Vivani grew up in Florence, Italy and is known for incorporating Italian, French and Spanish styles into his food. He specializes in molecular cuisine, and uses cutting-edge technology to prepare food. He is the owner and executive chef of Cafe Firenze Italian Restaurant and Martini Bar. He is also William Shatner's private chef.

As host for the Garlic Showdown, Vivani will talk about what the chefs are doing, how hard it is to cook in such a short amount of time, and cooking in general, said 2009 festival President Kirsten Carr.

"He's the host, the MC," she said.

Carr described Vivani as "incredibly energetic."

In the competition, four Bay Area contestants will have two hours to prepare and serve a dish that uses a "secret ingredient."

While Vivani didn't win "Top Chef," he won the love of his audience.

"In the week after I got kicked out from the show I received over 2 million e-mails. Now you have an idea of how many two million e-mails are? Well I did not and all the computer servers at my restaurant went down and we had to update all of them with a new Internet provider," Vivani said in his Bravo TV blog.

Since the show, he opened two restaurants in Ventura Country, published a cookbook and opened a foundation that focuses on encouraging children's health through proper nutrition.