Tristen Epps-Long on Fast Food Beginnings, Michelin’s Race Problem, and Becoming a Top Chef Champion!!
5/11/202652 min
Reigning Top Chef champion Tristen Epps-Long joins Adrienne and Joe to talk about life after Top Chef, fine dining in Afro-Caribbean cuisine, and what comes after Top Chef (including his new restaurant in Houston). In this episode, we also discuss: Top Chef favorites this season and his best advice for getting through it all Who Tristen would want to face off against in a Top Chef Masters season Whether Michelin is racist or cuisineist Tristen and Adrienne’s time together at Red Rooster His ascent from McDonald’s to James Beard nominee and cooking competition champ The role of Marcus Samuelsson in his career What life after Top Chef is really like for chefs The culinary scene in Houston Walk In Confession: Booking reservations on Open Table to get out of work early Follow Tristen: @cheftristenepps Follow the show: @chefscutpod Follow Adrienne: @chefadriennecheatham Follow Joe: @insta.flamm
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAdrienne Cheatham· Host0:00
[upbeat music] This week on The Chef's Cut, we're talking with Top Chef winner Tristan Epps about his path from McDonald's to Michelin, and how he's representing different cultures in his food. He's telling us about the compliment he loves getting from Top Chef fans.
Tristen Epps· Guest0:29
I had so many people reach out to me from different cultures and say like, "Thank you for representing me."
Adrienne Cheatham· Host0:34
What he learned from his time working at McDonald's.
Tristen Epps· Guest0:37
I took the word fast food very seriously. It was like, how much faster can I make this double cheeseburger?
Adrienne Cheatham· Host0:44
And he tells us how he got out of work to celebrate his birthday.
Tristen Epps· Guest0:48
I actually went into OpenTable, booked the last 10 tables myself- [laughs] ... so that we wouldn't have any more reservations.
Adrienne Cheatham· Host0:58
Before we get started, Chef's Cut Nation, we need 10 seconds of your time. Please don't forget to rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. It helps a lot. [upbeat music] So Tristan, we're gonna introduce a new segment today, 'cause I love new segments, and I think you'll both like this segment name: On the Fly.
Joe Flamm· Co-host1:22
That's wildly reasonable for you.
Tristen Epps· Guest1:26
Yeah.
Adrienne Cheatham· Host1:26
Thank you. [laughs] And as you both know, I'm not always the