Top Chef Canada facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Top Chef Canada
Genre	Reality competition Cooking show
Starring	Mark McEwan Thea Andrews (season 1) Lisa Ray (seasons 2–4) Eden Grinshpan (seasons 5–10) Shereen Arazm (seasons 1–4) Mijune Pak (seasons 5–10) Janet Zuccarini (seasons 5–10) Chris Nuttall-Smith (seasons 5–10) David Zilber (season 10)
Country of origin	Canada
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	10
No. of episodes	67 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Barbara Bowlby and John Brunton
Running time	42 minutes
Production company(s)	Insight Productions Universal International Studios
Release
Original network	Food Network Canada
Original release	April 11, 2011 (2011-04-11) – present (present)

Top Chef Canada is a Canadian reality competition television series and is considered one of the most prestigious culinary competitions in Canada. The show premiered on April 11, 2011, on Food Network Canada. The first season consisted of 13 episodes, with 16 contestants vying for a grand prize of $100,000 and a GE Monogram kitchen valued at $30,000. Like the original American series, each week the chef contestants compete against each other in culinary challenges. Contestants are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry, with one or more contestants being eliminated each week. The Canadian edition uses the same graphics and music as the American version of the program.

The first season of Top Chef Canada was one of Food Network Canada's most highly rated programs. The network renewed the program for a second season, which began to air on March 12, 2012. Top Chef Canada returned in 2017 with an all-stars edition for the fifth season. Season 6 of Top Chef Canada returned April 8, 2018, with a lineup of 11 chefs from the next generation.

The tenth season premiered on September 26, 2022.

Judges, guest judges, and special appearances

Mark McEwan and Thea Andrews discuss Top Chef Canada in 2011

The host for the first season of the Canadian program was Thea Andrews. After giving birth to her second child, Andrews stepped down from the position. On November 15, 2011, actress Lisa Ray announced that she was named as host. Beginning in Season 5 Toronto-born Eden Grinshpan took over hosting duties. Trained at Le Cordon Bleu Grinshpan is co-founder and executive chef at Middle Eastern restaurant DEZ in New York City and host of Eden Eats and Log On and Eat with Eden Grinshpan on the Cooking Channel.

The head judge is Mark McEwan, chef and owner of several restaurants in Toronto, including ONE in Yorkville and Bymark in the Toronto-Dominion Centre as well as host of the Food Network Canada program The Heat with Mark McEwan. In preparation for elimination challenges, contestants shop for ingredients at McEwan Gourmet Grocery located at the Shops at Don Mills.

The "resident judge" (the position held by Gail Simmons in the original version) was Shereen Arazm, a Toronto native and owner of several Los Angeles-area restaurants. Beginning in later seasons, the show introduced three new resident judges, who include Chris Nuttal-Smith, Janet Zuccarini and Mijune Pak.

In Season 6, guest judges included chef-owners of distinguished Toronto restaurants, such as Lynn Crawford (Ruby Watchco), Susur Lee (Fring's, Lee), Rob Gentile (Buca, Bar Buca) and Alexandra Feswick (Drake Devonshire). Top Chef Canada alumni returning as guest judges included Steve Gonzales of Baro, Dustin Gallagher of 416 Snack Bar as well as Top Chef Canada: All-Stars winner, Nicole Gomes of Calgary's Cluck ‘N’ Cleaver. Additionally, Evan Funke, L.A.-based chef and co-owner (with Janet Zuccarini) of Felix restaurant, and Danny Bowien, chef-owner of New York's Mission Chinese Food join as guest judges.

Seasons