Author: Seth Abramovitch

David Moir/Bravo

Throughout Top Chef Seattle, no one made a more endearing impression than Sheldon Simeon, a Hawaiian Care Bear who spoke in a soothing Pidgin English and cooked beautiful and complex food with heavy Asian influences. In last night’s episode, Sheldon and Brooke Williamson were reunited with Kristen Kish, winner of companion web series Last Chance Kitchen. After watching the season along with the rest of us, Simeon decided that his cooking lacked range, and so he went out of his comfort zone for the challenge, taped last week at the L.A. outpost of Tom Colicchio‘s Craft. His very un-Sheldony spot prawns, quail and white chocolate mousse dessert failed to dazzle the judges, and Simeon was denied entry to the finale.

He’s taking it in stride, however, as The Hollywood Reporter learned in a short conversation on Thursday.

The Hollywood Reporter: Where are you right now?

Simeon: I am sitting at my auntie’s house in Waipahu on the island of Oahu.

THR: I’m bummed you didn’t make it to the final two!

Simeon: I didn’t? I watched a different show, I guess. I have no regrets of what happened throughout the season. I got to experience so much amazing things. Last night was great. It’s been a hell of a run.

THR: Do you think it was because you left your cooking comfort zone?

Simeon: I had some time off from Alaska until the finale, and I watched the season and thought, “I’m the guy from Hawaii who cooked Asian food.” I wanted to showcase that I could grow, that I wasn’t just that one chef, that I’m so much more than just island food. I just overthought it last night. But I have no regrets. At that moment, that’s what my heart felt and that’s what I put on the plate. 

THR: Your food looked great. Where can I eat it?

Simeon: For the moment you can come down to any one of our restaurants. It’s Star Noodle in Lahaina, Maui. You can always try it out at Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop, also in Maui. And the Old Lahaina Luau. Come check us out. Maui’s not a bad place to be. 

THR: You brought Maui to the show. I don’t think I ever saw you lose your temper or even get stressed. What’s your secret?

Simeon: The first part of last night’s show, where I got to showcase Maui, me being down by the beach with my family and friends, that’s really who I am as a person. Me going on this television show being a chef, that really comes second to who I am and what Hawaii is all about. 

THR: Do you have any ambitions to host your own show in the future?

Simeon: (Laughs.) It was definitely a learning experience. I was a hot mess in front of the cameras at the beginning of the season, but now it’s become kind of normal. So if there’s opportunities to showcase something, it definitely won’t be serious, I’ll tell you that. But if there was an opportunity to do a television show where I can showcase myself and having a ton of fun, maybe. 

THR: Finally, if you could eat one meal in the U.S., where would it be?

Simeon: It would have to be at Alinea. That’s [progressive chef] Grant Achatz’s spot in Chicago. It’s so far from what I do. I’d love to eat there.

NBC

Hungry for NBC’s Hannibal? Here’s an amuse bouche.

The network has released the first teaser trailer for the new crime drama based on Thomas Harris‘ Hannibal Lecter character, and the results look suitably dark.

The series, from Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller, revolves around brilliant FBI profiler Will Graham — the protagonist of Harris’ 1981 novel Red Dragon — played here by Hugh Dancy. Graham joins agent Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) on the hunt for a serial killer who, among other things, impales his victims on deer antlers.

STORY: NBC Slots Bryan Fuller’s ‘Hannibal’ for Thursdays at 10 p.m. 

The pair consult with Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen, the villainous Le Chiffre in 2006’s Casino Royale), who in the prequel series is still practicing as a therapist, his cannibalistic crimes yet to be discovered.

The show was picked up straight to series last year, and will take over the time-slot recently vacated by Do No Harm beginning Thursday, April 4 at 10 p.m.

Bravo

It’s Valentine’s Day, but, sadly, it’s not Joshua Valentine’s day. The earnest Oklahoman who “walks like a chef,” as guest judge Curtis Stone once observed, went home on last night’s episode of Top Chef Seattle after he presented the judges a plate of foie gras served three-ways — torchon, pan-seared and profiterol.

Unfortunately, his torchon did not set properly, a fatal mistake. Brooke Williamson and Sheldon Simeon therefore advance to the finals. The Hollywood Reporter spoke today with Valentine about his new baby (now six months old), his job as a pastry chef and the 35 pounds he’s dropped since the cameras stopped rolling.

The Hollywood Reporter: How’s your baby?

Joshua: Georgia is awesome. She’s about six months old now, so she’s keeping me pretty busy.

THR: Do you think the judges made the right call last night?

Joshua: Obviously, I’m biased on my behalf, but it was a difficult call. I fell short on technique, Sheldon fell short on seasoning. His technique in cooking his proteins was spot-on. So you’ve got these two similar things, and at that point, it’s just up to them and what they want to see in the finale as far as food. My downfall was that throughout the season, I was cooking simple and straightforward foods. And Sheldon had been a little more exotic in his approach. 

THR: You seem like a quiet, introspective guy. How did you adjust to a life lived in front of the camera?

Joshua: You know, it’s definitely different. And it wasn’t just one camera, it was like ten cameras all around. Since seeing myself on the show I’ve lost 35 pounds. I had to ask my wife, “Am I really that fat?” She was like, “Yeah, you probably should lose a little weight.”

THR: Last night, Tom Colicchio tweeted during the show that he looked liked he’d gained 20 pounds this season.

Joshua: [Laughs] Maybe I handed it off to him. 

THR: How did you lose it?

Joshua: I stopped drinking so much after work and not eating late at night. Usually I don’t get off until 11 or midnight. I’d put back three bourbons and eat dinner.

THR: Has life changed much for you?

Joshua: It’s gotten a little crazy. Not too much. When I go to the grocery store people will stop me and want to get my picture. When I go out to eat, I’ll get some head-turns and looks. It’s stuff I’m not used to — people wanting my autograph. I don’t feel like I’m a celebrity. I’m just an average guy who got lucky on a television show. It’s very flattering and a lot of fun. I try to be a good sport about it.

THR: Remember when Curtis Stone said that you “walk like a chef?”

Joshua: I have no idea what that means. I’m from Del City, Oklahoma. It’s a huge wrestling community. I went to high school with a guy that won two Olympic gold medals. So I’ve always thought I walk like a wrestler. I’m a little bow-legged and flat-footed and kind of have a bad back, so I walk a little unique, but that’s the first time I ever heard “walks like a chef.” I don’t know what that meant.

THR: I’m guessing you’re siding with your homeboy Sheldon in the finale?

Joshua: Sheldon is my boy, but the three of us went through this entire journey together. Brooke’s like a little sister to me. But Sheldon’s my boy. Probably for me, inside I’m rooting for him a little more.

THR: What happens next?

Joshua: Right now, I’m a pastry chef in Dallas at a restaurant called FT33. It’s a friend of mine’s restaurant, and I called him and asked if I could come back to work with him. He said, “The only thing I have is a pastry position.” I said, “OK, I can make pastries.” I’m probably the only pastry chef that can also break down a hog when we get them in to make charcuterie out of. But it just makes me a more well-rounded chef, which is hopefully the goal.