'Life After Top Chef' Follows Toluca's Chef Fabio

Foodies wondering what has happened to alums of Bravo's popular Top Chef series after the cameras stopped rolling can find out this Wednesday night.

The network will debut Life After Top Chef, featuring Richard Blais in Atlanta, Jen Carroll in Philadelphia, Spike Mendelsohn in DC and Toluca Lake restaurateur and chef Fabio Viviani, voted fan favorite in the series' fifth season. The show follows the four chefs as they open restaurants, expand their franchises and establish their own brands.

I sat down with the charming Viviani at his Toluca Lake Firenze Osteria restaurant to chat about the show as well as other upcoming projects.

"Every chef after filming has to go on with their life," said Viviani. "The crew followed me around for three months. You'll see everything, including me in my underwear."

Viviani said the most challenging aspect of filming was the complete lack of privacy. Cameras tracked each chef's movements 24-7. 

"The good news is that with this show at least no one gets voted off at the end of the day," he added.

The show will also cover some of Viviani's planning of the opening of his third restaurant, Sienna Tavern, in Chicago. Viviani teamed with the Dynamic Group to create an old fashioned Italian market-themed eatery with traditional Florentine recipes.  

The restaurant will open in February 2013 after three years of planning.  

"It was much easier to open Sienna Tavern having partners with a strong business sense," Viviani said.

He also hosts the popular Chow Ciao!, Yahoo's weekly video cooking show where he reproduces traditional recipes with an Italian twist.  

When asked how he manages shoots, food endorsements, planning his own line of food products and restaurants, Viviani says he has a much longer day than most chefs. "I get up at 5 a.m. and don't get to bed till past midnight," he said.

Viviani and his Life After Top Chef co-stars, along with other alumni, will be hosting the first Top Chef cruise in April.  

"It's like Top Chef all-stars on the ocean with twenty past contestants and Tom Colichio."  The cruise with include cooking demos and various other events.

Also in the works is a new book on Viviani's family recipes to come out next year. "I have been very blessed and I am focusing on giving back and sharing my love of food in every possible way," he said.