What to Know About Houston’s ‘Top Chef’ Season 22 Contenders
Jūn’s Henry Lu and James Beard Award semifinalist Tristen Epps are headed to Canada to compete in Top Chef’s latest season with a lot of experience in their arsenal
Top Chef is bringing everyone to Canada in its 22nd season, and not one but two Houston chefs are in the running for bragging rights and the reality cooking competition’s largest prize to date. Chefs Tristen Epps of Houston’s anticipated Afro-Caribbean restaurant Buboy and Henry Lu of modern Southeast Asian restaurant Jūn will compete against 13 others for the title and $250,000, plus the chance to host a dinner at New York’s James Beard House and present the James Beard Awards in June.
Epps, who previously worked at Four Seasons Hotel Houston and Pass and Provisions before permanently moving to Houston in 2024, says representing Space City throughout the competition has been an incredible experience. “For me, it’s about breaking boundaries and showcasing how some unexpected flavors can stand shoulder to shoulder — and most of the time, above the best in fine dining,” Epps says.
The competition is set to get pretty rugged. According to a release, the chefs will explore Canada’s culinary scenes in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, and Prince Edward Island, which also means traversing farmland, forests, deserts, icy tundras, and what the production calls “windswept prairies.” The challenges are set to get very Canadian: Chefs will make their best cold dish in honor of Canada’s favorite sport — hockey, put their spin on poutine, and incorporate maple syrup as a main ingredient. Each episode will be followed by Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen, where eliminated chefs compete to return to the main Top Chef competition.
Here’s what to know about the Houston-based competitors.
Tristen Epps
Bravo
Epps has an international background
Though born in Virginia Beach, Epps, who is of Trinidadian descent, spent much of his childhood traveling the globe. His mother served in the military and was stationed in places like Guam, Japan, and the Philippines, which he says helped shape his love of international flavors.
His gateway into cooking was scrambled eggs
Epps says his infatuation with cooking first took off when his mother taught him how to make scrambled eggs. “It was the most amazing thing that eggs can go from a shell to this viscous orb — that we could turn into something really delicious,” he says. “That alchemy blew my mind.”
This isn’t his first time on television
After completing his bachelor’s degree in culinary arts and food & beverage industry management at Johnson & Wales, Epps did a three-year apprenticeship at the Greenbrier Hotel. He later appeared on ABC’s the Taste, another reality TV cooking competition.
He’s Marcus Samuelsson’s protege
Host and celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson became his on- and off-screen mentor. He moved to New York to work at Samuelsson’s restaurant Red Rooster in Harlem and later traveled with him to his projects in London, Sweden, and the Bahamas. After working as the first executive chef for Cooks & Captains in Brooklyn, New York, and a short stint in Denver, he also worked as executive chef for Samuelsson’s Miami location of Red Rooster, which received a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
Epps is opening a restaurant in Houston
Epps is hosting sneak-peek pop-ups while gearing up for his new restaurant. Named after his grandfather’s nickname, Buboy will be a tasting menu restaurant that will showcase Afro-Caribbean cuisine in an elevated way. Think gumbo made with king crab and homemade duck sausage, stewed chicken with truffle peas and rice, caviar and foie gras here and there, and oxtails.
Henry Lu
Luke Chang, Jiā Media
Lu’s start in the kitchen began at his family’s restaurant
The Bronx native found his love in the kitchen while working in his parents’ Chinese restaurants. Lu likened his experience to an “after-school program” in an interview with OutSmart Magazine. He noted that he’d leave school, do his homework, and then head to the restaurant, mop, wash dishes, help prep food, and eventually deliver orders to diners. Cooking, however, was the most fascinating part. “Watching the guys work the woks was so thrilling and fun. I also ate so much,” he told OutSmart. “No one should ever eat as much as I did!”
Lu is an artist
Lu has said he was terrible at school, but there was something about art that he loved. He enrolled in the art history program at the University of Buffalo, where he focused on ceramics and other forms of media. Lu still considers himself an artist. Diners can see some of his artistry displayed at his restaurant Jūn, in Houston’s Heights neighborhood, where he helped craft the ceramic pitchers and utensils.
He’s worked at some of the best restaurants in New York City
Lu attended French Culinary Institute straight out of college, preparing him for work at renowned restaurants in New York City. Lu served as a sous chef at the award-winning Pearl and Ash and Llama Inn in Williamsburg.
He’s best buds with another Top Chef contender
Lu relocated to Houston to open a restaurant with Evelyn Garcia, who, in 2022, was a finalist (and the only Space City contestant) on Top Chef: Houston. Jūn opened in the Heights in 2022 and has quickly become a favorite for fusing Southeast Asian and Latin flavors. It reflects Lu’s Chinese heritage and upbringing in the Bronx and Garcia’s Salvadorian and Mexican roots and upbringing in Houston. The restaurant was named a James Beard Awards semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2024, and Lu and Garcia made the cut again this year. Both were named semifinalists for the Best Chef: Texas category. Lu and Garcia also co-own byKin HTX, an umbrella company for their catering, pop-up events, and line of condiments.
Though Lu cannot reveal much about his Top Chef experience, he describes it as exhilarating
“Representing Houston on Top Chef — in Canada, of all places — feels both exciting and nerve-racking. Plus, when I found out we were going international, there was even more pressure!” Lu said in a statement to Eater. “I didn’t want to lose myself or forget why I love what I do just because I was in a competitive environment. So I told myself to relax, have fun — to be the truest, most authentic version of myself and enjoy the ride. And I did.”
Epps and Lu will compete alongside 13 other “cheftestants” including:
- Anna “Anya” El-Wattar from San Francisco, California
- Paula Endara from Lexington, Kentucky
- Corwin Hemming from Brooklyn, New York
- Katianna Hong and Kat Turner from Los Angeles, California
- Lana Lagomarsini from Harlem, New York
- Vincenzo Loseto from St. Helena, California
- Massimo Piedimonte from Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Bailey Sullivan Zubair Mohjir, César Murillo, and Bailey Sullivan from Chicago, Illinois
- Shuai Wang from North Charleston, South Carolina
- Mimi Weissenborn from Portland, Maine
The series premieres Thursday, March 13, with episodes airing every Thursday starting at 8 p.m. CT on Bravo (and available for streaming on Fridays on Peacock).
