by Michael J. Lamp

In the first surprising elimination of the latest installment of Top Chef Masters, culinary nice guy John Currence was sent home at the hands of his 'safe' risotto. I caught up with John to talk about preparing for the show, tension in the kitchen and making friends with the competition.

Q. Michael, RealityWanted: I'm very surprised to be talking with you. Even after you were called to Critic's Table, the judges appeared to take greater issue with Celina's ill-textured pudding. To the audience, it felt like she was going home. What were you expecting to happen?
A. John: Frankly, I was so exhausted, and I think everybody else was. It's just so draining that I really couldn't focus in that moment. I almost couldn't hear anything that was going on. Their critique was very valid, and I think - frankly - maybe it's a good call. If you're gonna go on Top Chef and the best thing you're gonna bring to the table is risotto, then you need to take it to the house, boy. It was certainly disappointing, but I think I understand the decision that they made. I hated to leave those guys.

Q. Michael, RealityWanted: It seemed as though the major criticism of your risotto was that it was too safe. What was your strategy with that dish?
A. John: I don't make any excuses for a moment. To me, I've eaten very few good risottos in my life. It is a very precise technique. It takes a lot of patience. I grew up cooking roux. If you're not at the pot, whisking your roux, you're not gonna make a good roux. When [risotto is] done right, it's transcendent. I thought with James, understanding how important the technique is would have some currency, or greater currency, I guess. He was truly and genuinely disappointed to have to bring down the hammer.

Q. Michael, RealityWanted: There was some major tension in the kitchen, mostly between Hugh and Naomi. Did that affect your process?
A. John: I don't think so. I think everybody was so focused on getting done. We had greater tasks at hand than managing that relationship. It didn't help things. The service was very hard.

Q. Michael, RealityWanted: While I'm sure that working with bugs was exactly the kind of cooking you were hoping to put on display, is there one dish you wish American could've seen you cook?
A. John: You know, the one thing that I did before I went out to start filming was to make a list of things that I knew I could execute well. I got totally in a trance, and the next thing I knew, that list was five pages long. I just trashed it. The breadth of cuisines I've worked with - I hoped it would carry me further than it did. I got to hang out with guys that I love, and [I] got closer to them. I had a coffee chat with Mary Sue and Traci [yesterday]. I didn't know either one of those guys, and now we talk once a week.

Q. Michael, RealityWanted: What's your take on the Top Chef experience, as whole? I loved your quote about it being a 'Carnival, freak show of magnificence.'
A. John: I didn't watch the show before. I just didn't have time. Going into it, I'd given it some cursory thought, but I was so incredibly busy traveling that I went out there [as] sort of a puddle of human. I was exhausted and half sick when I got there. I think I'd been drunk for a decade. (Laughs) I'm kidding. There was a moment when I realized I was in a safe place. This was gonna be fun. The ultimate reality of it is that it's like Disney World for chefs. Its like the greatest vacation on the planet. I wished I had just focused a little more before I'd gotten out here. I came out completely changed. I love the production team. They could not have been any better to us. Everything was respectful.

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

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

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