Bayless, Bowles, Smith Dive Into the "Top Chef" Pool

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 7, 2009 5:50PM

With the ongoing success of "Top Chef," it was only a matter of time before Bravo decided that they would expand the franchise by opening up the competition to already established chefs. The idea for this has been in the works for close to a year.

The wait is nearly over. "Top Chef Masters" premieres June 10. Among the 24 "cheftestants" competing are Our Town's Rick Bayless, Graham Elliot Bowles, and Art Smith. They'll be facing stiff competition from the likes of Wylie Dufrense, Rick Moonen and Roy Yamaguchi, among others. The last chef on the line will collect $100,000 for his or her favorite charity. This should be really good for Common Threads; Smith is on the Board of Directors and Bowles serves on the Chef's Advisory Board.

Stolps, get your recap muscles in gear. We've got work to do. [Sun-Times]