Fil-Am Paul Qui is Top Chef finalist

As he became one of the final two contestants of a popular reality cooking show, Filipino-American chef Paul Qui of Texas moved a step closer to becoming $125,000 richer and having the title of "Top Chef."

According to a report of the news site Asian Journal, in next Wednesday’s season finale episode, Qui, a 31-year-old Fil-Am with Chinese roots, will be competing against Sarah Grueneberg, a 30-year-old chef from Spiaggia restaurant in Chicago, Illinois.

The report said Qui dominated most of the competition, having won six challenges, and netting $60,000 cash and a brand new Toyota Prius. The Asian Journal said during the semi-final elimination challenge “Fire and Ice,” the three remaining chefs had to create for 150 people a dish that contained a “hot and cold element," together with a cocktail.

One of the judges, renowned chef Emeril Lagasse, praised Qui’s dish saying it “was conceptually there and I really liked the cocktail.” Qui is the executive chef of Uchiko, a “Japanese farmhouse dining and sushi restaurant” in Austin.
 
Born in Manila, Qui and his family migrated from the Philippines to Springfield, Virginia when he was 10 years old.

On the Uchiko page, the chef said his passion for 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.” 
Qui moved to Texas to attend college, where he waited tables at several restaurant—a part-time job that intensified “his passion for food and his curiosity about the restaurant business.”
 
In 2003, he entered the Texas Culinary Academy.
 
According to the Bravo TV website, he is “trained in classic French and Japanese cuisine."  In one of the episodes, he said his great grandfather’s resilience inspires him to do what he does.  

“I feel fortunate to even have this opportunity,” he said. “My great grandfather from my father’s side fled from China to the Philippines to start a new life for his family and I’ve always felt like I had that responsibility being that I am his eldest grandson, so that is what I’m pursuing here trying to win 'Top Chef.'” - with a report from Rose-An Jessica Dioquino, VVP, GMA News