by Michael J. Lamp

This week, Top Chef put its Masters to the fast food test, and George Mendes was the chef left waiting at the drive-thru window - so to speak. I caught up with George to talk about and hectic kitchens, competing for charity and having your food called ‘ugly.'

Q. Michael, RealityWanted: Curtis mentioned that he thought you were sort of disregarding fast food during the Elimination Challenge, and you made a comment about the Quickfire Challenge not being realistic. Did you watch the show before you were on it? I'm curious to hear your overall impression of Top Chef challenges.
A. George: I did watch previous episodes, here and there, [but] not religiously. I had an idea of what it was like. My opinion of the challenges was surprising; some unrealistic and some realistic. At the end of the day, the challenges were basically entertaining. It's TV. I think there's gotta be something dramatic about it. You're taking master chefs and putting them into challenging, humorous and unrealistic challenges at times. I put my all into every challenge. I had to laugh a lot of times.

Q. Michael, RealityWanted: Things looked extremely hectic in the kitchen. Can you describe the scene back there?
A. George: We got hit all at once. You had cars pulling into the drive-thru and customers in the restaurant. We got slammed with 10-12 tickets at a time. When you get slammed, you're gonna scramble. You're gonna be in the weeds, as we'd say.

Q. Michael, RealityWanted: I was surprised to hear James Oseland refer to your dish as ‘ugly.' What did you think when you saw the episode and heard him say that?
A. George: He's entitled to his own opinion. I respect him. Do I feel it was ugly? Absolutely not.

Q. Michael, RealityWanted: I want to give you a chance to talk about the work being done by Water, the nonprofit you were competing for on Top Chef: Masters.
A. George: I'm really ecstatic. They get portable drinking water to people in need - very poor nations. Coming from a chef's perspective and being a cook, my daily grind is using water for basic recipes. A lot of times we take it for granted. It's the basics. It's the elixir.

Q. Michael, RealityWanted: Is there a dish you wish you could've cooked on the show that would've given viewers a better sense of the kind of food you cook?
A. George: The salmon dish [that I created on the show] reflects what I do as a chef and who I am. The show portrayed a pretty good picture of what I do here at the restaurant. The best message is for the viewers to come visit me at Aldea and see what I do.

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

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

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