What is Graham Elliot's Net Worth?
Graham Elliot is a chef, restaurateur, and reality television personality who has a net worth of $1.5 million. Graham Elliot first gained attention in the restaurant industry in the early 2000s as a three-time nominee for the James Beard Award. He later became well-known for competing on the reality television cooking shows "Iron Chef" and "Top Chef Masters" and for serving as a judge on the reality cooking shows "MasterChef" and "MasterChef Junior." Among his other activities, Elliot has served as the culinary director at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago, Illinois since 2009.
Early Life and Education
Graham Elliot Bowles was born on January 4, 1977 in Seattle, Washington. A Navy brat, he lived in places all over the world growing up, fostering a strong interest in global cuisine and music. For his higher education, Elliot went to Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.
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Chef and Restaurateur
Elliot began his culinary career working at the Dallas, Texas restaurant the Mansion on Turtle Creek. He then moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he worked at the renowned restaurant Charlie Trotters for three years. Also in Chicago, Elliot worked alongside chefs Gale Gand and Rick Tramonto at the French restaurant Tru. Later, he moved to Woodstock, Vermont and did a stint at the Jackson House Inn & Restaurant. Due to his work there, Elliot was named to the "Best New Chefs" list of Food & Wine magazine in 2004.
Back in Chicago, Elliot became the Chef de Cuisine of the restaurant Avenues at the Peninsula Hotel. This earned him four stars from both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, making him the youngest chef in the United States to earn four stars from a major publication. Further, Elliot received three James Beard Award nominations. He went on to open his eponymous French casual fine-dining restaurant in the spring of 2008, in Chicago. Elliot opened another restaurant in the city in 2012, in the West Loop neighborhood.
Television Career
In 2009, Elliot competed on the first season of the Bravo reality cooking competition series "Top Chef Masters." His competitors were chefs Elizabeth Falkner, Wylie Dufresne, and Suzanne Tracht. Elliot competed on behalf of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and ultimately came in second place. He continued to appear on reality television in 2010 when he became a judge on the new Fox reality cooking competition series "MasterChef," based on the British series of the same name. Elliot was joined by fellow judges Gordon Ramsay and Joe Bastianich. He remained on "MasterChef" for the first six seasons of the show through 2015. Meanwhile, Elliot served as a judge for the first four seasons of the spinoff series "MasterChef Junior," a version of the show featuring child contestants. That show premiered in 2013, and also included Gordon Ramsay and Joe Bastianich as fellow judges. After leaving the "MasterChef" franchise, Elliot became a judge on "Top Chef," then in its fourteenth season. He joined judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons. Elliot left the show after the end of the sixteenth season in 2019.
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Other Activities
Among his other activities, Elliot has served as the culinary director of the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago since 2009. There, he cooks for both the public and the performers. Elsewhere, in Texas, he serves as the culinary director of Far Out Hospitality Group, alongside Felipe Armenta. In other appearances, Elliot has appeared in an infomercial for the Gotham Steel Double Grill. He also has a cookbook entitled "Cooking Like a Master Chef: 100 Recipes to Make the Everyday Extraordinary," which he authored with Mary Goodbody.
Weight Loss
Overweight for much of his life, Elliot underwent weight loss surgery in 2013; he also began jogging. He ultimately lost 150 pounds, bringing his weight down to 250 pounds.
Personal Life
In 2009, Elliot married yoga instructor Allie Mundell. Together, they have three sons named Mylo, Conrad, and Jedediah. The family previously lived in Morgan Park on the south side of Chicago.
Beyond cooking, Elliot sings and plays the guitar. He also likes to collect baseball cards.
