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Dallas chef John Tesar to appear on 'Top Chef' -- again

He's loud. He's opinionated. And he's going to be back on TV.

Dallas' John Tesar joins 15 other chefs for Top Chef Season 14 -- Charleston, which premieres Dec. 1 on Bravo. Half of the contestants have been on earlier seasons of the popular Bravo show; Tesar made his appearances when the show filmed in Seattle.

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You'll likely feel some deja vu when you see the list of 8 contestants who will be returning to Top Chef for Season 14:

  • Sam Talbot (Season 2: Los Angeles) Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Casey Thompson (Season 3: Miami & Season 8: All-Stars) Napa Valley, Calif.
  • Amanda Baumgarten (Season 7: Washington, D.C.) Chicago, Ill.
  • Brooke Williamson (Season 10: Seattle) Los Angeles
  • Sheldon Simeon (Season 10: Seattle) Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
  • John Tesar (Season 10: Seattle) Dallas
  • Shirley Chung (Season 11: New Orleans) Orange County, Calif.
  • Katsuji Tanabe (Season 12: Boston) Los Angeles
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Texans might recognize Casey Thompson's name, too. She worked at the Mansion and Shinsei, both in Dallas, and Brownstone (now closed) in Fort Worth. When she appeared on Top Chef Season 3, she made it to the top three but didn't win. She was named "fan favorite."

Of the 8 new Top Chef contestants, none are from the Dallas area or even Texas. They are:

  • Annie Pettry: Louisville, Ky.
  • BJ Smith: Portland, Ore.
  • Emily Hahn: Charleston, S.C.
  • Gerald Sombright: Marco Island, Fla.
  • Jamie Lynch: Charlotte, N.C.
  • Jim Smith: Montgomery, Ala.
  • Silvia Barban: Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Sylva Senat: Philadelphia
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Expect "the best meal I've ever had on Top Chef," host Padma Lakshmi declares during a teaser video clip.

Hometown chef Tesar is chef/partner at Knife, a steak restaurant in Dallas. He was once involved in a handful of other restaurants around Dallas but recently reeled back his commitments to focus on Knife and -- we can now confirm -- to spend time filming Top Chef.

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His mission this year is to not "dilute John Tesar," he told me back in April. "I don't want to be a corporate chef."

Does he want to be a TV star? We'll know soon.

Top Chef premieres on Bravo at 9 p.m. Dec. 1.