Cheers for Pinoy Top Chef

MANILA, Philippines - Get set to embark on the grueling journey of fellow countryman, Paul Qui, to culinary excellence in America through the Emmy award-winning culinary contest reality TV series Top Chef Season 9. Follow the Manila-born, Texas, Austin-based chef through the toughest of cooking challenges against a record field of contestants and cheer him on to his glorious achievement on beTV.

Premiering tonight at 7:40 on beTV, Top Chef returns for its ninth season which Chef Paul wins. Share in his rollercoaster ride through 18 episodes to beating 28 other contestants to bring home the $125,000 cash prize as well as earn the coveted title of Top Chef. “Filipinos have a lot of heart, a lot of drive. And I definitely got that from my parents,” said Paul, who grew up in San Juan, Metro Manila. He believes these traits helped him “bring home the bacon” from Top Chef.

Indeed, Top Chef offers a fascinating peek into the pressure cooker of world-class culinary arts and the restaurant business at the highest level. Aspiring chefs compete for their shot at culinary stardom. Each episode holds two challenges for the chefs. The first is a quickfire test of their fundamental abilities, and the second is a more complex elimination challenge to test the versatility and invention of the chefs. The contestants live and breathe the stress of master chefs as each week someone is asked to “pack up their knives“ and go home.

Shot mostly in the Texan cities of Austin, Dallas and San Antonio, Top Chef Season 9 sees model-actress-author Padma Lakshmi return as host. The contestants have to win over head judge, celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, along with fellow judges, food writer and TV personality Gail Simmons, famed chef and restaurateur Emeril Lagasse and critically acclaimed chef Hugh Acheson. In addition, Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron (Monster), host Cat Cora (Iron Chef America), prominent chefs John Besh and Tim Love, as well as singer Patti LaBelle will be featured in selected episodes as guest judges.

In 17 elimination challenges, Paul, then-executive chef of Austin Japanese farmhouse dining restaurant Uchiko, won eight of them and was on the winning teams in four others, got through twice even when he was on losing teams, and barely scraped through the 10th episode after a relatively below par performance. Along the way, Paul bagged a new Toyota Prius, a trip to Costa Rica, $60,000 and tickets to the world premiere event of film Snow White and the Huntsman starring Charlize, whom he impressed when she guest-judged in episode 11.

Beginning his march to glory from the second episode, Paul whipped up many immensely creative and delicious dishes. He even cooked the famous Filipino dish adobo, where he added quail for a bit of a twist.

Since winning Top Chef Season 9, Paul has gone on to become an entrepreneur, founding East Side King, a community favorite among food trailers, which are gaining national recognition in the US.

When asked what Top Chef has taught him the most, Paul said, “As a chef, you are already trained to expect the unexpected. It has taught me to do that 10 times because you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Paul also has this advice to aspiring Filipino chefs, “Just dive in. Being a chef is not the cleanest or most flattering job and the reality of kitchen is not as pretty. But just do it and jump in.”

www.NYCfoodphotographer.com