Top Chef (season 1)

Top Chef: San Francisco is the first season of the American reality television series Top Chef. It was first filmed in San Francisco, California, before concluding in Las Vegas, Nevada. The season premiered on March 8, 2006 and ended on May 24, 2006. Twelve chefs from around the United States lived together in a house for approximately 21 days competing in a series of culinary challenges. The prizes for the winner of the competition included a feature in Food & Wine Magazine, a showcase at the annualFood & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colorado, a Kenmore Elite kitchen set, and $100,000. The series was hosted by Katie Lee Joel in her only season as a host and judged by chef Tom Colicchio and food writer Gail Simmons.

This season was followed by Season 2 on October 18, 2006.

Chefs
12 chefs were selected to compete in Top Chef: San Francisco.

Episode 1 - "Who Deserves to be Here?"
Original air date: March 8, 2006
 * Quickfire Challenge: The chefs survived working the line at chef Hubert Keller's Fleur de Lys restaurant for 30 minutes. The winner received immunity from elimination.
 * WINNER: Ollie
 * Elimination Challenge: The chefs had to prepare a signature dish to be served to the other Top Chef contestants.
 * WINNER: Hedy
 * ELIMINATED: Benny

Episode 2 - "Food of Love" Original airdate: March 15, 2006
 * Quickfire Challenge: The chefs chose from a large selection of fruit to prepare a plate judged solely on presentation. The winner received immunity from elimination.
 * WINNER: Bryant
 * Elimination Challenge: The chefs had to make a sexy dessert for a fetish party at Mr. S, a sex boutique in San Francisco, co-hosted by Paige White.
 * WINNER: Gil
 * ELIMINATED: Lara

Episode 3 - "Nasty Delights"
Original airdate: March 22, 2006
 * Quickfire Challenge: The chefs prepared octopus in one hour. The winner received immunity from elimination.
 * WINNER: Jessica
 * Elimination Challenge: Working in two teams, the chefs prepared monkfish for a group of children who would rate the food.
 * Red Team: Bryant, Gil, Jessica, Leah, Terence
 * Blue Team: Asa, Hedy, Ollie, Paulina, Tamara
 * WINNER: Red Team (Leah individually)
 * ELIMINATED: Tamara

Episode 4 - "Food on the Fly"
Original airdate: March 29, 2006
 * Quickfire Challenge: The chefs created dishes in 30 minutes using $20 worth of ingredients from a gas station store. The winner received immunity from elimination.
 * WINNER: Bryant
 * Elimination Challenge: Each chef created a gourmet entrée that could be reheated in a microwave. They then served their dishes to a group of Junior League women who would rate their meals.
 * WINNER: Hedy
 * ELIMINATED: Jessica

Episode 5 - "Blind Confusion"
Original airdate: April 5, 2006
 * Quickfire Challenge: The chefs had to identify a variety of ingredients by taste while blindfolded for five minutes. The winner received immunity from elimination.
 * WINNER: Hedy
 * Elimination Challenge: Working in teams of two, the chefs created dishes fusing Latin American cuisine with one other ethnic cuisine. Gil and Terence had Moroccan, Asa and Paulina had Indian, Bryant and Leah had Chinese, and Hedy and Ollie had Japanese. They then had to distribute the dish from a cart in the Mission District of San Francisco.
 * WINNERS: Bryant and Leah 
 * ELIMINATED: Asa

Episode 6 - "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
Original airdate: April 12, 2006
 * Quickfire Challenge: Each chef created an appetizer in 20 minutes using $3 worth of ingredients, priced by the ounce.
 * WINNER: Paulina
 * Elimination Challenge: The chefs had to create a seven-course dinner party for guest judge Ted Allen. Each chef was able to choose the course they wanted to execute. However, the producers later introduced a random knife-block draw, forcing each chef to work on another chef's recipe.
 * WINNER: Ollie
 * ELIMINATED: Terence

Episode 7 - "Restaurant Wars"
Original airdate: April 19, 2006
 * Quickfire Challenge: Each chef was asked to make a sandwich in 30 minutes using any of the available ingredients. The winning sandwich would be put on the menu at the San Francisco location of Tom Colicchio's 'wichcraft restaurant. From this point on, immunity was no longer awarded to the winner of a Quickfire Challenge.
 * WINNER: Gil
 * Elimination Challenge: Working in two teams of three, the chefs transformed raw restaurant spaces, including the decor and menu. Twenty-four hours later, the diners arrived, choosing which restaurant to dine in, and rated their experience.
 * Team 1: Bryant, Hedy, Ollie
 * American Workshop: Gil, Leah, Paulina
 * WINNER: Gil
 * ELIMINATED: Ollie

Episode 8 - "Wedding Bell Blues"
Original airdate: April 26, 2006
 * Quickfire Challenge: The chefs designed a wedding reception menu in 90 minutes and pitched it to the wedding couple. The winner's menu would be used for the upcoming Elimination Challenge.
 * WINNER: Gil
 * Elimination Challenge: Working as a team, the chefs were required to cater a wedding reception for 100 guests using the menu chosen in the Quickfire Challenge. The reception started in 16 hours.
 * ELIMINATED: Hedy

Episode 9 - "Napa's Finest"
Original airdate: May 3, 2006
 * Quickfire Challenge: The chefs were asked to recreate a classic junk food element into a gourmet dish in 45 minutes. The winner's performance counted in the overall assessment of the week's challenges. The winner also received a bottle of Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon.
 * WINNER: Gil
 * Elimination Challenge: All of the remaining chefs traveled to the Napa Valley's Copia to prepare a dish incorporating expensive black Périgord truffles to be served with 2001 Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon wine. Each chef's dish would be served to a group of top professional chefs from Northern California.
 * WINNER: Paulina
 * ELIMINATED: Bryant

Episode 10 - "Reunion"
Original airdate: May 10, 2006

Episode 11 - "Vegas Finale - Part I"
Original airdate: May 17, 2006
 * Quickfire/Elimination Challenge: The three finalists met at the MGM Grand where they competed in a series of three elimination-style Quickfire Challenges to determine which two chefs would remain to compete in a final challenge for the grand prize of Top Chef. For each challenge, the chefs had to prepare hotel room service meals in 30 minutes for different customers: first, a room of high rollers, including eliminated competitors Bryant, Hedy, and Ollie; then, a table of poker players including Phil Hellmuth; lastly, performers from Cirque du Soleil. Each group of patrons decided on their favorite dish. The three groups' favorites were taken into consideration during the judging process.
 * ELIMINATED: Leah

Episode 12 - "Vegas Finale - Part II"
Original airdate: May 24, 2006
 * Elimination Challenge: The two finalists each prepared a five-course tasting meal to be served to a table of eight luminaries from the culinary world. Each finalist was also assisted by two sous chefs, consisting of the four most recently eliminated contestants: Bryant, Hedy, Leah, and Ollie. Gil was assisted by Bryant and Hedy, while Paulina was assisted by Leah and Ollie.
 * WINNER: Gil
 * RUNNER-UP: Paulina