BRAVO MEDIA RENEWS "TOP CHEF" FOR SEASON 15 AND SETS OUT ON A NATIONWIDE CALL FOR CHEFS

Current Season of "Top Chef" in Charleston Continues With New Episodes Airing Thursdays at 9pm ET/PT

NEW YORK - January 24, 2017 - Bravo Media's Emmy and James Beard Award-winning series "Top Chef" is embarking on a nationwide search for the utmost talented and emerging chefs to compete on season 15 of the high-stakes culinary competition series. This year's chef meet and greets will take place by appointment at restaurants of alumni and friends of "Top Chef" in Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, New York, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Francisco and Washington D.C.

Currently in its 14th season and airing Thursday nights at 9pm ET/PT, "Top Chef" is averaging more than 2 million total viewers, up 4% versus the prior season. The season premiere (12/1/16) was the most watched season premiere in over five years in total viewers.*

The competition in Charleston continues on a nostalgic brand new episode of "Top Chef" airing Thursday, January 26 at 9 PM ET/PT, when season six winner Michael Voltaggio puts the seven remaining chefs' palates to the test with a blindfolded taste experiment. For the elimination challenge, the chefs are asked to draw inspiration from their own childhood memories to create dishes for the MUSC Children's Hospital Fund charity gala on the ultra-exclusive Kiawah Island. The chefs will need to impress 100 guests in order to stay in the competition. For a sneak peek, please visit: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-14/episode-9/videos/a-blind-taste-test.

"Top Chef" season 15 chef meet and greets are as follows:

*Interested chefs looking to vie for the coveted title should email topchefcasting@magicalelves.com to make an appointment or go to Bravotv.com/topchefcasting.com for more information.*

Chicago - Sunday, January 29 from 10am-2pm Sarah Grueneberg, "Top Chef" Season 9 Finalist Monteverde 1020 West Madison St. Chicago IL 60607

Portland - Monday, January 30 from 10am-3pm Gregory Gourdet, "Top Chef" Season 12 Finalist Departure 525 SW Morrison St. Portland, OR 97204

Pittsburgh - Wednesday, February 1 from 10am-3pm Chef Richard DeShantz's t�ko 214 6th St. Pittsburgh, PA 15222

San Fransisco - Wednesday, February 1 from 10am-3pm Traci Des Jardins, "Top Chef Masters" Season 3 Finalist The Commissary 101 Montgomery St. San Francisco, CA 94129 *in the Presidio on the Main Post

Washington D.C. - Friday, February 3 from 10am-3pm Marjorie Meek Bradley, "Top Chef" Season 13 Smoked and Stacked 1239 9th St. NW Washington, D.C. 20001

Dallas - Saturday, February 4 from 10am-3pm John Tesar, "Top Chef" Seasons 10 and 14 Knife 5680 North Central Expressway Dallas, Texas 75206

New York - Monday, February 6 from 10am-3pm Silvia Barban, "Top Chef" Season 14 LaRina 387 Myrtle Ave Brooklyn, NY 11205

New Orleans - Monday, February 6 from 10am-3pm Isaac Toups, "Top Chef" Season 13 Finalist Toups' South 1504 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70113

*Source: Nielsen L7 data, "Top Chef" premieres only. Season 9 premiered on 11/2/11.

The series is produced by the Emmy Award-winning Magical Elves with Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, Doneen Arquines and Casey Kriley serving as executive producers.

About Bravo Media:

Bravo Media is the premiere lifestyle and entertainment brand that drives cultural conversation around its high-quality, interactive original content that focuses on the network's passion points of food, fashion, beauty, design, digital and pop culture. The network's diversified slate includes Bravo's first scripted series "Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce," scripted comedy "Odd Mom Out," and unscripted favorites such as Emmy award-winning "Top Chef," "Vanderpump Rules," "Below Deck," "Southern Charm" and the popular "Million Dollar Listing" and "The Real Housewives" franchises as well as the only live late-night talk show, "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen." Available in 92 million homes, Bravo is a program service of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Watch Bravo anywhere: On Demand, online or across mobile and connected TVs. Bravo has been an NBCUniversal cable network since December 2002 and first launched in December 1980.