Sheldon Simeon was eliminated Thursday from “Top Chef” season 14, but the Hilo native made it to the penultimate episode as the No. 3 “cheftestant” — missing the finale by the slimmest of margins. It was the same spot Simeon occupied when he exited the Bravo TV cooking competition his first time around on season 10.
When Padma Lakshmi said, “Sheldon, please pack your knives and go,” her pronouncement was accompanied by tears — a rare on-camera occurrence for the even-keeled host. And renowned chef and restaurateur Tom Colicchio, the show’s head judge, opined Simeon will take his place among “America’s greatest chefs.”
“I’m almost at a loss of words. He messaged me too, right after the episode was done, with some kind words. That’s amazing,” Simeon told the Tribune-Herald Friday from New York, fresh off cooking for 70 — including numerous prominent figures in food circles — Wednesday night at the James Beard House in Manhattan’s West Village. “Local boy from Hilo. I got to thank my parents and my grandparents and the community that surrounded me because that’s who made me, that’s who I represent. I’m just being the Hilo boy that I am.”
Simeon’s culinary command performance in the house named for the “dean of American cookery” was his reward for winning an elimination challenge on the Feb. 9 episode, wowing the judges and guest diners in Charleston, S.C., with his Carolina Gold rice chow fun noodle dish with hibachi pork belly, okra and turkey-neck broth. Simeon reprised his winning dish at the Beard house, plus mochiko chicken, warabi (fiddle-head fern shoot) salad, ulu-macaroni salad and white rice — standard fare at Simeon’s and wife Janice’s Tin Roof lunch shop in Kahului, Maui.
“I did a plate lunch, basically,” Simeon said. “Me and my chefs said, ‘Let’s put it on the plate and show ’em what we do in Hawaii.’”
Simeon was assisted by Jeffrey Valdez, a 23-year-old Tin Roof chef, and Silvia Barban, a Brooklyn chef-restaurateur and fellow “Top Chef” season 14 contestant.
“To be standing in the middle of the James Beard House the other night, it was a rush of emotions,” Simeon said. “It’s one of those moments where you step back and think about all those sacrifices and all those long hours and all of that. And having that honor, in the footsteps of all the greats. The most amazing chefs in the world have walked through that place. Again, the local boy from Hilo stay doing that. I wanted to keep it super real.”
The season began in Charleston, but the final three episodes are set in Mexico. Simeon competed on episodes in Guadalajara and the Yucatan Peninsula, but Brooke Williamson, another season 10 alum, and Shirley Chung, a season 11 veteran, will battle it out in the finale Thursday at 7 p.m. If prior seasons are an indication, the finalists will select their sous chefs from among their fellow cheftestants, and the talented and personable “Chef Sheldon” could be the first chosen.
At one point, it appeared Simeon wouldn’t punch his ticket to Mexico.
Prior to the Dec. 29 barbecue challenge, which featured whole hog Carolina-style for 150 hungry ’cue lovers — including singer Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish fame — Simeon sustained a back injury.
“I was literally, like, crying in the bathroom and chewing on Ibuprofen like M&Ms, basically. And I literally thought that I was going to go home,” he said. “I was pretty close to throwing in the towel, to tell you the truth, but I battled through it. And the Lord sent me these two amazing doctors, healed me up, and (I was) ready to get back into the competition.
“Just the schedule of ‘Top Chef’ alone, the anxiety and stress of it will make your body a mess, coupled with the physical aspect of it and how grueling it is — crazy long schedule and intense moments. It wears you down.”
Simeon, who was voted “fan favorite” by viewers in season 10 and, at last check was leading this year’s fan voting for the $10,000 award, said he won’t do a third tour as cheftestant because it’s “too much of a sacrifice being away from my family.” He said he would, however, appear in a single episode as a guest judge or sous chef, if asked.
Those who can’t get enough of the convivial chef can see him in his natural habitat, unscripted and unfiltered, in a pair of YouTube videos as part of Eater.com’s “Eating in America” series.
“We started it off exactly how we do in Hilo, at my dad’s house,” he said. The other episode features Simeon with Chef Andrew Le at The Pig &the Lady restaurant in Honolulu’s Chinatown.
Tin Roof continues to do banner business, and Simeon is looking to “lock down a second location for opening at the end of summer.”
He’s also planning to open a more upscale eatery “called Hala, like the tree,” in late fall or early winter.
“It’s going to be at The Shops at Wailea. It’s a partnership with this new restaurant group I started with my friend, Matt Godfrey, Hanai Restaurants. And it’s a partnership with ABC Stores. Eighty seats, small shared plates, crazy bar program, awesome designers. I saw the design for build-out. It’s gonna be rad,” Simeon said.
He and investors are also considering a Hilo restaurant “so we’ll see how that goes.”
Despite sacrifices he and his family have made, “Top Chef” has changed Simeon’s life for the better.
“I’m able to share the aloha spirit with so much people around the world now,” he said. “I can share a little bit of Hawaii and some of my Filipino heritage with everybody, and do it through food. All I want to do in life is feed people, make people happy and share the aloha spirit.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
