Dino Angelo Luciano: Where Are They Now?

Spoiler note: this post confirms that Dino Angelo Luciano won his season of MasterChef.

Dino Angelo Luciano won season 8 of MasterChef in 2017, a 28 year old dancer from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn who became the first vegan to win the show. His win stood out for its plant forward point of view at a time when that was still unusual for the competition, and his path since has been an independent, entrepreneurial one. Here is where the years since took him.

The win

Luciano took the season 8 title in 2017, earning the MasterChef trophy and the grand prize. He came from a performance background as a dancer rather than a culinary one, and his win as the show's first vegan champion gave him a distinct identity in a franchise not known for plant based cooking.

Restaurant, pop-ups, and a seasoning line

Luciano's post win career has been a mix of ventures rather than a single steady post. According to a profile by Mashed, he opened a restaurant called Le Mariachi in 2020, which closed in October 2021, a reminder of how hard the restaurant business is even for a champion. Since then he has worked as a private chef, operating under the name The Gourmet Rabbit, and hosting pop up dining experiences and exclusive dinners. He also launched a seasoning line sold online under the name Babydoll Season. Alongside the food work, he has been public about mental health, describing himself as an advocate.

Where things stand now

Public reporting places Luciano's recent activity in the private chef and independent venture space: running The Gourmet Rabbit private chef operation, doing pop ups, and selling his seasonings, after the closure of his restaurant in 2021. Because his work is spread across independent projects rather than a single high profile establishment, the most precise current details are best treated as evolving, but the overall shape is clear and documented: a champion who traded a fixed restaurant for a flexible mix of private cooking, pop ups, and a product line. What is firmly established is the season 8 win and his status as the first vegan champion.

To see how he fits among the show's other winners, our guide to every MasterChef US winner lays out the full list, and Dara Yu, the season 12 champion, is another winner who leaned into independent, pop up driven ventures.

The takeaway for fans

Luciano's story captures the reality that a MasterChef win opens doors but does not guarantee a smooth road, and that reinventing around pop ups and products is a legitimate response. His plant forward cooking celebrates fresh, from scratch preparation, and a good set of mixing bowls is the kind of everyday foundation that supports it. To explore the show that crowned him, the MasterChef US hub keeps every season in one place.