Throng

8:30pm - Thursday, December 17 on TV 3

Judge and world-class chef Tom Colicchio will find his Top Chef Season Six winner on Thursday, December 17th at 8:30pm on 3. But what road did Colicchio take to become the well respected judge he is today?

Colicchio says that his early experience fishing with his grandfather gave him a sense at a young age that food was a source of connection and pleasure.

"It was my job to come home - I had to clean the fish," Colicchio tells American TV Guide. "So, I learned to filet fish when I was about four-years-old. And then we would just cook all afternoon and eat that night, and it would last all night long."

"So, something as simple as going out for day fishing turned into a feast. I didn't know any other way, that's just the way I was raised, and I kind of expect that from everybody."

The idea of turning food into the focal point was continued by his mother. "It was a way of her expressing love and it was clear that it was so important to her to have a meal on the table and have us all sitting together. And I think that really also transfers into what I do today - ultimately, we're here to make people happy, and that I got from my mum."

The Top Chef judge got started on his own food career early. At 13, he worked his way into a job as a snack bar grill cook. It sounds like an arduous job for a young man, but Colicchio says he absolutely loved it.

"It was the best job I ever had," he remembers. "I found out how much I really enjoyed it. Not only did I enjoy it but I enjoyed the physical aspect of it, sort of working the griddle and sort of timing everything and getting everything down - it was a blast, it was a lot of fun."

A couple years later, Colicchio's own father made the suggestion that he pursue cooking as a career. "It's probably one of the few times I listened to him," he says.

And it's a good thing he did as tonight the world-class chef will make the dreams of one of our final four contestants come true by choosing the true Top Chef for season six.

But who will fold under the pressure, and who will take home grand prize of; $100,000 in seed money to help open a restaurant; a feature in Food & Wine magazine; a showcase at the Annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen; and the title of Top Chef: Las Vegas?

All will be revealed in the Top Chef Season Six season finale, screening on Thursday, December 17th at 8:30pm on 3.