Denver Chef to Compete for $1 Million on New Cooking Show

Our picks for six people to watch in the local food scene in 2026 included three culinary duos, and one pair is already having a hell of a year.

Tommy Lee and Michael Diaz de Leon just opened their Mexico City-inspired taqueria Molino Chido inside Aurora’s Stanley Marketplace in November. Earlier this month, Lee was among the state’s seventeen James Beard semifinalists — the most ever — landing a nod in the Outstanding Restaurateur category for his work at Molino Chido, Hop Alley and two locations of his ramen joint, Uncle.

Now Molino Chido’s other co-owner is in the spotlight. Diaz de Leon was just announced as one of the sixteen contestants on a new cooking show, America’s Culinary Cup, set to premiere on March 4. The ninety-minute episode will be aired and available for streaming on CBS.

The show marks a return to television for Padma Lakshmi, the former Top Chef host who is hosting and producing, and the prize is the largest offered in culinary television: a cool $1 million. Judging the competition are Michael Cimarusti and Wylie Dufresne.

The premise: chefs will be tested on what the series calls the ten culinary commandments: Meat, Vegetables, Sauces, Dessert, Innovation, Flavors, Sustainability, World Cuisine, Consistency, Culinary Science and Technology.

Denver first got to know Diaz de Leon as the executive chef at Bruto. In a May 2023 interview, before it was announced that Colorado would be getting its own edition of the Michelin Guide but after being named a James Beard finalist that year, the chef offered up a memorable quote about winning accolades: “I do this for bigger reasons than awards,” he shared. “I didn’t before. I was always chasing the carrot, and now I have the carrot. So what are you gonna do with the carrot? I’m gonna ferment it and make miso out of it.”

Just a month after that interview, Coloradans learned that Michelin was already in the state, inspecting restaurants; that September, the company awarded its first stars to five spots, including Bruto.

By November 2023, though, Diaz de Leon had said goodbye to the restaurant where he’d earned a place in the national spotlight, leaning into traveling and cooking around the world before returning to Denver last year to open Molino Chido.

“This year took me somewhere I never imagined!” the chef shared in an Instagram post announcing the news. “Proudly representing the Latinos and Latinas who help feed America, and amplifying the voices that deserve to be heard.”

We’ll certainly be tuning in to root for this talented Colorado chef.