Meet the seasonal Italian kitchen guru from Charlotte competing on ‘Top Chef’
Chef Brittany Cochran has been food-focused her whole life, offering her a bit of an edge in the competitive restaurant industry.
The executive chef at Stagioni-Four Seasons of Food in Charlotte grew up in Columbus, Ohio, spending summers with her grandparents near the Ohio River, helping to tend their garden from the planting stages through harvest time, setting the stage for a career tied to fresh, farm-to-table cuisine.
For Cochran — who was mentored by celebrity chef Marc Forgione and now counts him among her buddies — friends and family are at her core. And she carries her family-oriented perspective into the kitchen.
"I'm very compassionate and empathetic. When it comes to my staff, I deeply care about them," she told CharlotteFive.
Now, she's one of two competitors from North Carolina on "Top Chef" Season 23 — filmed last fall in Charlotte . The other one is Oscar Diaz of Durham , a James Beard Award semifinalist with multiple restaurants that showcase his Mexican American heritage growing up in Chicago.
"'Top Chef' is something that I never thought I would ever, ever do, and when it became an opportunity, I jumped right on it," Cochran said.
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All about 'Top Chef's' Brittany
Cochran's formative years spending time with her grandparents helped chart her path to the kitchen, she said. She'd cook and can with her grandma. And for fun, her grandpa would put together vegetable baskets to give as gifts.
"I got to see all the produce from start to finish. We would dig up the gardens, plow, plant and then harvest," she said.
With that foundation, she dove straight in to gather all the experience she could. High school culinary classes and a first job at Bob Evans Farmhouse Kitchen propelled her into a gig at Muirfield Village Golf Club, working tournaments.
Cochran left home for Charlotte in 2008 to study at Johnson & Wales, earning double degrees in Culinary Arts and Food Service Management before heading off to New York in search of great things.
There, she landed a job with Forgione, a Food Network-famous face who earned a Michelin star at 30 and became one of the Iron Chefs on "Iron Chef: America." She also spent time in New York City working at Michelin-starred restaurant Marea, where a heavy focus on high-end seafood and fresh pasta helped deepen her experience in coastal Italian cuisine.
After a few years, she was drawn back to Charlotte, where she worked at uptown staple Mimosa Grill . The restaurant approaching its 30th anniversary sources a hefty amount of produce and other products from local farms — a theme that continues for Cochran at Bruce Moffett's Stagioni.
Beyond the kitchen
A 2024 Instagram post offers a window into Cochran's passion for the craft: "Every dish I create is a blend of experience, dedication, and an unwavering commitment to delivering excellence. As I continue to write my story, I'm excited to show you into the world of a local chefs life while highlighting the restaurant, community involvement, and much more."
In fact, if Cochran looks familiar to you, perhaps it's because of her community efforts. You might have seen her on TV or been to an event promoting Cookies for Kids' Cancer. The organization funds research to develop new and improved treatments for pediatric cancers. It's a cause she deeply believes in as a chair chef, working alongside chef Sam Diminich of Restaurant Constance and Hannah Neville of Honeybear Bake Shop .
"I just actually got a letter in the mail yesterday that with our event that we did last year, we were able to fund five new grants for research this year, which is awesome," she said.
She also volunteers for Meals on Wheels alongside Moffett, who's chef chair of an April celebrity chefs brunch for the cause in Delaware.
"That's kind of different than what we normally do — a lot of travel," she said, fresh off a trip to cook at a James Beard Foundation dinner in New York City. "I think 'Top Chef's' going to really open up a lot of opportunities, and I'm excited for it."
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As someone who moved to the South not knowing a soul, building a network has been key.
"I feel like I can make friends with anybody, and I'm just pretty chill," she said. "In general, obviously this industry is very important to me, but friends and family I keep very close."
She also makes sure to FaceTime her family members back in Ohio, including her nephews — they're 5 and 1.
And not to be forgotten are her dogs Patch Gray and Basil Roux, named after her favorite herb and bourbon, Basil Hayden.
"I have two dogs that are my life, and they mean everything to me. So they're extremely important," Cochran said.
What you'll find at Stagioni
At work, Cochran is leading the kitchen at Stagioni, a cozy neighborhood gathering spot near where Eastover and Myers Park come together that's a hotspot for regulars and date night dinners. Supporting local farms for produce and other ingredients is a high priority.
"I like simple food because of how I grew up and being able to see the work into growing produce and products. I deeply care about the quality, and I truly believe that if you have quality ingredients, you don't have to do much to it.," she said.
Diners there can grab a seat at the bar along the seasonal Italian restaurant's fully open kitchen, watching pizzas turn golden brown and bubbly in the wood-fired oven and peering into the spaces where chefs bring pasta dishes to life alongside steak and scallops.
In her early career, she said Forgioni was "really hard on me. But now, yes, he is my mentor, but I can also call him a very close friend, and I'm very fortunate — and I want to be that person for somebody in the future."
With that in mind, she looks to lift up her colleagues and provide a source of support. "Maybe I live inside these four walls, but I don't want them to, and I don't want them to be my line cooks forever. I don't want them to be my sous chef [forever]. I want to be the person, that stepping stone for their career to jump off. ... I want to be that person for somebody in the future."
Butchering, a skill she picked up in culinary school, is also a big deal for Cochran at Stagioni, where three whole hogs ranging from 650 pounds to 800 pounds come in once a month.
"We butcher head to toe, and we use every bit of it ... the same goes with our fish," she added, noting that as she's only 5-foot 2, a 60-pound wahoo can be taller than her, nose to tail.
But one thing you won't find is a lot of fussy plating with tons of touches.
"My kind of food is like when the plate hits, I don't want them to say, 'Oh my gosh, it's so beautiful, I don't even want to touch it.' I want the guests to look at it and be like, 'Damn, that looks good.' And then the table goes silent, because they're all digging in.
"That's my favorite thing about having an open kitchen. I have guests sitting right behind me. I can hear conversations. I can see people's interactions. But when that plate hits and the table goes silent, I'm like, OK, we did it right."
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How you can watch 'Top Chef'
You'll be able to see Cochran compete on Season 23 of "Top Chef," which airs starting Tuesday, March 3 on Peacock, Bravo's YouTube channel and VOD. On Monday, March 16, the series will move to its regular time slot at 9:30 p.m., with episodes available the next day on Peacock.
Cochran said it was a challenging thrill to be the hometown chef for "Top Chef Carolinas," filmed both in Charlotte and Greenville, SC.
"It pushes you to limits that you never really have had to deal with. Being in this industry, we have to think on our toes. We have to problem-solve. We have to fix things — make things happen so quickly. There's always a timer," she said.
"I learned a lot about myself and what I want, the kind of person I want to be, the kind of chef I want to be. And then to represent Charlotte was a lot of pressure, but very exciting. You know, this is my hometown — my hometown of my career."
Stagioni - Four Seasons of Food
Location: 715 Providence Rd, Charlotte, NC 28207
Cuisine: Italian
Instagram: @stagioni_clt
