Top Chef Ladies Who Look Good Enough To Eat

Good news for culinary feminists around the world: Stephanie Izard gained major bragging rights by taking home the coveted Top Chef title on last night's season finale. It took four seasons for a woman to be crowned the best cook in the kitchen, but with Izard outlasting the faux-hawk sporting Richard and the show's most notorious screw-face Lisa (who could realistically only be about half female), it was a win for all those with two X-chromosomes.

Top Chef’s previous female contestants couldn’t quite measure up behind the stove, but we’re willing to overlook some of their shortcomings. See, the show’s host Padma Lakshmi isn’t the only chick on the show we’d like to spend seven minutes in the pantry with. After the jump, check out our list of the tastiest ladies in Top Chef history.


Candace: Season 1
This 23-year-old California native was working as a model before her cooking prowess landed her on Top Chef’s debut. Her run came to an end when the judges claimed her inexperience in the kitchen just couldn't cut it.

Camille: Season 3
The petite Brooklynite owns her own restaurant called Paloma. She got booted from the Miami cast after she produced a sub-par pineapple upside-down cake that the judges found “rubbery.”

Casey: Season 3
Casey made it all the way to the finals, and as the show's closest thing to a Jennifer Aniston look alike, she had the food-bloggers going nuts by simply sitting in a pool.

Sarah: Season 3
Sure, tough-guy Howie called her a crybaby, but we'd give Sarah a shoulder to lean on as long as she keeps those twos perky. The 25 year-old New Yorker was notorious for cooking in skimpy shirts and we'll always love her for it.

Nikki: Season 4
The judges never knew if Nikki would impress them with her dishes from episode-to-episode, but her semi-hotness still overshadowed her inconsistency. We say “semi” because she wasn’t all that, but she still gets a pass because we wouldn't even consider any of the other chicks on season 4 with beer goggles on.