BRAVO'S "TOP CHEF" EMBARKS ON A NATIONWIDE CASTING CALL

NEW YORK - January 25, 2018 - If you think you can stand the heat, sign-up to get in the kitchen! Bravo Media's Emmy and James Beard Award-winning "Top Chef" is searching for the utmost talented and emerging chefs to compete on season 16 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, Detroit, Houston, Miami, Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Interested chefs looking to vie for the coveted title should email topchefcasting@magicalelves.com to make an appointment or go to Bravotv.com/topchefcasting for more information.*

"Top Chef" Season 16 Chef Meet and Greet Schedule:

Chicago - Thursday, February 1 from 10am - 4pm
Spiaggia -- Joe Flamm, "Top Chef" Season 15
980 N Michigan Ave, 2nd Floor, Suite 1
Chicago, IL 60611

Detroit - Thursday, February 1 from 10am - 3pm
Mabel Gray -- James Rigato, "Top Chef" Season 12
23825 John R Rd
Hazel Park, MI 48030

New York City - Monday, February 5 from 10am - 3pm
Rice & Gold -- Dale Talde, "Top Chef" Season 4 and "Top Chef: All-Stars"
50 Bowery
New York, NY 10013

Nashville - Monday, February 5 from 10am - 1:30pm
City House -- Tandy Wilson, James Beard Foundation Award Winner & Best Chef Southeast 2016
1222 4th Ave N
Nashville, TN 37208

Philadelphia - Wednesday, February 7 from 10am - 3pm
Royal Boucherie -- Nick Elmi, "Top Chef" Season 11 Winner
52 S 2nd St
Philadelphia, PA 19106

Houston - Wednesday, February 7 from 10am - 3pm
Sparrow Cook Shop -- Monica Pope, "Top Chef Masters" Season 2
3701 Travis St
Houston, TX 77002

Miami - Saturday, February 10 from 10am - 3pm
Stubborn Seed -- Jeremy Ford "Top Chef" Season 13 Winner
101 Washington Ave
Miami Beach, FL 33139

San Francisco - Sunday, February 11 from 10am - 3pm
Jardiniere -- Traci Des Jardins "Top Chef Masters" Season 3 and Rogelio Garcia, "Top Chef" Season 15
300 Grove St
San Francisco, CA 94102

Tune in tonight, Thursday, January 25 from 10:15 - 11:30 pm ET/PT, for a special supersized episode of Bravo's "Top Chef" as the remaining eight chefs face-off in the most anticipated challenge of the season, Restaurant Wars. Culinary icons Bruce and Eric Bromberg of Blue Ribbon join the judges to experience and evaluate each restaurant's successes and failures.

"Top Chef" 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 premier lifestyle and entertainment brand that drives cultural conversation around its high-quality, interactive original content focusing on the network's passion points of food, fashion, beauty, design, digital, and pop culture. The network's diversified slate includes Bravo's scripted series "Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce," "Imposters," and "Odd Mom Out," in addition to 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 87 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.