IAmA Food Network Two-Time "Chopped" Champion, Beat Bobby Flay, and GGG Contestant. AMA

How much time passes between when you complete your dish and the judges taste them? Wondering if they get cold before they actually eat?

Dishes definitely get cold before they eat them. Once time is up they film "chef's looking at plates" for 3-4 minutes then we all walk off to sequester (the room with the table where all the chefs talk about the round) we're in there for around 15 minutes while being filmed as we go over how we all feel like we did and then they bring us back out for judging. Each dish takes around 15-20 minutes to be judged before going on to the next dish. The producers were always reassuring us that the judges don't take temperature into account when tasting (although obviously a warm dish is going to taste better than a cold one)

Would you rather they eat the cold dish, or one that was warmed under a heat lamp? Would a heat lamp be good or bad for a dish?

Honestly I’d rather eat it cold/room temp. Heat lamps keep food warm-ish but mostly just dry stuff out. I would also be worried that it would over cook/continue to cook any protein or sauces on the plate

What’s the end goal of competing as a chef? Is it to gain notoriety for a restaurant or yourself? Money? The fun of competing? What makes you say “I have to be on TV and cook “?

I viewed it as a way of promoting myself and my restaurant. I also felt like it was important as a Woman, Lesbian, and first-generation Cuban American to go on as a way of bringing visibility to minorities in the kitchen. I filmed my last episode of Chopped while 6 months pregnant and felt like it was important for me to go on to show that I can be a badass chef and a badass mom without compromising one or the other. The money was obviously nice but I never went on hell-bent on winning. I also found after the first competition that I actually enjoy competing so it definitely had a fun factor for me.

You won chopped while pregnant? Holy cow, you're phenomenal! I'll tell my wife and we'll go back and watch your episodes soon! You badass!

Competed while pregnant. Didn’t win that time unfortunately 😅 but still great exposure

Let me be clear- that in no way discounts the cool factor of you competing on one of the most engaging cooking shows in a champ tournament. I hope you're proud of yourself and I hope when your kids reach an age where they feel and understand pride, that they are as well.

This made me weepy. Thank you so much. I hope he sees it too. My wife and I used the money from my first chopped win to conceive him, so getting to compete while pregnant with him was such a full-circle moment. I appreciate your kind words

I misread the title, thought this was Bobby Flay IAMA, and was so confused.

lmao same, especially as she doesn’t even write her name anywhere in the post text 🤨

Sorry about that! I can edit for clarity. My name is Tatiana

Did you fall for the "321 Go" on GGG?

I watched SO much GGG before going on that I felt like I was ready for any "321" he threw at us haha That being said he almost tripped me up once but it only took me a second before I realized it was time to run

What’s your favorite dish to make at home?

honestly, my wife does most of the cooking at home since I work such long hours at the restaurant. But when I do get the chance to cook at home I love making breakfast for dinner lol I also tend to cook a lot of soups and stews because they feel more homey than the stuff I make at work.

Follow up: waffles or pancakes?

French toast.

But if I had to pick between those two probably waffles

You ever make the custard the night before? Alton Brown talked about that on Good Eats. I tried it and it seriously kicked morning of French Toast's ass.

Yes! game changer.

She married a professional chef and does most of the cooking; that’s true love if I’ve ever seen it! 😂

She's the best!

The shows make it look like every competitor is always furiously working until the last second: is that actually how it happens or is that just how it’s edited to look?

Mostly we really are furiously working until the last second. The chefs that finish ahead of time better hope that their dishes are perfect because if not the judges definitely use that against them

What is Guy Fieri like in person? Of all the celeb chefs you've met, who was your fave?

Guy Fieri was the best and I’m actually surprised I felt that way because he comes off as such a gimmick but he was great. He pulled all the contestants aside before we even started filming to give us pep talks. He told us to remember to have fun with it at the end of the day and to use our time on the show as an hour long commercial for ourselves. So whatever we want to promote, advocate for, or celebrate to use the show as a platform for that. The entire production on his show also takes care of their chefs the best. We got our own trailers, snacks, signed swag after the show etc.

Not really really relevant, but wanted to just say, Guy’s branded products are real-deal. I love watching Guy, but never am big on buying celebrity branded items. My sister bought me GF spatula. That thing is solid as it gets. Been using it for years and it is a beast.

🔥Flavortown

This is so great to know! He really was so kind and supportive to all of us

I worked in a place that had a lot of people close to Fieri and Flay, and as a human being Guy won every time.

Yes!

What was the process to get cast for the shows? Did you have to apply/have tryouts? If so, what did they consist of?

The first episode I was on was a Cuban Themed episode and the producers actually called the restaurant to see if I would be interested since I had promoted myself as a cuban chef on instagram. I still had to fill out the application online once I told them yes, and that consists of a lot basic questions as well as more intricate ones like what my style of cuisine is, what dish best describes my cooking style, and any accolades or awards I've received. You also submit 4-5 photos of your food as well as yourself. After that you do a bunch of different interviews with different casting directors. I did around three in total for each show. These are mostly via zoom and a couple over the phone with their culinary director. Once you're officially cast filming takes place anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months after your last interview and your show airs anywhere from 6 months to a year after filming.

Is it safe to assume they pay for your flight/hotel/any other expenses?

Echoing this response. It varies. GGG was the best and paid for everything to do with travel and lodging plus any food consumed during your time there. Chopped was the worst (maybe because I was considered a “local” chef in Boston) I still had to travel to NYC to film and they didn’t pay for travel or stay while I was there. BBF payed for travel and stay but not food etc

I love watching Food Network competitions! It’s my comfort tv. The biggest reason why I love them, is that there doesn’t seem to be manufactured drama like shows like Bar Rescue, is that true? It seems competitors aren’t assholes to each other and are friendly to each other.

I’m also happy to hear Guy is so great!

Oh, and do you have any favorite and least favorite judges, and why?

Edit: One last question, is your username paying homage to Ratatouille? 😊

There’s no real scripted drama. Sometimes producers will try and get you to smack talk other competitors but there’s no actual sabotage or manufactured scenes. Which is really refreshing for “reality” tv

Favorite judge: Maneet. She was so sweet and genuine and we’ve been able to stay in touch after filming which has been nice. Least favorite: Geoffrey lol no need to eat everything with chopsticks man.

As far as my username… YES 🙌🏼

I noticed that when Maneet says, “absolutely delicious” you are probably going to win that round or make it to the next. Have you noticed this as well?

I can concur with this statement.

What was it like cooking with/against Bobby Flay? Are what people say about him true or would you say it's embellished?

Cooking with Bobby (and filming Beat Bobby Flay in general) was probably least "personal" of all the chefs and shows I've worked on. We didn't get much of an opportunity to interact with him beyond when we were actually filming/competing and he always had 4-5 assistants around him so it was difficult to get a real sense of who he is as a person. He did give me a hug at the end of our episode which was a surprise but overall I don't think I got enough time to tell his true character.

Honestly, you just told us everything about his character…

You’re not wrong

What "real world" experience best prepares you for a cooking competition show? I'm a home cook and I think I'm a pretty good cook, but there's no way I could perform under pressure on a show like that. Seems like if you were a chef in a really busy kitchen it would help, but I've also seen home cooks win those fast paced shows.

It definitely helped that I work at a busy restaurant because the stress of "getting it done quickly and make it taste/look good" is always there, but I think the thing that helped the most was just trusting my initial idea for the basket and not overthinking it too much. As soon as I started to overthink what I was doing I could feel myself start to meltdown a little lol always moving and keeping yourself focused is super important in order to win.

Hi Tatiana, Thanks for being here - you ROCK! I’ve always wondered if they really make everyone stop at the same time - or if someone needed an extra 20 seconds, they allow it (off camera). It does seem as if SOME of the plated dishes looks a little better when showcased before judging. I also wondered about the food getting cold, but you’ve already answered that 😃. Most importantly, are the chefs allowed any notes or recipes during competition- or do they have to rely solely on their memory, knowledge and experience? Do you do anything to prepare for creating Latin inspired dishes from non- typical ingredients? Like practice rounds at home? Or, Reading up on how to cook exotic and/or unfamiliar proteins?

They really make everyone stop. If anything is real it’s the clock. No notes, no recipes so I made sure to have two or three dessert recipes memorized (since dessert isn’t my specialty) that I could adjust to the ingredients in the basket. Same went for practicing at home. Since I had no idea what would be in the basket I didn’t really have a way of preparing except when it came to dessert because I wanted to make sure that the timing would work and that I could prepare it in 30 minutes.

If you were to host an episode of chopped tomorrow what would your basket ingredient choices be? (Either one course or all three!)

Naranja agria, black garlic, cottage cheese, shad roe 😆

If I was a contestant I’d be like, ‘chef I have made for you a fish shaped like a lady’s tulip with a black garlic cottage cheese served with a glass of orange juice, enjoy’

Bahaha “you have been chopped”

If you could compete against any Iron Chef from any series and country, which would you choose to battle?

Jose Garces or Stephanie Izard from the newest iron chef. Morimoto from the original

did you ever want to punch bobby flay in the face?

only when I lost =D

This may seem like an odd question, but do you believe Bobby deserves to win the vast majority of the time like he does?

Is there really a way he can be so versatile, yet so much better on average than so many other chefs?

I've noticed that if Bobby gets a chance to add crispy rice to his dish, he's very likely to end up winning. I don't have hard data on it, but it's a noticeable trend.

This checks out, he used crispy rice during my episode and won lol. He also films two of these a day during film season and knows the kitchen inside and out so that gives him an advantage.

What is Ted Allen like off camera? Did you get a chance to talk to him?

We didn’t get a whole lot of time to talk to him or the judges outside of filming but the small talk I was able to get in was great. He seems really genuine and kind and had a lot of funny jokes and banter with us and the rest of the crew

On ggg after Guy does the intro for the round and you run off do they bring you back and actually thoroughly explain what the rules are?

Yep. They make sure to thoroughly go over all the gameplay rules for that round after the 321 to make sure there's no confusion. Then we run off again and that's when the time starts

Mind sharing how much each show pays you to go on?

The one-off episodes of chopped we only got paid if we won. The tournament style we got a small working stipend (I think it was around $150 but can’t remember off the top of my head). Same with GGG. I don’t remember being paid anything to go on Beat Bobby Flay but that was a few years ago now

I guess those shows really bring the idea of "paid in exposure" to a whole new level

Facts

What do you draw from, or what helps you come up with recipe ideas in Chopped?

On Chopped everything happens so fast that you don't really have time to come up with actual recipes. My game-play was to stick to cooking dishes (and stay true to who I am as a chef - latin and asian flavors, french training etc) I knew I could accomplish within the time limit and focus on making sure my techniques were on point. That being said I think the most important thing was sticking to my original idea. Once you start cooking its almost impossible to switch your dish half way through unless you really mess up. So staying the course and following through with my initial reaction to the basket ingredients was really important.

If someone cuts/burns themselves and need to stop to receive medical attention do they get extra time added to their clock?

They don’t. The medics on site are super fast and try and wrap up any cuts burns as quickly as possible, but you don’t get more time.

I know you are on all food network shows...any contractual restrictions on doing a cross over to Top Chef?

There's no contractual restrictions as long as you don't have any pending shows that you've filmed that haven't aired yet. I was a finalist for the last season of Top Chef but unfortunately got cut right at the end as they decided to go with a different Chef.

Do you know the ingredients or theme of the show ahead of time on any of the shows or is it truly a surprise?

We get no insight into the ingredients before hand. My first episode was cuban themed and they didn’t even share that with us. All of us (the contestants) only figured it out after we were all chatting a bit when we first met. But the first time you see the ingredients is when you open the basket

Do you have a name, or just Chef?

A girl has no name.

Jk it’s Tatiana

What's your comfort food?

My mom's arroz y frijoles negro or my wifes Kimchi jjigae mmmmm

What's your favorite ingredient that is used in Latin and Asian cooking? What's one (or 2) thing you love to bring over to the other side?

I feel like really good dried chilis are something I use for both Latin and Asian dishes. But I love utilizing gochujang in my Spanish dishes and Sazon in my Asian dishes as well haha

Gochujang mole, why not? I just got some korean black bean sauce, also could be a good crossover hit!

My favorite is cilantro. I know when i get a big bunch I can make Latin and Asian food for days.

Another weird one is tomato, i love seeing where that's going to pop up in asian cuisine since it's a new world food.

Ooooh gochujang mole! Great idea

Thanks maybe i will try it this week with some fish. I see a recipe for a fish dish w/ yellow mole with sesame, peanut, tomatillo and tomato, maybe gochujang can make an appearance.

I'm not great at sauces so stuff like this is always a challenge. Thanks for the moral support! I followed your IG, looks great!

Thanks for the follow! can't wait to hear how your gochujang mole turns out

How did you prepare for chopped? In another comment you said you would stick to your couple of memorized dishes. I’ve imagined it’s something like that. Do you prep a few dishes that work with a range of textures or flavor profiles and then pick one? Did you have a different system?

So I mostly memorized dessert dishes since it’s not what I’m strong at. For the other rounds I just made sure to remember technique and respecting the ingredients as much as possible. It’s really hard to prepare for a show like chopped since the possibilities are endless but being realistic about the amount of time it takes to prepare something helped

Ohhh I’m such a big BBF and GGG fan! Thanks for this! :)

What was your strategy for what you picked for your round against Bobby Flay? Any insights into why you won over him?

You said you watched a lot of GGG before the show, was there a game you really didn’t want to play?
And was there something that was harder playing than you thought it would be?

You’re welcome ☺️ For BBF I sent in 3 different signature dishes for consideration. But I definitely kept in mind dishes that were true to me and who I am as a chef and person and what I would be most proud winning against Bobby with. He actually beat me and I think part of it was because he excels in Latin cuisine and I went against him with fricase de pollo, a Cuban chicken and rice dish.

For GGG I was most worried about playing games that limited what aisles we could shop in, so of course my first round we could only shop from the frozen section lol it was so hard because we had to thaw and cook frozen protein in 30 minutes. We also had the added curveball of it being a Chopped meet GGG episode so we got mystery baskets each round. Brutal.

It seems like I have seen your Chopped episodes more than others, might just be me watching too much Food Network. I always enjoyed your dishes and your composure was impressive. I loved that GGG episode so much because I had seen all of you compete before in Chopped and watching the crossover was pretty cool…but honestly, it was Ted. Ted is the best.

Ted is the best!

So, on BBF, I’m assuming they have prepped portions ready for both contestants signature dishes ready to go? How much prep time do you get between round 1 and 2? Does Bobby get any time to review and learn about the dish before round 2 starts. Did you practice ahead of time to come up with shortcuts to do the dish in 45 minutes?

We don’t have any prepped portions of our dishes prior to our signature round or get any prep time between rounds 1 and 2. Bobby gets 10 minutes after you announce your signature dish to look over the pantry and come up with his course of action. We do have most of the ingredients for our signature dishes at hand but nothing is prepped and any cooking is done in real time and on the clock

Wow that’s amazing and I imagine the stress level as you think of what to do as the timer stops must be right up there. I guess having a massively stocked pantry helps.

Thanks!

The stocked pantry definitely helps!

How do they prevent ice cream from melting after it has been plated with so much time from finish to judging?

They put any frozen aspects of your dish in a freezer as soon as possible to prevent it from melting before hitting the judges table. There’s still going to be some melting happening because they have to film us looking out dishes before we walk off but they do a good job with trying to save the ice cream lol

Thanks for responding that’s always been something I wondered about every time someone makes ice cream. I’ll sleep well tonight.

I'm happy to be of service

does guy fieri make everyone pronounce his last name "fiedi"?

Lol no thank goodness

Who are you? You left that out of the post title and caption.

Sorry just edited my post for clarity. My name is Tatiana and I’m an executive chef in Boston

Hi. I live in Boston. Where can I eat your food?

I'm the executive chef of the Envoy Hotel and Para Maria

Who in your life cultivated/supported your cooking (if any) and how? What advice would you give a parent of a 3 year old who loves to cook and make full meals on the stove? (Parent has no culinary skill and is worried about teaching bad habits...)

My grandmother. She always let us help around the kitchen, even if it was the smallest task, so that we would feel involved and appreciate the food more. And my mentor Mary who taught me almost everything I know about how to be a good leader/chef/person As far as cooking with a 3 year old, it’s ok if the parent has no skills, the important part is involving your child and letting them feel like a part of the process. This will get them to enjoy food and being in the kitchen regardless of skill

What's you go to easy show stopper meal for a dinner party?

Paella de Mariscos yummmm I make a big pan of it and set it in the center of the table for everyone to scoop onto their plates as they like

How did you get selected to be on Food Network shows so often?

After the first Chopped episode I was asked to be on a Champs Tournament which was two episodes. Once producers know you're name and that you film well you tend to get called back for other shows in the future so I think I just got lucky by getting called to film a bunch in the beginning.

I think the Chopped Tournament of Champions has kind of lost its luster. Even when someone loses in the first round, they're still like "Eh, I've won the show before, so no big deal." I think to make it more exciting, they should do a Chopped Redemption Tournament, and bring back all the contestants that have lost in the first round. The losers in the first round of the tournament move on, and all the contestants who make it past the first round get their redemption from being a prior first round loser. After several rounds of this, the first round losers of every level of the bracket get put into a final Chopped contest, and whoever loses in the first round of the final contest loses their right to be a professional chef and they can't cook for money anymore.

Any thoughts on this?

I like the idea of a redemption show for people who got sent home first. Not sure I would want anyone to lose their right to be a professional chef, but I think this style of competition could work

Thanks for doing this! Did you get what you hoped to get out of your experiences on these shows?

I did. It definitely varies from chef to chef and you truly only get out of it what you put into it, but I felt like I was able to gain the exposure I wanted and use the platform as a way to advocate for things that were important to me

I got invited to be on GGG a few years out of culinary school after I had worked at a bunch of fancy places. They found me through social media, idk how really.

I turned it down because I always said to myself if I was going to be on TV for cooking it would be because of my restaurant or my accomplishments, not as a competition (I'm not really a competitive person).

Did you enjoy GGG? Did it feel more embarrassing than something like Chopped with its gimmick?

I had turned down GGG a couple times because I felt like it was one of the more "gimmicky" competition shows on the station. That being said after I had filmed Chopped and BBF I kind of said screw it, it's an opportunity to promote myself and potentially win some money so I set my pride aside and I'm really happy I did. GGG was the most enjoyable competition show I've been on and treated the contestants amazing. It was definitely more embarrassing because you're running around a grocery store and it just doesn't feel natural but I'm still really glad I did it.

I’ve heard Bobbly Flay is a lil bitch, is Bobby Flay a lil bitch?

I didn't have enough one-on-one time with him to neither confirm nor deny if he is, in fact, a lil bitch

Sooooo. Do you like raw onions?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUvP8Od8qS0

hehe. I hate raw onions.

Hahaha I do actually. But I made sure not to use them around Scott

Real question, how nice is guy fieri and is Bobby flay a douche bag in person?

Guy Fieri is actually the nicest. Very personable, down to earth, supportive, and funny. He never came off as intimidating or "better than" any of the contestants and made sure that we all felt comfortable and most of all that we were having fun.

I didn't get enough one on one time with Bobby to determine his level of douchery.

You get only 3 spices going forward - what are they?

dried Aleppo pepper, ground cardamom, Szechuan peppercorns (I'm not including good ol' salt and pepper)

How has being on these shows affected your career and how is Bobby Flay in person?

It's definitely helped launch my career a bit. I find people coming to visit the restaurant because they saw me on television which is pretty cool. It's also boosted my instagram following which helps me promote other aspects of my career.

I didn't have a lot of time to talk to Bobby other than actual competition so I didn't get a good sense of who he is as a person.

Congrats on the success and thanks for the response!

thank you so much!

Do you ever watch Chopped in your spare time? And I guess as a sidecar to the first question, do you and your wife talk about what you would do with each basket as you watch? My bf and I do that almost every episode, it’s such a fun “what if” considering neither of us are chefs or even qualify as decent home cooks lol

I did watch Chopped all the time before I actually went on it. My wife and I would play the same game. After being on a few times it actually gives me anxiety to watch it since I know how it feels to be in that kitchen and cooking against the clock lol

On GGG, does he actually trick you with the 321 or are you meant to ham it up a bit for the cams?

He does actually try to trick you.

Do you think you’re better than me?!

Not even a little bit.