'Top Chef: Las Vegas': Michael Voltaggio on his win, talking trash and why the viewers turned on him

Dried out chocolate cake or not, Michael Voltaggio emerged victorious on last night’s “Top Chef: Las Vegas” showdown, topping fan favorite Kevin and older brother Bryan. We talk to the 30-year-old chef about why he thought Bryan had beat him, his emotional reaction after he won and why he thinks the viewers turned against him.

I just read your Q&A on BravoTV.com where you say that you thought Bryan won. The show looked like a dead heat between you two. Did we miss any critique that didn’t make it into the show?
No, I don’t think it was criticism from judges per se, as much as it was self-criticism. I knew what I put out, and I was looking at what Bryan put out, and so, just based on eating food with my eyes, I thought Bryan had won. That’s where that came from.

Which of the four dishes in the finale did you think Bryan had won over yours?
By far, I actually overcooked my cake. It was dry as a hockey puck. I knew pulling it out of the oven. Like I turned around and thought, oh, man, I forgot my cake in the oven. So I thought this is the last thing I’m going to serve to the judges. This is what they’re going to remember. This is what I’m going to be critiqued on. And, sure enough, they actually took into consideration the rest of the evening.

They did and, despite the cake being dried out, they seemed to have seen your vision for it.
I actually do a little pastry in the restaurant here, so I’m very familiar with pastry and dessert. I just forgot about it in the oven. That was it. The other components on the dish were enough to bear the weight.

You had done pretty well throughout the season. What was your game plan going into the finale?
My game plan was to simplify everything and not overdo it. You know, Napa. You have to let the ingredients kind of speak for themselves. So I wasn’t going to do too much, but in the end I was still going to cook my style of food my way.

Then, there’s poor Kevin. He seemed so stressed out and put off by Preeti being his sous-chef. He’s usually so cool.
We were all stressing. Honestly, I didn’t know what was going on around me. I didn’t know what was going on with Kevin, or Bryan really, until I watched the actual episode last night. I haven’t even actually been able to see the whole thing yet. I had no idea he was so stressed.

I know that earlier in the season you had said that Kevin’s food was like what you would make at home. Do you still feel that way?
I’m kind of regretful. I’ll be the first one to say that. The way we judge each other’s food on the show, because we don’t get to taste it, we just judge it by the way it looks. So that comment was solely based on the fact that if you look at my plate next to his plate, your immediate reaction is going to be, wow, there’s a lot more work on that plate. With that being said, I have tasted some of his food and it’s very good. So it was not a shot at Kevin and his cooking. It was more a shot at the fact that this is a competition and I’m putting myself out there, trying to get everything on the plate and show what I do. But, at the end of the day, it just comes down to flavor, and that’s ultimately what Kevin was winning with. I don’t take anything away from that.

You and Bryan did a lot of trash talking on each other. After you were announced the winner, we saw a different side to the Voltaggio brothers. What has being on the show together done for your relationship?
Our goal from the start was to see each other in the finale. I don’t think any of us realized or prepared ourselves for what that would feel like, A. And, B, we had to watch the other one win. The whole process definitely brought us closer together. I love my brother. Then again, only one person can win. It’s called “Top Chef,” not “Top Chefs.” It came down to, like, salt and a nail-biting finale between my brother and myself. For that alone, I think it was worth it for both of us.

Did you really just realize in Vegas that Bryan was on the show?
I knew that he applied, but once you start going through the process everything is confidential. Both of us did a really good job of keeping secrets, so we didn’t really find out the details of all of it until that moment.

What was it like seeing him?
It was like, “Oh, ... . There’s another good one here.” Honestly, when I signed on to do it, I thought this was going to be easy. I watched the show in the past. The people who usually won definitely deserved to win, but I never thought that anyone who has won in the past was a better cook than I am. I went into it pretty confident I could win. When I got there, I realized that maybe Bravo stepped up their game with this show. It’s actually going to be a cooking competition. Great. I was going to be in the first season where it was going to be difficult. The other cooks were pretty phenomenal.

Did you catch the viewer poll? You had the lowest number of voters rooting for you.
Nice [he laughs].

How do you feel you came off this season?
If you go back and you look at the comments in the beginning, I had so many people, like, “We’re rooting for you.” Then, as the season progresses and when Mike left, they needed to have someone to hate on. It’s very easy to take things that I said and perceive it for something totally different. Unfortunately, people create their own perception of what they think you are, and they don’t know you. They know a person that they see for three to four minutes in a sixty-minute segment once a week. If I’m the least favorite, ok. They didn’t eat my food and it’s a cooking competition. It’s not like watching “American Idol” where you watch somebody sing and actually form an opinion. So, it’s like, “I don’t like that guy. I don’t know what his food tastes like, but he always thinks he’s blah, blah, blah.” It’s more of a personality thing, where that’s not really what this show is all about. I’m a lot more humble for real, anyway, than how I was portrayed on the show.

Well, like I said, we saw a different side at the ending. How was it to have your mother there?

It was awesome. I think, ultimately, she was probably sitting in the back hoping Kevin won, so she wouldn’t have to go though what she had to go through. It’s like very rare that you have to be comforting and excited at the same time. She was like me – she didn’t know what to feel in that moment. All three of us were just, “What happened?” Not to mention we were standing there for hours and hours. That whole process takes a long time.

What’s going through your mind as you’re just waiting around?
Wow, I really screwed up that chocolate cake.

— Jethro Nededog and Denise Martin

Photo credit: NBC Universal

 

Comments

[tv]

I want my "Top" anything to be a real "winner." He might have made the best food that night be he was not the best person. I think "Who would I want to hire, or who would I want to work for?" and it was NOT Michael. Sorry.

[R]

I loved this dude from the get go. He was a little quiet at the beginning, kinda hung back but you could see him sizing everyone else up and gathering information. You could also definitely see the fire of ambition and raw talent that he has burning within. I think that quality above all else is what sets a champion apart. This guy's got it in spades. Yeah ok, maybe he was a little cocky at times but who isn't when you're competing! He backed it up all the way down the line with creative, complex and unique dishes. His POV and take on each challenge was always something I looked forward to in each episode. It seems everyone else; the judges and his competitors alike also looked forward to seeing what the hell he was gonna come up with. I'll throw down the gauntlet in stating that Michael Voltaggio would have won any of the previous seasons as well. Kudos to the show producers for bringing the Voltaggio brothers, Jen and Kevin into the competition, they raised the bar to a level that's taken this show from being just a good and entertaining show, to a great and compelling competition. Congrats Michael, you deserve it. Now, I only hope I can get a reservation at your restaurant...

[Erica Stephens]

The right man won,if Kevin had won I would have been satisfied.Jen was a whiney wreck,and Kevin was to apologetic and insecure about his cooking.

[John]

Michael you are the best out there, your sense of creativity is stunning!
Bonne chance pour la suite !

[Beatricia Sagar]

It may not be a personality show but here we are watching and not eating the food which of course I would love to do. I am happy Michael won..Kevin and Bryan must be great chefs but I think Michael has the grit, determination, and edginess which is also needed to compete in the restaurant world...I can still hear him saying in one episode RELAX RELAX RELAX relax..When he dropped his voice on the end he was not only establishing his territory but calming down..and what he said in the end...this is (f0r better or worse)all he knows and all he has ever wanted to do...sometimes that takes us a long way

[karen jordan]

Michael,

I am running late for a meeting but have to leave a comment here.

First, let's be real here. You have been nothing but honest during this season, and I understand with your new found fame you must show restraint look back at comments you had made in regards to Kevin's cooking comment for reputations sake.

However, those comments were 100% appropriate. It was no doubt frustrating watching a "competitor" slide by week after week taking the safe route cooking as simply as possible knowing the dishes would be perfect and he would skate thru, and waiting for the rest of you upping your games each week with extremely technical dishes, creativity, and execution that left much greater room for a slight error.

This show is called Top Chef, and to win by default is not a win in my book. And in my opinion the only reason the producers let it happen was because they wanted a fan favorite.

Kevin at no time showed initiative or drive, he simply did the minimal possible, thus your frustration, and mine.

Being in sales, I immediately recognized his spin comments upon questioning by the judges as they asked about playing it safe, albeit they rewarded it and let it continue...again, fan favorite!!!

One more comment...letting him represent the U.S. potentially in a cooking competition when they said flat out his cooking was too simple to make it???? And you and your brother didn't win because of slight errors in executing a highly technical dish that would garner entry???

What a joke...

Congratulations, sorry for the long post. You know you won for the right reasons. And you know you are apologizing to no one.

[Patrick]

I may be wrong but Bryan missed out on all the consolation prizes along the way that balance things out a bit. Kevin won the kitchen, the chance to complete in the international competition and and extra $30,000. Jennifer won a big cash prize and one point, if I recall. Michael won the Prius and another $10,000 that he offered to share with his team.

Bryan deserved one of these breaks along the way and didn't get it.

[Christine]

I was cheering for Bryan. He had such a goofy laugh that I loved! The Voltaggio brothers were portrayed to me like good guy/bad guy, Michael of course being the brat. I really wish Bryan had won a prize too as he really missed out in that dept. I was so worried Kevin might win! That to me would have been like Hosea winning - not right! And I have to admit, I was never so happy to see someone gone as I was when Jenn went! I really, really disliked her! I was happy with the finale and I am happy with Michael winning. I would love to dine at his restaurant!

[jos san fran]

This all might sound silly but I'm being honest:I was so impressed by both brothers, their sincerity, work ethic, accountability, confidence, I'm a Maryland girl in SF and I can see a Maryland boy a mile away, we talk about top chef at work every week and one thing we always agreed on was you guys not only thrive under pressure, but you succeed. This win was for the working guys who do their jobs and take reponsibility for their actions. By the way, no viewers ever tasted any food, what could we know? but the best GUYS finished on top.

[Pamelia]

Based on the final meal, I thought FOR SURE that Brian should have prevailed---but of course, the judges decide to use criteria OTHER than taste, execution, and presentation, to decide who would be the next TOP CHEF.

THIS SHOW FRUSTRATES ME SO!!!! The running joke about Robin, who should have been dismissed MUCH earlier in the season than she was, is kind of a metaphorical representation of what was wrong with the whole damn season.

Without a doubt, the level of talent in the final FOUR (love ya Jen) was better than any other season, but the judging was so flawed, I have decided that I will just forget it ever happened, and look forward to concentrating on Chef Academy and Launch My Line!! (which is similar to sticking my head in the sand, I know, I know.....)

Interesting Tid-Bit on Kevin:

"Kevin Gillespie may have come in third the other night during the Top Chef finale, but, well, he's not doing too shabby.

The Bocus d'Or semi-finalists were announced this week and Kevin is on the list! The chefs were chosen by the U.S. foundation's board of directors: Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, and Jerome Bocuse.

The U.S. semifinals are set for Feb. 6, 2010, at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. 24 teams (each consisting of a chef and his assistant) from around the world will meet at the Bocuse d'Or International Culinary Competition that takes place in Lyon, France, on Jan. 25 and 26, 2011".

[Pranav]

I dont care if he had the least votes in the viewer poll or whatever...he was the best and thats why he won!! I think he has the right amount of attitude, does some trash talking as well, and at the end of the day his food looked phenomenal, to say the least! I was routing for him from start to finish and I'm glad he won!