Top Chef Houston winner Buddha Lo shares future plans after winning $250K Fri 3 June 2022 11:39

Publish date: 2024-05-09

On Thursday, June 2, Top Chef Houston wrapped up its 19th season by crowning Buddha Lo as the winner.

The episode that aired on May 26th had many fans on the edge of their seats.

After Chicago chef Damarr Brown’s surprise elimination, contestants Evelyn Garcia, Sarah Welch and Buddha Lo became the three finalists.

Meet the Top Chef Season 19 winner

Buddha Lo was the front runner to win the Bravo show’s latest season.

In the finale episode, titled ‘The Final Plate,’ Buddha, Evelyn and Sarah cooked their best recipe to impress judges Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons. Guest judge Eric Ripert and former Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard were also present.

After an intense cooking session, the three finalists presented their dishes to the judges, and Padma announced Buddha as the winner.

As many fans already know, Buddha is the executive chef at Huso, the Michelin plate restaurant located inside Marky’s Caviar in New York City.

The Australian-Chinese chef began following his passion for cooking at the tender age of 14. He started working at a 5-star resort on the weekend and later went to culinary school.

After finishing school, he moved to London and worked at Gordon Ramsay’s three Michelin-starred restaurant.

What Buddha Lo plans on doing with his cash prize

Talking to People Magazine after his Top Chef Houston win, Buddha revealed that he wants to use the money for a trip, but more importantly, he claimed that his life will become much easier now thanks to the huge sum.

The chef, who bagged a $250,000 cash prize on the show, said: “It’s probably going to be able to help me live a little more comfortably. I’ve never had this much money in my life, nor did I think that I would.”

Besides the trip and wanting to live more comfortably, Buddha also has big plans for the future.

“The next restaurant that I open, I want to try and get a lot of accolades from it. I’m even hoping to get three Michelin stars one day out of it,” the winner said.

“I set this goal a long time ago to win Top Chef. I never entered it just to come second, or third, or participate. It was always ‘win or nothing’. So, I’m now putting that out there,” he said.

Fans react to Top Chef Houston season finale

Here’s what viewers thought about Top Chef Houston season 19’s finale!

This Top Chef Houston Finale is great. Tough decisions! #TopChef #topchefhouston

— Will_KCMO 🌈🏙️ (@will_k) June 3, 2022
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Buddha’s food was amazing, but I was really pulling for Evelyn. Regardless of the outcome, she represented Houston SO well & made us proud. Can’t wait to see what she does next! #TopChef #htown #houstonstrong

— Texas Red Velvet (@texasredvelvet) June 3, 2022
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This season of @BravoTopChef made me really miss the amazing food scene in Houston, great to see Buddha crush the finale 🇦🇺🇺🇸 #TopChef

— Brett L. Foster (@brettlfoster) June 3, 2022
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Loved seeing #Houston through the #TopChef lens and loved watching Evelyn Garcia be the embodiment of this city I so love. ❤️ https://t.co/FBgPmQ483J

— Lauren (Ren) Mitchell (@ren_mitchell_) June 3, 2022
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I’m always amazed that somehow @BravoTopChef #TopChef improves upon perfection each season. #Houston brought culture, cuisine, and cactus – deliciously! Lots of tears & cheers at the #TopChefFinale. #emmys2022 for @PadmaLakshmi @tomcolicchio @gailsimmons! 👏🏻 @BravoTV

— Kirk Vichengrad (@kirkvichengrad) June 3, 2022
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