NEW: Portland Chef Doug Adams Eliminated from ‘Top Chef’ Season 12
Thursday, January 08, 2015
"It was an incredible experience, and the most important thing for me was to represent Portland. Getting eliminated is hard, and having to walk away and feel like the job wasn't done was so frustrating," said Adams.
During this week’s Elimination Challenge, the chefs went to Northwest Boston’s The Herb Lyceum, and watched a video of chef legends Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. They were then greeted by Pepin in the flesh who was ready to share a bottle of wine.
The Challenge this week was to create a dish inspired by Child’s French cooking techniques. They had three hours to cook and one additional hour to finish their dishes during the presentation day.
Adams made a roasted Foie Gras with roasted peaches, sweet and sour onions and hazelnuts.
Adams along with chefs George Pagonis and Melissa King ended up in the bottom three. The judges said that all three dishes lacked great technique and were undercooked.
Judge Tom Colicchio felt that Adams' dish was “over seared and undercooked.”
“It's a beautiful idea, it's just completely lost,” said judge Hugh Acheson.
After only his first time on the chopping block, Adams was sent packing.
Gregory Gourdet, head chef at Portland's Departure Lounge and Mei Lin, sous chef at Michael Voltaggio’s Ink, had the two best dishes. Lin won the challenge with her duck à l’orange with turnip puree, orange puree, and glazed vegetables.
Adams has worked at Chef Vitaly Paley's Imperial restaurant and the Penny Diner since 2012. He grew up in Tyler, Texas and spent time in Missoula, Montana before moving to Portland in 2008 where he attended Le Cordon Blue culinary school.
In Portland, he first worked at Lucier restaurant on the South Waterfront, but quickly moved on to work at Ping.
In 2011 he began working for Chef Paley at Paley's Place and then moved on to Imperial and the Penny Diner when they opened in 2012. He was soon promoted to Sous Chef at both restaurants.
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