The Twin Cities got a profile boost during the last season of "Top Chef," with a local competitor (Justin Sutherland) and two of our superstar chefs making appearances as coaches (Gavin Kaysen, J.D. Fratzke).
Add Sameh Wadi to the list of local culinary celebs making their way to the TV franchise.
The chef and co-owner of World Street Kitchen and Milkjam Creamery in Minneapolis, and Grand Catch in St. Paul, appeared last month on "Top Chef Middle East."
It wasn't Wadi's first television outing. He competed on the Food Network's "Iron Chef" in 2010 — "when I was a kid," he said.
But this time, Wadi wasn't doing the cooking. Instead, the Palestinian-American chef flew to Lebanon for a full day of judging the contestants on their interpretations of street food.
Because the program airs on a Middle Eastern network, many Americans are not able to see Wadi's episode. So, we got the skinny on just what happened that day in the mountains of Lebanon. Wadi also dished about regional differences within Middle Eastern cuisine, and the worst food he ever tasted.
Q: Many Americans might not know about "Top Chef Middle East." How does the show compare to the American version?
A: It's a very similar concept, but it utilizes chefs from all over the Middle East, northeast and North Africa as contestants. Moroccan chefs, Algerian chefs, chefs from the Gulf area, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Palestine. It's all Arab-speaking countries. It's filmed in Lebanon and I believe it's the third season.