Photo: David Moir/Bravo
Warning: This article includes spoilers forTop Chefseason 19.
Buddha Lo … you areTop Chef!
Lo spoke with PEOPLE ahead of his big win about how he crafted his winning menu.
“There were so many things I hadn’t really shown, but you can only pick four,” says the executive chef atHŪSO, a fine-dining restaurant inside Marky’s Caviar in New York City. “So I thought, okay, strip it back, think about the words that they said. They said the best meal of your life. That’s impossible — hopefully I live longer than the finale, you know? So maybe the best meal in my life will be different when I’m 50.
“So what’s something that won’t change and you will look back no matter what the result? Well, the best people in my life aren’t going to change. My mom’s still going to be my favorite person. Same with my dad. Same with brother.”
David Moir/Bravo
Lo ultimately made a hamachi with caviar dedicated to his brother, lobster laksa for his mother, and Mongolian lamb for his late father, who died from cancer.
His final course, a pumpkin mille-feuille, was an ode to his new home in America.
“I wasn’t born here. I wasn’t raised here. And the fact that I was able to come from Australia to America and actually make it onto the competition within four years, I’m very thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to be here,” Lo tells PEOPLE.
Lakshmi, judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, along with guest judgesTop Chefwinner Stephanie Izard and three-star Michelin chef Eric Ripert ultimately decided his final meal was worthy of theTop Cheftitle.
Lo plans to use the $250,000 cash prize that comes with the title to plan a trip, but more importantly, he says, “It’s probably going to be able to help me live a little more comfortably. I’ve never had this much money in my life, nor did I think that I would.”
Fans of the show can taste Lo’s winning food in a specialTop Chef-themed tasting menuat HŪSO taking place from June 22 through Sept. 24. He will serve three of his finale dishes and what Lakshmi called the “best bread” and “best dessert” served onTop Chef.
“It is definitely worth going to that’s for sure,” he says.
Looking towards the future, Lo has big plans. “The next restaurant that I open, I want to try and get a lot of accolades from it. I’m even hoping to get three Michelin stars one day out of it.
“I set this goal a long time ago to winTop Chef. I never entered in it just to come second, or third, or participate,” he continues. “It was always win or nothing. So, I’m now putting that out there.”
source: people.com
