Mei Lin (chef)

Mei Lin (born November 29, 1985) is a Chinese-born American chef and television personality, best known as the winner of the twelfth season of the Bravo television network's reality television series, Top Chef. After winning Top Chef in 2014, Lin worked as a personal chef for Oprah Winfrey before going on to open her first restaurant, Nightshade in Los Angeles in 2019. She became engaged to her fiancé Andrew Skala on January 14, 2023. On April 9, 2023, Lin won the fourth season of Food Network's Tournament of Champions.

Early life and education
Lin was born in Guangdong, China before moving to Dearborn, Michigan at three months old. She attended Fordson High School and attended Schoolcraft College.

Career
After receiving her certification from Schoolcraft College, Lin worked as a cook for the Detroit Lions. Following her time with the Lions, Lin was part of the opening team for chef Michael Symon's Roast in Downtown Detroit, before working at Wolfgang Puck's Las Vegas location of Spago. Following her tenure at Spago, Lin joined the opening team for Top Chef Michael Voltaggio's ink. in Los Angeles, where she worked as a sous chef until her appearance on Top Chef. After winning Top Chef, Lin worked as a personal chef for Oprah Winfrey and contributed recipes to Winfrey's cookbook, Food, Health & Happiness.

In 2019, Lin opened her first restaurant, Nightshade, in Los Angeles. In 2020, Nightshade was named a James Beard Foundation Award finalist for Best New Restaurant.

In March of 2021, following delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Lin opened her second restaurant Daybird in Los Angeles. Lin describes it as the first fast-casual Sichuan hot chicken restaurant in the United States.

Top Chef: Boston
Lin competed in the twelfth season of Bravo's Top Chef in 2014. In the series finale, filmed on-location in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, Lin faced off against challenger Gregory Gourdet. Lin's fourth course, strawberry lime curd with toasted yogurt, milk crumble and yogurt-lime ice, was particularly noteworthy. During the Judges Table segment, judge Tom Colicchio hailed it as "the best dessert I have ever had on Top Chef, period, and one of the best desserts I've had in my life." Colicchio's fellow Top Chef judge Hugh Acheson echoed his sentiments, calling the dish "blow-you-away amazing" and declaring Lin "a chef's chef."

Tournament of Champions
Lin competed in the fourth season of Food Network's Tournament of Champions in 2023. After an initial round where her dish scored 84, Lin went on to garner judges' scores of 90 points or more in the final four rounds of the contest. In the final round, she defeated Season 2 Champion Maneet Chauhan by a score of 91-89. Lin's four dishes that garnered 90 points or greater from the judges represented four of the top six scores in the competition.

James Beard Foundation Awards

 * 2020 James Beard Foundation Award Semifinalist, Best Chef: California

Additional Awards + Accolades


 * Winner, Top Chef: Boston
 * Winner, Tournament of Champions IV
 * 2020 Nightshade, 46 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles, Conde Nast Traveler
 * 2019 Best Culinary Debut, Robb Report
 * 2019 Nightshade, Best New Restaurants, Food & Wine
 * 2019 Nightshade, Best New Restaurants in America, GQ
 * 2019 Nightshade, Best New Restaurants in America, Eater
 * 2019 Nightshade, Restaurant of the Year, Eater LA
 * 2019 Nightshade, Prawn Toast, Food & Wine Dish of the Year