A few days before Christmas, many Filipinos watching American chefs vying for the top 16 places on Top Chef Season 9 were given a pleasant surprise when one of the favorite cheftestants, Paul Qui, turned out to be Filipino, cooking our staple dish, adobo.
Immediately, there were many blogs about the episode from many Pinoys.
One such blogger wrote, “This week’s elimination challenge was about ‘tribute’ – cook a dish in homage to the person who inspired them to be a chef. When it was Paul’s turn to talk about his homage, it was a dish he said that his grandmother cooked and that he had this dish almost three times a week growing up. And the dish was... the Filipino adobo!
I immediately went to the BravoTV site and looked at his bio. He was born in Manila and is currently based in Austin. Imagine that! A Pinoy in the running for the top honors. And he is such a cool guy, too!”
On the website, pigpartsandbeer, there was also a similar comment. “My ears perked up when I heard adobo. Chef Paul Qui described the dish he’d be preparing for the judges and when I heard adobo, my mouth started watering. The challenge: the dish had to be indicative of the persons who’ve influenced their passion to cook. Paul’s greatest culinary influence was his grandmother aka lola.”
“Paul was born in Manila, Philippines and he recalls adobo, the vinegary-soy marinated meat stew being a dinner-time favorite. In Top Chef fashion, Paul gave a modern twist on the traditional recipe using quail and stuffing it with ginger rice. OMG, it sounds so delicious. It’s perfect for a Christmas or New Years Eve Dinner Party. No wonder, Paul is now a FAN FAVORITE, # 3 of 29 cheftestants with over 1.6 M votes,” wrote the blogger.
Top Chef is an American reality competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants eliminated in each episode.
Now on its 9th season, Top Chef has had 61 judges so far. Of these, 20 have won the Food and Wine Best New Chef award, including Head Judge Tom Colicchio. Of these 61 guests, 12 have appeared multiple times. Anthony Bourdain and Rocco DiSpirito lead with 5 appearances,
The earlier seasons were held in different places like California, Las Vegas, Washington DC and Florida. Filmed in Texas,Top Chef Season 9 was first aired last November 2011. It featured an unprecedented twenty-nine chefs competing, almost double the amount of chefs in season’s past—who will see if they have what it takes to become an official cheftestant and qualify to wear the Top Chef coat.
In what will prove to be the most challenging season yet, some of the biggest names in food, music, and entertainment including Charlize Theron, Pee-wee Herman, Cat Cora, John Besh, Tim Love, Patti LaBelle will be featured this season on Top Chef: Texas.
Returning to the Judges’ Table is host Padma Lakshmi and head judge, chef Tom Colicchio, alongside judges Gail Simmons and new this season, famed chef and restaurateur Emeril Lagasse and critically-acclaimed chef Hugh Acheson.
Now down to 10 cheftestants, Paul Qui is one of those leading, being in the 3rd spot as Fan Favorite.
Paul’s love of food began as a child with the “sweet smells of freshly-baked breads in the mornings and the diverse culture of the Philippines” that he found in the bustling bakery of his family’s grocery store. He moved to Springfield, Virginia at the age of ten and then on to Houston to attend college. Qui spent his collegiate years waiting tables at several restaurants, igniting his passion for food and his curiosity about the restaurant business.
This growing enchantment with cuisine led Paul to Austin’s Texas Culinary Academy in 2003 and ultimately to Uchi...as a customer.
“I was introduced to Uchi by a friend—I was so impressed with my meal there that I asked if I could work in the kitchen for free,” recalls Paul. When Cole offered him a job, everything just seemed to fall into place. “I’ve worked for him going on three and a half years now, and I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge both in the kitchen and the sushi bar,” said Paul.
Paul worked his way up the ranks of Uchi to Chef de Cuisine and eventually Executive Chef at Uchiko. While training under Uchi Chef and Owner Tyson Cole, Paul learned to adapt traditional Japanese dishes with an eye towards local flavor, all while incorporating influences from South East Asian and European cuisine.
Both he and his restaurant were named finalists in Austin Eater’s 2011 awards.
Paul being Filipino blends Southeast Asian ingredients seamlessly into modern Japanese cuisine. He also runs three food trucks in Austin called the East Side King.
Grateful for the opportunities he has had, Paul is eager to extend them to others, so he has already taken on students from the Culinary Academy at Uchiko.
With his outstanding talents as a chef, the future will surely be bright for Paul, who may yet be the Top Chef for 2012. For now, he is truly just grateful that his plate is full.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek Jan 11-13, 2012 MDWK pg.2)
***
APOLOGY TO KEN ILIO
In an article about Chef Paul Qui, wherein blogs praising Paul Qui were mentioned, the blog written by Ken Ilio failed to identify his name, and was inadvertently cited as from “one such blogger.” The source of the blog was inadvertently deleted from the file, which resulted in the author’s failure to mention Mr. Ilio’s name.
The blog which was written by Mr. Ken Ilio was:
“This week’s elimination challenge was about ‘tribute’ – cook a dish in homage to the person who inspired them to be a chef. When it was Paul’s turn to talk about his homage, it was a dish he said that his grandmother cooked and that he had this dish almost three times a week growing up. And the dish was … the Filipino adobo!!! I immediately went to the BravoTV site and looked his bio. He was born in Manila, currently based in Austin. Imagine that! A Pinoy in the running for the top honors. And he is such a cool guy too!”
My sincerest apologies to Mr. Ilio, for the unfortunate oversight. (Cynthia De Castro, author of "Paul Qui, Top Three Fan Favorite in Top Chef, Season 9: Paying tribute to the roots of his passion" - MDWK cover story in MDWK Magazine, January 11, 2012 issue)
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
