By Jacqueline Wasilczyk
Hung Huynh swears he's a humble guy.
Humble Hung?
photo: Virginia Sherwood, Bravo
Just as properly beaten egg whites are critical to the success of a soufflé, a “cheftestant” who can be counted on to inject a little drama into the proceedings is a key ingredient behind the success of Bravo’s Top Chef reality cooking series. Contender for this season’s Most Likely To Stir Things Up title is Hung Huynh, a 29-year-old sous-chef at Guy Savoy in Las Vegas. We asked Hung to tell us more about the show and why he deserves to be thought of as more than just this season’s troublemaker.
Zagat Buzz: Have you learned anything on Top Chef that has helped you in the kitchen?
Hung Huynh: I’m definitely more humble [laughs]. I’m a humble person in real life, actually. But when you are in a situation where you are competing and people are stabbing you in the back, or trying to, it’s a little different. I learned how to take criticism better. Even though some of the judges might be wrong, it’s their opinion, so I still respect that.
ZB: Does your Top Chef personality mirror your personality outside the show at all?
HH: I am very outspoken in real life. I say what I mean because that’s who I am and that’s how I developed as a chef. The chefs I’ve worked with, Thomas Keller, Guy Savoy and Christian Delouvrier, are tough and if you screw up they are not going to pat you on the back and whisper in your ear – they are going to chew your ass up.
ZB: As the season progresses do you think you prove yourself to be the "certified professional ***" you said you were in the first episode?
HH: I think it looks that way. Since I was on the bottom a few times in the previous episodes, it seems the producers, the judges or me personally exposed my weakness of not accepting criticism too well. They figured out what pushed my buttons. In real life I take criticism very well; I’m a great team player. But on the show we are not in a real kitchen where you need teamwork to make a restaurant successful.
ZB: Early on, Anthony Bourdain proclaimed you “the guy to beat” on his Bravo blog, calling you “one of the most talented, fearless and creative of the lot.” What quality do you think gives you the biggest edge over the other contestants?
HH: I think I’m very quick in terms of my mind, technique and skills. Even though I do smoke, my palate is ridiculously good. It’s been proven. I can taste a lot of ingredients in a dish without being told what they are. I’ve also studied cookbooks and cooked since I was nine years old. This is my life, my second nature, so I suppose that’s what my advantage is.
ZB: Who do you consider your greatest competition to be?
HH: My greatest competitor would be Tre. He seemed to understand a lot of my techniques and the terminology that I might use. He really understands food better than some of the other chefs might.
ZB: Can you explain some of the tense moments we’ve seen you have so far with other contestants?
HH: Regarding the watermelon shooter [in episode two], I know I tasted Joey’s drink in the Quickfire, but when the BBQ challenge was announced I honestly forgot about his drink. It was just a coincidence, I think, because copying his watermelon drink would be like copying iced tea.
About the crawfish [in episode three], we had 30 seconds to do it. And the rules were if you dropped anything you could not pick it up and use it. So if I went back to pick it up and put it back in the tank, people would wonder why I picked it up off the floor. It was a tense moment where I was kind of confused, and didn’t know what to do or not to do.
ZB: Do you feel that how you act in Top Chef is indicative of how you behave in your kitchen?
HH: Definitely not. I yell at my cooks when they run in the kitchen. Top Chef is very tense, so you’re not playing 100 percent there. You don’t sleep right, you don’t eat right, and it’s a really big kitchen, so you have to run around to grab things!
ZB: And what about the arroz con pollo that almost got you sent home in episode four? Is there anything that you wish you could have changed?
HH: I lived in Puerto Rico for three years and had a Puerto Rican girlfriend. That’s a dish I made for a lot of my staff and for my girlfriend, a dish I have eaten many, many times. I thought it was really, really good. Even Casey and other contestants said that they didn’t know why I was called up there. So that’s when I started thinking to myself, “Are they messing with me?” I was shocked. I used basmati rice instead of the traditional rice you should use so that it wouldn’t be mushy.
ZB: What are your plans after the show concludes?
HH: I don’t plan on staying in Las Vegas too long because competition isn’t great out there. I’m in New York right now, talking to some people about projects for next year. I like being in the city, this is where the competition is, where the real foodies are.