The Greenville foodie scene is about to get a major boost. Here’s what’s happening to the SC city

Greenville’s moment to shine in the culinary world is coming when “Top Chef” airs episodes filmed in the city.

And if history is a predictor, the exposure is likely to be a boon to a city whose culinary scene has grown exponentially, but which is still often referred to in national publications as a hidden gem.

Diana Schmedeman of Magical Elves, the production company of “Top Chef,” said after the show filmed in Wisconsin aired in 2024 within three months, tourism spending increased by seven figures.

“The Top Chef effect is a real thing,” she said.

Cap Times reported that Travel Wisconsin gave producers $1.3 million to support the production.

VisitGreenvilleSC is not revealing how much support they offered the show, which was also filmed in Charlotte.

The Greenville shows will air in May, Schmedeman said.

Greenville’s food scene started in a building that had been a cotton exchange then a grocery before being used as a discount shoe store before becoming Soby’s.

The upscale restaurant was opened in 1997 by Carl Sobocinski, a New Hampshire native who moved south to play baseball at Clemson University. It is generally considered to be the impetus for Greenville’s now expansive food scene, which counts some 200 restaurants of every cuisine.

Last year, Travel + Leisure said Greenville was one of 14 best food cities in America on par with New York City, Chicago and New Orleans.

Sobocinski is featured in one of the Top Chef episodes.

Greenville became known to Top Chef producers when a season was filmed in Charleston in 2016.

Taryn Scher of TKPR gave Schmedeman a Greenville tour, Schmedeman said, noting she was surprised and charmed by the city. Then, a group of producers spent three days in Greenville.

“Everyone loved Greenville,” she said. “We were taken with the sense of community. Small town, big town feeling.”

The show will feature the Swamp Rabbit walking/bike trail, Reedy River Falls, downtown, among other places.

No Greenville chefs are featured, but contestants include life partners Jennifer Lee Jackson and Justin Tootla of Bunny Bunny, identical twins Brandon Dearden (now chef and co-owner of Ember and Grano in Hamilton, Montana) and Jonathan Dearden (a chef based in Alexandria, Virginia). From the Carolinas are Brittany Cochran, executive chef at Charlotte’s Stagioni, and Oscar Diaz, the Durham-based chef-owner behind Little Bull, Aaktun, and TaTaco, Food and Wine reported.

Season 23 of Top Chef began Monday.