Since opening legendary Los Angeles restaurant Spago, Wolfgang Puck's made quite a name for himself, most recently as a guest judge on Bravo's "Top Chef." And in true Puck fashion, the famously frank chef didn't hold back when speaking about his disappointing experiences judging chef-testants in a HuffPost Live interview on Thursday.
"There are many times when I wanted to say, you know what, don't call the show 'Top Chef,' because some of the contestants don't know how to cook!" he told host Caitlyn Becker.
While he admitted that some of the contestants "are fantastic," he thinks the process of selecting contestants "is interesting," and perhaps inconsistent.
"I remember one of the shows we did, I had six chefs... and I had them make an omelette," he recalled. "Nobody could do an omelette. I would not have served any of their omelettes in our restaurants. It was terrible. I said, 'You guys are chefs?' I asked the producers, 'Can we fire them all?'... It's amazing how sometimes the people cook terrible food."
Even experienced chefs whom Puck admires can falter under the "Top Chef" pressure, he explained.
"I had a friend of mine on the last show, 'Top Chef Duels,' and I know he's a great cook -- I won't say the name -- and he made something," he remembered. "I said, 'Jesus Christ, he should give up cooking if he cannot cook that thing right.' It was terrible, and I tried to be polite."
It goes without saying he likely could've tried harder, but what would "Top Chef" be without Wolfgang Puck's candor?
Watch the rest of Wolfgang Puck's conversation with HuffPost Live here.Sign up here for Live Today, HuffPost Live's new morning email that will let you know the newsmakers, celebrities and politicians joining us that day and give you the best clips from the day before!
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