Top Chef Exit Interview: Ariane Gets Chopped, Maybe She’ll Write A Cookbook

Emily Hochberg
Fancast.com

Wednesday’s Top Chef elimination was the ultimate shocker when Ariane and her knives were sent packing. The same chef who rose above a rocky start to win challenge after challenge was sent home for a butchering blunder proving you’re only as good as your last dish. Which, sadly for Ariane, wasn’t good enough. In a press phone call this morning, Ariane opened up about what went wrong in the kitchen, and clears the air on cooking lovebirds Hosea and Leah, and the Euro we all love to hate, Stefan.

You seemed pretty passionate that you shouldn’t have gone home. Do you still feel that way?
Of course! You know, I worked hard, I rose to the challenge, and I relied on my teammates. I was a team player and I just felt that maybe Leah should have went.

Leah? Not Hosea?
You know why I’m saying that now probably? Because I saw the show. I just felt like I went in there telling them what I knew and I think when it came to lamb I wanted to do it a certain way which would have been fine, just grilling it or roasting it. And I just kept getting “NOs” from them, instead wanting to braise it and take it off the bone, which I do know. It was the tying that I’m not good at and you only have so much time and when Leah said, ‘I can help you, I can help you,’ you believe it. You believe your teammate. So when she didn’t do a great job – I think the time just catches up with you in the moment and the pressure between the two of them, and me, the third wheel; it’s difficult.

Do you think that she didn’t help on purpose?
Watching the show you definitely get that intention, absolutely. I think when it was happening didn’t think so. I don’t know why, I would think we would want to win as team, why wouldn’t she want to help me? And maybe she thought she was doing a good job; I don’t know.

Everyone seemed really shocked when you were kicked off. Do you think they all thought Leah was going too?
I don’t think at that point anyone knew who was going to go. It was definitely up in the air. I think Hosea and Leah both thought that they didn’t do enough. I felt pretty confident; I worked hard and I always had that in my head. I did it, it tasted good, and everyone who tasted it really liked the lamb! So I just didn’t think I was going to be the one! So I think everybody was a little shocked. And plus I had such a good run and was on such a high; I had all those wins. I probably had some of the most wins.

How distracting was it working with such a tight couple? Was that a big factor in how it all turned out?
Absolutely. That was tough. When there are three people and two people already have a relationship, being that third wheel is not easy. Unless you’ve all been friends for 20 years. But it was hard because one would say yes, the other would say yes, and I would say something and it was always no. So it definitely played into it.

Do you still think that Hosea is a wimp?
No! I think I apologized to him already too or I need to!

At the judges table, Toby Young made a comment that you can’t cook and Padma kind of jumped to your defense – how did that make you feel?
Toby - I was a little surprised at that. He’s a little angry Englishman, I don’t know. But Padma - it was great; it was such a wonderful feeling hearing what Padma had said, which was great. What Toby said is forgotten in my mind already. Hearing Padma was really, really great.

Do you think the decision would have been different if Gail was still on the panel?
You know, I don’t know. And you know what, I hadn’t even thought of it. I don’t know, because she’s tough too! She’s just not as verbal as Toby. It could have gone either way but I don’t know and I can’t even think about it.

What did you think of the judging process? Do you think it was fair they based their decision on that one challenge instead of your work as a whole?
Yeah, I’m kind of disappointed that I pretty much got blamed for the lamb when every single one of us touched that lamb. But, you know, they’ve got to eliminate someone and they chose me, which looking back, maybe, I was doing the lamb the most. But it definitely was a team challenge and I think I took the biggest risk of doing that and I was definitely disappointed they called me out on it.

Now that you’ve watched it was it hard to experience all again?
It was a tough watch absolutely. I think first two episodes I couldn’t sleep knowing those were coming. This, I knew it was coming, and it was definitely hard to watch. It was more sad than difficult. I wasn’t ready to leave; I wish I was still in it. But I had the love and the support of my family and friends surrounding me and they know who I am.

Was it very difficult watching it with friends and family, not being able to say what’s about to happen?
When it happened I definitely surrounded myself with a lot of family and friends. I knew I had to watch it and I would just say “watch what happens!” But knowing that the episodes were going be great put me at ease. I knew I just had to get through those first two.

You mentioned the first two episodes were really tough to watch. But then you went from the bottom to the top and looking back, what happened in the end?
I definitely know what happened. I panicked. You get caught up and it’s almost like your mind plays tricks on you. It’s like an out of body experience, the time flies, and for me, all your ideas are gone and I don’t know where they went! But I know what I would do now and what I wouldn’t do. When I volunteered to do the desert, I said ‘who is that?!’ I don’t do deserts! I was having an out of body experience – who is that girl holding up her hand? That wasn’t me! So yeah, I would definitely do things in those first two episodes a little bit different.

Are you happy with Bravo’s portrayal of you?
Absolutely. That’s me. And the people who know me know that that was me. I really stayed true to myself and what you saw is who I am, so yes.

Have your perceptions of anyone changed, positively or negatively, after watching the show?
No, you know, I’m so not like that. I’ve really met some wonderful people and for me we’ll always be friends I’ll always know that if I need one of them, I can call them and it’s a competition, what happened in the past for me is over. Like I said, Hosea’s not a wimp. So I have no ill feelings for anyone.

We never saw you feeling as annoyed by Stefan as others. Did you find him abrasive or did you find him kind of amusing?
You know, he’s definitely amusing. And Stefan always had my back. He always stood by me and gave me words of confidence and for that, I never found him annoying. Was he annoying? Yeah. But stuff like that, I can roll off back, and I just knew he always had good words for me and positive words for me, and in the beginning, even when we were competing against each other, he’d still say “you’ll be fine, you’ll be fine.” And hearing that when you’re on the bottom is nice. I enjoy Stefan; he’s a good person.

So who are you rooting for to win?
I’m rooting for Jamie and I’m rooting for Carla. Those are my girls!

What’s next for you?
My husband and I own a restaurant (CulinAriane) and are extremely busy; we’re looking to expand, and get a little bit bigger, so that’s our project right now. And you know, maybe I’ll write a cookbook; I’m toying around with the idea. But I have two girls, one is 13 and one is 11 and they keep us pretty busy too. We have our hands full right now. But you can find me, I’m in Jersey, I’m in Montclair; we’ll be here for a while.