Tag, you’re out
Pittsburgh’s Michael Silverstein eliminated on ‘ MasterChef’
Michael Silverstein discovered the hard way that being in charge can get you the chop.
“As a personal note, I feel great about everything,” Silverstein said shortly after the broadcast ended with his “MasterChef” elimination Thursday night. “I’ve made peace with everything.
“I’m actually rather proud of myself. I have absolutely no resentment, no regrets, no ‘ woulda, shoulda, couldas’ about what happened at all, because I always did my best. I was always very professional.”
Although he excelled in the individual challenges, the team events did not go smoothly.
This week’s two- part episode showed Silverstein and the Blue team re- creating three signature dishes from “MasterChef” judge Joe Bastianich’s Osteria Mozza restaurant.
“This is basically a game of ‘ telephone,’” Silverstein said on Wednesday’s episode, describing the process of telling his team what needed to be done. He took notes during the restaurant visit, then quickly taught it to his charges.
In the kitchen, there were ups and downs, but the real disaster began when one of the home cooks working under him, Sam Haaz, an attorney from Philadelphia, ruined the fish course by insisting on pan frying on stainless steel instead of cast iron.
“Sam keeps saying he ‘ has it,’ but he doesn’t,” said teammate Dorian Hunter, whose suggestions to put the entree prep back on course were ignored. “Because he doesn’t ‘ have it,’ he’s going to sink us.”
After Blue lost to the Red team, everyone cooked in Thursday’s episode, tagteam style. Silverstein, of Stanton Heights, was paired with Liz Linn, an events coordinator from Duran, Mich.
In 75 minutes, they had to re- create six global “MasterChef” favorites and add a seventh dish of their own choosing.
Linn was skeptical of the challenge: “I’m from the Midwest. We make plain chicken and plain beef.”
For Silverstein and Linn, there were big problems: raw dough, undercooked fish, meatballs formed without egg. The judges were particularly brutal in their assessments this week, with Bastianich irritated by a sauce made with Sriracha and stating, “Please respect our intelligence, and don’t bring us crap.”
They were both sent home.
After watching this week’s shows, Silverstein said he nonetheless left with a feeling of accomplishment.
“I was there to cook, and that’s what I did, I cooked.”
Being a business owner — Silverstein flips houses — he is accustomed to overseeing workers. In the “MasterChef” kitchen, there were a few who chose to do things their way.
“I had to entrust my fate to the hands of other people, and that will forever frustrate me,” he said.
But there is a silver lining, he added. He has built a brand as a keto chef, through social media and, more recently, YouTube.
“I think through my performance on the show I’ve been able to show people I have the culinary chops to make this my career. I feel very lucky I have found passion in two very different careers, and I don’t plan to give up either.”