New 'Top Chef' season features contestants trained in Hudson Valley

Wednesday November 7, 2012 4:45 PM By Chris Serico

Photo credit: Matthias Clamer/Bravo | From left, Hugh Acheson, Padma Laksmi, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons return as judges for "Top Chef," whose 10th season will be filmed in Seattle. (Sept. 19, 2012)

The 10th season of “Top Chef” premieres tonight, and two of the “cheftestants” trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park: personal chef Jeffrey Jew, who now lives in St. Petersburg, Fla., and sous-chef Danyele McPherson, who calls Dallas home these days.

Originally hailing from Washington, Jew, 34, earned his degree at the Culinary Institute of America and practiced his culinary skills internationally as a head chef of an Italian embassy and for the Connaught Hotel in London. According to his bio on the Bravo website, Jew graduated first in his class from the Culinary Institute, an achievement that likely will serve him well in the competition.

A North Carolina native, McPherson, 31, also trained at the Culinary Institute. But she left the school to pursue an internship at Stephan Pyles restaurant in Dallas, where she progressed from intern to sous-chef in only two years. She now works at The Grape Restaurant in Dallas and in October was promoted from sous-chef to chef de cuisine. Based on her quick rise in the culinary world, McPherson seems like a contestant to watch on “Top Chef.”

An active Twitter user at @damnyele, McPherson recently tweeted her Halloween costume and that she had voted in the presidential election. Jew also has a Twitter account at @chefjeffdc, but he hasn’t updated it since August 2011 – perhaps that’ll change once the show gets under way.

Both local culinary students have distinguished themselves well so far in their careers. Hopefully, they won’t be told by host Padma Lakshmi to “pack their knives and go” anytime soon.

“Top Chef: Seattle” airs at 10 p.m. Wednesdays on Bravo. 

Tags: Hyde Park , Hudson Valley , Top Chef , TV , food , reality TV , Jeffrey Jew , Danyele McPherson