Machamer, the daughter of Rick and Leasa Machamer, was born and raised in St. Louis, and began working in restaurants at age 16. She graduated from Lafayette High School in 2000 and after some time in college, she dropped out of pre-law and decided that cooking was her calling in life. After an apprenticeship with chef Larry Forgione at An American Place, she began her formal training at Forest Park Community College in 2003. She moved on to The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park in spring 2006 and graduated on February 29, 2008. At the Culinary Institute, she graduated at the top of her class.
''Hell's Kitchen''
Machamer decided to apply to Hell's Kitchen after watching season 3. She went to the open audition in Manhattan and was called back for a screen test. The casting director thought she was "hilarious". As a culinary student, Machamer was the contestant with the least cooking experience and was nominated for elimination five times, mostly because of what her peers saw as infantile behavior and a threatening intellect. Despite this, she broke the standing record for the number of challenges won with 9 wins and finished as the final competitor, defeating the season's runner-up, Louis Petrozza. What most impressed Ramsay was her special potential, something he did not see nearly enough of in any of the other contestants. After winning, Machamer had the choice of accepting her $250,000 prize money at once or earning it as a paycheck for working a year at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant.
After ''Hell's Kitchen''
Although promised the position of executive chef at the new Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood restaurant, Machamer, as the winning contestant, was instead given the position of senior chef under executive chef Andy Cook. While waiting for the show to be aired and permission to disclose her win, Machamer worked at Revival, a restaurant in St. Louis started by her mentor, chef Cary McDowell. Together with Cory Lemieux, Machamer began BCBC Blends, a small artisan spice company that has recently been launched nationally. Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood was awarded a Michelin Star in the 2009 Michelin Guide. As of early 2009, Machamer is the executive sous chef at the London West Hollywood, where she works nearly 14 hours a day and is also charged with supervising the kitchen's various stations. Machamer will be blogging for BuddyTV.com after each episode of season 5 and has recently completed her sommelier diploma in wine service. Since being invested with celebrity status from her win, Machamer has been invited to a number of culinary events. She and the 2007 Hell's Kitchen winner Rock Harper competed in a cookoff and both were among those presenting at the 2009 Scottsdale Culinary Festival in Arizona. After Gordon Ramsay at The London West Hollywood was sold back to LXR hotels, Machamer traveled to Napa to study wine at CIA Greystone in St. Helena, California. Shortly after, she returned to Los Angeles as part of the opening team at Bouchon in Beverly Hills for celebrated chef, Thomas Keller. In 2011, she relocated to the Napa Valley, where she has found a new niche bridging the gap between food and wine at the much celebrated B Cellars, in Calistoga, California. In January 2009, she was featured as a host at the St. Louis Food & Wine Experience. She also appeared in the 11th season of Hell's Kitchen as part of a brigade consisting of past Hell's Kitchen winners in order to compete against the final 5 contestants. Machamer briefly appeared in the 16th-season premiere as a guest with the winner of Season 12, Scott Commings, during the red team's challenge reward. She gave the women several tips about working under pressure in Hell's Kitchen.
