The finale is officially set on “America’s Culinary Cup” season 1, and the final three chefs each took different paths to get there. From competing through pregnancy to overcoming doubts from fellow contestants to carrying the pressure of being viewed as the chef to beat, the final three chefs have all earned a spot in “America’s Culinary Cup” 2026 finale. After weeks of intense challenges while taking on the 10 Culinary Commandments, one of them will be named the winner of “America’s Culinary Cup.” Meet your season 1 finalists below in our “America’s Culinary Cup” spoilers.
Cara Stadler Has Been Competing While Pregnant
Cara is the only New England-based contestant on “America’s Culinary Cup” 2026. The James Beard-nominated chef also happened to be the only contestant who was pregnant while the show taped.
Producers reached out to Stadler last summer to see if she’d want to be part of the show. She agreed to do it if it fell during her second trimester, according to the Bangor Daily News.
It all worked out, as they shot the show in a Canadian studio over about a month during her second trimester. Since then, her second daughter, Lina, was born in mid-February.
She told the Bangor Daily News how the pregnancy helped keep the stress in check during the competition. Cara said, “Stress wasn’t really an option. I couldn’t get stressed, because I’d be stressing out Lina, and it just wasn’t worth it. I was very conscious of making sure Lina’s health came first.”
Cara is the former chef and co-owner of restaurants Tao Yuan and ZaoZe Cafe in Brunswick and Bao Bao Dumpling House in Brunswick. When filming “America’s Culinary Cup” got underway, Stadler and her partners were preparing to close ZaoZe.
Since having Lina, Stadler plans on taking a break from hospitality for a while to focus on her family. Being on the show allowed her to dip her toe back into cooking before her “life was completely consumed by children.”
Chris Morgan Voted Least Likely to Win This Season
During Week 7 of this season, the chefs were asked to vote on who was most likely to win this season and which chef was least likely to win. At the time, Beverly Kim was voted most likely to win and Chris Morgan was voted least likely to win.
The vote was a bit off. Beverly was eliminated during Week 8, and Chris finds himself competing in the Season 1 finale next week!
Morgan told Northern Virginia Magazine that he never really wanted to do competition cooking. However, at the beginning of 2025, he lost his mother, and the Michelin-starred chef started to second-guess his career decisions. That’s when the show reached out, and he decided to do it.
Show creator Padma Lakshmi has said the show is like the World Series of cooking. Morgan agreed, saying, “It’s pretty turned up. The way they drop us in on the first episode, and the way the show kicks off is a very intense start, and it continues to be that intense throughout the entire season.”
Now, the chef behind Joon in Vienna, Virginia, finds himself competing to win the $1 million prize in next week’s finale.
Matt Peters Was Always the Biggest Threat
If there was ever a contestant on “America’s Culinary Cup” that everyone seemed afraid of, it has to be Matt Peters. He is a Bocuse d’Or gold medalist, and everyone knew it. It’s a huge title to win, and it showed with his plating and the dishes he created while on the show.
His background is rooted in classical French cooking. The Bocuse competition demands months of rehearsal. Competitors have to have precise plating under strict time limits. It includes execution that leaves little room for improvisation, so getting a gold medal is insane.
Matt spent years in New York and on the international circuit before her relocated to Austin in 2024. He showed local diners his cooking style at Prélude, a cocktail-and-canapé lounge in Austin. However, Prélude is now closed. He is developing a full fine-dining concept in the same space, but details have not been made public yet.
For now, we wait until next week to see if Peters can turn that gold medal win into a $1 million win on “America’s Culinary Cup” season 1.
Which chef do you think can win it all during next week’s finale?
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