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Top Chef: Las Vegas cast-off Jennifer Zavala sets the seitan record straight
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Top Chef: Las Vegas cast-off Jennifer Zavala sets the seitan record straight
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| Photo | Michael T. Regan |
Chef Jennifer Zavala, who was the first to go home on the latest season of Top Chef, just checked in with Meal Ticket to share her take on her elimination � and, of course, talk a little seitan.
The Elimination Challenge on Wednesday's season premiere was cooking a dish inspired by a personal vice. Zavala, formerly of El Camino Real and now at Xochitl, was sent home for a seitan-stuffed chile relleno (representing her fiery temper) that perplexed the judges. But the chef reveals that doing just this dish wasn't her initial plan. Zavala says she was under the mistaken impression that she had to cook two separate dishes, so she bought ingredients for a jalapeno cucumber gazpacho as well as stuff for the relleno.
"When I went back to the cast house, [I realized] we only had to have [one], so I thought maybe I should change my vice to that I don't listen well," laughs Zavala. (Note: When you say "one" on Top Chef, it's actually two plates, as you're actually required to double up your dish in the time limit � one� plate for photographers, one for the judges.) Weighing her options, she decided that doing the soup alone would be "kind of lame," so Zavala, who cooked with seitan regularly at ECR, said "fuck it � I'll just go with it. ... I took a risk. That's what a Top Chef does, right? They take risks."
Zavala says that she observed that judges Tom Colicchio and Padma Lakshmi, as well as guest judge Wolfgang Puck, were unfamiliar with seitan, or textured wheat gluten. "The only one who knew was it was was [judge] Gail [Simmons]," Zavala says. "She said, 'I've had it before and I enjoyed it. But for me, you didn't represent it well.' That was enough for me."
"I didn't sell it well and I didn't plate it very well," she adds of the dish, which is on the menu at El Camino Real. "But I definitely would've done it again. I felt other people kind of played it safe. I definitely wanted to stand out." She chalks up the dish's lack of heat (a criticism vocalized by the judges) to the fact that the woodfire grill in the Top Chef kitchen was extinguished by the time she got in the door. Since all 17 chefs couldn't fit into the kitchen at the same time, they had to cook in flights, and Zavala says there simply wasn't enough time to get the grill going again once her group hit the stoves, meaning she cooked her chiles at a lower temp than usual.
Zavala has nothing but kind words for her former employer Owen Kamihira, owner of El Camino Real, whom she says supported her all the way when she was filming Top Chef. That being said, she's extremely happy with her new gig � she started a week ago � at Xochitl under chef/co-owner Dionicio Jimenez. "I wanted to go a different direction with my career," she says.
Zavala laughs at the rumors that the Mexican restaurant hired her based on her appearance on Top Chef. "There was a lot of BS going on about why Xochitl hired me," she says. "Xochitl does not care about Top Chef at all. [Dionicio] is so old-school. He doesn't roll like that."
Zavala has no plans to put a seitan dish on Xochitl's menu.
It is difficult to believe that Tom Colicchio and Wolfgang Puck were not familiar with seitan. It is on the menu of all sorts of places. Jack McDavid first served it to me fifteen years ago at the Firehouse. For the record, here is what Tom said about the dish in his blog for Top Chef: "it wasnât the seitan that did her in, underwhelmed by that protein as we were. The dish was poorly done: the breading was falling off because it wasnât breaded properly, whatever was thrown on the side of it was just a mess, and she garnished the plate with undressed radishes, âjust for colorâ â they had no purpose."
I loved that Jennifer Z. felt brave enough to woo the judges with Seitan. It's too bad it didn't work out, she was fun to watch. I can't wait to try some of her food at Xochitl. Bravo, Jen.
I'm so sure what so risky about seitan. its not new or difficult to work with. she couldn't open clams and her dish was poorly executed. she doesn't have enough experience, I'm not sure why she was on the show.
I wanted to root for her, I really did... but I have to agree with what one of the other contestants said, "Seitan? Yuk. Nobody likes that!" It's the type of food you cook when there is ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER protein available. Seitan is God's way of punishing vegans. Now I say, "Go, other girl from Philly!!"
Zavala came across as angry Latina, as opposed to "Wise Latina", surly, petulant, whiny. Apparently what Collcchio said about her horrendous chile relleno, that the breading was coming off, is exactly what Zavala voiced as she was cooking it. Why can't she just take responsibility when it's obvious it was a shitty, uninspired. "clunky" dish? Why does she have to pout or, as this interview suggests, find excuses like not having enough heat because of the grill? Ridiculous. And hey, can anyone explain her kooky ear rings through her lobes? How is this sanitary?
Sorry, but I was really glad to see Zavala go. She seemed genuinely confused at the end of the show, seeming to stammer "bu..but.. I took a risk, this isnt fair". Perhaps Jennifer doesn't fully understand the concept of risk taking; Risks aren't sure things, and you wont always be rewarded for doing something different, hence why its RISKY. Just cooking with a little known ingredient doesn't make you a master chef, sometimes there's a good reason why the ingredient is little used. Don't make a poo soufflé and expect people to laud you as a genius because no one else does it. Sometimes being different means you're way ahead of the game, and sometimes it just means it would be better for everyone involved if you took the short bus to school.
i don't get how it's risky to do a dish straight off the menu at your restaurant. and badly.
I finally got to see the recipe. It simply says White Meat Seitan. Not all is created equal. What did she use would be my big question. We eat Seitan all the time and it is homemade where I can control the strength of the taste of the seitan by the broth. I would serve my homemade 'chicken' [vegan] to my brother in law the hunter but I wouldn't serve a store bought. The chicken gets votes from my two cats who are plastered to the stove while it cooks asking for some 'chicken'. It's all in the base. Next nothing ties that recipe together. I finally found it on Bravo. It's not going to have flavor but is depending on the cheese and grease to get it thru. The salsa didn't impress me either. However about the twit of the judge who said the midnight special at the Vegan bar... And egg is Vegan? That was one silly statement from someone who is suppose to know food. It might be the midnight special at the Vegetarian bar but surely not the Vegan bar.
whoops it cut off "And lets not forget the Cheese and butter. Vegan? It doesn't say soy anywhere in that. Someone send the judge back to school.
Love you Jen!
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