'Top Chef' Treats Troops
Reality show cooks up drama for Airmen
by Josie Cellone
Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada transformed into a television stage for an episode of “Top Chef,” a culinary reality show on Bravo, which aired Sept. 2. Each week chefs compete in cooking challenges, and the contestant with the worst dish is eliminated.
The challenge at Nellis: serve 300 Airmen and their families a creative, mess hall meal. Sound like an oxymoron?
“A good cook or chef can adapt,” contestant Bryan Voltaggio (pictured above) told MilSPOUSE.com. “It made everyone dig in real deep.”
Because the chefs were cooking on base, they faced an industrial kitchen with a lot of canned ingredients. Voltaggio said there was a limited amount of fresh vegetables, which he grabbed first.
“There are no recipes when you’re in this competition, all of that’s left at home,” Voltaggio said. “You’re only relying on your repertoire that’s in your head. I look at an ingredient and think, ‘What can I do with this?’”
Voltaggio chose to serve roasted beef strip with mushroom demi-glace and cauliflower gratin. He’s known for working with fresh, local produce and encourages cooks at home to do the same.
“Don’t let the recipe dictate what you buy, let the ingredients dictate what you cook,” he said. “Unless you’re using the best product, you’ll sacrifice the quality of the dish.”
Although Nellis AFB doesn’t often get celebrity visitors like host Padma Lakshmi, Voltaggio said the troops were focused on the food.
“There was an exchange of respect there,” he said. “They wanted to understand what each dish was and cared a lot about what we were doing.”
Col. Dave Belote, 99th Air Base Wing commander, told the public affairs office he “jumped at the chance” to feature Airmen on national TV when the “Top Chef” producers contacted him.
“We had a blast with the chefs and judges, and we enjoyed some fantastic food,” Belote said.
For Voltaggio, the episode took on special meaning too: His sister, Staci Rosenberger, served in the Air Force for seven years.
“There’s a lot going on with their families, and this was something where we didn’t want to let them down,” Voltaggio said.
Voltaggio’s younger brother, Michael, is also a contestant on “Top Chef,” and even though they’re competing for the title, they helped each other in the hangar. “Our grandfather served in World War II, our uncle has served, a lot of our family members have been in the military, and we wanted to make sure they were proud of the work we did,” he said.
At the end of night, brother Michael took home top honors for his braised pork belly with soy-mustard sauce and peanuts.
New episodes of “Top Chef” air each Wednesday at 10 p.m. on Bravo.
Click here to download Bryan Voltaggio’s recipe for Roasted Beef Strip Loin with Mushroom Demi-Glace and Cauliflower Gratin.
Click here to download the winning dish created by his brother, Michael Voltaggio, of Braised Pork Belly with Soy-Mustard Sauce and Peanuts.