Casey Thompson (born January 21, 1978) is an American chef and

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

from

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Between 2020 and 2024, she was the executive chef at Folktable, a restaurant in

Sonoma, California Sonoma () is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma is one of the principal cities of California's Wine Country and the center of the Sonoma Valley AVA. Sonoma' ...

. In 2025, she became the consultant chef at Duchess, a restaurant at the New Nobleman Hotel in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. Thompson was a contestant on '' Top Chef: Miami'', the third season of the television series ''

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo in March 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional chefs ...

'', in which she finished as runner-up and was voted Fan Favorite. She also appeared in '' Top Chef: All-Stars'' (season 8) and '' Top Chef: Charleston'' (season 14), and was a guest judge in episode 7 of ''

Top Chef Junior ''Top Chef Junior'' is an American reality competition television series that serves as a spin-off of the popular ''Top Chef'' series. Ordered in 2008 for an eight-episode run on Bravo, the show had never aired, nor is it known if any episodes we ...

''.

Career

Thompson's professional start came at Dallas' The Mansion Restaurant, at Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, under head chef

Dean Fearing William Dean Fearing (born 1955) is an American chef known as one of the earliest stars of Southwestern Cuisine.J.L. Becker. "Puttin' on the Ritz: Dean Fearing put Southwestern cuisine on the map at The Mansion on Turtle Creek. He's now moving on ...

, where she worked her way up from a prep cook to becoming the

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command of a kitchen, ranking directly below the head chef in the Kitchen Brigade system developed by Auguste Escoffier. In large kitchens, sous-chefs are typically left in charge of managing members o ...

. She later became executive chef at Shinsei, a

Pan-Asian Satellite photograph of Asia in orthographic projection. Pan-Asianism (also known as Asianism or Greater Asianism) is an ideology aimed at creating a political and economic unity among Asian peoples. Various theories and movements of Pan-Asiani ...

restaurant in Dallas. Thompson was formerly executive chef at Brownstone in

, and, between June and November 2014, the owner of Aveline at the Warwick Hotel in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, which she named after her grandmothers."Review: San Francisco’s Aveline, unparalleled California cuisine"
– ''

The Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

'', August 7, 2014 In 2017, Thompson became executive chef at Morada, the restaurant at The Inn at

Rancho Santa Fe Rancho Santa Fe is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States, within the San Diego metropolitan area. The population was 3,156 at the 2020 census. The CDP is primarily residential with a few shopping blocks, ...

."Top Chef to bring new tastes, look to The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe’s Morada"
– '' Rancho Santa Fe Review'', January 4, 2017 She was due to open Georgette as a partner in late 2020, but it was put on hold due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. Thompson is a spokesperson for Terrazas de los Andes, a Moet-Hennessey brand.

Folktable

Between December 2020 and November 2024, Thompson was the executive chef at Folktable, a restaurant at Cornerstone Sonoma marketplace in

."New restaurant coming to Cornerstone Sonoma"
– ''

Sonoma Index-Tribune The ''Sonoma Index-Tribune'' is a community newspaper published twice a week in Sonoma, California. The newspaper was published by four generations of the same family for 128 years, but is now owned by a group of local media investors. History ...

'', August 28, 2020 In September 2021, just over a year into Thompson's time at the restaurant, it was named a Michelin Guide

Bib Gourmand The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

establishment. It retained the accolade in 2022 and 2023. The restaurant closed in 2024, after four years in business. In 2025, Thompson became the consultant chef at Duchess, a restaurant at the New Nobleman Hotel in

Personal life

Thompson has been married to Michael DeSantis, co-owner of Harumph Wines, –

Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

Wine and Food since 2008.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Casey 1978 births Living people Chefs from Texas Participants in American reality television series American women chefs 21st-century American women People from Dallas