It was a crazy culinary journey for Alex Pineda, govt chef at The Landing, as he appeared on the finale of a “Chopped” cooking contest on the Food items Community.
“I was chopped,” stated Pineda right after the finale aired July 20, when he was minimize from the competitors. “Everything is meant to be. I unquestionably figured out that becoming humble is a attractive matter.”
A week before, a crowd at The Landing erupted as Pineda defeat three competition to make it to the finals.
“We rejoiced with oysters and champagne,” explained The Landing General Manager Robert Simonelli at the time. “Alex brings so a great deal electricity to this location. He seriously is an inspiring man.”
Dina Sweeney, who also operates at The Landing, was clapping alongside with diners as they viewed the episode on a significant-monitor Television.
“I’m so psyched,” she stated. “He is so passionate about this.”
Pineda joined The Landing this spring, following working as executive chef at Boston cafe, Scampo. At just 31 years old, he has cooked in dining establishments around the environment. Pineda will come from restaurant royalty. His mom is Lydia Shire, who owned Biba, Pignoli, Locke-Ober and other Boston sizzling spots.
Pineda now life in Marblehead, close to the restaurant, with his spouse and new child son, Max.
He was approached by “Chopped” in 2020 to participate in the Alton Brown Maniacal Basket Obstacle, where competing chefs develop meals from baskets containing wild and weird elements.
Pineda filmed his episodes final November in a studio in Knoxville, TN, cooking 12 hours straight.
In the July 13 episode, Pineda was provided a basket with asparagus, head-on prawns, haggis (a Scottish delicacy of sheep intestines and oatmeal), and blueberry waffles.
“They’ve filmed over 500 episodes and a producer nicknamed Bagels explained to me our episode had arms-down the hardest baskets ever,” Pineda stated.
So what was his winning dish?
“I built asparagus puree with grilled head-on prawns and a haggis fritter with toasted blueberry crostini,” he claimed.
Not to stress. It won’t be displaying up on The Landing’s menu any time shortly, he laughed.
Pineda has no regrets, even if he didn’t acquire the contest’s $50,000 prize.
“It was a lot of pleasurable, a wonderful working experience,” he said. “I never ever observed myself as a Tv set character. I don’t know if that’s my path in existence, but who is familiar with. I would definitely do it again.”
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