Meet "Team Gay" from the new season of "Top Chef"

The sixth season of Bravo's Top Chef begins next month, and we've got a first look at the season's one out gay man (and two gay women).

Look below for pics and profiles, and be sure and catch the season premiere of Top Chef (this year from Las Vegas) when it airs on Wednesday, August 19th at 9PM EST (and for a refresher on what it's like being an out Top Chef contestant, check out our interview with Season Four Chef Dale Levitski.)

Ash Fulk

 

Age: 29

Hometown: Pleasant Hill, Calif. - currently resides in New York City

Profession:: Sous Chef at Trestle on Tenth

Culinary Education: Self-Taught

Favorite Simple Summer Recipe: Grilled Corn on the Cob with Mayonnaise - with a sweet tea to wash it down.

Foodie Fact: Fulk enjoys working with foods that are regional and seasonal and follows the motto "if it grows together, it goes together." Ash enjoys whipping up custards and cooking with leeks, and some of his favorite chefs include Dan Barber and Claudia Fleming.

Preeti Mistry

 

Age: 33

Hometown: San Francisco, Calif.

Profession:: Executive Chef, Google, Bon Appetit ManAgement Company

Culinary Education: Le Cordon Bleu, London

Favorite Simple Summer Recipe: Fennel Crust Marin Sun Farms’ Rack of Lamb, Saffron Parsnip Puree, Heirloom Carrot and English Pea Ragout with Pinot Noir Reduction

Foodie Fact: Preeti’s commitment to seasonality, and her relationship with small local farmers are at the core of her cuisine. If she were a food, what food would she be? "I would be a green zebra tomato – extremely distinctive from all the others, a little hard on the outside, but pure love at the center."

Ashley Merriman

 

Age: 32

Hometown: Center Sandwich, N.H. – currently resides in Seattle, Wash.

Profession:: Chef at Branzino in Seattle, Wash.

Culinary Education: Institute of Culinary Education, New York, N.Y.

Favorite Simple Summer Recipe: Pan-Fried Soft Shell Crabs with Ramps and Morels

Foodie Fact: You don't have to become a chef if you hail from a town named Center Sandwich, but don't tell that to Ashley Merriman. Merriman's five kitchen must-haves are quality extra virgin olive oil, champagne vinegar, lemons and thyme.

Damn, now I'm hungry. Well, except for "grilled corn-on-the-cob with mayonnaise". I think I'll pass on that.