris Viaud, Kenny Gilbert, Kristen Kish, Leah Cohen, Melissa King, Nicholas Elmi, Nina Compton, Nini Nguyen, Padma Lakshmi, and Tom Colicchio.
I love cookbooks! Please excuse the overly enthusiastic reply. :) I think you may have missed a few. Nicholas Elmi did a book on his restaurant, Laurel, back in 2019. Leah Cohen had one in 2020. Nini Nguyen came out with "Dac Biet" in August of last year. Tom Colicchio also came out with "Why I Cook" in October of last year. It's a combo cookbook and memoir and very good. Brooke Williamson also published "Sun-Kissed Cooking" in November.
In the upcoming category, Nina Compton has a book coming out 4/1, Kristen Kish's memoir, "Accidentally on Purpose," publishes 4/22 and Joe Sasto has a book, "Breaking the Rules," out in October of this year. At one point Sara Bradley said she was working on a cookbook and I'm really hoping that comes to be one day. Of those you listed, LOVE Sheldon's cookbook and really enjoyed Gail's memoir.