There were tears and sobs at the end of tonight’s episode of Top Chef VIP as Johnny Lozada’s name was announced as the elimination.
In an unprecedented event in this edition of the Telemundo reality show, all contestants left the basement and went to the kitchen to say goodbye to the Puerto Rican, who thus verified the footprints left among his comrades. Even the cooks were moved to say good-bye to him.
Johnny was in the group that faced each other in the elimination episode and went through two challenges. The first was cooking a tomahawk steak, which sent three contestants to the safety of the basement, leaving five for the final challenge, including Lozada.
The challenge was to create a dish in which garlic was the main ingredient and flavour. Puerto Rican prepared some shrimp in a tomato and garlic sauce over tostones cups. Finally, her plate was left next to that of Dominican José Gumbs, a former soccer player, who prepared a dessert: a passion fruit pannacotta and fruit with garlic.
Although on the one hand Gums was criticized for using garlic powder in its preparation, it was highly praised for the riskiness and elegance of its presentation. Although Johnny was praised for his garlic flavor, his use of ketchup to prepare the shrimp sauce was strongly criticized by the judges. In a previous challenge, he had already warned them about the use of that product in preparation with “myoketchup”.
Tears welled up in his grief as soon as he said goodbye to the TV presenter.
Before addressing the judges, Johnny told his teammates, “Thank you for your tears, thank you for your love, thank you for everything.” “And you, my people, are grateful for teaching me everything I know. I knew absolutely nothing, nothing here. I scalded the water, my eggs broke in the water and thank god I got away as far as I could. Thanks to all of you”.
As he was leaving, chef Juan Manuel Barrientos, perhaps the most serious of the three judges, stopped him: “Before you go, I want to tell you something. Of the 16 participants from last season and the 20 from this season Se, you are one of the people who has brought the most joy to this kitchen. Thanks for coming here, brother.”
“Thank you, thank you for allowing me. It’s time to go, my family is waiting for me, my people. Thank you!” Johnny said at last.
(translate to tag) Top Chef VIP (T) Telemundo (T) Johnny Lozada
