Connecticut chef Xavier Santiago refused to be daunted by kibbeh nayeh, umeboshi and dragonfruit on his way to the “Chopped” crown Tuesday, beating out three other chefs for the win.
In the appetizer round of the episode, “So Sumac Me,” the four competitors opened a basket to find kibbeh (spiced raw beef with bulgur, similar to tartare) along with a lemon meringue tart, Persian cucumbers and roti.
“I don’t get intimidated easy; I’m usually the one doing the intimidating,” Santiago said in an on-camera interview. “But this basket is definitely tough, so this is going to be a rough ride.”
He advanced easily, though, after transforming the ingredients into a beef gyro tartare, creating a tzatziki sauce with the lemon meringue.
The next basket brought umeboshi, or Japanese salted plums, to be combined with monkfish tails, sumac and asparagus. Santiago presented Spanish monkfish stew with umeboshi toast, and judge Alex Guarnaschelli called it “really beautiful” and “really rich without being heavy,” though she noted that its saffron notes obscured the required sumac. (Judge Chris Santos praised Santiago’s asparagus as “beyond reproach.”)
As the finalists, Santiago and competitor Kristina Preka faced off in the dessert round, with dragonfruit, piloncillo (unrefined cane sugar), cured egg yolks and butter crackers as the assigned ingredients.
Though the judges praised Preka’s dragonfruit granita with cured egg mascarpone, Santiago ultimately won for his “snake eye” crumble with strawberry and diced dragonfruit, served with cured egg yolk ice cream. Santos called it his best dish of the day.
As the “Chopped” champion, Santiago earned a $10,000 prize.
“The best part about winning, besides [the money], is the recognition, and the fact that you get judged by incredible people,” he said after his win. “I can’t wait to share this with my family. It definitely means a lot.”
Santiago is the chef de cuisine at David Burke Prime and Caputo Trattoria at Foxwoods Resort Casino, but was most recently the executive chef at Manchester’s Trattoria Toscana, where he was working when he taped the episode. He’s also served in executive chef roles at Barcelona Wine Bar in West Hartford and Rooftop 120 in Glastonbury.
Leeanne Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@courant.com.
