Tiffany Derry (born December 26, 1982) is an American celebrity

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

and restaurateur. She is a ''

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 ...

'' television series alumna and known for her appearances on ''

Cutthroat Kitchen ''Cutthroat Kitchen'' is an American cooking show hosted by Alton Brown that aired on the Food Network from August 11, 2013 to July 19, 2017. It features four chefs competing in a three-round elimination cooking competition. The contestants fac ...

'' and '' Hungry Investors'' (

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are locate ...

). She is based in

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 ...

Early life

Derry was born in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...

. She is

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

. Derry graduated from

The Art Institute of Houston The Art Institute of Houston was a private for-profit art school in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Education Principle Foundation. Founded in 1965 as the Houston School of Commercial Art, the school joined The Art Institutes system of schools in ...

in 2003 with an Associate of Applied Science degree in culinary arts. She started her culinary career at the local International House of Pancakes at the age of 15, where she later had a management position.

Restaurant career

Derry was the chef and owner of "Private, Social" in Dallas from 2011 to 2013. In 2012, Derry founded her professional website promoting her culinary career and her restaurant, "Private, Social." In 2013, Derry expressed interest in opening her own restaurant in her hometown of Beaumont. Derry has also worked with the

Dallas Independent School District The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD or DISD) is a school district based in Dallas, Texas, United States. It operates schools in much of Dallas County, Texas, Dallas County and is the second-largest school district in Texas and t ...

to improve their school lunch program in order to provide healthier options. Derry opened Roots Chicken Shak in Plano in 2017. Derry, partnering with investor Tom Foley of T2D Concepts and Indigo Group, to opened ''Roots Southern Table'' in June 2021 in

Farmers Branch Farmers Branch, officially the City of Farmers Branch, is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is an Inner suburb, inner-ring suburb of Dallas and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 35,991 at the 2020 cen ...

, Texas as an expansion concept to Roots Chicken Shak. The concept is chef driven and the menu consists of high end twists to the classic southern recipes Derry grew up with. ''Roots Southern Table'' was included in the "2021 Restaurants List" by

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, as one of the fifty best American restaurants of the year.

Television appearances

Derry competed in ''Top Chef'' season 7 in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and won "fan favorite" after placing fifth. She also competed among the All-Star chefs in

season 8 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

and finished fourth as a finalist. Derry appeared on an episode of Spike TV's ''

Bar Rescue ''Bar Rescue'' is an American reality television series that airs on Paramount Network (formerly Spike during the first five seasons). It stars Jon Taffer, a long-time food and beverage industry consultant specializing in nightclubs, bars and p ...

'' in June 2013, and has appeared in a commercial promoting her alma mater, "The Art Institute of Houston". She has occasionally appeared on other episodes of Bar Rescue from time to time. In November 2013, she was the day's winner on an episode of

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

's ''

'' and she started to appear on the Spike TV series '' Hungry Investors'', which debuted in 2014. In 2022 she became one of the competing chefs on the

Bobby Flay Robert William "Bobby" Flay (born December 10, 1964) is an American celebrity chef, food writer, restaurateur, and Television presenter, television personality. Flay is the owner and Chef de cuisine, executive chef of several restaurants and fr ...

series Bobby's Triple Threat, and in 2022 and 2023, Derry was on

Guy Fieri Guy Ramsay Fieri (, ; Ferry; born January 22, 1968) is an American restaurateur, author, and an Emmy Award winning television presenter. He co-owned three now-defunct restaurants in California. He licenses his name to restaurants in cities a ...

's television series, ''

Tournament of Champions A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

'', seasons 3 and 4. In 2024, she joined

Anne Burrell Anne W. Burrell (September 21, 1969 – June 17, 2025) was an American chef, television personality, and instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education. She was the host of the Food Network show '' Secrets of a Restaurant Chef'' and co-host ...

to host season 27 of ''

Worst Cooks in America ''Worst Cooks in America'' is an American reality television series that premiered on January3, 2010, on Food Network. The show takes 12 to 16 contestants (referred to as "recruits") with very poor cooking skills through a culinary boot camp, t ...

''. In 2025, Derry will join ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...

'' as a judge, alongside judges

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...

and

Joe Bastianich Joseph Bastianich (born September 17, 1968) is an American restaurateur, author and television personality. He, along with his mother and business partner Lidia Bastianich, co-owns thirty restaurants in four countries, including Osteria Mozza i ...

Awards

In 2013, Derry was awarded the Hall of Fame by the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities.

References

External links

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"Eight Questions for Top Chef’s Tiffany Derry"
from ''Seattle Met'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Derry, Tiffany 1982 births Living people People from Beaumont, Texas American women chefs Chefs from Texas Businesspeople from Dallas 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women