By Olaf Growald
Juan Rodriguez of Magdalena's
Catch Juan Rodriguez on the July 23 episode of "Chopped."
Chef Ben Merritt recently appeared on Food Network's culinary showdown, “Chopped.” Now, it's time for his friend, Juan Rodriguez, to sharpen his knives and take his turn in the kitchen.
Rodriguez announced the news with a Facebook post on Saturday, urging fans to tune into The Food Network at 8 p.m. July 23 as he battles it out with his friend Rashad from Crave BBQ Restaurant out of Oakland.
Since taping the episode, fellow contestant Rashad Armstead has found a new dream after his Crave BBQ pop-ups ran into financial trouble and he opened Grammie’s Down-Home Chicken & Seafood last month in North Oakland, California instead.
The “Chopped” episode was shot last March, titled "Take the Cake." The name comes mostly from the final challenge of baking a Swedish Princess Cake, which Rodriguez admits was not exactly in his wheelhouse. We'll have to wait and see how our hometown chef fared when the episode airs—he's not talking.
Taping the show lasted "all day long," he says. "I was exhausted. It began by meeting the other chefs for breakfast at McDonald's at 6 a.m., and we didn't leave the studio until 7 p.m. that night." But he and fellow contestant Rashad Armstead got a special treat from one of the judges when their grueling day ended.
Judge Marcus Samuelsson, winner of multiple James Beard Foundation Awards to include Best Chef, made reservations for them at his acclaimed Red Rooster Restaurant in the heart of Harlem. "They told me that Chef Samuelsson has never done that before," Rodriguez says. "It was a packed house that night and they just escorted the two of us to a table at the center of the room and treated us to an incredible chef's tasting menu."
The former Executive Chef of Reata in downtown Fort Worth, Rodriguez now oversees a successful catering business of his own called Magdalena's, where his sell-out private dinners are becoming legendary. Most recently, he was tapped to develop the menu at the newly opened Austin City Taco on University Drive.