8/21/14 - The upcoming season of a popular reality television series will feature a chef with a Livingston County connection. James Rigato of Howell, executive chef of The Root Restaurant & Bar in White Lake, will star in the 12th season of the Bravo Networkâs âTop Chefâ series, which premieres in October. The 29-year-old Rigato entered the restaurant business when he was just 14 working as a dishwasher at a local diner. After enrolling in Schoolcraft Collegeâs Culinary program at 17, he spent the next eight years working in several of metro Detroitâs finest restaurants, until he opened The Root Restaurant & Bar in White Lake several years ago. He won the Detroit Free Press 2012 Restaurant of the Year award and was named Best Chef by Hour Detroit magazine for 2013 and 2014. Rigato had planned to open a second restaurant inside the Howell Theater before his financial backers pulled out of the project earlier this year. He wonât be the only Michigan contestant on Top Chef. Also competing is Mei Lin of Dearborn, who works in Los Angeles. (JK)
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