Cindy Pawlcyn

Bravotv.com: What were you thinking when you saw who the chefs you would be competing against were? Did you know any of them before?
I was familiar with Rick and knew of Ludo. It was the first time I met Wilo. One of the best parts of the program was to hang out with these chefs. Each is serving creative, amazing food in their restaurants. I was lucky because they were very supportive and a lot of fun to be with.

Bravotv.com: First the Quickfire, did you know right away what you were going to make with the color yellow? What would have been your first choice of color?
When I heard the color yellow, I kept thinking about the Frank Zappa song, “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow.” I thought I had better not do that. I wanted to make something with corn.

My first choice of color would be green.

Bravotv.com: What was the inspiration for your dish? Besides color, of course?
Sweet corn

Bravotv.com: Onto the Elimination, what would have been your ideal offal to use from the choices given?
Tongue

Bravotv.com: Were you worried at all about making the menudo mild?
I wanted a dish that would be appealing to 100 people, in a theme park.

Bravotv.com: What do you usually make with tripe?
I braise it and serve it with piperade, the French pepper and tomato stew.  Or, I braise it, bread it, or fry it crisp with mustard.Bravotv.com: Can you tell us a little more about “Girl Eating Guts?” What’s the weirdest thing you guys have eaten?
Andouille sausage in Paris. Great guts at St. John’s Restaurant in London.

Bravotv.com: Did you get to try the other chefs’ stuff? What did you think?
Yes. The dishes were fantastic.

Bravotv.com: What is your favorite type of offal?
I like liver, lamb’s tongue, and veal head.

Bravotv.com: What was your reaction to the judges’ comments?
I thought they were to judge us more on the challenge than what we would do in our restaurant.

Bravotv.com: How did competing differ than you thought it would?
It was a different arena for me. I am not competitive in the “challenge” sort of way. Good food is about doing it right, not quick.

Bravotv.com: Anything else you’d like to add?
The Magical Elves were so very magical and delightful!