Hosea Rosenberg, a 26-year-old executive chef from Taos, NM who currently resides in Boulder, CO, was crowned Top Chef: New York's winner during Wednesday night's broadcast of the Bravo reality competition's finale.
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"I'm kind of in shock right now, I'm so happy, it feels pretty damn cool," a more composed Hosea added afterwards. "This is one of the biggest accomplishments in my life, I know a lot of people are going to be proud of me for this and I couldn't be happier. Things are going to change, for sure."
As Top Chef: New York's champion, Hosea won $100,000 in seed money to help open a restaurant, a feature in Food & Wine magazine, and a showcase at the Annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.
Hosea defeated Stefan Richter, a 35-year-old chef from Tampere, Finland who currently resides in Santa Monica, CA, and Carla Hall, a 44-year-old chef and catering business owner from Nashville, TN who currently resides in Washington, D.C., during last night's finale broadcast.
Stefan -- who had seemed to spend most of Top Chef: New York's season as the show's clear frontrunner -- finished as the competition's runner-up while Carla finished in third place.
"If I had made a different dessert today I would have won. [The judges] expected more from me today," Stefan said after Hosea's victory was announced. "Would I have loved the title? Absolutely, no doubt about it. But I don't turn around and go 'Oh, I'm bitter, I didn't get $100 grand, I'm not Top Chef' -- I'm happy dude!"
"I should have done my food and I will not make that mistake again," Carla added. "But when I came here I wanted to show people a different way of competing -- to compete with love -- so I did one of the things I wanted to do here."
"It felt amazing to win, but to have it come down neck-and-neck with Stefan just made it all that sweeter," Hosea said. "That was the icing on the cake, it felt really good."
About The Author: Steven Rogers
