Meet Danny Garcia, the Freehold High School grad heating up 'Top Chef' Season 21
Things are heating up on "Top Chef," and a Shore graduate is right in the middle of it.
Season 21 of the Bravo reality food competition debuts Tuesday, March 20, and Danny Garcia is among the competitors.
According to a Freehold Regional High School District's message on Facebook, Garcia is a Freehold High School Class of 2010 graduate.
More: New host of 'Top Chef' Kristen Kish on replacing Padma, what to expect from Season 21
"Daniel was a Culinary Arts Magnet Program student during his time in the district. The new season begins on March 20th. Good luck!," the district wrote.
Garcia currently lives in Brooklyn and is an executive chef with Saga Hospitality Group, according to his Bravo website biography.
"A proud Brooklyn native, Danny Garcia grew up in a large tight-knit Dominican and Puerto Rican family where food was the focus of every family gathering." the site said.
After earning a scholarship to Johnson & Wales in Providence, Rhode Island, he took a full-time position at the NoMad, where he rose to sous chef.
He won first prize at the Ment’or Young Chef competition in 2016.
After working in Napa, he returned to the New York area to work alongside his longtime mentor James Kent to open Crown Shy and Saga restaurants as executive sous chef, Bravo says.
In 2021, he relocated to Hong Kong to help reopen Belon as chef de cuisine, and recently returned to New York to work with Kent at Saga Hospitality Group. He is heading the kitchen at a new restaurant that is expected to open later this year.
How to watch Top Chef Season 21
Things are looking a little different for "Top Chef" in Season 21, which is set in Wisconsin.
Longtime host and judge Padma Lakshmi is out, replaced by Season 10 winner and frequent guest judge Kristen Kish. Joining her is a panel that includes Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio.
Tune in on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on Bravo. Episodes will be available to stream the next day on Peacock.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Top Chef: Danny Garcia, a Freehold graduate, sizzles on Season 21