Chef Timothy Hollingsworth was already considered one of the best chefs in the U.S., but his victory on Netflix's The Final Table competition put him in rarefied air.
Hollingsworth joined The Katchup Podcast, presented by Foodbeast, and talked about his victory for the very first time since the Netflix series launched in November.
While every cooking competition has notable chefs throwing down head-to-head, Netflix really threw its weight behind the show in order to get the absolute best of the best, asking them to cook dishes from around the world.
While there has been some criticism of the show, it mostly did a good job of bringing together accomplished chefs and challenging them to learn about different cultures' cuisines, on the spot.
Photo courtesy of Netflix
With impressive stage setups, a pressure-building premise, and a room full of chefs with crazy accolades, Hollingsworth took the competition in stride, beating out 23 other world-class contestants.
Chef Tim took us behind the scenes of The Final Table, sharing how he paid his dues in the industry even without culinary experience, and described what it takes to successfully run a high-end restaurant.
At about the 36:00 minute mark, the guys start digging into the nitty gritty of the show itself. Hollingsworth talked about what it was like entering the competition, with little to know knowledge of the premise, considering it was the first season. He explained how the show was pretty honest in its portrayals, but still carried a bit of TV magic to keep things interesting.
The Katchup crew also discusses how cooking shows have become background noise of late, and how The Final Table is not only bearable, but for better or worse, it carries the Netflix binge-factor that you don't get from traditional shows on TV.
