Marcel Vigneron is an American chef. He is the first place winner of Last Chef Standing and was also the runner-up of the second season of Top Chef, which aired in 2006–2007. From 2011 on, he has had multiple other television appearances and is the Executive Chef of The Aster Hotel and Lemon Grove Restaurant.
Marcel Vigneron | |
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| Born | |
| Education | Culinary Institute of America |
| Culinary career | |
| Cooking style | Modern Californian |
Current restaurant(s)
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Television show(s)
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Early life
editVigneron is originally from Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Vigneron attended the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York and achieved his associate degree in Culinary Arts. There, Vigneron met fellow chef Spike Mendelsohn. The two played a lot of frisbee together and became best friends;[1] they would later compete together on the 5th and 8th seasons of The Next Iron Chef.[2] At the CIA, Vigneron enrolled in the teaching assistant program, where he served as the sous chef to Dwayne Lipuma at the school's Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici.[3]
Top Chef
editVigneron appeared in season two of Bravo's reality series Top Chef, which was filmed in 2006, and aired in late 2006 and early 2007. At the time of his appearance on Top Chef, he was a Master Cook at Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas, Nevada.
On the show, he became known for his molecular gastronomy techniques, especially his use of foams.[4] He was assaulted on the show in an incident in which several of the show's contestants egged on contestant Cliff Crooks to pin down Vigneron while they all tried to shave his head. This led to Cliff being kicked off the show.
Several Top Chef viewers blogged about discrepancies in the sequence of events relating to the hair-shaving incident, including one clip that shows contestant Elia Aboumrad during the shave attempt with all of her hair intact, despite being shown shaving her head earlier in the sequence.[5] Activity in the blogosphere eventually attracted the attention of entertainment news outlets, some of which commented that the creative editing was done in an attempt to downplay interpersonal conflicts.[5] Vigneron characterized the event as more like a drunken assault,[6] and confirmed that the attack on him came before the other contestants shaved their heads, contrary to how the footage was edited.[7]
Vigneron made it to the finals, finishing as runner-up behind the winner Ilan Hall.
Post-Top Chef
editIn 2008, he was an Executive Sous Chef at The Bazaar in the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.[8]
In March 2010 it was announced that Vigneron would star in Marcel's Quantum Kitchen, a reality television show that aired on the Syfy cable network.[9] In each episode, Marcel and his new catering and event company were hired by a demanding client to produce an extraordinary celebration or event. Marcel dreamed up a theme and cuisine for the event based on the client's requests. The show was a production of Mission Control Media with Executive Producers Michael Agbabian and Dwight Smith.[10] The show lasted six episodes.
He returned to the Top Chef series in Top Chef: All-Stars.[11] On the episode that aired on January 19, 2011, he was eliminated from the competition after the Restaurant Wars challenge. In 2024 Vigneron was the winner of the first season of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing.
As of 2024, Chef Marcel serves as the executive chef at the Lemon Grove restaurant, located on the rooftop of the Aster Hotel in Hollywood, California.
Personal life
editAs of 2017 Vigneron lives in the Los Angeles area. He is the owner of the restaurant "Wolf" on Melrose Ave. His most recent restaurant, Beefsteak, opened in August 2016.[12] Vigneron closed both restaurants in February 2019 to pursue catering.[13]
He wed entrepreneur Lauren Rae Levy on November 9, 2019, in Santa Susana, California.[14]
References
edit- ^ Nguyen, Tina (November 29, 2012). "Spike Mendelsohn Reveals Existence Of 'Save Card' On The Next Iron Chef". Mediaite. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
- ^ The Next Iron Chef Season 5, Episode 4.
- ^ Patterson, Spencer (2008-06-05). "Now we're cooking". Las Vegas Weekly. Greenspun Media Group. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
- ^ Katsilometes, John (August 13, 2009). "As 'Top Chef' approaches, revisiting the myth of Marcel". Las Vegas Sun.
- ^ a b Andy Dehnart (January 25, 2007). "'Top Chef' fails the taste test". msnbc.com.
- ^ Toole, Michael (January 18, 2007). "Marcel Speaks Up!". Las Vegas Weekly.
- ^ Merwin, Hugh (January 31, 2007). "Marcel Vigneron, Top Chef?". Gothamist. Archived from the original on May 30, 2016.
- ^ Bonvissuto, Danny (November 12, 2008). "Grub Street: 'Top Chef': Where Are They Now?". New York Magazine.
- ^ Forbes, Paula (March 17, 2010). "Top Chef's Marcel Vigneron Gets Syfy Show". EatMeDaily.com.
- ^ "Marcel's Quantum Kitchen". SyFy. Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
- ^ Reyhani, Monica A. (October 8, 2010). "Top Chef All-Stars Cast Announced!". Bravotv.com.
- ^ Elliott, Farley (August 29, 2016). "Vegetable Paradise at the Sunny New Beefsteak on Melrose". Eater LA. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
- ^ "Top Chef's Marcel Vigneron has closed both of his Melrose restaurants". 4 March 2019.
- ^ "Top Chef Alum Marcel Vigneron Marries Lauren Rae Levy | PEOPLE.com".