BravoIf getting booted off of Top Chef isn't bad enough, Stephen Hopcraft was sent home last night because of…rice!
The 40-year-old Las Vegas cheftestant was scolded for overcooking the rice (Gail called it "mealy"!) in his Brazilian flank steak dish.
Even so, when caught up with him earlier today, we were happy to find he has a sense of humor about it all...
Did you ever think it would come down to rice?
I didn't think it would come down to rice. But since you brought it up, I think there's got to be a rice company out there that can use me as a spokesman and I can cook their rice dish and they could be like, "Look, it's so easy ever Stephen can cook the rice!"
Like Minute Rice.
Yeah, "Stephen cooks minute rice. It took him 10 minutes, but it's perfect!"
How sad was it when you said goodbye?
It's horrifying, man. You know, this is what I do for a living, I cook for a living. I've done it since I was 14. Everybody who knows me knows me as "Chef." And then you go into the competition, and of course everybody's like, "Oh dude, your food is awesome, you're going to win." It's humiliating, it's embarrassing. But the thing is I'm proud of myself. I had the guts to put myself out there and be judged by what you know is going to be a very tough judge competition.