Three Moments That Changed Chef Ronny’s Game on Yes, Chef!
The Zen Master chef talks about how Yes, Chef! really changed his trajectory.
This week’s Yes, Chef! battle between the existing competitors vs. the eliminated chefs who returned for redemption saw emotions running high.
Those sent home — Chefs Petrina Peart, Torrece "Chef T" Gregoire, Michelle Francis, Julia Chebotar, and Peter Richardson — came back with fire in their bellies and something to prove. Meanwhile, the existing chefs — Chef Lee Frank, Chef Jake Lawler, Chef Christopher Morales, Chef Zain Ismail, Chef Emily Brubaker, and Chef Ronny Miranda — were more bonded than ever, having survived challenge after challenge.
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In a shocking twist, returnee Chefs Petrina and Julia’s cooking took down Chefs Chris and Ronny. Well, maybe not a shock to Chef Ronny, who candidly told NBC Insider in his exit interview, "There was definitely a moment when I saw all of them, I was going home that day. I knew that no matter what I did, I was going home."
We got him to explain why he felt that way, what moments in the competition really turned around his thinking as a pro chef, and what he’s doing next.
Chef Ronny on embracing the psychological aspects of Yes, Chef!
As one of the more emotionally available chefs competing right from the start, “Zen Master” Ronny said it was still a tough competition to navigate because of the mental and psychological demands.
“All the chefs in the show, we joke that you were essentially traumatized daily, and then it's like, 'OK, now, go cook!,'" he joked about the demands of the Yes, Chef! format.
But he found some strong camaraderie with Chef Chris, who was open about his sobriety recovery, which Ronny said he appreciated because of his own travails with homelessness and low points in his career.
“The first step to recovery is admitting there's a problem, and I know what my problem was, so I went into this fully aware and wanting to change,” he said of his goals with Yes, Chef!. "That's why I wanted this cooking show. I've had a really eclectic career moving from place to place, so I've learned a lot from all those places, and I take that with me everywhere I go."
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And that’s why he pursued less traditional recipes all the way up to his last dish, the pan-seared ribeye with salsa macha & cauliflower puree.
“Just before shooting Yes, Chef!, I did an event called World of Flavor where we had like 40 chefs come out from all over the world, and we got to see the individual cultures' foods, so that was just in the back of my head the whole time.
“And I really didn't want to just go in, [having] just done Iberian food,” he continued. "My family, my culture is Iberian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Basque, so I could have just stuck with that, but I was like, 'No, I'm gonna embrace each challenge individually.’"
The three moments that changed Chef Ronny’s confidence
Every week, Ronny was one of the chefs who showed pronounced confidence with every success. He said there were three moments that really changed the tide for him when it comes to self-doubt and believing in his own talent.
"In Episode 2, where I did not have to cook, or get to cook, and I taste everyone's food,” he said of the first turning point. "The very first person to the door was Emily, and we joked around that I was literally sitting by myself with a slightly dying flower facing a wall. And she's like, 'Are you gonna critique it?'
"So, I'm like, 'Do you want me to critique it like we would CIA students?’” he said, referring to the Culinary Institute of America style of feedback. "And she was into it. I critiqued everyone's dish; [I] wish that would have made it in the show. But everyone was into it, like, really into it. They came in, they presented their dish. I broke it down like, ‘These are the three great things about it, and here are two good things, and this one little item needs work.' Having all the chefs really embrace that and believe in my palette, that really gave me a boost."
He continued, “Then it was beating Chef Zain, one-on-one, with my 16-ingredient soup in 30 minutes. And the third one was, I hated sending Julia home, but pulling off in 30 minutes a chocolate mousse with no sugar."
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He relished in the challenge: no sweetner outside of mirin and fresh coconuts, and he screwed up his first attempt at the dessert.
“Chocolate is very delicate and kitchens get hot,” he explained. "I stepped away for 10 seconds to grab something, and [the chocolate] broke. It seized up, and at that point, there's nothing to be done. So, I started my second moose at 14 minutes and 30 seconds, and I got it done. Then Martha said it was a perfectly done mousse. And at that point, I'm like, ‘OK, maybe I do know what I'm doing.'"
The fail that knocked Chef Ronny out of the Yes, Chef! game
In the latest episode, up against Chef Julia, Chef Ronny’s belief that he was going home came true.
“You know, hindsight is 20/20 and all that, but the dish that I presented to Martha and Jose for the first round was not completed because of equipment failure,” he said of what tripped him up in the life-or-death round. "The blast chill was neither blasting nor chilling."
As such, he explained that the component missing from his dessert was a whipped cream, frozen crème fraiche, which never sweetened and would have tempered his dish, in theory.
"I did not get it on the plate, and therefore my dish was cloyingly sweet,” he said. “I'm still proud of my dish. I made a sauce, as José said, that I should bottle and sell. That's good enough for me right there."
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Now that he’s back in the cooking world at large, Ronny said he’s gotten a lot of support.
"I've gotten 99% positive feedback from a lot of people. A lot of men wishing they could embrace, publicly, just being sensitive and allowing those emotions to flow. The 1% of the alphas who are like 'real men don't cry…' It’s like, ‘Well, OK. Let that fester inside into cancer,'" he said.
As to what’s next, Ronny said he’s absolutely more confident now.
"I definitely feel better about myself in every way possible. Now is just trying to figure out what direction I'm going and what I'm going to turn this into. And if there might be a Season 2 of Yes, Chef!, we could just trade out one white beard for another!"
New episodes of Yes, Chef! premiere on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Each episode will be available to stream on Peacock the next day.
