Bravo Premieres New Season of TOP CHEF in Boston Tonight

Bravo Media's Emmy and James Beard Award-winning series "Top Chef" will premiere its 12th season in Boston tonight, October 15th at 10PM ET/PT. Returning to the judges table for the new season in New England are head judge Tom Colicchio, judges Gail Simmons, Hugh Acheson and host Padma Lakshmi. For the first time ever, a "Top Chef" winner is joining the judging panel. Richard Blais will make his debut as a recurring judge offering the chef'testants guidance from a chef and a former competitor's point of view.

Click here for a sneak peak at season 12

This season features some of the franchise's "hungriest" chefs battling it out against the backdrop of Bean Town's flourishing culinary scene. The chefs will go knife-to-knife at iconic Boston locales including Fenway Park, Plimoth Plantation and The Bull and Finch Pub, which served as the inspiration for "Cheers" and where exterior shots for the show were filmed. Mirroring Boston's own rich history, Season 12 is full of firsts, including the first meal ever served on the field underneath the Green Monster, a challenge using only ingredients that would have been on hand at the first Thanksgiving meal, the first "Top Chef" food festival and the first fan appreciation challenge where fans of the show were invited to dine inside the "Top Chef" kitchen. The show will also feature a challenge highlighting Boston's Finest from the police and fire departments.

The stakes are higher than ever as "Top Chef" introduces sudden death Quickfire challenges that occur without warning throughout the season and a fiery judges table that puts every chef on the spot. The chefs will be tasked with serving up food for top entertainers, culinary stars and celebrity guest judges including: actress Emmy Rossum, Rob "Gronk" Gronkowski of the New England Patriots, MLB Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley, actor George Wendt (Norm from "Cheers"), "Watch What Happens Live" host Andy Cohen, Todd English, Barbara Lynch, Jasper White, Ming Tsai, Jacques Pépin, Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonette.

The chef'testants will bring out their knives as they battle it out for $125,000 furnished by Healthy Choice, a feature in FOOD & WINE magazine, a showcase at the annual FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen and the title of "Top Chef."

Meet the Chef'testants:

- Doug Adams, 29 - Portland, Oregon

- Stacy Cogswell, 33 - Boston, Massachusetts

- Joy Crump, 46 - Fredericksburg, Virginia

- Ron Eyester, 40 - Atlanta, Georgia

- Gregory Gourdet, 39 - Portland, Oregon

- Aaron Grissom, 27 - Los Angeles, California

- Adam Harvey, 29 - New York, New York

- Melissa King, 30 - San Francisco, California

- Rebecca LaMalfa, 32 - Chicago, Illinois

- Mei Lin, 28 - Los Angeles, California

- George Pagonis, 31 - Washington, D.C.

- Michael Patlazhan, 31 - Brooklyn, New York

- James Rigato, 29 - White Lake, Michigan

- Katsuji Tanabe, 33 - Los Angeles, California

- Keriann Von Raesfeld, 28 - San Jose, California

- Katie Weinner, 35 - Salt Lake City, Utah

*For more information on the chef'testants, please visit Bravotv.com/top-chef.

Additionally, "Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen," the Emmy Award-winning, groundbreaking digital video series, sponsored by Hidden Valley® Food and The Glad® Products Company, and hosted by Tom Colicchio, returns for its fourth season. The companion series kicks off with a two-part redemption midseason and continues until part one of the finale. Each week, eliminated chef'testants face-off in a pressure-filled, battle royale to compete for the ultimate prize - redemption and a spot in the "Top Chef" finale. Fans can follow the "Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen" challenges on BravoTV.com, as well as join in the social conversation and see what the chef'testants have to say during the competition by following @bravotopchef on Twitter or liking the Top Chef Facebook fan page. The series can be seen on desktop, mobile and tablet at www.BravoTV.com, m.BravoTV.com, on BravoNow iPhone and iPad apps, as well as iTunes, Amazon, VOD and Hulu.

"Top Chef" earned its eighth Emmy nomination in the "Outstanding Reality - Competition" category this year, continuing the network's record with nominations in the category for a tenth consecutive year. Tune in to the Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, August 25 at 8p.m. ET/PT on NBC to see if "Top Chef" wins the award.

Can't wait until October for your "Top Chef" fix? Tune in to "Top Chef Duels" tonight at 10pm ET/PT. DC Restaurateur Mike Isabella and LA Restaurateur Antonia Lofaso have a long, storied 'Top Chef' history, discovering that they were distant cousins on "Top Chef All Stars." Mike's victory prevented Antonia from moving to the "All Star" finale and now she's back to take him down in the Duel. These competitive cousins go head-to-head in an Italian-themed smack down where Michael Chiarello joins the judges as well as the chefs' families to pick the winner. Who will win this family feud? For a sneak peek visit http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef-duels/season-1/videos/meatball-race

"Top Chef" is produced by the Emmy Award-winning Magical Elves. Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz serve as executive producers.

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. Bravo has been an NBCUniversal cable network since December 2002 and was the first television service dedicated to film and the performing arts when it launched in December 1980. For more information, visit www.BravoTV.com. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BravoPR.

Photo by: Tommy Garcia/Bravo