The Truth About Monique Feybesse From Top Chef Season 19

"Top Chef" is back with its latest season that's taking place in Houston, Texas and features Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, and Gail Simmons. According to Bravo TV, 15 participants are competing in this edition and will be required to "use their expertise to take on iconic regional dishes" and tackle challenges such as preparing food for crowds of people at the city's Asian Night Market.

One of the "Top Chef" Season 19 hopefuls is Monique Feybesse, a chef from San Francisco. She began her professional culinary journey in 2007 after finishing her studies at the California Culinary Academy. Per Tartes de Feybesse, Feybesse is highly experienced and has worked for well-known eateries in different parts of the world, including Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris, France and Geranium in Denmark, Copenhagen. Back in the United States, Feybesse has worked at Atera in New York, as well as Ninebark in Napa Valley, with chef Matthew Lightner.

Per Tarts de Feybesse, chef Monique Feybesse made the decision to focus on her family and relocated to the Bay area in 2016. She was appointed as the Chef de Cuisine at Murray Circle before becoming the culinary head at Robert Sinskey Vineyards. As highlighted by Marinij, Feybesse was always interested in cooking and learned by observing her dad and grandfather in the kitchen.

She currently runs a pastry shop called Tarts de Feybesse in Vallejo with her husband, Paul, who is an experienced chef himself. According to the couple, "Top Chef" was an accident — they were lazying around in San Jose when they ended up watching "Top Chef" together and started talking about "what it would take to apply for the show."

Feybesse decided to send her application on a whim and was surprised to hear back — she admitted to Marinij that she was "not expecting anything at all." Even after it was clear that she was one of the candidates who had made it to the show, she wasn't sure whether she should proceed, explained to Marinij, "... I had doubts that I should even participate because I felt guilty at the thought of leaving my two young kids and Paul to run Tarts de Feybesse." But she ultimatedly to decide to compete on "Top Chef" after her family members extended their full support and encouraged her to appear on the show.