Last week, two gay chefs — Seattle’s Jerry Traunfeld and Vegas/L.A.’s Susan Feniger — competed, with Susan emerging as co-winner. This week, we got one out contestant, but she’s from Texas, so it counts double.
Monica Pope, German-born chef-owner of Houston’s T’Afia restaurant (and who was in my office bringing me food of hers about a month ago), won the “quickfire challenge” right out of the gate, scoring $5,000 for her charity. For the elimination challenge, she cooked a very typical Southern (especially Louisiana-style) soul dish for Mekhi Phifer’s birthday: shrimp and cheese grits. She acted fairly confident going in, although the British judge Jay Raynor sniffed, “Her grits are an acquired taste I haven’t quite acquired yet.”
Unfortunately, she came in third in the final round, falling to her nemesis on the episode, Marcus Samuelson, whose parting words to her were she should have looked out for herself. (Monica assisted another chef who had forgotten a key ingredient while Marcus refused to lift a finger for her.) He was in it for himself, and it paid off. Of course, for me, it makes me less inclined to go back to Aquavit the next time I’m in NYC. But I’ll be calling on Monica next month.
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She’s a principled person, a good chef, a cutie, AND she’s “fast, easy & cheap” (at least according to her t-shirt). Who could ask for anything more? Dish me up some of them shrimp & cheese grits, girl!