Top Chef alum Aaron Grissom has died. He was 34.
Multiple outlets report the former contestant on the hit cooking competition series died after suffering “blunt force injuries” in a motorcycle crash on Tuesday (September 8), authorities confirmed last night. His friend and former Moshi Moshi co-worker, Yu Nanakornphanom, said the collision happened near Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington.
According to The News Tribune, Grissom, who was wearing a helmet during the incident, seemingly lost control of his 2018 Suzuki GSX-R750 when riding through a roundabout and striking a curb.
Before the wreck, witnesses saw Grissom nearing a turn in the road at a high speed and noted that they could hear “high revving” of the motorcycle’s engine. Bystanders, who found Grissom on the ground and his motorcycle 100 feet beyond him, had been performing CPR on him by the time cops arrived at the scene.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Grissom’s death an accident.
A native of University Place, Grissom worked as a chef at Bow & Truss in North Hollywood. While living in Los Angeles, he competed on Top Chef: Boston in 2014 as one of 16 contestants, though he was eliminated early on. Prior to his stint on the show’s 12th season, he appeared in an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives when the show visited Dirty Oscar’s Annex in Tacoma, where Grissom worked as a chef.
What’s more, before the pandemic shutdown, Grissom had been cooking for touring singers, including Billie Eilish.
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