by Gina Scarpa

 

It's safe to say that many Top Chef: Texas fans were expecting Ed to go all the way to the finale this season but this week's Elimination Challenge ended up being his last.  Beverly returned to the competition after winning Last Chance Kitchen, then secured her place in the final four with an impressive dish inspired by her mentor.  Many aspects of Ed's dish went over well but his usage of canned oysters just couldn't be forgiven and he was eliminated.  Today, we talked to Ed in an exclusive interview about those oysters, the chefs he viewed as his biggest competition, and his thoughts on Last Chance Kitchen.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made you decide to try out for Top Chef after so many seasons?
A. Ed: I think one of the things you get watching Top Chef is that, obviously, the quality or the caliber of chefs seems to get better every year. It was just an interesting thing. I did Iron Chef a couple years ago and I enjoyed it. Obviously, for any of us being able to compete on the national level... there isn't a stage for us to do something like this. I can't just walk up to another chef be like, "Hey, do you wanna throw down or challenge each other?" It is an opportunity. I don't know any chef that would not want to do this. It's a very unique opportunity to go and compete. You gotta say there's probably a lot of people that audition for this. It's an honor just to be there.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: This entire season, I thought we were going to see you and Paul face off in the finale. Did you view him as your biggest competition or were there others you had your eye on as well?
A. Ed: No, I think Paul was definitely, most consistently, the frontrunner. I thought Nyesha probably could've stayed longer and had she stayed longer, I think she would've been a force to be reckoned with. I think Lindsay has the skill and she can pull out a win at any time.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: When I talked to Grayson last week, she let her feelings on Last Chance Kitchen be known. What was your opinion of it and of seeing Beverly come back?
A. Ed: Obviously, for the person who gets to Last Chance Kitchen, it's a good thing but I don't know. I think it's a competition. As competitions go, I don't believe in second chances. You don't get to replay the Super Bowl. You don't get to go, "Hey we want another chance!" To me, it undermines the idea of what sports and competition are. As far as I know, we signed up for this as a competition. Having said that, I was the one that got eliminated because of the Last Chance Kitchen. Now, if you're Beverly, you're going to love it. For me, I don't agree with it! I've always said that this is as much a game of psyche as it is of actually cooking talent. Psychologically, when you think you're in the finals and they go, "Oh, you're not" ... for me, it kind of threw me off my game. For me, I was ready to leave Texas.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Sarah had the tough decision this week after winning the Quickfire to choose between a new car and automatically going to final four. If it were you, what would you have chosen?
A. Ed: I think it's hard to say because you don't know until you actually get there but I was close. In my heart of hearts, I would've taken the car. I wanna say that I would've done that. Having said that, you don't know at that moment... I could just as easily have buckled and say, "I'll take the free pass." The other thing is, we're all exhausted. Mentally, physically exhausted. Having to do one less challenge is a major thing.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Having your mentors come back this week was a really emotional moment for many. What was your reaction when you saw Frank [Crispo]?
A. Ed: I think it was a little different for me. Everyone broke down. I fought back the couple of tears that were coming out. I think the reason is, for a lot of these other chefs, they're either still working for these mentors or have a connection to them as their mentor still. I've known Frank for so long that I consider him more of a friend right now. To me, it was like seeing my old buddy. It was nice for me but it was a shock! I haven't seen him in five years.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Gail and Frank had good things to say about your dish this week but Tom wasn't sold. What went wrong?
A. Ed: It was the canned oysters and it was a fair assessment. I can't sit there and defend my dish because I know that, at the end of the day, I shouldn't have put that oyster sauce on there. I should've left it off. It all stems from going to Whole Foods and them not having fresh oysters and it all unraveled from there. In hindsight, I should've left the sauce off altogether. I wouldn't put that dish on my menu. But it was a choice between two evils. I went with one and it came back to bite me but it was fair. The pork was good, the pickles were good, everything was perfect except that sauce! It's incredible how in the heat of the moment, the decision making skills go out the window.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Top Chef opens a lot of doors for the chefs that have competed on the show. Has the same happened for you?
A. Ed: Obviously, there have been offers and I'm just taking it one day at a time and trying to be wise about it. I'm working on a cookbook, which hopefully will be released in the Spring of 2013. We're in the testing phase right now. Beyond that, there are a lot of calls for appearances and things like that. Hopefully, I'll be able to travel to some places and say hi to some of the people that have been supporting me.

 

Top Chef: Texas airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Bravo.

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 

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