NEW YORK, NY — Bravo's "Top Chef Masters" season four is smokin' in Las Vegas with 12 new award-winning chefs hungry to compete for the title and win $100,000 for their charity, premiering Wednesday, July 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. In each episode the winners of every quickfire challenge will be awarded $5,000 while the victors of the elimination challenges will receive $10,000 for their designated charities. Celebrity chef Curtis Stone is back as series host alongside returning judges James Oseland and Ruth Reichl with new judges, food and travel journalist Krista Simmons and features editor of Gilt Taste, Francis Lam. In a dazzling season of high stakes, big egos and sizzling drama, top names in entertainment join the judges table including Boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard, folk rock music duo Indigo Girls, famed Burlesque performer Dita Von Teese, popular American party band The B-52's, Olympic Gold Medalist Brian Boitano, Las Vegas performer Holly Madison, among others.

"Top Chef Masters" pits 12 world-renowned chefs against each other to see how well they fare in fierce culinary competition. Based at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, each week will whittle down the chefs until the finale where one winner is crowned "Top Chef Master" and receives the grand prize of $100,000 for the charity of their choice. The chefs are bringing more than their knives to the table; they're bringing their egos and stirring up the drama ... all for charity.



Following are the 12 "Top Chef Masters" competing chefs:

• Chris Cosentino - Chef/ Partner Incanto Restaurant, San Francisco; Competing for Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research

• Clark Frasier - Owner of Arrows; Competing for Outright Lewiston/Auburn

• Mark Gaier - Owner of Arrows; Competing for Equality Maine Foundation

• Lorena Garcia - Owner of Lorena Garcia Cocina Restaurant; Competing for Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Inc

• Debbie Gold - Executive Chef of Kansas City's The American Restaurant; Competing for Children's TLC

• Kerry Heffernan - NYC Chef; Competing for City Harvest

• Thierry Rautureau - Chef/owner: Rover's and Luc; Competing for Food Lifeline

• Missy Robbins - Executive Chef: A Voce Madison & A Voce Columbus; Competing for Grow to Learn NYC

• Art Smith - Executive Chef and co-owner: LYFE Kitchen and Southern Art Restaurants; Competing for Common Threads

• Sue Torres - Chef/Owner: Sueños; Competing for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

• Takashi Yagihashi - Owner: Takashi Restaurant and Slurping Turtle; Competing for the American Red Cross, benefitting the Japanese Tsunami Disaster Relief

• Patricia Yeo - Om Restaurant & Lounge/ Moksa Pan Asian Izakaya; Competing for Heifer Project International

The third season of "Top Chef Masters" saw an increase from season two, earning 1.1 million adults 18-49 and was up double digits in total viewers, averaging over 1.7 million total viewers. The series is produced by the Emmy Award-winning Magical Elves with Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz serving as executive producers.


Source: Nielsen Media Research, L7 data.