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Johnny Iuzzini kept criticizing Sally Camacho for having sous chef Orlando make her showpiece, but she doesn't think that cost her the Top Chef: Just Desserts win. "I fell short on my plated dessert and if I had executed what I had planned, I would have won," Camacho tells TVGuide.com. The pastry chef couldn't finish off her spheres as she planned in the end. How did she run of time? Find out. Plus: See what else she had to adjust on the fly.
Johnny Iuzzini kept criticizing Sally Camacho for having sous chef Orlando make her showpiece, but she doesn't think that cost her the Top Chef: Just Desserts win. "I fell short on my plated dessert and if I had executed what I had planned, I would have won," Camacho tells TVGuide.com. The pastry chef couldn't finish off her spheres as she planned in the end. How did she run of time? Find out. Plus: See what else she had to adjust on the fly.
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Do you regret having him make the whole showpiece?
Sally: No, I do not. I did work on the piece; they just don't show that. Things happened in the kitchen that made me sacrifice my time on certain things. I did need my sous chefs to step up for me so I could rectify the situation. Like I said, I put all my energy on the food.
What happened with your plated dessert that you were so pressed for time?
Sally: I am known for plated desserts and I was definitely ambitious. I had planned to seal my spheres and glaze them. Everything was ready and all my tools were set in their place, but what I didn't have was time. The kitchen is also huge, so a third of your time is used running back and forth.
Do you think you should've been given more time for it?
Sally: Twenty minutes to make the plated dessert of your life and to win $100,000 — I felt was not enough. I wish we had 30 minutes. I knew that once I started building my dessert and seven minutes were gone, I had to think, "What can I edit without affecting the end flavor?" So I cut the aesthetics, but the flavor was still great.
What happened with your entremets? How much time did you lose fixing it?
Sally: Oh my! I had just grabbed one of the fleximold inserts for my entremets and didn't think to measure it. I just started to build it. Once I went to build the final montage of my entremet, my insert was too small. This, I know in competition and judging criteria, would be unacceptable. I quickly made the decision to remake my entire entremet, [so] I lost so much time the first day. Also, I looked to my sous chefs for support, so Orlando did have to take the reins on the showpiece so I can make the right food. Also, my bonbon was going to be two layers — caramel on top and salted milk chocolate on the bottom — but with the time being against me, I made the bonbon one layer, with all the combined flavors. That was a sacrifice also.
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The cast seemed really close this season. Who do you still keep in touch with?