‘Top Chef’ newest season features one of the Triangle’s culinary leaders
One of Durham’s top chefs will compete on one of TV’s biggest cooking competitions.
James Beard nominee Oscar Diaz is on the latest season of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” which filmed its 23rd season in the Carolinas.
Diaz is the chef and partner of Triangle restaurants Little Bull, Aaktun and Tataco. He’s been one of the most popular and acclaimed North Carolina chefs since earning his first James Beard semifinalist mention in 2019 while chef at Cortez in Raleigh.
He also featured prominently in a 2018 Time Magazine piece highlighting the influence of Mexican chefs on Southern cuisine.
Since joining the Mezcalito group in 2023, Diaz has been on a tear, opening some of the Triangle’s most exciting and glitzy Mexican restaurants.
NC Top Chef contestants
This marks the second recent “Top Chef” casting of a prominent Durham chef, following the finals run of M Tempura’s Savannah Miller on Season 21.
Diaz is one of 15 contestants on this season of “Top Chef,” joining fellow North Carolinian Brittany Cochran of Charlotte.
The new season is centered in Charlotte and is expected to showcase the foodways of North and South Carolina. “Top Chef: Carolinas” premieres Monday, March 9.
This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 1:49 PM.
