Born-and-Raised Portlander Gabriel Pascuzzi Talks âTop Chefâ
The chef-owner of Mama Bird, Stacked Sandwich Shop, and the soon-to-come Feel Good talks about life on reality TV.
By
Katherine Chew Hamilton
5/24/2021 at 5:00pm
Gabriel rises to the challenge in Episode 1.
This season of
Top Chef featured two Portland chefs: Sara Hauman, who s currently the executive chef at Soter Vineyards in Carlton, and Gabriel Pascuzzi, a born-and-raised Portlander who currently owns wood-fired chicken and veggies restaurant Mama Bird and Stacked Sandwich Shop. (We atÂ
PoMo Best Restaurants award in 2017.) His new, long-anticipated grain bowl restaurant, Feel Good, is expected to open this month. Even when heâs not busy slaying quickfire challenges using local mushrooms like he did in Episode 6, heâs always proudly repping Portland. He recently took fellow cheftestant Jamie Tran around town to eat wings at Prey & Tell, go hiking and morel hunting, and check out
Get All of the Details of the Quickfire Challenge Inspired by Second Chances
With a
Top Chef Quickfire challenge based on second chances, the cheftestants got creative when it came to taking another shot at past culinary failures.
On the May 13 episode of Bravo s
Top Chef, the Quickfire challenge theme for the day was all about second chances, starting with Jamie Tran s return for another shot at winning the competition. When I got terminated, I didn t think I was going to come back, she said. Me being eliminated and coming back, definitely [the] biggest second chance of them all.
Before the cheftestants kicked off the challenge inspired by Dave s Killer Bread
The Black Sheep’s Jamie Tran Makes a Triumphant Return on ‘Top Chef: Portland’
After earning a chance to get back on the show by winning
Last Chance Kitchen, Tran makes a comeback on
Top Chef
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Top Chef: Portland. She returned to the kitchen just in time for the Quickfire Challenge as host Padma Lakshmi announced that one contestant was coming back. Contestant Shota Nakajima even said he hoped Tran returned.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group of chefs more excited to see another competitor,” Lakshmi says on the show as Tran walks into the kitchen.
‘Top Chef’ Portland: Tears and teamwork as the chefs make meals for Portland hospital workers (Episode 7 recap)
Updated 12:43 PM;
Today 11:35 AM
Sara Hauman, head chef at Soter Vineyards in Carlton, works to prepare a dish on Top Chef Portland Episode 7. (Photo: David Moir/Bravo)David Moir/Bravo
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This season, “Top Chef” has stood out not only because it features cooks working with food and ingredients from Portland and beyond. Season 18 of the Bravo series was also filmed during the pandemic, which meant the competing chefs observed safety measures, and guest judges consisted of a rotating panel of “Top Chef” all-stars.