Austin shines on new season of 'Top Chef.' Two local chefs compete and Kristen Kish hosts.

Austin will be well represented in the 21st season of “Top Chef.” Not only will Arlo Grey chef Kristen Kish be hosting the show, but the group of contestants will include two Austin chefs, People.com announced today.

Olamaie chef de cuisine Amanda Turner, a veteran of Juniper, Uchiko and the Tatsu-Ya group, will battle for the vaunted title.

An Arlington native, Turner moved to Austin about 15 years ago to begin her culinary career in earnest. She was named chef de cuisine at the standout Olamaie in 2021, establishing herself as one of the most high profile female chefs and chefs of color in the city.

"I have a lot of different skills and have worked in a lot of different styles of restaurants, so I feel I really bring a diverse skill set to the competition," Turner said about what she felt she had to offer the show. "I also am a gamer, so I always love a challenge. But mostly I feel like I'm bringing good energy."

Interview from 2021: Meet new Olamaie chef, Amanda Turner

French chef Kevin D'Andrea will join Amanda Turner on 'Top Chef'

Turner will be joined by an Austin with a chef with a slightly lower local profile, but plenty of international acclaim.

French chef Kévin D’Andrea operated the restaurant Mensae in Paris and was named Best Young Chef in France in 2016 by Champagne Billecart Salmon before moving to Texas, where he first worked as executive chef for the restaurant La Villa in Houston. Prior to opening his own restaurant, D’Andrea worked under famed French chefs Alain Llorca and Alain Ducasse.

D’Andrea founded the company Foliepop’s, which specializes in small cake-like creations, in Austin. Once a brick-and-mortar shop at the Hill Country Galleria, Foliepops is now primarily a wholesale operation. Diners who have visited some of Austin's top hotels may be familiar with the chef’s pastries, which are served on menus at more than a dozen hotels throughout the city. Foliepop’s tartelettes are also found at dozens of H-E-Bs.

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This won’t be the chef’s first time engaging with the iconic show. D’Andrea came in second on Top Chef: France in 2015.

D’Andrea called his previous experience on the French version of the show the best of his life and says he is excited to once again take on “the best challenge ever” because “it is you against yourself.”

The return to the show will mark a high point for the chef’s career in the United States, after building a new life and career in Texas almost from scratch.

“I’m a proud immigrant in the USA who has worked hard to make my American dream happen,” D’Andrea told the American-Statesman via email. “I came to the U.S. six years ago with just a backpack. This has definitely taught me humility and the ability to grind back up from the bottom. It was an amazing journey, and I want to share that with the rest of the world.”

Austin has a long history with 'Top Chef'

Former Austin chefs to compete on “Top Chef” include 2021 winner, Gabe Erales (now of Bacalar), whose victory coincided with news that he had been previously fired from Comedor for violating the restaurant’s harassment policy; season 19 competitor Jo Chan (now of Bureau de Poste); and 2011 winner Paul Qui (who has been working primarily in Houston, Denver and Miami following a 2016 arrest in Austin for assault of his then-girlfriend, for which charges were subsequently dropped).

How to watch the 21st season of 'Top Chef'

The 21st season of “Top Chef,” which was filmed in Milwaukee, will air on Bravo beginning March 20.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Two Austin chefs to appear on of 21st season of Bravo's 'Top Chef'