Deaf Community Rallies Behind Hot Chef Kurt Ramborger

ViUDA Bistro's Kurt "The Irish Chef" Ramborger, officially the Hottest Chef in Austin, beat Portland's Greg Gourdet of Departure yesterday to advance to the next round of Eater's annual Hottest Chef in America competition, and we can't say we're surprised: not only is Ramborger dead sexy, he's also garnered incredible support from the worldwide deaf community thanks to online activism from his sister, Heidi Branch. Ramborger is deaf, and so are several of his colleagues at ViUDA Bistro.

Branch has been posting video updates--this one's subtitled, for the non-sign-language speakers out there--on Ramborger's progress in the competition and encouraging folks to vote and leave positive comments, saying, "We need to show our positive attitude."

Video: Kurt "The Irish Chef" Ramborger Part Two

Ramborger himself appeared on Austin's KEYE TV yesterday, showing a tremendous sense of humor about the whole experience, saying: "I make food that is sexy," and that he loves cooking so much that he wants to "arouse" people's palates. We see what you did there, Irish Chef.

Like his sister, Ramborger's also started posting video blogs via YouTube, and we're hoping to have a translation up soon of his first video, "Tale of the hottest chef in America." Go, Kurt, Go!

· Central Texas Chef Moves One Step Closer To "Hottest Chef" Title [KEYE]
· Kurt "The Irish Chef" Ramborger, Part 2 [YouTube]
· All Hottest Chef Coverage on Eater Austin [-EATX-]