- Christina Machamer
-
Christina Machamer 
Born March 13, 1982
St. Louis, MissouriEducation Culinary Institute of America Current restaurant(s)- London West Hollywood
Television show(s)Christina Machamer (born March 13, 1982) is an American chef who won the fourth season of Fox Network's reality cooking show Hell's Kitchen.[1] She was awarded a chef position at Gordon Ramsay's new London West Hollywood restaurant where she earned a $250,000 yearly salary.
Contents
Early life
Christina, the daughter of Rick and Leasa Machamer,[2] was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri and began working in restaurants at age 16.[1][3] She graduated from Lafayette High School in 2000[4] and after some time in college, she dropped out of pre-law and decided that cooking was her calling in life. After an apprenticeship with chef Larry Forgione at An American Place, she began her formal training at Forest Park Community College in 2003.[3] She moved onto the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York in the spring of 2006 and graduated February 29, 2008.[3]
At the Culinary Institute,[4] she graduated at the top of her class.[5]
Hell's Kitchen
Machamer decided to apply to Hell's Kitchen after watching season 3.[6] She went to the open audition in Manhattan and was called back for a screen test. The casting director thought she was "hilarious."[7]
Machamer was the contestant with the least amount of cooking experience[7] and was repeatedly nominated for elimination, mostly due to what her peers described as a threatening intellect.[8] Despite all this, she broke the standing record for number of challenges won with 9 wins and finished as the final competitor, defeating the season's runner-up, Louis Petrozza.[7] What most impressed Ramsay was her special potential, something he did not see nearly enough of in any of the other contestants.[9] After winning, Machamer had the choice of accepting her $250,000 prize money at once or earning it as a paycheck for working a year at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant.[4]
After Hell's Kitchen
Although promised the position of executive chef at the new Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood restaurant, Machamer, as the winning contestant, was instead given the position of senior chef under executive chef Andy Cook.[1]
While waiting for the show to be aired and permission to disclose her win, Machamer worked at Revival, a restaurant in St. Louis started by her mentor, chef Cary McDowell.[3][10]
Together with Lemieux,[4] Machamer began BCBC Blends, a small artisan spice company that has recently been launched nationally.[3]
Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood was awarded a Michelin Star in the 2009 Michelin Guide.[11] As of early 2009, Machamer is the executive sous chef at the London West Hollywood, where she works nearly 14 hours a day and is also charged with supervising the kitchen's various stations.[4]
Machamer will be blogging for BuddyTV.com after each episode of season 5 and has recently completed her sommelier diploma in wine service.[4]
In January 2009, she was featured as a host at the St. Louis Food & Wine Experience.[12][13]
Since being invested with celebrity status from her win, Machamer has been invited to a number of culinary events. She and 2007 Hell's Kitchen season winner Rock Harper competed in a cookoff[14] and both will be among those presenting at the 2009 Scottsdale Culinary Festival in Arizona. After Gordon Ramsay at The London West Hollywood was sold back to LXR hotels, Machamer traveled to Napa to study wine at CIA Greystone in St. Helena, CA. [1] Shortly after, she returned to LA as part of the opening team at Bouchon in Beverly Hills for celebrated chef, Thomas Keller. Here she met her fiance, Robert Hohmann, who opened the restaurant as executive sous chef [2]. Recently Machamer and Hohmann have relocated to the Napa Valley, where Hohmann serves as the new chef at Michael Chiarello's Michael Chiarello Bottega in Yountville, CA [3]. Machmer has found a new niche bridging the gap between food and wine at the much celebrated B Cellars, [4] in Calistoga, CA. Machamer and Hohmann are planning their wedding this summer at their home in Napa, CA.[clarification needed]
References
- ^ a b c Eater LA A Moment With: Hell's Kitchen Winner Christina, July 11, 2008
- ^ STL Today.com St. Louis chef takes the cake in finale of 'Hell's Kitchen', July 9, 2008
- ^ a b c d e Christina's autobiography
- ^ a b c d e f STL Today.com Ramsay is 'just Gordon' to St. Louis winner, January 30, 2009[dead link]
- ^ 'Hell's Kitchen' Insider: Another One Gigabytes the Dust!, January 23, 2009
- ^ St. Louis Magazine Kitchen Q&A: Christina Machamer, June 2008
- ^ a b c Reality TV World.com Exclusive: Christina Machamer talks about her 'Hell's Kitchen' win, July 11, 2008
- ^ This was mentioned numerous times by various other contestants during the one-on-one interviews during the show.
- ^ Reality TV World.com Christina Machamer defeats Louis Petrozza to win 'Hell's Kitchen', July 9, 2008
- ^ Riverfront Times Q&A with Season 4 Winner Christina Machamer, July 9, 2008
- ^ 2009 Michelin Guide Starred Restaurants: Los Angeles
- ^ STL Today.com Food and wine for the rep, January 14, 2009
- ^ St. Joe News.net St. Louis Food & Wine Experience has a taste of something for everyone, January 4, 2009
- ^ Ozarks First.com Hell's Kitchen Chefs Compete in Local Cookoff, October 19, 2008
External links
Hell's Kitchen by Gordon Ramsay Seasons Chef Winners Michael Wray · Heather West · Rahman “Rock” Harper · Christina Machamer · Danny Veltri · Dave Levey · Holli Ugalde · Nona Sivley · Paul NiedermannSeries 1 · 2 · 3 · 4Presenters Angus Deayton (Series 1-3) · Claudia Winkleman (Series 4)Chefs Gordon Ramsay (Series 1) · Gary Rhodes & Jean-Christophe Novelli (Series 2) · Marco Pierre White (Series 3-4)Winners Categories:- American chefs
- Sommeliers
- Reality show winners
- People from St. Louis, Missouri
- 1982 births
- Living people
- Participants in American reality television series
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
