On Top Chef, whether positive or negative, feedback is key. Monique Feybesse can speak to that firsthand. The California chef wandered through the first several weeks of the game in the middle of the pack, not receiving crucial information from the judges about whether her strategies were working. And so, when she found herself out of her comfort zone in a barbecue challenge, that popped her on the judges’ radar for the first time, though it was unfortunately because of her subpar dish. She was granted a reprieve and able to cook in an incredibly important challenge for her, tasked with making a dish in honor of trailblazing Texan Barbara Jordan. But a crucial technical choice during plating did not work out in her favor, and Monique was eliminated in only her second appearance at Judges’ Table all season. Read on to hear Monique’s thoughts on her time in the game, and check out Last Chance Kitchen to watch Monique and other eliminated chefs fight for redemption and a chance to get back into the competition. What compelled you to apply for Top Chef? My husband and I applied honestly out of the blue without any insight. It was such a surprise even to get any callback because we weren’t expecting anything. When they asked me to move forward, I had to think twice about it because I honestly didn’t know what I was getting myself into. But you only live once, so you might as well jump into a situation where you know some good can come out of it, no matter what the outcome is! You talked about partially wanting to do Top Chef to prove to yourself after becoming a mom. Can you talk more about that? In my generation of chefs and past ones, you would see female cooks working in the kitchen. But it was really rare to see one be a head chef. One of the reasons is motherhood, no matter how much we don’t want to admit it. Motherhood takes over your entire being, and your schedule revolves around it. You have to rethink your entire situation to give quality time to your kids still and also to yourself. I’m the type of person who just gives my 100% to whatever I love. After becoming a mom, I didn’t save any for myself. I don’t regret that because I love being a mother. But I also don’t want to lose myself by setting any of my career goals aside. I love being a chef. I know I can do both, and I want to show everyone that it is possible and it can be so fulfilling. You spent the first part of the season, as you said, “coasting through the middle.” How much did that affect how you viewed the competition, considering you weren’t getting feedback either way? Now that was hard!! Reflecting, I was so confident in the first challenges. I knew I made strong dishes that spoke to me. My first dish for the elimination was pretty creative, and it was tasty. But even for that, I didn’t know what was being said until it aired. I was constantly guessing myself, and I didn’t know if I should go creative in each challenge. I felt like I played it safe for the Asian Market and doppelganger challenges because I didn’t have anyone to tell me anything. So moving forward, I started to really question which way I should cook. I’m a pretty versatile chef in terms of knowledge of savory and sweet techniques, and I think I over-thought it to the point where there were too many options. You hit a snag (and a first trip to the bottom) in the BBQ challenge. How out of your comfort zone did you feel, especially when Padma compared it to a dish a culinary student would make? Oh, man! I felt the butterflies in my stomach the moment we rode up to the restaurant. It was not the best morning, and I just knew I wasn’t in the right mindset to take on a challenge. After a while, I just took everything in stride and prepared myself to learn as much as I possibly could! I had so much advice coming freely from the pitmaster and Nick, and I was completely humbled by the fact that I knew nothing about this at all. As for hearing that comment behind the scenes? Cringe. But I don’t really agree with it other than the fact that I tried to pull inspiration from the basics. Ashleigh gets eliminated instead of you, then immediately returns via Last Chance Kitchen. What was your reaction to that? Ashleigh is a beast. Her journey affirms that you can have lows and highs in succession, and it’s all about performance. It made me want to push more. You worked several times with Damarr throughout the season. Talk to me about your dynamic and what drew you together. So many people have asked us about this! Damarr and I had a really great connection. I think we became really close just based on the fact that we were so easy with each other. Both of us are great listeners, yet we are both not afraid to lead ideas either. It was a give-and-take dynamic for sure! I loved working with him. We could tell each other so easily what our limits were with no more than a few sentences, or tell each other what idea we wanted to do with all the trust. Everything was natural and so much fun. Meeting him was a win in itself. Let’s talk about the challenge that eliminated you. What was your first reaction upon hearing you got to cook in honor of Barbara Jordan? My heart dropped honestly because I was not familiar with her backstory. I knew I had to really dig to find culinary inspiration when it came to a political figure. Your approach to the dish was about Barbara’s love of her hometown. In retrospect, what did you think about this approach? I thought my inspiration was solid, and I wouldn’t go back on this. I really thought about what story I should pull, and it always led me back to her coming home and never forgetting where she came from. Can you elaborate on what happened during service with the oysters’ cutting and the decision to go light on the broth? The timing at the end was difficult, and I underestimated that. There were a lot of components to my dish that needed to go together, and I just ran out of time to plate. I ended up rushing it. I wanted this plate to be more composed. The cutting of the oysters was a huge mistake that I made at the last minute and led to the questioning of how much broth to pour. I initially wanted to pour tableside, but I didn’t have a large enough vessel for all of the broth. Were you surprised you were eliminated over Luke? At the end of the day, my execution that night was not there. So as a chef, I understood that it was my mistake to own. In retrospect, Luke and I are very similar in the way we season. He loves to layer with ingredients that bring out certain flavors instead of masking them. I don’t have a heavy hand at seasoning, and I was never trained that way, so I really wouldn’t change my seasoning even now. I like things more delicate, and I think certain palates differ, which is neither right nor wrong. You said that you still had a lot more to show when you were eliminated. How did it feel having to go when you felt there was more to do? It was just my time. I was bummed, but I was keeping ready for LCK. I felt like I really had a second chance when I put up my sinigang dish, but I lost by a hair. I wanted to rep my roots more and do more technical challenges to show my range—all in all, great experience, and I am so proud to be part of this journey. Next, check out our interview with Sarah Welch, who was eliminated in Top Chef Houston Episode 4.
