Buddha Lo returned to Aspen last weekend for the Food and Wine Classic after winning “Top Chef” a second time.
The Season 20 finale aired a few weeks ago, and each year, the first place chef wins a trip to Aspen to appear in the festival, a feature in Food & Wine Magazine, and $250,000.
Lo and other “Top Chef” personalities Kristen Kish, Tiffany Derry, and Gail Simmons filled the Cooking Tent on Durant and Mill streets this Saturday for a panel discussion about how the reality show has changed the culinary industry.
Lo was quick to say he loved his experience in seasons 19 and 20, and he’s ready for more.
“I tried applying for 21,” Lo said. “They rejected my application.”
Lo dedicated his first win in Season 19 to his dad, who inspired him to become a chef at an early age and died shortly before he started filming.
“My dad did it for a passion, and he cooked for me every single day—a different dish,” Lo said. “He would cook varieties of different dishes. He would tell me the fundamentals of presentation, and I was 11 years old. He sat me down and said, ‘Are you really sure you want to be a chef? It's really, really hard work.’ And I said, ‘Absolutely.’”
Lo’s father had a big family with 16 brothers and sisters, and nearly a dozen of the siblings became chefs.
“At different times I went to different uncles, so I would learn different things from them,” Lo said. “I have eaten at the restaurants and they’ve told me little tidbits of this is how you do it and how you cook it.”
But beyond his cooking pedigree, Lo’s strategy in the competition was meticulous.
He watched eight seasons of the show within two weeks, taking notes about what mistakes other chefs made.
“In ‘Top Chef’ kitchen, 10 minutes is 10 minutes,” Lo said. “It's just such a basic thing, but it sends people home when they can’t complete a dish, when they overachieve.”
He said that “Top Chef” goes to different cities every year, so he made sure to learn as much as possible about the local cuisine before traveling to various locations for the show.
“They always embrace the surroundings and learn about the cuisine, and it's not about gaming the thing,” Lo said. “It's also you becoming a better chef just in general, learning other cultures and different foods.”
Lo added that his versatility gave him a leg up in the competition.
“My advantage was that I was so diverse,” Lo said. “I probably cooked a different cuisine every single challenge.”
Lo won his first competition in Houston in Season 19 among 14 other chefs who had never been on the show before, but during Season 20 in London, he was among previous winners of “Top Chef México”, "Top Chef Canada", and “Top Chef Brasil”, among others.
Lo excelled among this high profile group of chefs, winning nine out of the season’s 25 challenges.
But beyond his outstanding dedication and cooking skills, Lo was proud to be the first contestant on the show to win while working in the United States on a visa.
“It means a lot,” Lo said. “I think that it shows opportunity, and I started off as a J-1 internship visa. Dreams can come true."
Gail Simmons, one of the original judges on the show, is Canadian, and she’s been judging the show for almost two decades with a green card.
She became an American citizen in 2022, and she says a chef’s story is always reflected in their cooking “whether you’re a new immigrant or fourth generation.”
The Aspen Effect
“Top Chef” is a dramatic reality show, and avid followers ride the waves of stress alongside the chefs while watching each episode, rooting for their favorites and waiting to hear what the judges are going to say.
But in contrast, there was a collective sense of joy during Saturday’s seminar in Aspen where over a dozen former “Top Chef” contestants gathered to hear from Lo and Simmons.
“Obviously, when we're shooting, we have absolutely no contact with the chefs,” Simmons said. “But 20 seasons later so many of the contestants have really come into our lives, and we love being together. Even though I was never a contestant, we've all been part of this incredible, crazy universe.”
When the seminar wrapped, a crowd flooded the stage to try and get pictures with Lo, Simmons, and other past contestants.
Lo said this kind of celebrity is an important part of being a successful chef in today’s culinary industry.
“Because at the end of the day, my passion is restaurants and cooking for people, and I cannot do my passion unless people are in my restaurant and eating. So having some sort of notoriety also caters to your success, and that's why the modern day successful chef has to be known in public.”
Lo is the executive chef at a restaurant in New York City called HŪSO that specializes in dishes with caviar.
The restaurant has been closed for the past three months because of a fire, but Lo said the elevated cooking experience that HŪSO and “Top Chef” demand is just a part of his job, and he stays grounded in his love of food.
“I grew up in a Chinese restaurant cooking Chinese food,” Lo said. “I've worked in a hotel. I've done little parts in diners and stuff like that. I love cooking all types of food, and I love eating all types of food.”
Lo and his staff are persevering, and he said they’re scheduled to reopen in one to two weeks.
