The Quick 10: The 10 Top-Earning Chefs

By Stacy Conradt |

Today's Q10 comes to us straight from Forbes. Do a good job at Thanksgiving and this could be you, next year! These are yearly earnings, by the way, not total earnings.

bourdain
bourdain /

9. Bobby Flay, $1.5 million. I don't have much to say about Bobby Flay, "˜cause I don't really like him. OK, that's not fair. He is the owner and executive chef of six restaurants, has eight cookbooks, and has hosted seven Food Network shows.

8. Tom Colicchio, $2 million. The Top Chef judge owns the Craft line of restaurants, including 'wichcraft. He also used to be the co-owner, co-founder, and executive chef of NYC's Gramercy Tavern.

7. Mario Batali, $3 million. This seems low, too "“ he's owns not one"¦ not two"¦ but 13 restaurants in New York, L.A. and Vegas. But he's also got the cookware. I guess if he runs low on cash he could always approach Crocs about becoming a spokesperson.

6. Paula Deen, $4.5 million. My mom's favorite!

Two Food Network shows, cookbooks, a magazine, an memoir "“ Paula's money comes as much from selling her personality as it does from her butter-soaked, Southern-style food.

5. Alain Ducasse, $5 million. He tops Batali's 13 restaurants "“ Ducasse owns 22 across the world. But he's got some incredibly interesting side projects going on - he has two cooking schools in Paris - one for the general public and one specifically for chefs. His school for chefs is partnering with the European Space Agency for tastier astronaut meals.

4. Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, $5 million. He co-owns 17 Nobu sushi joints (yum). But I'm sure the real money comes from his movie royalties - he was Mr. Roboto in Austin Powers in Goldmember. On second thought, I bet his four cookbooks do OK, too.

ramsay
ramsay /

1. Rachael Ray, $18 million. You know, I liked Rachael Ray at first, but I'm waaaay over her. She was too everywhere, too fast. But being everywhere apparently meant lots of cash for Rachael, since she's bringing in $18 mil a year. That includes her Food Network shows, her magazine, her talk show, her EVOO brand olive oil and her Dunkin' Donuts endorsement.