Top Chef Season 4: Meet the Cheftestants–Andrew

With Top Chef Season 4 fast approaching (it premiers in a month), I think that it is time to get to know the “cheftestants” and start placing our bets.

Meet Andrew. He is 30 and hails from Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  He currently is a Sous Chef in New York City. He has a AS in Culinary Arts from Johnson & Wales in North Miami.

For the past two years, Andrew has studied everything from the French cuisine of Raymond Blanc to the molecular gastronomy of Ferran Adria. With food influences that range from African, Spanish, French and Thai to Vietnamese, Japanese, Latino and Indian, Andrew prides himself on being diverse in the kitchen. When Andrew isn’t working, you can find him researching cuisines at a bookstore or shopping for spices that are uncommon and of multicultural influences to adapt to his cuisine. He believes in translating the flavors and techniques from different cultures into innovative interpretations that do not stray far from their origins. His goal is to leave a legacy like the chefs before his time, which shaped him and his fellow chefs minds and refined their techniques. He says he doesn’t make food for mere sustenance, but to create an experience that impacts the soul.

Let’s just hope for Andrew that his impact has some great flavors behind it or his soul may end-up in the fiery depths weeping with those who were doomed before him.

Top Chef Season 4 airs on Bravo beginning March 12. Check your local listings.