Jeff Houck

The Tampa Tribune’s food writer since 2005, Jeff Houck covers the way people live through their food. He also hosts the Table Conversations food podcast and believes that everything crunchy is good.

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Kevin Sbraga Wins “Top Chef: DC” [Talented Friends + Connection To Naples = Culinary Celebrity]

Posted Sep 17, 2010 by Jeff Houck

Updated Sep 17, 2010 at 03:41 PM

The path to winning the mantle of “Top Chef” apparently runs through Naples.

On Wednesday night, 31-year-old Kevin Sbraga of Willingboro, N.J., was named the winner of the culinary competition on Bravo TV. From 2000 to 2003, Sbraga worked at the Ritz-Carlton Naples as a line cook.

Also on staff at the resort during part of that time period was “Top Chef” Season No. 6 winner Michael Voltaggio and Season No. 3 champion Hung Huynh. Voltaggio worked at the Ritz as a sous chef while Huynh cooked on the line with Sbraga.

In a twist fitting of reality TV, Voltaggio was randomly picked during Wednesday night’s episode to serve as Sbraga’s sous chef, while Hung returned to help finalist Angelo Sosa. The third finalist, Ed Cotton, worked with Season No. 2 winner Ilan Hall.

Sbraga told me today during a phone interview that he knew his chances were good when Voltaggio and Hung appeared on the show. He and Voltaggio have remained close over the years.

“I speak to him probably every week or every other week,” Sbraga said. “I thought my chances were pretty good at getting a good sous chef and that they would know what I was looking for.”

When asked if the three had any sense at the time they were destined for TV greatness, Sbraga laughed. When you work the line in a kitchen, the last thing you think about is celebrity.

The odd thing: I saw Sbraga win an award for Best Meat Presentation at Bocuse d’Or USA in 2008. Hung Hyunh was also in that competition.

Here’s the transcript of our conversation, including his thoughts about what his mother’s reaction would have been to his win. She died in 2004,  shortly after he and his wife, Jesmary, moved back to Willingsboro to be closer to her.

I saw Michael Voltaggio last year a week before he won and he was trying to deal with all the attention and anticipate what was going to happen. I know you two worked in Naples. What did he tell you to expect from your “Top Chef” win?

He sent me a text message the morning before I won Wednesday morning, saying congratulations and that it was well-deserved and telling me to enjoy every moment of it. And get ready for the toughest job you ever had in your life.

What did he say was particularly tough about taking on that mantle?

I speak to him probably every week or every other week. He didn’t say in detail what it was. It’s the scheduling, living up to people’s expectations. It’s going out and meeting new people. It’s traveling and it’s being away from your family. It’s trying to open your own restaurant, which he’s in the process of doing and I’m trying to do. There’s a lot. There’s a lot.

I spoke to Hung from season 3. He told me the same thing pretty much.

When you saw Voltaggio walk in, what was going through your head?

I was cracking up. Honestly, it was like a miracle. Two out of the three who walked out, I’ve worked with before at the Ritz-Carlton Naples. So once I saw that, I thought my chances were pretty good now at getting a good sous chef and that they would know what I was looking for.

Hung worked in Naples at the same time Mike and I did. Hung came from Naples too.

I started in 2000 and left in 2003. Mike started in 2000 and left in 2004 or 2005 and Hung was there from 2001 to 2002.

What was that like with the three of you there? Did you have a sense of how good you all were?

[Laughs] No. Mike was a sous chef, Hung was a cook, I was a cook. There’s no egos. You shut up and do your work. We knew we were working with great chefs. The chefs who were down there were great mentors, but we were just cooks. Shut up and cook.

I know for the finale, Angelo got sick. What was your thought the next morning when you were sitting there having breakfast with Ed? Did you think your chances would go up significantly?

No I didn’t think anything different. Even going to Singapore. It was a different Angelo. I think he put too much pressure on himself. He didn’t do well with the quickfire and he didn’t do well with the elimination challenge. Honestly, Angelo was out of the picture at that point. He was out of the picture the day we got to Singapore. It was really about Ed and Kelly.

I was hoping Angelo was going to be able to compete. It would have sucked if he had gone all the way out there halfway around the world and not been able to cook.

People are saying that it looked like you were surprised that you won. I think you explained it on the Bravo site that you were surprised that the first person named was the winner, instead of like last year where the first person named was eliminated.

That was definitely in my head.

You weren’t surprised you won. You were surprised at how it was presented?

It was a combination of things. One, it was very, very late at night. It had been a very long day. Two, it was very hard to hear Padma and she was kinda far away. Three, she said my name first, and I was, like, what is she saying. And at the same time, I was thinking, “I won. It’s really me.” It’s a dream come true.

I never doubted myself that I could win. I’ve always known since Day 1 when I left that I could do it. But it was will I do it, will I be able to pull it off? Can I put the complete package together.

You were talking about your plan for the $125,000 prize money. Your plan is to open a restaurant?

That’s the plan. I’m going to use it as seed money for a new restaurant. It’s been a dream for a very, very long time. It’s going to be a small place, not very big. Twenty to 40 seats only. Most likely Philadelphia because I’m used to the Philadelphia market. But it could be New Jersey. I’m not 100 percent positive yet. It really depends on what presents itself from an opportunity standpoint.

Philly’s breaking out as a food place.

Yeah, it really is.

Tell me the best reaction so far about your win.

The one that sticks out the most is my best friend. He’s probably 400 pounds; he’s huge. And this grown man is in tears in a room full of people, some of whom he knew but most that he didn’t know. To me, that was one of the best reactions.

You made a comment that you were honored that you were the first African-American winner of “Top Chef.” That wasn’t really part of the narrative of your story on the show. What kind of responsibility comes with that honor?

There’s a lot of responsibility that comes with it, and it came with it beforehand. Being “Top Chef” is being top chef. But the thing is that there are a lot of people who come from my culture who don’t know that, you know what? I don’t have to play basketball. I can be a chef and be a great one. I hope to inspire them and inspire the kids and seeing them work harder and train harder. You look at the statistics and there aren’t that many African-American executive chefs out there. You want to see more of that.

The Singapore sling. I know it was made with dragonfruit, but how did it come together?

It really started back here in New Jersey. My wife makes a dessert, coconut and lemongrass soup. She serves it with a poached pineapple. I took that coconut and lemongrass soup and set it with gelatin inside of the dragonfruit. Instead of just doing poached pineapple, I poached about 10 different tropical fruits and put that on top and had the Singapore Sling cocktail.

I took all the fruits in that cocktail – the cherries, the lime juice, the orange juice, pineapple and blended it all up and added gin to it. A little bit of sugar, salt, a touch of vanilla and froze it. The dragonfruit pudding inside was Michael’s idea, but it the rest of it was mine and it was something I had been working on before. It all came together there.

When I made the Singapore Sling cocktail in New Jersey, I didn’t use fresh fruit, I used fruit juices. It came out very good, but in Singapore, it came out better because had to use fresh fruit. I couldn’t find the canned juices. So out of all that, it came out improved. The texture was so much better.

I know your mother had to be in your mind through all this. Where is she in your head and what do you think she’d have thought of all this?

Aw, she’s… she’s jumping up and down. I can… There were a couple times that night and during the competition that I could hear her voice. It was pretty emotional. I don’t know what to tell you. She’s… I don’t know. Elated I guess. She’d be… I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it. Like I said, I could just hear her right now.

Was she your inspiration for getting into cooking?

She was one of them. Absolutely. Both of my parents were bakers. She had a big part. Her thing was, no matter what you do, go out there and do it with all your heart. If you’re going to be a trash man, go out there and be the best damned trash man. If you’re going to be a chef, be the best damned chef. Not just with cooking but with competing, she had been my inspiration. I played a lot of sports She was at all my swimming meets and baseball games. She supported me through everything.

If you’re wondering about what Kevin did to get on the show, here’s the audition tape he submitted: