Boston-based chef Tatiana Rosana of Outlook Kitchen and Lookout Rooftop beat out three other Cuban-heritage chefs to win Tuesday night's episode of the Food Network's Chopped.
"I definitely didn't win because of my desert round," the 31-year-old explained with a laugh to Kiss 108's Matty in the Morning. "That was a little bit of a disaster."
Rosana initially hoped to use Cuban flavors as a secret weapon in the competition but was surprisingly matched with chefs from similar backgrounds.
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"It was a Cuban-themed episode, so all the other chefs were Cuban, all the ingredients were Cuban-themed," she explained. "We had a whole pork shoulder, we had Cuban coffee in one of the baskets. I really went in there thinking I was gonna use my Cuban heritage as my leg up and my secret to help me win, and then when I went on and realized that all the other chefs were Cuban I was like, 'Well there goes that!'"
How did the rising culinary star celebrate the victory? "We had a viewing party at the restaurant," she said. "Everybody is just over the moon excited. My team is everything. My work family is like my real family."
Check out Tatiana's impressive performance here.