Top Chef Season 4: Meet the Cheftestants-Erik

 Erik is a self-taught 38 year-old from Chappaqua, New York.  He is currently the Executive Chef at Circa Restaurant in San Francisco and hoping to become America’s next Top Chef.

From Bravo:

A third generation chef, Erik gets his love of cooking from his grandfather and mother, who are both chefs. He worked his way through the ranks of several New York City restaurants before becoming sous chef at Eros and then Tapas Lounge. He eventually tired of the cold and decided to move to California, where he now works as executive chef at Circa Restaurant in San Francisco. He says his favorite thing to cook is Circa’s popular pan-seared Chilean Sea Bass with wild chanterelle, truffles and caramelized leek ragout.

I am interested to see how this self-taught chef survives the rigours of the Top Chef competition.  It seems that most of the previous Cheftestants who had no professional training found it hard.  Erik though is an Executive Chef of an elite restaurant and was honored with the Rising Chef Award from the San Francisco Chronicle.