Who is Lana Lagomarsini from Top Chef? Background and accomplishments explored

Top Chef, the Bravo cooking competition series, introduced viewers to talented chefs as well as host Kristen Kish alongside judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons. Competing for the winner title, the grand prize of $250,000, a $125,000 flight credit with Delta Air Lines, a feature in Food & Wine magazine, and an invite to the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, the chefs showcase their skills.

Lana Lagomarsini is one of the contestants on the show. According to Lana's official Bravo TV bio, she is a Bronx native and is the owner of Lana Cooks. Known for her exceptional culinary skills, Lana's educational background is in journalism. After transitioning her career path from journalism to cooking, Lana has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants. She has a following of 16.9K on Instagram, and in her bio, she introduces herself as a cast member on the Bravo TV show Top Chef, Season 2, and the Netflix series Pressure Cooker, Season 1. Her bio states:

"She spent a month apprenticing under renowned Argentinian chef Francis Mallmann, learning the art of open-fire cooking on his island in Patagonia. Recently, Lana has been exploring her voice as a woman of color, organizing pop-ups of all kinds."

This season, the chefs have been given the opportunity to win up to $150,000 during the Quickfire Challenge and Elimination Challenges. They will also attend an exclusive dinner at the James Beard House in New York and will appear on The James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards in Chicago. The show's synopsis states as follows:

"Aspiring chefs are judged by a panel of food and wine experts while competing against one another for a shot at culinary stardom."

Lana Lagomarsini's accomplishments

The Top Chef star completed her education at Northeastern University and then went to the Culinary Institute of America. As an experienced chef, Lana has worked at Gramercy Tavern, Restaurant Daniel, and Momofuku Ko. She has also received accolades such as the Prestigious Dames d’ Escoffier International in 2023 and won a culinary award at the Black Women in Food Awards by Dine Diaspora.

Additionally, she is a part of the James Beard Foundation’s Chef Boot Camp for Policy and Advocacy. According to Lana, she experiments with African and American flavour mixtures in her dishes. The description continues:

"She describes her cuisine as soul food through a fine-dining lens and is passionate about learning more about the connection between food throughout the African diaspora and its influence on staple foods in America."

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The cast line up for Top Chef included Anya El-Wattar, Mimi Weissenborn, Shuai Wang, Kat Turner, Bailey Sullivan, Massimo Piedimonte, Samuel Olayinka, César Murillo, Zubair Mohajir, Vincenzo Loseto, Henry Lu, Katianna Hong, Corwin Hemming, Ying Gao, Tristen Epps, Paula Endara and Anya El-Wattar.

New episodes of Top Chef air every week on Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo and the next day on Peacock.

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