On the Top Chef DC reunion special Bravo announced the official cast for season 8, which will be an All-Stars season. From all seven seasons 18 chefs will return to the competition to see who can be the best.

Not only is the cast pretty great, with many of my favorite villains, entertainers and actual chefs, but Top Chef chose NOT to bring back any past winners. This sets it apart from other reality show all-star seasons and I think it makes the playing field a lot more even, since they all want it.

Top Chef All-Stars will kick off Wednesday, December 1. Here’s the cast:

Season 1
Stephen Aspirinio
Tiffani Faison

Season 2
Elia Aboumrad
Marcel Vigneron

Season 3
Dale Levitski
Casey Thompson
Tre Wilcox

Season 4
Richard Blais
Antonia Lofaso
Spike Mendelsohn
Dale Talde

Season 5
Carla Hall
Fabio Viviani
Jamie Lauren

Season 6
Jennifer Carroll
Mike Isabella

Season 7
Angelo Sosa
Tiffany Derry

Now THIS is an all-star season. I’m a big fan of a lot of these chefs, and with Spike, Fabio and Carla, there’s sure to be a lot of entertainment.

If I had to pick the biggest omission, it would probably be Stefan Richter from season 5. That guy absolutely deserved to win, especially over Hosea.

And, if I had to predict who will make the finale of Top Chef All-Stars, my picks are Richard Blais, Angelo Sosa and Jennifer Carroll, with Blais winning the whole thing. I’ve watched season and as far as I’m concerned, Blais looked like the best chef the show ever had, so I’m excited for him to get another shot.

Who will you be rooting for, and which past cheftestant that you loved didn’t make the list?

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

John Kubicek

Senior Writer, BuddyTV

John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire DiariesSupernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.