It was recently brought to our attention that Top Chef Zoi—one half of this season's lesbian couple, both of whom made it on the show—is the daughter of one of our former roommate's friends. We don't know her, but we recall her mom as being super cool.

Zoi was born and raised in Seattle, but now lives in San Francisco with her fellow contestant/girlfriend Jen. She's a restaurant consultant who, according to her bio, has cooked with some of the greatest chefs in the world.

We're thrilled to have another local link to a reality TV show (that we actually watch). But, really, we're just glad Top Chef is back so we can look forward to more Beyond Reality recaps from these gals: