|
|
|
Mackenzie Hilton and Eric Paraskevas talk Chopped
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
Mackenzie Hilton and Eric Paraskevas talk Chopped
Last night, Food Network aired an episode of the cook-off show Chopped featuring two local competitors — Eric Paraskevas of terra (243 S. Camac st.) and Mackenzie Hilton of Mercato (1216 Spruce St.). We just touched base with both chefs to get their thoughts on the experience (spoiler after the jump, in case you haven't seen it).
Hosted by Ted Allen, the hour-long show involves four chefs and three rounds — appetizer, entrée and dessert. Each chef is given a basket of random ingredients and 30 minutes to come up with a dish. It's cruel and unusual for professional chefs and usually pretty entertaining for those watching at home.
Paraskevas was eliminated in the entrée round, for which the "secret" ingredients were tapioca pearls, carrots, fruit leather (yes, fruit leather) and rabbit. Judges chalked it up to an undercooked piece of meat. A third competitor, Dorchester, Mass.-based chef Chris Coombs (placed into the role of "pretentious villain") got the nod over Paraskevas, despite failing to plate a good portion of the meat in a loin/rack/liver rabbit trio.
Hilton made it all the way to the final round, where she and Coombs were asked to make a dessert with yucca, calimynra figs, hoisin sauce and red jalapeno peppers. The chef, who's been at Mercato since it opened in 2005, ended up winning the competition — and a $10,000 purse — with cinnamon zeppoles with hoisin chocolate sauce and fig yucca cream. On the show, she says the money will support her dream of opening her own restaurant, but she doesn't have any solid details to share on that project as of right now.
MACKENZIE HILTON
|
On how she ended up on the show: They contacted Mercato and told them that they were interested in having me apply for the show. I'm not sure how they got my name, but I had a feeling they were looking for more female chefs. This year they seem to be trying to get more diversification on the show, because it's been so male-dominated.
On the other guy who wasn't Eric: My competitor for the last round [Coombs] — I've gotten a lot of messages, text messages, messages on Facebook, saying how everybody hated him. He was a little bit abrasive at times, but he was really, really, honestly a nice guy. We all had a great camaraderie that they didn't put on the show. For example, in the dessert round, we had all planned out ahead of time that whoever was left, we would just grab all the stuff that we needed and keep it between our stations, and communicate who's got what. "I'm grabbing the sugar, I'm grabbing the flour." They didn't show that at all. They wanted to make it a little nastier than it actually was.
By the time Chris and I got out of there, it was like 10:30 at night. We ended up grabbing a drink afterward. We'd spent this entire day together. Everyone [has been saying] this guy is such an asshole, but he's not. He's very accomplished for his age, coming up and really hungry in the industry. It was cool to meet more people like that, chefs on the same pathway as you.
On whether or not they encouraged her to play up a Mercato/terra rivalry: I didn't think of it as a rivalry. I was excited that Eric was there. It was a high-stress situation and Eric's a really cool, laidback, funny guy. He kept us really relaxed. He's not a stranger — he was Marcie Turney's sous chef [at Lolita] when I was [Marcie's brother] Evan Turney's sous chef [at Mercato]. I liked the fact that he was there.
On whether she would do it again: No. It's so difficult, because you have to consider that they can take anything you say or do out of context and portray you possibly differently that you want to be. I felt like I had to be very calculating because I didn't want to say something that could be misconstrued. I can't imagine going through months of that like they do on Top Chef. I was really glad I did it, but they kind of make it hard to represent yourself well as a chef. You're in a foreign kitchen with completely foreign utensils, you don't know what's where, you're cooking ridiculous combinations. On every level they're kind of setting you up to fall on your face and look like an idiot.
ERIC PARASKEVAS
 |
On how he was portrayed: I have to say, I was pleasantly pleased with how I came across. I thought they made me look pretty good. ... [However], I was shocked at the sheer volume of space I took up. People always tell me I'm a big guy but I never really fully see myself. It was weird to see my whole body on camera ... strange to see how giant-esque I appeared.
On whether or not they encouraged him to play up a Mercato/terra rivalry: I did want to win. They used a "I wanted to beat the woman down the street" quote, but of course I did. I'm ultimately glad that [Hilton] won because that other dude [Coombs] was a choad. But they didn't make us play up anything. When we were competing, I could hear them mentioning that we were neighbors — I imagine that's why we were both cast to be on the same show. I'm glad Mackenzie won and I'm glad they painted me in a good light.
On being eliminated: I was kind of mad about the decision. Obviously I was disappointed. Mackenzie put together a good-looking dish, but [the judges] said it was big and bulky. After hearing the faults [they thought her dish had], [Coombs'] food looked like a pile of blah. I didn't have a meat thermometer [for the rabbit]. I tried to make it happen, took a risk but failed.
On TV do-overs: The only thing that isn't scripted is the actual [cooking] time. Once you finally do open those baskets, the time starts then. [For other segments], they ask you to go back to certain things to talk about. They'll say, 'The judges said something, what do you think of that?'
On whether he would do it again: I would, I definitely would. It was a chance at victory. It was a one-day shoot. Ten Gs for one day of work — even after taxes, that's $7,000 for one day of work. Why wouldn't you?
We love watching Chopped and were excited to see two Philadelphia restaurants showcased. We can't wait to try both of them, please just don't serve us rattlesnake. You did Philly proud! Congrats to both of you.
- barstool scientist
- Booze
- Brew Revue
- Chef Salad
- Closings
- Coffee
- Contests
- Dealage
- Dirty Dishes
- Don't Front
- Eat This Immediately
- Field Trip
- Food and Art
- Food and Holidays
- Food and Movies
- Food and Music
- Food and Politics
- Food and Sports
- Food and Web
- Food Blogs
- Food Books
- Food Events
- Food News
- Food TV
- Gifted
- Happy Hour Hopper
- How-To
- In Print
- Interview
- Meal Ticket
- Menu Time
- Not So Quickfire
- Notes from the Weekend
- On Wheels
- Openings
- Patio Drinking
- Philly Beer Week 2010
- Photos
- Private Chef POV
- Product Placement
- Recipes
- Snack Time
- Stiff Drank
- SUPPER
- Tea
- Testing
- Ticket Stubs
- Top Chef
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Video
- Weekly Candy
- Weird Regional Foods
- We're Here to Help
- Where'd We Eat?
- Drew Lazor's Ill-Advised Rant Factory
- Pregame
- Ill-Advised Ranting
- The Week Without Meat
- Philly Beer Week 2009
- Real Big
- Where'd I Eat Last Night?
- Top Chef Masters
- The Good Word
- Next Iron Chef
- Arterial Terrorism
- Food and Radio
