by Gina Scarpa

This week, on Top Chef: Masters, Suzanne Tracht was able to pull off a win after outstanding performances in the quickfire and elimination challenge.  She moves on to the finale to face off against Hubert Keller, who advanced on the first episode, and four others who have yet to be named.  On next week’s episode, chefs Rick Bayless, Cindy Pawlcyn, Wilo Benet, and Ludo Lefebvre will fight for a spot in the Winner’s Circle and compete for $100,000 for their favorite charity, courtesy of Glad.  Today, the four chefs spoke to reporters in a conference call about their experiences on the show and after.

Q. Was there any hesitation about appearing on the show?
A. Ludo: I just wanted to make sure that it wasn’t like a reality show.  I didn’t want to be in the same room with all the chefs or share a bathroom. 

Q.  Cindy, as the only female on this episode, was there any added pressure to take one home for the girls?
A. Cindy: I’m always competitive so I would like to win.  I really liked the boys I got paired with.  It was really fun so it was a funny thing.  I thought I’d be more competitive than I was but I was more relaxed.  We’re all trying to win something for our charities.  I just enjoyed working with them.  It was a fun group.  I hope that comes across.

Q. How did appearing on Top Chef: Masters come about?
A. Cindy: I think we were all invited.

Q. Did you take anything away from the show that you brought back to your restaurant and your staff?
A. Rick: I learned a massive amount of stuff, just watching other chefs cook and pushing myself to create outside of my normal bounds.  I think every one of us brought our knowledge and experience to it but, often times we had to work with ingredients that we wouldn’t normally choose.  I found myself being really creative in a way that I may not have done if I was turned loose on my own.  I found a lot of inspiration, not only from the dishes that I created but from what everyone created too.  When I go into menu planning these days, it seems I’m always bringing up something I learned on Top Chef: Masters.

Q. From what you guys are saying, it doesn’t seem that there’s much of an opportunity to get together and talk shop the way you got to on Top Chef.
A. Cindy: No, we really don’t get to.  There are conferences and food shows but you walk through the hall and you go home again.  It’s not getting us all in a room where we can let our hair down.

Q. What advice do you have for future Top Chef contestants?
A. Rick: There’s almost no way to prepare for it.  Be who you are.  From my standpoint, you have to go with what you know.  Don’t try to get too far away from w hat you already know because the challenge itself is already going to put you out of your comfort zone.

Catch all new episodes of Top Chef: Masters, Wednesday nights at 10pm ET on Bravo.

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

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