The logo for Top Chef prominently features a shiny sharp knife. That alone would give you a big clue that this is not a happy, friendly, “Everybody is a winner!” kindergarten kind of competition.

Even so, Top Chef still managed to reach a surprising new level of its special brand of delicious cruelty last night. Cheftestant Lauren was no sooner introduced to us through her composed and confident interviews as she was eliminated in the very first Quickfire Competition of the season.

Her friend and Culinary Institute of American classmate Patrick landed in the bottom with her in that challenge. He held on for a bit longer, but followed her out the kitchen door at the end of the episode. The two spoke about their experiences today and gave us a bit of dish about the behind-the-scenes world of Top Chef.

Lauren, 24

Lauren says she went into the competition with a high level of confidence and self-assuredness. She also had watched the previous seasons closely, with an eye to hints to make her more successful on the show. Her first hint of how difficult it could be was when she realized that many of her competitors had years of experience in the kitchen.

She was, she says, “miserable” to have been kicked off first. She drowned her sorrows in wine and a good sushi dinner, but felt like she “fell flat on [her] face” and it took a little while to regroup and figure out how to move on.

It is, of course, always challenging for the reality competitor to deal with a loss, since they have to keep it a secret, but Lauren had the extra challenge of a husband away in the military. He has since been home for a two-week leave, and they were able to have their monthly call this week, where he reiterated how proud he was of her for trying and making it as far as she did. Lauren is, again, very composed and poised, but this was the one moment where she seemed to be understandably overwhelmed by emotion, and she choked up a bit.

On a lighter note, she said that Tom Colicchio is portrayed accurately as a kind and respected food expert. She was not as impressed by Padma Lakshmi, saying the do a “good job of editing” with her, and implying that she's not as nice as she might appear. Lauren went on to say that she, herself, is a pretty low-maintenance kind of woman, so she seemed to be a bit put off by Padma's hair and makeup team, and the need to stop filming often to “powder [Padma's] nose.”

As one might expect from the drive and confidence we saw in Lauren, she is moving forward with other plans. She has no plans right now to try to redeem herself with another run at Top Chef. She thinks she would need more years of experience before trying again. Instead, she is trying to make business plans as best she can with the knowledge that her military life might require many moves. She wants to use her background in pastry to open a wedding cake and bakery business.


Patrick, 21

Patrick was the youngest chef on Top Chef 5, and unfortunately, his lack of experience seemed to catch up with him in the Elimination Challenge. He says that were he to do that challenge again, he would, of course, use something other than the gummy black rice noodles, and increase the ginger, garlic and scallion flavorings, per the judges' feedback.

As he noted, Asian cuisine is not his area of expertise. His main culinary focus is more about the role cooking plays as part of the agricultural process. He is inspired by the writings of Michael Pollan, and wants to focus on using local and seasonal ingredients. While this is a popular food trend now, he says his grandmother actually started him on this path, with her love of shopping at farm stands in his native Massachusetts.

Patrick said that although Stefan and Fabio were cast as abrasive personalities on the show, he never had any issues with them, and thinks the group all bonded quickly due to the unique experience. He was too busy in the kitchen to get a good sense of anyone's skills (and didn't have the opportunity to try anyone's food), but was impressed with everyone's skill level.

Since Patrick is a young chef, Top Chef has been in his world since his teen years, and so he, as do some of his peers, has a slightly different perspective on reality television than might some older chefs. He says some of his peers were even inspired to go into cooking by shows like Top Chef, and so see reality television and the culture of the celebrity chef as a way for people to share their passions with the public.

Patrick would, himself, like to someday inspire people in a similar way, saying while he'd love to have a restaurant, he'd also like to teach, and show people how to eat well all the time, not just when eating out.

For a home chef to cook and eat well, Patrick recommends focusing first on top quality ingredients. You can even elevate a simple grilled cheese, he says, by buying the best cheese, bread and butter possible to make it with.



- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of Bravo)