Hugh Acheson

Best known for his dry, snarky sense of humor and an impressively large mono-brow, chef Hugh Acheson became a cult TV favorite through his appearances on the popular cooking competition "Top Chef" and its spinoff "Top Chef Masters" (Bravo 2006- ). Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Acheson was largely raised by his father, an economics professor; however, the two years he spent in his early teens during the 1980s living with his mother and stepfather in South Carolina and Georgia instilled in him a deep love of Southern culture and food. Returning to Ottawa, Acheson started working entry-level jobs at local restaurants after school. After dropping out of Montreal's Concordia University to devote himself to cooking full-time, he served an apprenticeship at one of Ottawa's most prestigious French restaurants, but the unpretentious seasonality and local focus of Southern cuisine remained dear to his heart.