Q & A: Top Chef's Lisa Fernandes
"Dale and I are totally cool, I've seen him four times in the last couple of weeks." —Lisa Fernandes, 'Top Chef' finalist
So how do you feel now after the finale of Top Chef Chicago? It's over and done, and I'm totally cool with that. I met some awesome people, I got to cook with some great chefs, and overall I had a great time.
What was the hardest thing about being on the show? The hardest thing to deal with was being in seclusion, with no outside contact with the real world. In the reality TV world, you have to get permission to go to the bathroom, to have a cigarette, to do anything. It's like you're a little kid. And they don't even turn your mic off when you go the bathroom.
Did we get to see the real you on Top Chef? Top Chef is reality-show reality, it's selective reality by definition. The cameras are running 24 hours a day, but they only show a tiny part of what they film. The producers often focus on a small part of someone's personality because they're trying to make the best reality show they can. I understand that. It doesn't mean that all of us on the show are going to like everything they show. But that's part of the deal.
Do you regret anything you said on the show? Of course. I'm a human being. I say stupid things, like we all do. But I try to never look back or to live my life being full of regrets. I definitely learned from my mistakes.
How do you feel about the blogosphere? I'm like everybody else, I think. I find it difficult to read negative comments about myself. But I don't want to focus on the negativity. I didn't mean to offend anybody, and I'm sorry if I did. I totally overreacted. [Major spoiler after the jump.]
How did you feel going into the final Elimination Challenge? I was really kind of relaxed and excited at the same time. I'm a chef, and I think I'm really good at what I do, so I was definitely ready for it.
How did you feel when you found out on-camera that you had lost? Life is not fair. I felt very strongly about the quality of my final dinner. I was neck and neck with Stephanie, and the judges chose her. There's nothing I can do about it.
What aspects of your personality do you feel viewers didn't get to see? My sense of humor. I love to make people laugh. Making people laugh and making people food are my two passions in life. I'm kind of a big goofball, and I'm sorry Top Chef viewers didn't get to see that.
How do you feel about cooking for Drew Nieporent at Mai House? It's great. I'm cooking with Asian ingredients, I'm learning a lot, I'm good to go.
Are you in touch with the rest of the gang? Absolutely. I talk to Stephanie all the time, Richard just emailed me pictures of his new baby, who is so cute. Dale and I are totally cool, I've seen him four times in the last couple of weeks. Andrew and I are fine, he gives me a big hug every time I see him. It's all good.
Related: Serious Eats' Top Chef Season 4 coverage
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14 Comments:
Lisa, I gotta say I wasn't rooting for you during the series but I've got to say that you grew the most during the show.
Any punk who hates someone on a reality TV show isn't worth the oxygen we breath.
I wish you the best and even though I was a huge Steph fan I wouldn't have been upset to see you win after seeing the amazing dishes you pulled off in the finale.
Much love
Jim Glover
Jim Glover at 3:25PM on 06/12/08
Oh and I really like the short hair cut and the smile in the current pic.
I'd hit it!
LOL
Jim Glover at 3:25PM on 06/12/08
i think it's cool that she patched things up with a couple of the other contestants even though their spats might have been magnified anyways.
mikeismora at 3:29PM on 06/12/08
Still not a fan. At all. While her behavior on the show might (*might*) be chalked up to editing, her interviews during its run have been universally abhorrent. Nice to see she's at least picking up on that now.
Truculence at 3:48PM on 06/12/08
Why do all the Top Chef promotional photographs look like they've airbrushed any chin pudgy-ness away? Lisa does not look like Lisa at all.
kathryn at 3:52PM on 06/12/08
ack! please stop with the spoilers!!! some of us don't have cable and have to wait a day or two to watch the show!!!
dithie at 4:00PM on 06/12/08
oh, give a girl a break. i'd want my chin pudginess airbrushed away, too.
also, jim, do you say "i'd hit it" directly to a woman's face when you find her attractive? because there are less violent, more creative ways of saying that.
anyway, way to step it up at the end, lisa. you did yourself proud.
tori_t at 4:34PM on 06/12/08
I find people who cook for a living to be fascinating. Just like people who build and remodel houses. Cooking and Home Improvement shows are some of my favorites.
Sitting back on the couch, watching other people work hard doing things I have no desire to do myself, yet still enjoy seeing and learning about -- Awesome!
FastFoodCritic at 7:24PM on 06/12/08
P.S. - Jim, I think she's the type who would HIT back. :)
FastFoodCritic at 7:25PM on 06/12/08
Honestly I think she might've just hired a good PR person, because most of these answers seem staged and reserved. I have more respect for someone who's a complete bitch but honest about it than for someone who's clearly glossing over things that, editing or not, came out of her mouth.
I also have always hated how arrogant she is about being a good chef - every other chef admitted it when they'd messed up, but she continues to assert (even in this interview) that nothing's her fault. I've never heard her take responsibility for a single dish, except the good ones, of course. I'd still like to hear her explain the Great Rice Sabotage Scandal of 2008.....
embolini9 at 9:21AM on 06/13/08
@tori_t: it's not just Lisa, it's all the contestants, though. They all have magically lost 10-20 pounds via the magic of Photoshop.
kathryn at 10:21AM on 06/13/08
I find it really bizarre that Lisa expected the win. Stephanie and Richard were very clearly the front runners going in. Lisa may have made a solid final meal, but it certainly was not better than Stephanie's, and Stephanie clearly was the superior chef throughout the series, earning win after win week after week. Wasn't Lisa's only win a group challenge?
I do, however, think its a nice picture, and I would really like to try that soup and soup dumpling from the finale.
NYkittyNY at 12:27PM on 06/13/08
Lisa just made that soup for family meal at Mai House. It's fantastic.
Cathy at 4:57PM on 06/13/08
Was this the girl who said she did not care what bloggers said about her? Oh now she cares! Ha! I like her less than Marcel, he at least was funny.
JerzeeTomato at 6:24PM on 06/14/08