by Gina Scarpa

On last night's finale of Top Chef: Las Vegas, it all came down to the two brothers - Bryan and Michael Voltaggio.  They won 7 elimination challenges this season and established themselves as frontrunners early on in the competition.  They competed against Kevin Gillespie in the final challenge but the panel chose to eliminate him at judges’ table, leaving the brothers to battle it out.  In the end, they chose Michael as the winner of Top Chef and today, he spoke to reporters in a press conference call about his victory and his experiences on the show.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Whose idea was it to try out for Top Chef, yours or Bryan’s?
A. Michael: I think it was more my idea.  I had Marcel from season 2 as my sous chef and I was hanging out with him and Hung one night.  I was making fun of them and they were like, “Why don’t you go do it?”  The James Beard awards came out and Bryan and I had both been nominated for Best New Restaurant so I called him and said maybe we should do this thing together.


Q. When you were standing there in the finale, were you confident that you had won?
A. Michael: No I was confused because Padma mixed our names up the whole season.  There were times she’s say, “Michael- Bryan..crap, we gotta reshoot that!”  I really thought Bryan would’ve won.  Turns out she was looking at me and saying my name at the same time.  I was overwhelmed.  I was shocked.

Q. You said in an interview, “I cook Kevin cooks the food on my day off.”  Do you still feel that way?
A. Michael: Here’s the deal about that quote and a lot of what’s seen on the show.  We can only judge each other’s food by what it looks like.  That’s where that comment comes from.  I put everything into my dish every time so naturally, I thought I did more work than he did.  That being said, Kevin’s is some of the tastiest food I’ve ever had.  He’s a brilliant cook.  I think everyone just got part of what I said not the tail end of that comment.

Q. You took a lot of risks this season.  Do you feel like you needed to do that in order to win.
A. Michael: When I decided to do the show, I thought it was gonna be easy.  I’ll be honest.  I’ve watched past seasons and I think people did a good job and the people who won were always great but you can pick them out in the very beginning.  When I realized, “Wait a sec, there are 5, 6, 7 people here who are really talented,” I had to do more to stand out from the pack.

Q. How did you feel about your mom being at the final challenge, eating your food?
A. Michael: I think I was more worried about her than me at that point.  She had to sit there and experience what happens on the show and listen to critiques.  As a mom, I’m sure it’s hard to sit there and listen to people talk bad about your children.  I was just hoping she didn’t jump across the table.

Q. Do you plan to stay at the same restaurant?
A. Michael: I need to have a job.  I’m not independently wealthy yet.  I plan on staying where I’m at.  Bryan and I are working on some future projects, maybe a book together.  We launched our website last night, voltaggiobrothers.com.


(Image courtesy of Bravo)

SEE ALSO

Top Chef: Las Vegas - Conference Call with Bryan Voltaggio and Kevin Gillespie
Top Chef: Las Vegas - Finale (Part 2) Recap
Top Chef: Las Vegas - Finale (Part 1) Recap


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For more Top Chef: Las Vegas links, visit SirLinksALot.net