Q&A with Top Chef's Marcel Vigneron

Interview by Jaime Lowe, Bon Appétit

This week, Syfy premieres Marcel's Quantum Kitchen, where Top Chef runner-up Marcel Vigneron will employ molecular gastronomy (a.k.a. eye-popping scientific food experimentation) to create extraordinary dishes for big name parties.

If you never watched Top Chef, Marcel was once put in a head-lock by someone who was tired of his foams and rapping, and felt he was a cocky ***hole. Indeed, Marcel's final words on Top Chef All-Stars were, "I'm probably known as the most notorious, diabolical contestant in Top Chef history, but I'm actually a nice guy."

We sat down with the molecular boy wonder to talk about his new show, a mind-blowing technique to cook fish in a circulator, and his back-up career catching salmon in Alaska. Turned out, Marcel is pretty nice and his hair is as gravity-defying in person.

Tell me a little bit about Marcel's Quantum Kitchen.

It's all about using cutting-edge cooking techniques and equipment to create some of the most elaborate dining experiences imaginable. Creativity, teamwork, and science are just a few of the ingredients in the show.

Yeah, in pilot there was dragon's breath and edible maps.

The biggest challenge was often menu planning. For every party I try to design a menu that is specifically inspired by my client and in order to do this, my team and I had to really think outside of the box and get inside of our guest's head.

Besides the menu planning, what other obstacles did you face?

It was challenging working with my team because they're all my friends. So, I'm put in the awkward position of trying to manage my friends and tell them what to do. Not to mention the fact that none of them are professional chefs. At the same time, that makes the group dynamic so interesting.

How did you become a chef?

My first job was as a dishwasher. I didn't really like dishwashing, I wanted to work my way up to the glorified job of prep cook. I saved a bunch of money after high school from a landscaping job and I went to Europe. Everybody over there has such an intimate relationship with food and that helped me realize I wanted to be a chef.

How did you get involved in TV?

I did a cooking demonstration with Bobby Flay and at the time I wasn't such a big fan of his TV personality. I didn't want to be paired with the guy who jumped on tables and threw his cutting board. I kept thinking "ohmygod this is a disaster."

Well, you inspire a lot of...

...throwing of cutting boards?

I was going to say love and kindness.

Once I actually met Bobby, I realized he was such a nice guy. He thanked me on stage and wanted to get drinks after the demo and I walked away thinking, "Oh man, I was totally wrong about you." And it was the first time I was filmed cooking.

How did you end up on Top Chef?

This guy approached me when I was cooking at Robuchon. I didn't audition but I went to a few interviews and had to go through a psychological profile. I wanted to use TV to get my name out there and establish a brand.

Seems to have worked. Do you feel like Top Chef was a good reflection of who you are?

Well, I'm not allowed to talk about the editing of the show. There's the whole aspect of it where you have no contact with the outside world -- you can't talk to your family, you can't listen to music, you can't read a book or a newspaper. The experience itself is enough to make a person go crazy not even counting the cooking competition part of it.

Sounds like solitary confinement with lots of people and knives...

Yes.

How do you like living in LA?

I've been living here for the past three and half years and it's a great place for chefs because we have the best produce and amazing fish at our fingertips. I'm sorry New York, the self-proclaimed food Mecca, but I'm pretty sure it's under snow right now and all they have is beets and parsnips to cook with and we have everything.

You're known more for molecular gastronomy (and foams!) than being a nature guy.

I'm gonna let you in on a secret, I really enjoy simple, rustic food. But my friend got the El Bulli cookbook and I was blown away. I was like "they never showed me that when I was in Skills One, mincing an onion." Although you should never underestimate how much skill it takes to mince an onion.

How do you feel about the current sustainable eating movement?

I wanted to do an internship at the organic farm at UC Davis. It was so cool to see all these different approaches to food, whether it's organic or genetically modified food. I don't agree with what Monsanto does. Anytime there's modification, it should be labeled. If a cucumber is spliced with a frog gene, I'd kind of like to know that.

Sounds like a nice experimental ingredient, could make a nice foam out of it ...

Yeah, right, but I couldn't stop jumping after I had tzaziki or whatever you'd make with froggy cucumber. I think it was actually flounder gene spliced into a tomato. But, actually I went up to Alaska to do commercial salmon fishing and it gave me a really close connection to sustainability and made me understand how escapement works and how wildlife fish and game regulate and how not to deplete natural resources.

How would you say your talents translate to the home kitchen?

I think a lot of the techniques I use aren't transferable to the home cook. A lot of home cooks don't really want to do it.

What would you tell the home cooks then?

Cooking is not rocket science, my biggest advice is talk to your food and be connected to your ingredients because if you have that relationship with your ingredients, they'll let you know what you need to do.

You posted pictures of fish scales recently on Facebook and Twitter @marcelvigneron.

I did a dinner at a friend's restaurant in Puerto Rico. I filled my circulator with seawater and threw in wild kombu, just dropped the red snapper in whole, eviscerated with the head and cooked them in the circulator. If a volcano erupted near an ocean, this is how the fish would cook. Then I threw the whole thing in the deep fryer and all the scales went "Whoosh!" The flesh was super moist and there were all these crazy juices and crispy scales and all the flavor from the head, the belly, and the backbone, and I tasted it and I was like "f*** me!" I took the circulator and there was this giant mound of sea foam -- I know laugh it up, laugh it up -- foam, I just spooned some of that over the top the fish and it was seasoned with it own fish water.

Wow.

It's like a magic show that you get to eat.

Watch the series premiere of Marcel's Quantum Kitchen, tonight March 22 at 10/9c on Syfy.

Photos Courtesy of NBC Universal

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