EXCLUSIVE: ‘Top Chef’ 3 winner Hung Huynh dishes about food, competitors and his $100G
Chris Serico • The Journal News’ Remote Access blog • Oct. 12, 2007 • Photo: Mike Roy/TJN
Love him or hate him, you have to respect Hung Huynh for his culinary skills, which proved to be enough to convince four judges to anoint him “Top Chef” for Season 3. Mere hours after last Wednesday’s live finale, Huynh granted me an exclusive interview over the phone. Highlights from the 10-minute interview are below. Bon appetit!
Chris Serico: Congratulations!
Hung Huynh: Thank you very much.
CS: Going into the finale, what did you think your chances were that you would win?
HH: Going into the finale, I knew I had a really good chance because I felt really confident over my other two competitors, but towards the end, you know, it was a pretty close call.
CS: What did your parents say to you after you won?
HH: Well, my mom was kind of awed, you know, and she didn’t know what to say. She was speechless. Speechless. She was praying the whole time, you know, getting nervous. And when we got back to the hotel, that’s when she really broke down and really was really proud, you know?
CS: Was your dad there, too?
HH: My dad could not make it, due to some—actually he had more important things to do. Very important.
CS: What did you do after the cameras stopped rolling last night? How did the night end?
HH: All the chefs and some of the judges, we all went out to a place in Chicago, had a few cocktails, and then (I) came home, slept for a few hours and got up and did interviews from 10 o’clock until now (4 p.m.).
CS: So I’m the last person you want to be talking to now!
HH: (Laughs.) No, it’s my pleasure.
CS: You seemed thrilled to work with Rocco DiSpirito.
HH: Rocco is an awesome chef … . He really went above and beyond what he needed to do for me. He really went out of his way to help me win. And it was an honor to work with him.
CS: Do you care that people think of you as the series villain?
HH: They can say whatever they want to say, but in the end, I’m the Top Chef. You know? (Laughs.) I played the game! I played the game smartly, and in the end, I think it showed that I was there for the food. And I proved that.
CS: How did you meet “Top Chef” Season 2 runner-up Marcel Vigernon?
HH: Marcel and I went to school together (at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park). We graduated at the same time.
CS: In the finale, you mentioned you had a beef with CJ. It wasn’t clear to me when things between the two of you got uncomfortable. Can you pinpoint the moment when things got weird?
HH: When I talked to him (the night of the live finale), he goes, ‘You know, I don’t really hate you. It’s just competition,’ and I accepted that, you know. But I guess he didn’t really like me from the beginning, you know. I was always running around, distracting other people, and that was my strategy—distraction. If you’re gonna not like it, I’m going to keep on doin’ it. (Laughs.)
CS: The little village you made out of ingredients from the cereal aisle: What was that about? Was that a serious entry, or were you just letting off some steam?
HH: It was just letting off some steam and just having fun, you know, because it was just a really weird challenge. I mean, that didn’t really show what kind of chef I am. You know, I thought, let’s put in the creative side and just bring out the child in me.
CS: Even your most staunch competitors seemed to get a kick out of that one.
HH: It kind of helped everybody have a good laugh, you know?
CS: If you had to pick one dish from the show you most proud of, what would it be?
HH: It would definitely be the geoduck and the black chicken. That was delicious. I mean, there was great technique involved, great flavors, simple, clean … .
CS: That’s surprising. So your favorite wasn’t the duck from the finale?
HH: Yeah, I like the geoduck better than the sous-vid duck I did.
CS: Which was the most difficult Quickfire or Elimination Challenge?
HH: I didn’t really have a bad challenge. I had fun throughout every one of them. I just had fun.
CS: Which of your competitors do you consider yourself to be closest to? And is there anyone among then with whom you would dread another encounter?
HH: Closest? … Tre, I guess. We got along a little bit. And Sandee and I, also. But other than that, you know, I stayed away from everybody and everybody stayed away from me. But in the house, we all had a good time.
CS: What’s the $100,000 going to be spent on?
HH: The $100,000 is going to be spent on furthering my education on cuisine. I’m going to use that to travel, go to Spain and learn more technical skills—(Laughs.)
CS: If that’s possible.
HH:—and just live life and enjoy it.
CS: What are the most overrated and underrated ingredients out there?
HH: Overrated? Definitely truffles (and) fois gras. They’re so expensive. They taste good of course, (but) they’re overrated. The most underrated ingredient I would say is fish sauce. That’s my favorite ingredient to use.
CS: You mentioned at one point that you felt like Tre was your only real competition. Do you feel differently following the finale?
HH: No, I don’t. I still feel the same.
CS: Was there any point in the competition did you feel like you feel like you were a goner? If so, during which elimination challenge did you feel like you were the most at risk?
HH: That would probably be the boat challenge—when we were in Miami on the boat when I did the salmon and cucumber.
CS: I would have guessed it was the challenge you did with Joey.
HH: Yeah, that one, too. That one, too. But then I knew I was smart enough … I knew the signs. I knew I could back that up that I had the knowledge that he didn’t follow. And that’s why I kept on stressing to everybody and the judges that I knew what was going on the whole time.
CS: After the Joey debacle, your attitude appeared to shift a little bit. Was that just clever editing or was that something you made an effort to do?
HH: It did. It definitely did. It was just a wake-up call and I then realized, you know what? If I want to stay in this game, I can’t really (tick) off the judges. I have to pretend I like them now. (Laughs.) No, I definitely respect every judge, but just—I had to, like, tone it down and get a wake-up call.
CS: What was the funniest thing to happen on the show?
HH: When I made the village. Everybody (was) on their knees.
CS: At the start of the show, who among the contestants were you most attracted to?
HH: Attracted to? Nobody. No one attractive to me.
CS: And it remains the same now, I am guessing.
HH: Yeah, same now. (Laughs.) They didn’t look any prettier (after the finale).
CS: What was the worst moment of the show for you?
HH: I guess when a chef told me that I cook with no soul. I was like, oh my God, I’ve never heard that in my entire career. That kind of hurt. It was good that I heard that from him because it kind of woke me up again and I finally nailed it.
CS: Which judge or guest judge had the opinion that mattered most to you?
HH: Definitely the most (prestigious) judges, such as Anthony Bourdain, Daniel (Boulud) and Rocco (DiSpirito). They were the big-shots.
CS: What was the best dish you tasted that was made by a competitor?
HH: Uh, nothing.
CS: Are you serious?
HH: Well, OK. Dale’s final dish—the lamb and the reconstructed ratatouille.
CS: If you were going to hire anyone else from “Top Chef” Season 3 to work with you, who would you hire?
HH: I would hire Clay.
CS: Really?
HH: Yeah, I can tell he’s a passionate guy. I’d hire Tre, of course. They’re all good chefs, I mean, I can only name a few.
CS: What’s next for you?
HH: I have some options right now; I’m still exploring them. I’m just waiting for more to come and then I’m going to find the best one.
