Chef Amanda Freitag talks about approachable cooking, her collection of menus, and love of culinary education. This week on Food Network Obsessed, host Jaymee Sire chats with chef Amanda Freitag on what it means to be “Amanda AF.” She talks about the teacher who encouraged her to become a chef and her own love of teaching. Amanda talks about her mission to demystify cooking and connect with people through food with her series “Easy AF.” She shares her obsession with collecting restaurant menus, her favorite menu of her collection, and how she got her hands on all of them. Amanda reveals how she said “no” when first approached for Iron Chef and if she would compete on Tournament of Champions again.
Chef Amanda Freitag talks about approachable cooking, her collection of menus, and love of culinary education. This week on Food Network Obsessed, host Jaymee Sire chats with chef Amanda Freitag on what it means to be “Amanda AF.” She talks about the teacher who encouraged her to become a chef and her own love of teaching. Amanda talks about her mission to demystify cooking and connect with people through food with her series “Easy AF.” She shares her obsession with collecting restaurant menus, her favorite menu of her collection, and how she got her hands on all of them. Amanda reveals how she said “no” when first approached for Iron Chef and if she would compete on Tournament of Champions again.
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Find episode transcript here: https://food-network-obsessed.simplecast.com/episodes/amanda-freitag-on-saying-no-to-iron-chef-america-her-favorite-chopped-dish
[MUSIC PLAYING] JAYMEE SIRE: Happy Friday and welcome to Food Network Obsessed. This is the podcast where we dish on all things Food Network with your favorite Food Network stars. I'm your host Jaymee Sire. And it is Memorial Day weekend. Of course, this is the unofficial kickoff to summer and the weather has been so beautiful in New York lately.
I am so excited for this summer season namely because of everything we've been through the last year. I feel like there is this bright light at the end of the tunnel. I'm so excited. Today, we have a great kickoff to this summer season with a Food Network regular. She's talking all about her casual, fun loving approach to cooking, and how she keeps it easy AF in the kitchen. You know her as a judge on Chopped and from her appearances on Iron Chef America, Beat Bobby Flay, and Tournament of Champions. It's the always lovely, Amanda Freitag.
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JAYMEE SIRE: Amanda, welcome to the pod. Thank you so much for joining us today.
AMANDA FREITAG: Thank you for having me. This is really exciting. We have a lot to talk about.
JAYMEE SIRE: We do. We do. I am excited to chat with you for a number of reasons. Obviously, we're going to talk all about Chopped and Food Network. But I came across something about you that you and I both have in common, and that is our aversion to working with sea urchin. I always feel like this is an ingredient that I'm supposed to be obsessed with and I'm just not. And I'm wondering if you kind of feel the same way?
AMANDA FREITAG: Yeah. I don't even-- I don't like to eat. It I don't like to work with it. I don't like anything about it, which is terrible because sometimes I keep that a little bit of a secret when I'm with other chefs who are in love with it, or make a sauce with it. We've had it as an ingredient in many, many competitions and somehow some way, I've escaped it, so.
JAYMEE SIRE: Fingers crossed. Well, I didn't mean to out you to everybody. But I just felt like a kindred spirit relationship to you as far as that ingredient goes. I did try to work with it in a uni carbonara, and I'll just leave it at that and let that kind of ruined it for me forever. But yes, I don't recommend trying to make it into a sauce if you already have a slight aversion to the various seafood oceany taste that is the uni.
Anyways, I'm excited to talk to you and I'm excited to hear your journey. And we're going to kind of start with that personal story. So I want to start with Amanda AF, which is something that you've leaned into as a hashtag cooking series. Obviously, it's your initials, but also a lighthearted play on that as far as the slang term. I'm curious, if you were to define Amanda AF, what would that be like? What would your friends say make you you?
AMANDA FREITAG: Well, I'm finally using my initials in a proper way. I think because sometimes what may not come across, let's say, on the judges table is that I am extreme, and silly, and fun, and always laughing, always the life of the party, always the one who's wanting to turn up the volume. So I don't think that always comes across. So everything I do is usually pretty extreme, very detailed, a bit of a perfectionist. So anything that's sort of-- I think AF to me means you're doing it all the way. You're going to the highest level. It's not mediocre.
JAYMEE SIRE: So you were basically born into these initials in all shapes and forms because it sounds like that really does. It's not just a fun play. It is something that kind of defines who you are. So I that's pretty cool. I read that growing up, your knack for cooking wasn't necessarily something you were pursuing right away but it was something that was recognized by everyone from your grandparents, to your high school home ec teacher, and they really were the ones that encouraged you to attend the Culinary Institute of America. What do you think your home ec teacher saw in you back then that made her believe that you were destined for this career in a culinary world?
AMANDA FREITAG: Well, I don't know if she could see the whole future. But I think she saw that I had a real interest in it and that I didn't know where to go with that at that time. That was not a career in this country that was regarded as a highly respected career. In Europe, and France, and other parts of the world, it was. But here, it was still sort of blue collar labor.
And I think she took me down a path of introducing me to the Culinary Institute of America that was honoring this tradition of being a chef and having that be well respected. So I started working in a restaurant as well when I was in high school, and I didn't know she worked in a restaurant on the weekends. She was in the restaurant industry as well. So she understood the love for the chaos of the industry.
JAYMEE SIRE: Do you remember those conversations with her? Like what about what she was kind of telling you made you realize, all right, this is something like I could really do?
AMANDA FREITAG: Yeah, Because I was working in a restaurant at the time and so was she, and it was new for me. And I really loved it. But I didn't know everything about it. And I wanted to know more. My brother was a high achieving academic. My other brother was super smart. They all were going on to college.
And it's just not something I wanted to do. I wanted to really just pursue this and only this. And going to culinary school was the way to do it. And I think that-- I mean, I've kept in touch with her. Here name is Joan Levine and she's proud, I hope.
JAYMEE SIRE: I think so.
AMANDA FREITAG: And excited to see how that path went.
JAYMEE SIRE: I mean, she's obviously had such a huge impact on you do you think that thinking back to her as a teacher and as a mentor, has that somewhat influenced maybe your love of teaching and in your love of inspiring people to get started in the kitchen?
AMANDA FREITAG: Yeah. I didn't-- I don't think-- it took me a while to realize I have a little bit of a teacher in me. Because when I first came out of school, you're working hard as a line cook, a prep cook. And then when you become a sous chef and a chef, you have to teach people. You have to train them. You're only as good as that team.
So if you're not training properly, you're making your life a lot harder. So in restaurants, I was always training. So I knew that I had to be really good at that to make it work well, and especially if you were a line cook. Let's say you were working the salad station but you wanted to go to the meat. You got to get that guy trained on salad so you can go over to the next station.
And then as the years went by, I did a lot of cooking demonstrations. And I realized, again, how much I love that. Because people really are afraid to say they don't know how to cook, or they don't know how to cut an onion, or they don't know how to whip cream. And so I try to open the door for them to say that and really help them get in the kitchen. So to me, it's really rewarding to see people learning and doing something they wouldn't have done just because maybe they spent time with me making a recipe.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. I mean, I love that approach to cooking because-- I mean, you are a classically trained world renowned chef but you do have this very somewhat casual but also very approachable attitude in the kitchen. Is that something you developed along the way? Are you always kind of just an easygoing person by nature?
AMANDA FREITAG: I'm easygoing. But as you know, the restaurant industry can be very stressful and there's pressure. But I do think you catch a lot more flies with honey. And I think that if you can really get somebody in a comfortable place, they're going to work at their best that way.
And get them confident and you reward them with whatever it may be that they're looking for, whether they want to learn more, or they want another position, or they want more money. I think it's really-- teaching and teaching with a soft voice can really make a difference. But there are times where you got to get angry.
JAYMEE SIRE: Absolutely. I mean, why do you think though that people are so intimidated by cooking or just kind of even making that first step, or like you said admitting that they don't really know how to cut an onion or do something that they feel should just be universally known?
AMANDA FREITAG: The kitchen is a scary place. For me, I didn't realize it because I've been in it for so long, but there's very sharp knives. There's fire. There's heat I mean, you forget about all of those things that are going on in the kitchen. And I think that people sometimes feel like the food is in control of them. The recipe's in control of them.
You're in control. You got this. This is all you. So I think, again, everybody has that perfectionist thing. It has to come out perfect. It has to look good. I have to take a picture of it for Instagram. No, you don't. You can make it, you can mess it up, or you can make it and then make it your own. I think there's a lot of trial and error that goes into learning how to make a dish. And I just want people to start. Because if you never start, you're never going to get there. So just get in there.
JAYMEE SIRE: Get in there. I mean, you mentioned Instagram. We've seen kind of this, especially over the last year, this social media phenomenon where people are displaying their kitchen creations one whether it's Instagram, or TikTok, or what have you. And this generation of things going viral and that kind of thing.
And I'm wondering if what you think of all that? Is that something that is going to help people get in there and maybe like try something that they hadn't thought that they could do? Or is it push them a little bit further away from it?
AMANDA FREITAG: I mean, I think it's really helpful. Visually, for me, I love cookbooks and I grew up looking at cookbooks. And I would always want to see a picture of the recipe. What is it supposed to look like? What is even the process? I loved when cookbooks started to come out with the step by step pictures of the process. And I think it's extremely helpful.
Yes, it can be intimidating when there's pictures that are done with food photography, and lights, and food stylists. And people don't know that. And they think that they could make it look like that. But I think pictures and visualization of cooking and dishes is very helpful.
And I give props to any young cooks or chefs right now who are working and taking pictures of what they're doing at the same time. I'm an old school person. I never had my phone in the kitchen with me. So that's actually harder to do and really get that done so that people can see what you're doing.
JAYMEE SIRE: I think you are doing that in another way visually on social media through your series Easy AF, kind of demystifying this cooking for people and making them feel like it is something they can do. Tell us a little bit more about the series that you have been producing. It seems like from your home, for people out there.
AMANDA FREITAG: I just started to obviously make these videos with my iPhone. It was the need and the want to connect with people through food. I always want to do that. I get to do that on Chopped and all of the Food Network shows that I do. And I wanted to do it on another level where I was teaching them the basics.
Because I do think as I've learned over the years, people want the basics. And I work closely with my director of communications, Kedzie Teller, and he's younger than I am. Maybe not as good of a cook. Great with graphics and social media and other things.
And using him as a litmus of saying, well, do you want to see how to make caramelized onions? Well, yeah, I don't know how to do that. Do you want to see how to make a fried egg? Yeah, I don't know how to do that. And then I'd be like, OK, let's do souffle, or this or that. He'd be like no, no, no, no, no.
Back it up. Because as a chef, you want to show off. I don't want to just make the simple things but really the things that are the most requested are the things like the fried egg, the whipped cream, the mashed potatoes. Yeah, I would love to do other things and I'd love to show off.
But at the same time, I want to give people something that will literally make dinner that night. That they will actually go in their kitchen and do it. That's more satisfying than just blowing them away with what I know. I want to know that they did it. And I want to see a picture of it.
JAYMEE SIRE: And do they do-- what's the feedback been like? Do people try to recreate some of the stuff that you're teaching and take a picture and tag you or send it to you and that kind of thing?
AMANDA FREITAG: Absolutely. The feedback has been incredible. We see a lot of dishes that people have made after they've watched a video. We see a lot of comments, people requesting other things. I'm their go-to. I am their teacher so they want to-- if they've had trouble cutting a piece of chicken, or learning how to carve a turkey, they're going to ask me for it, which is so great because then the feedback is good. Because there's a million things you could do. You could do anything with food so I'd love to hear what people want to learn.
JAYMEE SIRE: Absolutely. I mean, on the other side of the spectrum, you live in New York City, have worked at some of New York's most acclaimed restaurants. When you think about maybe that more elevated style that we're not seeing on your Instagram series and your social media series, what kind of influence has the city of New York had on you as a chef and your style of cooking?
AMANDA FREITAG: New York City has influenced me tremendously. This is where I cut my teeth as a chef in my career. And I've worked with incredible chefs along the way, all different kinds of cuisines, anything from Thai, French, to Mediterranean, to Italian, to American comfort food.
So this is where also I used to come as a young cook and eat in all the different restaurants and see what the chefs were doing and try everything, and want to know how they did it, and want to recreate it. And that was a way that a lot of the chefs that I came up with in the city, chefs like Scott Conant, chefs like Aaron Sanchez, Mark, Jeffrey, Alex, we were all working at the same time in restaurants. We were all young cooks.
Picture that. In different restaurants around the city, we were all these little young cooks that were trying to learn and see what the big chefs were doing. And so that's we learned by-- I learned by eating. I learned by learning. I would just watch what the other chefs were doing in the kitchen next to me, or obviously, the chefs that I was working for.
But New York City is a melting pot of ethnicities and cultures. It's why I still love it and live here because there's nothing like it. And I couldn't get an experience like this in my mind anywhere else in the time that I came up in restaurants.
JAYMEE SIRE: I completely agree with you. I mean, do you have a favorite that you can mention? Or is that too hard because you're leaving too many people out?
AMANDA FREITAG: People ask that question all the time. That's really difficult. Because if you ask me today, what's your favorite restaurant, it's the one I'm craving. I'm craving cafe China because I want Sichuan. That's my favorite restaurant today. Tomorrow, it might be pasta at Rezdora. You know what I mean? I don't I don't know because it's so difficult. I would never just pick one. I can't. I can't do it.
JAYMEE SIRE: Speaking of restaurants, Amanda tells us all about her extensive restaurant menu collection and how she obtains them. Plus, we talk all about Chopped and Tournament of Champions. That's coming up next.
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JAYMEE SIRE: On the subject of restaurants, I understand that you also collect restaurant menus. Which I think is so awesome because I always I started doing that at one point, but I never had a good system for keeping them all in one place. So I feel like they would either get lost or damaged. First of all, I'm curious where you keep them. Because I'm picturing like a big trapper keeper style binder that we had growing up.
AMANDA FREITAG: First of all, when you said a good system, I was thinking about how to steal them. You need a really big purse.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, OK. So you don't ask? You just take them?
AMANDA FREITAG: Most at a time I ask. There were moments where I didn't ask. That was a long time ago. But I have actually one of those storage bins, a big plastic storage bin that has a top and sealed, and it's in there. Some are in folders. Some are so big that they have to be laid out.
But I'm actually kind of heartbroken because I know that we're coming into this next generation of restaurants without menus, restaurants with QR codes. So I'm really glad that I had that weird little habit of stealing menus. Because some of them have beautiful artwork on them. Some of them have the names of the chefs and the cooks in the kitchen. Some of them have little stories and anecdotes. Menus to me were really important and really gave you a sense of what the restaurant was. Not just the food and the experience, but the menu to me was just that invitation, that first introduction.
JAYMEE SIRE: That is so true. How many do you think you have?
AMANDA FREITAG: Oh, God. Oh. I probably have at least 200 menus.
JAYMEE SIRE: Wow.
AMANDA FREITAG: At least.
JAYMEE SIRE: Which one would you grab in a fire if you could only grab one?
AMANDA FREITAG: Oh, my God. I have a beautiful menu from Bouley in New York City. I mean, it looks like the front is hand-painted. And I can remember that meal. If you were to ask me about that meal, I could tell you today. But also, there's-- I did an internship at a restaurant in Paris called Arpege and I have a menu from there. So those two. I get two. I get to grab two.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK. OK, that's fair. That's fair. Well, I mean, you are so organized so you could easily grab the entire bin in a fire and not have to choose just one. You mentioned a couple of these that hold special or specific memories for you. I mean, take us back to one of those. What about the menu kind of brings back that entire restaurant experience to the front of your brain?
AMANDA FREITAG: Well, I remember eating at Bouley in the early 90s. And I had never really had an experience like that. I don't know if anybody who's listening remembers this restaurant. But when you-- it was in Tribeca. And when you walked in, there was a big huge wooden door and you would open the door. And in the foyer, there would be crates and baskets of apples, and quince, and the perfume from that, you just walked into that. And it was instantly stimulating your senses.
You were, like, oh, my God. And you were taken away. To me, restaurants that take you to a whole other place are genius. And then the whole experience, so just sitting there with this big huge menu, again, which we will probably not see too many of in the future. And looking at everything and visualizing everything and trying to decide what to have, and some of the colors on the menu to me now in my memory match some of what we ate. And it was just a journey of food that I had never experienced. And it was so inspiring. It just made me want to cook every single one of those dishes.
JAYMEE SIRE: I love that. I mean, I love-- as you were talking, I was trying to remember if there's a menu that did that for me. And I remember going to Central in Lima, Peru and they-- and because of Peru's different elevations and different types of topography, they did their menu by like elevation of where that ingredient came from, which I thought was a really cool way to just tell the story of Peru but also like of their restaurant, which was really neat. I have to find it. It's somewhere up in storage. I need to find it.
AMANDA FREITAG: They're fun to look at.
JAYMEE SIRE: No, it's true. And it's such a good point that we are kind of entering this phase where either they're going to be very easy to take because they're going to throw them away anyways. Or like you said, the QR codes, and maybe we won't have them anymore which is sad. But that's cool that you have such a treasure trove of those memories just sitting around that you can kind of leaf through at any one time.
Well, speaking of restaurants, I know you recently opened up a cafe in Dallas called Rise and Thyme. And I know that it's obviously a very tough time to be opening restaurants. So how did that project come about?
AMANDA FREITAG: Well, clearly, we were working on it way before the pandemic. So it's a cafe and it's in this really beautiful area of Dallas downtown in the AT&T Discovery District. So there's multiple other restaurants in this food hall. And AT&T revamped this whole area. And there's this beautiful outdoor seating, huge screen to show movies, and sports events. So the whole thing was going to be this fantastic new place to go.
And my last visit down there was on March 10th of 2020. I had just flown home and I was ready to go back. We're just fixing some things in the kitchen and tweaking some things on the menu, tasting coffee, interviewing people, tasting pastries. And I haven't been back since.
But the great part is the team down there is unbelievable. And they are killing it. They're making beautiful food. People are loving it. Coffee was a big deal for me. So we have Matty, our barista. We have Patrick, our chef, and Brian, and Adrian, and Kevin are all making it exactly what we wanted it to be. And so I couldn't be more proud to have my name be on that, a part of that. And I can't wait to get back down there.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes. I know you mentioned that date and it's just-- it is such a triggering time because that's like literally the day before everything really shut down, the world shut down, to be honest. And kind of on that note, I know one of the things that the restaurant has been doing is providing free meals to frontline workers under this idea that we're all in this together, which is so true. Why was that so important to both you and also the restaurant group that you mentioned is behind this project?
AMANDA FREITAG: Yeah. There are multiple different ways that Rise and Thyme contributed when the weather was terrible and everybody was suffering in Texas. We contributed to World Central Kitchen because they were giving out food all around the area. And also to a women's shelter, and we're really involved in that and helping them get back on their feet and making them food and bringing that to their homes.
And obviously as chefs, we feed people. That's in our nature. Part of what we were talking about in my growing up life of food, in my family life, food was everything. And I've said this before, but I know people can relate. If you're not feeling good, you would eat some food. If you're happy, let's eat. If you're tired, maybe you should eat something.
You know what I mean? Even if you didn't feel well, if you had a stomachache, oh, you should probably have a little cracker. Food was everything. So to me, food is everything. And to think of anybody suffering without food, anybody feeling hungry and not even being able to function because of that, is a real soft spot for me.
So it's in my nature and I know a lot of chefs, it's in their nature to feed. We just want to feed people. And we used to do it just for entertainment. And now, I'm so glad I can use any kind of platform that I have to feed people for survival, to help them get through the hard times.
JAYMEE SIRE: Absolutely. I mean, I think you said it really well. It is something that we all have in common. It's something that unifies all of us is this idea of sitting down and breaking bread together. So I think that making sure that that can still happen in a really tough time is super important.
I know fans are listening going to want to know about Food Network as well. So as we kind of transition from this personal life, this growing up life into your career as a Food Network personality, I guess give us the condensed version of how that came about. How did you go from Culinary Institute of America to Food Network?
AMANDA FREITAG: Wow. It was multiple restaurant jobs leading up to one where I was a chef at a restaurant called The Harrison in Tribeca in New York City, a beloved restaurant that had opened in 2001. But I was hired to take over in 2008, a really difficult time in the world. We had to pump up the press a little bit. And so I had to change the style the restaurant, change the entire menu, get a New York Times review, which in 2008 was still a big deal. I got two stars, everybody.
JAYMEE SIRE: Congrats.
AMANDA FREITAG: And so a very competitive industry. I would go on the Today Show, Good Morning America, just try and promote the restaurant. We'd go to many different events. And we had a PR team with us. It was Phillip Baltz, Baltz & Company. And our representative was Jesse Gerstein. And Jesse and I spoke all the time because there was so much going on, so much activity about the restaurant.
And one day I got a call from somebody at the Food Network to the restaurant. And I was in the little chef's office under the stairs. And if anybody is a restaurant worker, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And they said-- chef, you have a call. And I picked it up and it was somebody from the Food Network asking me if I wanted to compete on Iron Chef America. And I said thank you, but no thank you.
Oh, my God. Because first of all, that wasn't at all my style. I always thought that was Iron Chef America is like exploding ketchup bombs, and caramel cages, and foam, and smoke. And I was a little more comfort food. And so Jesse called maybe 10 minutes later and he said-- hey, did you just get a call from the Food Network? And did you just say no?
And I was like, yes and yes. I was, of course, very honest with him about the whole thing. And he's like-- listen, he's like, I think it would be great for you to do it. And he's like, I think it'd be great for the restaurant. And he's like, I really am going to persuade you to do this. And I'm so glad he did, obviously.
And I competed against Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America in 2008, I believe. Yeah. It was 2008. I don't know if it aired until 2009. But it was very exciting, very nerve wracking. Luckily, my parents got to come because you could still have an audience at that time. And I remember seeing my dad and he was like-- why are you so nervous? I was like, I don't know. This is crazy this is make or break.
And he's like, you're going to leave here and you're going to go to work. You're going to go to work. You have dinner service to do. He's like, what you're doing, just have fun. So the minute he said just have fun, it changed everything for me. And I just had a blast. I just had a blast with it. It was fun. And it was a great opportunity. And so much more came after that.
JAYMEE SIRE: Absolutely. I mean, by the way, going up against Bobby Flay in your first ever Food Network experience appearance, I mean, that's nothing to shy away from. And you lost by one point. I mean, does that haunt you?
AMANDA FREITAG: Well, it haunts me because it happens to me quite often actually.
JAYMEE SIRE: Really?
AMANDA FREITAG: Well, last year I lost Tournament of Champions by one point.
JAYMEE SIRE: Mm. That's right.
AMANDA FREITAG: I don't know if it's better to lose by one point or to lose by 10. Either way, it's not so great. But years later, I came back and I competed against Bobby on Beat Bobby Flay. And I was able to get some redemption there.
JAYMEE SIRE: Absolutely. How did it feel to even the score?
AMANDA FREITAG: It felt great. And again, now, I'm so lucky to be a part of the Food Network family and call Bobby a friend after all these years. So it was really a friendly competition, but obviously, I won. And I was happy to win.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah, you did. I actually remember this episode because it was a chopped theme episode. And you made-- what was the dish that you made? Because it was kind of something obscure that he had never heard of.
AMANDA FREITAG: Well, and I think that's the strategy, right?
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes, absolutely.
AMANDA FREITAG: It's a dish called fesenjoon. And it's a Persian dish with chicken thighs, pomegranate, molasses, and walnuts, that my dear friends who are Persian that I cook with all the time when I visit them taught me how to make. So I pretty much figured he didn't know it. Although he got really close. He got real-- I was worried there for a second. But he did joke around with me about. He's like-- where did you come up with this?
JAYMEE SIRE: I think the only reason it was close is because it has pomegranate in it. And that's in his wheelhouse. I think you hit it on the nose. I think the strategy is to try to pick something that he doesn't know and/or maybe has never heard of in that case. But as you mentioned, you are a judge on Chopped a beloved judge at that. We've had Ted and Alex on the podcast previously talked a lot about the show. I'm excited to hear your experience though. What is your favorite part about being a judge on that show?
AMANDA FREITAG: I mean, you mentioned Ted and Alex. First of all, the family, the Chopped family, we've been together for so long now. It's so fantastic. We've been doing this for almost 12 years. We've grown up together in a weird way. So I just love being around everybody. People have been married, had children. This is a big deal to have this amazing family of people work together.
But what I always talk about is how it's still exciting. It's still exciting. Every day when we come in, we sit at the judges table, four chefs who we've never met before walk into that room, and anything can happen. And I mean anything can happen. And kudos to Sara Hormi, our culinary producer, who puts together these baskets over the years, how many different combinations, and that makes a difference.
Between the baskets, the chefs, their skill level, their desire, their nervousness, there's always this really high energy in the room. And you would think after so many episodes that would go away, and it doesn't. It's always there. I'm always so excited to see what's going to happen.
JAYMEE SIRE: Do you have a favorite memory of all time or is that just like the restaurant question, too hard to pin one down?
AMANDA FREITAG: There's so many. It ebbs and flows from delicious bites of food, to disasters, to tears. There's been so many emotions in that kitchen. People bring so much to the table when they walk into that kitchen. I've been amazed and disgusted.
JAYMEE SIRE: I'm sure-- I won't make you call anybody out on worst bite that you've had. But are you able to sympathize you think with the contestants because you've been on the other side of it before, because you've been a competitor and maybe not one when you wanted to?
AMANDA FREITAG: Yeah. I mean, I think-- my judging style is really based on the fact that I've been on the other side of that table. And I always want to make sure I give a comment that win or lose, they're going to walk away learning something. And that's that teacher in me. Because that's what happened to me through competition. I competed a lot, Iron Chef, then next Iron Chef, then next Iron Chef again, and Chopped.
And all these competitions, I feel like every time I go through around even one round of battle, I've learned something. I learned what not to do. I learned what to do. I've amaze myself what I can do under pressure. And then you start to learn little tips and tricks. So I just want to make sure that whatever comments I'm giving them, it gives them a little insight into what happened and what we're tasting.
Because 9 times out of 10 the chef that's walking up to that table, they know what went wrong. So I'm not going to remind them of what they already know. I'll try and give them a piece of information about maybe how the flavors came together or something. So I think of myself as the nice judge and the fair judge because I always really want to just give them information instead of make them cry.
JAYMEE SIRE: I can see that. I can see you as the welcoming judge, the one that they might look to if they're feeling a little bit nervous. But speaking of competing, you were just on Tournament of Champions as a number one seed, unfortunately got beat out by Tiffani Faison. Anything you would do differently in hindsight?
AMANDA FREITAG: Oh, my God. There's so many things I would have done. Yes. I would have used curry paste. I mean, anybody who watched it knows I used curry powder instead of paste. I made a lot of rookie mistakes although it was close. I really did love my dish.
I have to say this time around, I think because of environment and what we had all gone through in the last year, I wasn't my same edgy competitive self. You know what I mean? I was in this very loving mood. I was so happy to see Tiffani, and everybody that was in that kitchen, and to see Guy, and to be a part of this team of people.
I remember walking out when we were first all together and he was like, Guy was calling us superheroes. He's like culinary superheroes. And I was just honored to be there, and having to compete against Tiffani who I love and we're friends, and I was rooting for her. How do you figure that?
I wanted her to win and I wanted me to win. I wanted us both to win somehow. So it was so much going on. And the randomizer is really-- I've never seen anything like it. As much as we have these really difficult baskets and the riddle of the basket is the hardest thing to solve, the randomizer is genius, evil genius, evil, evil genius. And it can take down the best chefs. And it has. And it will again.
JAYMEE SIRE: I mean, is it so random? You said you didn't want mussels and it landed on mussels. So I don't know, conspiracy theories abound.
AMANDA FREITAG: Yeah. I got thrown off a little bit by that because it was really probably the thing that I was dreading the most. And of course, I should know. I've been through this a million times. I should know that I'll get the thing that I don't want.
JAYMEE SIRE: I mean, what makes you want to compete in a competition like this not once but twice? I mean, that seems like something that one and done. Like you did it once like I'm good.
AMANDA FREITAG: Because I'm a masochist. I think, and I do this all the time to myself, if I'm not making myself a little bit uncomfortable, then I'm really not challenging myself. And I think you have to be constantly learning in any career. If you're not pushing yourself into those super duper uncomfortable places, you're not going to move forward. So I love Guy and I love that Guy has asked me back. I hope he asked me back again. Guy, are you listening? I want to do it again.
JAYMEE SIRE: So you would go back a third time?
AMANDA FREITAG: I would. You know what? The thing about being eliminated is I just wanted to stay and play. I just wanted to keep going. I just wanted another chance. And that's again the other thing about Tournament of Champions, you get one chance and that's it.
I would do it again. I would. Because as you know, chefs are really driven. And I want to fix it. I want to do better. I came in as number one seed and I only have one chance to do that. Now, where am I going to rank?
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. No, I get it. I get it. That competitiveness, that spirit like that makes you want to go back not just to do it again but just to better yourself and try to improve on your last experience. So I totally get that. Before we let you go, I want to do a quick rapid fire round. Real quick, like whatever first thing comes to your mind. So what's your favorite food trend right now?
AMANDA FREITAG: Plant based.
JAYMEE SIRE: Plant based? OK, that's a good one. That's very trendy. What's your favorite dish to cook at home right now?
AMANDA FREITAG: Omelets.
JAYMEE SIRE: Omelets? OK, all right. I think who else said that? Tyler Florence I think was talking about omelets.
AMANDA FREITAG: It's such a good breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
JAYMEE SIRE: Absolutely. Are you a beer, wine, or a cocktail person?
AMANDA FREITAG: Yes.
JAYMEE SIRE: That is the best answer to that question that could ever be. That was fantastic. Favorite bite or dish you've tried on Chopped?
AMANDA FREITAG: Oh. Caramel orange miso cucumber skate by Madison Cowan.
JAYMEE SIRE: Wow. All right. That was a nice pull. What's your favorite show on Food Network that you are not on?
AMANDA FREITAG: Good eats.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, that's a good one. I like that one. And finally, what's your favorite food city?
AMANDA FREITAG: San Francisco. It's still San Francisco. It's always been San Francisco. I'm still going to say San Francisco. There's other ones that are creeping up on my list. But San Fran, I love you.
JAYMEE SIRE: San Francisco is a great food city. I lived there for five years so I second that it's great but it's also a tough question because there's a lot of good contenders out there. One final question, our last one that we ask everybody on Food Network Obsessed and that would be-- what would be on the menu for your perfect food day?
So breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. You can time travel. You can spend absurd amounts of money. There's no rules. Any chef can serve it too. You can cook it. Whatever you want. So breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert.
AMANDA FREITAG: Wow. OK. So I would have breakfast at the Culinary Institute of America. Because when I did the commencement speech, they made me the best scrambled eggs ever. I would have lunch-- oh, my God. I would probably have lunch in Paris at Arpege. And I would take my time and it would be boozy and bubbly.
And I would have dinner in Bologna. I would just have a huge-- I would start with vitello tonnato and have a big bowl of bolognese. And God knows what I would have for dessert, but I would hope there'd be some kind of chocolate cake.
JAYMEE SIRE: That seems like a pretty perfect day. I mean, starting with your roots and ending with some delicious meals in Europe sounds pretty nice right about now. We can start trying it. Let's do it.
AMANDA FREITAG: Yes, let's do it. Yes, international travel here we come.
JAYMEE SIRE: Thank you so much. It was so fun talking to you about your life and your life on Food Network as well. So thank you so much for taking the time. We really appreciate it.
AMANDA FREITAG: Thank you. It's my pleasure.
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JAYMEE SIRE: A boozy, bubbly lunch in Paris. I'm in and I am officially ready for summer and travel. Again, you can catch Amanda on Food Network at the Chopped judges table. And as always, thanks so much for listening and make sure you follow us wherever you listen to podcasts. You don't miss a single thing. Of course, if you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to rate and review. We love it when you do that. That's all for now. We'll catch you foodies next Friday on Food Network Obsessed.
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