Austin Chef Paul Qui

Paul Qui is currently holding his own in Top Chef's newest rendition: Top Chef Texas. Paul Qui is executive chef at Uchiko restaurant in Austin, Texas. Born in Manila, Philippines and trained in classic French and Japanese cuisine, Paul takes a modernist approach towards food, where there are no boundaries. Starting as a stage, Paul worked his way up the ranks of Uchi to Chef de Cuisine and eventually Executive Chef at Uchiko. While training under Uchi Chef and Owner Tyson Cole, Paul learned to adapt traditional Japanese dishes with an eye towards local flavor, all while incorporating influences from South East Asian and European cuisine. On last week's episode, Paul won the quickfire challenge. The challenge was to create the best dish choosing from whichever chile the contestants preferred (they ranged from the Anaheim, $500 to the ghost chile, $20,000). The catch was that the hotter the chile, the more money you could win. Paul was the only one to choose the infamous ghost chile, which brought a prize of $20,000.