by Michael J. Lamp

 

After failing to differentiate Brazil from Argentina this week on Top Chef: DC, Stephen was sent packing. Upon returning home to Las Vegas, Stephen spoke with RealityWanted and other reporters in a press conference call about his favorite challenges, being the life of the party, and the real Angelo.

 

Q. Michael, RealityWanted: You seemed to become this season's Top Chef comedian. Is this something you went in trying to achieve? Were you worried it would cause people to take you less seriously as a chef?

A. Stephen: My personality is not conceived. I am who I am. I think I even said it a couple of times on the show. The more nervous I get, or when I get excited, my personality, my humor comes out even more. It wasn't a planned thing. That's just the person I happen to be. That being said, do I think people would like that and think that's cool? Yeah, I think I'm a cool guy. I live life. I have fun with it. No matter what situation I'm in, I have a lot of fun.

 

Q. Michael, RealityWanted: What was your favorite challenge?

A. Stephen: If you're talking Quickfire, my favorite was the toothpick challenge where I got robbed and should've won. It was a great idea; taking a dish you would serve as an entrée and shrinking it down. My least favorite was being tied together. I loved being tied with Jacqueline, don't get me wrong. [In terms of] cooking skills, I didn't think that shined on anybody's skills so much.

 

 

Q. Kenny expressed concern about how you would keep your meat on with only sternos. Were you worried about that?

A. Stephen: You know what? Kenny, the awesome chef and sportsmen that he is, actually confronted me on that. He was like "Bro, how do you plan on heating that up tomorrow?" I could tell by his quizzing that he was like "bad idea." I appreciated that very much. My ego was like "aw, f#@k" we can heat this up. It's one of those times when your ego sends you down the wrong road.

 

Q. If you could cook for the First Family, what would you have made?

A. Stephen: Hold on, let me filter. I think I would do food that I love to cook. It would be simple food. It's hard to say, it's such an open question. I would do some of my favorite dishes, which would be grilled fish with rice and lentils. Maybe some grilled asparagus. I'd also like to do some family-style shellfish. I love oysters. I [also] do a bacon-wrapped prawn that's served with a tomato salad and basil aioli.

 

Q. Anyone you meet that excited you?
A. Stephen: All those guys excited me. I was incredibly impressed by Aaron Shock and what he's been able to accomplish on this earth at such a young age.

 

Q. What was your strategy when you came onto the show?
A. Stephen: My strategy was to be myself. I wanted to treat the people that I came in contact with with respect and to cook from the heart. To this day, when I create dishes, there's a lot of trial and error. I have to do a lot of editing on my dish. I think that was kind of my downfall. I think I did stay true to my scheme on the show.

 

Q. When you pulled the Brazil card, do you think you had a disadvantage?
A. Stephen: I don't think the country of Brazil puts anyone at an advantage or disadvantage. My absence of knowledge of the cuisine of Brazil put me at a huge disadvantage.

 

Q. If you had drawn knife #1, what would you have picked and what would you have made?
A. Stephen: I would've gone for Spain and I probably would've done some type of raw fish, maybe with some of the flavors of Spain.

 

Q. Had you prepared for an international challenge?

A. Stephen: I should have. It seems so obvious. I still wouldn't have prepared for Brazil. (Laughs) If you think off the top of your head, you think of Brazil, what is the ingredient that chimes in your head that makes it a food place? I don't think I would've studied it.

 

Q. Any plans to travel to Brazil now?

A. Stephen: I bought a ticket to Carnival and I'm on my way. (Laughs). My wife makes all the travel plans.

 

Q. Were there lots of pranks like the one with Angelo?
A. Stephen: First of all, I did not actually pee onto the plastic wrap. I was really hammered and it was dark, so I sat down. [Then I ran out and yelled], "There's plastic on my nuts." Angelo is hilarious. We went back and forth on a bunch of things.

 

Q. While the judges are deliberating, you're often seen drinking wine out of paper cups, Why not real glasses?

A. Stephen: I think they've done some previews. It's best for us not to have glass. I guess that's coz we're all used to drinking on the streets. We learned to hide our beverages.

 

Q. You're still in the running for some prize money, courtesy of the Fan Favorite Award.

A. Stephen: Can I get a "Let's go Stephen"?

 

 

Top Chef: DC airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 

 

Follow Michael at twitter.com/mjlamp

 

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