Fil-Am cooking up a fight on US show 'Top Chef'

Another Filipino American chef is cooking up a fight on reality television in the US as he stands strong in the ninth installment of the hit show “Top Chef,” surprising many Filipinos there.   A Chinese-looking man working as the executive chef of a Japanese restaurant in Austin, Texas, “chef-testant” Paul Qui delighted many US-based kababayans who follow Bravo TV’s “Top Chef: Texas” when he revealed his Filipino roots in the “Tribute Dinner” episode of the show with a contemporary version of adobo.   During that elimination challenge, the competing chefs were asked to whip up a dish that they think would best honor their “cooking influence.” Pinoy surprise on ‘Top Chef’   The 31-year-old “chef-testant” 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.   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.    Qui is considered a strong contender on the Texas version of the hit chef face-off, which has been graced by some of the best in the “kitchen industry” such as celebrity chef and restaurateur Emeril Lagasse and food writer Gail Simmons.   He has won two Quickfire Challenges (where contestants have an hour or less to complete a task, which can secure them immunity) and an Elimination Challenge (which determines who gets booted off the show).    In a blog entry dated December 22, 2011, web developer Ken Ilio wrote: “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 three times a week growing up. And the dish was the Filipino adobo!”    A Filipino blog named “Pig Parts & Beer” also raved about this, saying that Qui’s modern take on the staple dish—where he used quail and stuffed it with ginger rice—“sounds so delicious… [and] perfect for a Christmas or New Year’s Eve Dinner Party.”    Other Pinoy top chefs   In the past years, other Filipinos have done the country proud by showing off our brand of mastery in the kitchen.   Josie Smith-Malave, a Filipina chef from Brooklyn, New York, brought her spunk in “Top Chef” Season 2.    With a degree from the Art Institute of New York City, Smith-Malave is a former sous chef at the “famed” Marlow and Sons restaurant.   Her feat was then followed by that of Dale Talde, who introduced halo-halo to American TV during one of the challenges in season 4.    According to Asian Journal, Talde was considered “one of the more famous and colorful contestants” on the show.   In season 5, sous chef Leah Cohen, who carries a Filipino and Russian-Romanian Jewish background, made the cut.    Meanwhile, in the installment “Top Chef: Just Desserts,” Filipina Sally Camacho was named one of the runners-up.    Camacho is a pastry chef for WP24 Restaurant and Lounge owned by renowned chef Wolfgang Puck. According to Bravo TV, she “has worked in some of the finest kitchens across the country, including The Four Seasons [and] the Wynn Resort.” - VVP, GMA News