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Top Chef Masters Season 2: Exclusive Interview with Rick Moonen

Posted on 06/10/2010 by Gina in Top Chef Masters and Cast Interviews

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Rick Moonen from Top Chef Masters Season 2

 

by Gina Scarpa

 

RM Seafood guru Rick Moonen is the penultimate seafood chef. At every turn on Top Chef Masters Season 2, one of the other chefs was intimidated by the fact that if the challenge involved fish, they were already behind the curve as long as he was around. Last night, Rick took a risk and prepared venison to throw the judges away from associating him with seafood. In the end, he finished in the top three and sat down with Reality Wanted in an exclusive interview today to talk about his experience on Top Chef Masters a second time around.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You were on the first season of Top Chef Masters. What made you want to do the show again?
A. Rick: I wanted to prove that I could be a contender. I got in my own way the first time. I went in and was advised by a lot of people. I did everything to get in my own way. I was close to nailing it but it slipped through my fingers. When I asked to do season 2, I immediately said yes.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Did you go in the second season with a different mindset?
A. Rick: Did I? Yes. Of course I did. You learn from your mistakes. Even I can learn!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you feel that Top Chef Masters took you out of your "seafood" comfort zone?
A. Rick: Oh, no question! Absolutely! That's the fun of it all. You have no idea what's coming up. People say, "They tell you ahead, right?" and it's like, "No!" I watched the seasons of Top Chef and I studied. You are who you are, though. It's not like I start reading cookbooks to check up on anything. Be who you are, let it go, and have fun.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How did you feel about your performance this time around?
A. Rick: You know what? The hardest thing for me is to watch myself. I've watched each episode once, just to make sure I didn't make a complete fool of myself. How was my performance? I sucked! No, I had a blast. I'm behind the scenes making sure everyone is entertained. That's who I am. I like people. I still love what I do, 30 some odd years into working in kitchens and restaurants. It's not the glamorous jobs people think it is. I love it! Not everybody can do it.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Viewers found your Hades challenge the most entertaining. Was that your favorite challenge?
A. Rick: I think that it was the Hades challenge. Here's the funny part. Hades and the devil are not the same. I get criticized and it's like, "So shoot me!" Under the tremendous pressure, I messed up the mythology. I felt like I connected with that challenge, though. As the theme unfolded in my mind, it felt better and better. That's why I was acting like such a child. You're tired, you're losing your mind, but I was loving it!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What did you think knowing that Michael Chiarello was one of the guest judges and you lost to him last season?
A. Rick: I had no problem with it. I have a ton of respect for Michael. He's a class act. He got drawn as a bad guy once because of some challenge in the first season. He came off a little uppity. That's what Bravo does. That's what they're supposed to do.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Why did you decide to use venison for the last challenge?
A. Rick: I wanted to show that I'm breaking through the typecast. I'm the seafood guy. Venison, I used to represent them. I went to New Zealand. I figured we could put together something that screamed Autumn, with brussel sprouts and pear butter and silky, wonderful venison.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What are you working on now?
A. Rick: Life's great. I have tons of opportunities. At the moment, I'm hoping that a project goes through called Las Vegas Railway Express, which is a train that goes from Vegas to L.A. I'll be doing food and beverage on a train and I want to reinvent things. I'm in an airport right now and the food is dog poop. There's no reason. There's no good reason that you can't get great food everywhere.

 


(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 

 

Follow Gina at twitter.com/ginascarpa

 

For more Top Chef links, visit SirLinksALot.net

 


  


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