John Tesar Will Return To Top Chef

If you missed John Tesar’s turn on reality television, you may soon have another chance to catch Dallas’ infamous king of meat on Top Chef.

The upcoming season of Top Chef will pit newcomers and veterans from the show against each other, and it appears as if Tesar is going to be one of the returning chefs. A post to Top Chef’s Facebook page offers clues to the first returning chef’s identity, and it’s pretty clear that it’s going to be Tesar.

Scope out the evidence for yourself:

As is well known, Tesar and Bourdain cooked together in New York in the 1970s. Tesar also inspired a character named Jimmy Sears in Bourdain’s best-selling book Kitchen Confidential, saying that Tesar was the “single most talented cook” he ever worked with. In a 2015 interview with Playboy, Tesar returned the favor, saying that Bourdain was “one of the shittiest chefs that ever lived.” Ah, brotherly love.

The bit about Tesar’s affinity for caviar is somewhat less widely known, but perhaps saying that he couldn’t live without year-long dry-aged beef was a little too obvious. Neither the network nor Tesar will confirm his appearance ahead of next week’s announcement but you can pretty much guarantee that his upside-down glasses will be part of Top Chef’s newest season.

UPDATE: People.com confirms Eater's suspicions that Tesar will appear on the upcoming season of Top Chef. Told ya so.