by Gina Scarpa

 

On last night’s episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas, the contestants were paired up and asked to come up with a dish for several hundred troops at Nellis Air Force  Base.  Preeti teamed up with Laurine and served a pasta salad that underwhelmed the judges.  When the panel called their creation unoriginal, Preeti defended the dish but it wasn’t enough to save her.  She became the third chef eliminated from the competition and today, she spoke to reporters in a press conference call about her experiences on the show.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: I love that you stood up to the panel last night after they called your dish unoriginal.
A. Preeti: I did think it was interesting that they said our dish was completely unoriginal.  Aside from Mike braising the bacon, I didn’t really see anything that original about the dishes.  They made a NY strip, they made a chili… I suppose Ash and Ashley’s pudding was original.  To me, it seemed more like there was a bias against pasta salad.  Maybe there’s just so many pasta salads out there that it gets a bad rap.  There were not that many original dishes that day.  The ingredients we were given didn’t really lend itself to that.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: On last week’s episode, Ashley seemed to take offense to the bachelor/bachelorette challenge.  Do you think that sexuality, or your belief on certain issues, should affect your feelings on the competition?
A. Preeti: On one level, we are whole people so you can’t really extrapolate your ethnicity, where you’re from, all of your experiences, from anything else.  I think that trying to put that aside is sort of impossible.  Do I identify as Indian?  Do I identify as gay?  I am both all the time and I’m a chef all the time.  For me, I felt like this is a competition and we’re here in Vegas and of course, there’s going to be a wedding.  I was a little confused to why she is so mad but thought it was a great opportunity about something that is so important in our world… and our country right now.  Of course, I would love for my partner and I to be married.  At the same time, I’m not angry with heterosexual couples because they can be married.  

 

Q. When you looked around the kitchen and saw what everyone else was making on last night’s episode, did you feel uneasy?
A. Preeti: Honestly, we went around, once we made our teams, and talked about what people were going to do.  Not knowing what was available, we couldn’t plan out the actual dish.  We had kind of divied it up and so Laurine and I knew, when we went into the kitchen, that we were going to do something vegetarian… a side… but also something that could be a main.  That was kind of where we were at, mentally.  So you know, bad choice?  Part of that was the ingredients we were given.  There was not one fresh herb in the place.

 

Q. Do you think there’s something sinister going on, in that the first three episodes all ended with a woman being eliminated?
A. Preeti: I don’t know if sinister is the word.  I definitely feel that, because the previous challenge was boys against girls, I do believe there were some dishes on the guys’ side that would’ve been in the bottom if they weren’t on the winning team.  It’s a tv show and it’s a competition so ultimately, that’s what I see.  Do I think there’s any sexism?  I don’t know.  It is what it is.  The judges see what they wanna see.

 

Q. Were you surprised that they sent you home, and not Laurine?
A. Preeti: I wasn’t surprised that it was me because it was her first time there.  As soon as Mike came in and said that we were the three, I knew it was going to be me.  I had been in elimination before.  Neither of them had been there before.  Mike had won some competitions so I wasn’t surprised by that decision.  I do think that there should’ve been some other people there. 

 

Q. How long are you in the waiting room during judges’ table?
A. Preeti: It’s a long time.  I would say anywhere from 6-10 hours.  You’re stuck in there.

 

Q. Are there chefs that have impressed you?
A. Preeti: I definitely was very impressed with Jennifer.  I really hope she wins.  I don’t know what’s gonna happen.  She really impressed me.  Kevin is definitely awesome and it seems like everything he makes is brilliant and I like his style.

 

Q. What’s next for you?
A. Preeti: I’m really happy in my job, working for Bon Appetit Management Company.  It’s a really great place so I’m not really looking to leave here.  I probably will work on some side projects… maybe a pasta salad cookbook.  It seems like San Francisco is in love with the street food movement these days so I might just have to buy a taco truck and spend my weekends doing something fun with that.

 

Top Chef: Las Vegas airs Wednesday nights at 10pm ET on Bravo.

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 

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