Susur Lee makes his first appearance on Top Chef Masters tonight at 9 pm on the Food Network. The highly rated US food TV competition series also airs at 1 pm this afternoon and at 4 pm Sunday.
The charismatic Lee places dead last in his first elimination challenge. The judges – who include former Toronto Lifer Gail Simmons – are not impressed by his fruit ravioli, saying there’s way too much on his plate. I guess none are familiar with Lee’s signature 19-ingredient Singapore slaw.
“What the fuck is that? I’m really pissed off,” seethes Lee immediately afterwards in an expletive-filled Gordon Ramsay-like rage. “I called my wife and she told me, ‘Shut the hell up. I don’t want to hear this bullshit. Go out there and fight.'”
His culinary competitors – Debbie Gold of Kansas City’s American Restaurant (theamericankc.com), Jody Adams of Cambridge Massachusett’s Rialto, Maria Hines of Seattle’s Tilth and Rick Tramonto of Chicago’s Tru – have mixed feelings about the pony-tailed superstar, one calling him “an astronaut,” another finding him a “total goofball.”
And who knew Susur removes his Birkenstocks to cook in his socks?
What follows is the most dramatic moment in Top Chef history. Will Susur be asked to “return to the kitchen and pack up his knives” or will he survive to julienne again? You won’t want to miss this foodie cliffhanger.[rssbreak]
