Chef Rasika Venkatesa Wiki, Age, Top Chef, Partner, LGBTQ, Tattoos, Ethnicity
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Rasika Venkatesa Biography – Rasika Venkatesa Wiki
Rasika Venkatesa is an LGBTQ+ chef and a contestant on Season 21 of Top Chef. She formerly worked at one-Michelin-starred Mourad in downtown San Francisco until November 2023, when she parted ways with the restaurant after a five-year run that saw her rise to the role of chef de cuisine.
Her fondest memories are growing up in Chennai, India and cooking with her biggest inspiration, her grandmother Mythily Ramachandran. At a young age, Rasika learned the power of food and how something as simple as her grandmother’s cooking could bring her family together in joy, unity, and tradition.
According to her biography on the Top Chef website, Rasika earned her bachelor’s degree in hotel management from Manipal University in India and moved to the United States to work at Thomas Keller’s three-star Michelin restaurant, the French Laundry.
In 2019, Rasika joined the team at Mourad in San Francisco, a one-star Michelin New Moroccan restaurant. She started as a station cook and worked her way up to Chef de Cuisine under the guidance of world-renowned Chef Mourad Lahlou.
In 2022, she won StarChefs’ Rising Star Award in the San Francisco/Oakland area, collaborated with chefs nationwide in various culinary events.
Chef Rasika is now focused on her concept, “Mythily”, which aims to reinvent Tamil cuisine. Mythily is a tribute to “my grandmother, my family and our ancestors. It is also an ode to my heritage and background, one that is rich in culture and history and deserves to be one of the leading cuisines in the world.”
She’s currently traveling across Tamil Nadu to learn from the local communities to grow and evolve as a chef in the next chapter of her culinary journey.
Rasika Venkatesa Age
Chef Rasika Venkatesa was born in Chennai, India.
Rasika Venkatesa Top Chef
Rasika Venkatesa is one of 15 chefs competing in Season 21 of Bravo’s Top Chef. Alum and Season 10 winner Kristen Kish is taking on the hosting role for the first time on Season 21, and she’s joined by veteran judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons.
Rasika is representing the San Francisco Bay Area in the 21st season of Bravo’s Top Chef, alongside Dalida chef and co-owner Laura Ozyilmaz and Shuggie’s Trash Pie + Natural Wine co-owner and chef David Murphy.
The other contestants on the hit cooking competition show include Alisha Elenz, Amanda Turner, Charly Pierre, Dan Jacobs, Danny Garcia, Kaleena Bliss, Kenny Nguyen, Kévin D’Andrea, Manny Barella, Michelle Wallace, Valentine Howell Jr. and Savannah Miller.
Rasika Venkatesa LGBTQ+
Chef Rasika Venkatesa is a lesbian and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. She has attended the Chennai Rainbow Pride Parade in the past.
In the Creating Life podcast, Rasika talks about living as a lesbian in urban India. She also discusses challenges such as coming out, family acceptance, finding a community, how she found support in online platforms, the difficulties of dating and navigating dating apps as a queer person, and why she sometimes feels like she can’t fully express her sexuality, living in Chennai.
Rasika Venkatesa Ethnicity
Top Chef contestant Rasika Venkatesa is of Indian heritage.
Rasika Venkatesa’s Instagram handle is chefrasikav.
