Paul Qui of Top Chef: Texas and Lou Diamond Phillips of Rachael vs Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off won their respective cooking competitions recently, showing great promise for Pilipino chefs aspiring to make a bigger name of themselves in the industry.
31-year-old Qui, executive chef at the Uchiko restaurant in Austin, Texas, beat out his competitors on the ninth season of Top Chef, which aired on Bravo. “I think what brought me into this was definitely to try and represent Texas. I want to shine a spotlight to my region of the country,” Qui remarked in an interview on the show. 29 chefs competed in the show’s qualifying rounds, quickly being cut to the Top 16, from which Qui emerged victorious. Over the program’s seventeen competition episodes, Qui won eight elimination challenges -- more than double that of the contestant with the next highest amount of wins during the season.
Born in Manila, Qui memorably referenced his Pilipino background on the eight episode “Tribute Dinner” in which he created a dish consisting of quail adobo, ginger rice, and green mango salsa in tribute to his grandmother, from whom Qui said he gained a lot of inspiration. Along with the title of Top Chef, Qui received a cash prize of $125,000.
On the Food Network’s Rachael vs Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off, actor Lou Diamond Phillips, representing the team created by Rachael Ray, competed in the finale against rapper Coolio, Guy Fieri’s last contender. In the final competition, both celebrities were asked to create a restaurant that would be rated on the Zagat scale, a system in which diners rate the food, decor, and service of the establishment.
“I’m Filipino with a little Hawaiian, Spanish, Chinese in there. On my father’s side, I’m Scot-Irish and Cherokee. So I want to do a lot of things that not only reflect my taste in cuisine but in my own personal presentation,” Philipps said in reference to the dishes he would create and serve. Out of 30 possible points, Phillips received a 28, compared to Coolio’s 23, winning $50,000 for the charity Share Our Strength: No Kid Hungry.
“Food is life, food is love,” Philipps declared on the final episode. “Whenever I put out a plate, I want my kids to know how much I care about them and the care that I put into that food.”
With Pilipino-Americans gaining more visbility through these cooking programs, hopefully this sets a precedent for more Pilipino-Americans to show off their skills in working with a subject that can cross many boundaries and connect people of all cultures -- food.
Related Links:
- BakitWhy.com: Lou Diamond Phillips Among Celebrities in Food Network's New Cooking Competition
- Bravo: Paul Qui Biography
- Food Network: Lou Diamond Phillips Biography
- No Kid Hungry Official Website
*Photo from BravoTV.com
