Despite coming in second on Top Chef Portland, Chef Shota Nakajima impressed just about everyone who watched the season. His mastery of Japanese cuisine seemed effortless and for many, myself included, seeing him lose to eventual winner Gabe Erales was a shock.
Despite coming in first in a number of the Quickfire and Elimination Challenges, it was several small missteps that led to his second place finish. Deciding to go with a more comfort food style dish for the third round instead of sticking with the Japanese fine dinning style he had wowed everyone with all season long was a definite mistake.
Shota recently spoke to the Seattle Times about that final challenge and revealed that once he got home, he remade the entire four course meal again for his parents, trying to determine where he went wrong. He boiled it down to the grueling Top Chef schedule causing him to make small mental mistakes and overthink everything.
"“Then I started talking about the flaws that I had in like course two and course three — not thinking clearly and editing myself when I needed, because I could have totally edited the menu five or 10 minutes before. But I think it was just nerves, and honestly, just being so at the end [of the show] and physically exhausted, mentally exhausted. I know that’s just an excuse to make myself feel better.”"
Post Top Chef, Shota plans to open another restaurant in the Seattle area.
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Top Chef also gave Shota an entirely new way to interact with his fans via social media. He has been using his YouTube channel to share how to make those incredible Japanese dishes he prepared on the show. He’s even going as far as letting his fans decide which one he should make a video for next.
"“I’m going to post on my [Instagram] story just being like, “Hey, which one’s your favorite? Which one would you want to learn about?” I’m going to take a poll.”"
In addition, Shota talked about his future and what he’ll do now that Top Chef has come to an end. It’s a well known fact that even coming in second can open doors and raises your chef profile to new, amazing levels.
But it would appear Shota plans to take things slow. Instead of diving right into a new restaurant, he wants to continue to do events and pop up dinning for right now until the circumstances are just right.
"“I do want to open a[nother] restaurant in Seattle, because I love cooking — it’s why I got into it. But I’m waiting for that right gut feeling. I’m looking for a little tiny space [so] that I can do a pop-up at least once a week or something in Seattle, just to start cooking.”"
It’s a given that once the next edition of Top Chef All-Stars rolls around we will more than likely see Shota again. He is just too good and too much of a fan favorite to not return to the franchise. In the meantime, if you’re lucky enough to live in the Seattle area make sure to check out one of his pop-up kitchens. The rest of us will have to settle for his YouTube channel and making our own Shota-inspired meals.
What do you think Guilty Eats Nation? Are you a Shota fan like us? Are you upset he lost Top Chef? Leave a comment below and let us know or join the conversation on our Twitter and Facebook pages.