Pacific Beach resident Brien O\u2019Brien is embarking on the food journey of a lifetime \u2013 the pursuit of an associate of arts degree in culinary arts at The Culinary Institute of America. The prestigious Greystone Campus in St. Helena, Calif., only accepts the world\u2019s most talented through a vigorous vetting process. However, the highly coveted accolade isn\u2019t O\u2019Brien\u2019s first step on the path to cuisine stardom.
\nLast August, the 33-year old was named the 14th “Best Home Chef in America” from “MasterChef,” Fox\u2019s reality TV cooking show. Hosted by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey, “MasterChef” slices hundreds of America\u2019s best home cooks to 40, who are diced to 20 TV contestants, who then compete to be crowned “America\u2019s Best Home Chef.” O\u2019Brien garnered his spot even though he “never auditioned for a television show before, but apparently, I\u2019m good at it,” by plating his grandmother\u2019s meatloaf recipe, scalloped potatoes and white corn salad in three minutes for a panel of food critics. The panel \u2013 and the camera \u2013 “loved” the food and the novice. In addition to plating a meal, contestants were required to lack any formal training or experience cooking in a restaurant, a feat completed with ease for the former magazine and advertising salesman and career counselor. Cooking was always just a “hobby and creative outlet,” that began at age 13.
\n“I cut and cut and cut and cut fresh strawberries \u2013 today I would use an immersion blender but with age comes wisdom \u2013 sprinkled the now pureed strawberries with cinnamon and sugar, poured it as a sauce over ice cream and a chef was born!” Sporting a bachelor of arts in psychology and a master of arts in human behavior \u2013 both from National University \u2013 O\u2019Brien says that he attended traditional college to become financially successful. “I was so good at college, my alma mater hired me as an admissions advisor where I remained for six years while earning my master\u2019s” he said. “Education and business know-how came naturally and cooking always challenged me, but I loved it.” Compelled to follow his inner voice, O\u2019Brien paid “big bucks” to a career counselor “who told me what I already knew, I want to become a chef.” A Pacific Beach pub crawl led to the discovery of the San Diego “MasterChef” auditions and for the first time he “dropped everything to pursue food.” “I quit my job, said goodbye to my family and friends, and traveled to LA to pursue my dream of becoming a chef,” he said. “\u2019MasterChef\u2019 was a full-time job. Contestants were not allowed access to the outside world. All cell phones were taken away. We didn\u2019t have keys to our rooms. When we weren\u2019t filming, we studied. We were warned that filming could take up to 12 weeks. It was stressful. Everyone wanted to win. I was persistent and consistent because that\u2019s what chefs strives to do \u2013 stick with it and move forward, no matter what.” Appointed team captain to 10 contestants after winning the show\u2019s first challenge, O\u2019Brien directed a crew to plate and expedite an “elegant” lunch for more than 100 Huntington Beach lifeguards. Despite winning more than 70 percent of the votes for crispy skin seabass with bamboo rice, grilled corn salad and fried eggplant with sweet chili sauce, the endeavor was everything but smooth. “We had to cook as fast as we could in a really hot kitchen on the beach,” he said. “We had to meet the expectations of the lifeguards and present our food to chefs Gordon Ramsay, Christina Tosi and Aaron Sanchez. Halfway through the cooking, Ramsay pulled me aside and yelled\u2026 a lot. He even threw an undercooked seabass filet in the sand. It was bad. It was a huge blow to my ego. I questioned my ability to lead.” But O\u2019Brien tapped into his education in human behavior to stay calm. “I understood that in order to effectively lead my team, I needed to stay calm. I couldn\u2019t let Ramsey distract me from the task at hand. I took the criticisms and re-strategized the problems at hand.” O\u2019Brien\u2019s team won. He was again tagged as the “guy to beat.” “I knew then that I could hold my chops against the best home cooks in the country,” he said. However, O\u2019Brien\u2019s winning streak didn\u2019t last. Four peanut butter and jelly cannoli\u2019s failed to impress the judges and fell short of the required six. “One judge commented that my cannoli wasn\u2019t classic enough,” he said. “I thought, \u2018What do you mean it\u2019s not classic enough? This show proves how good you are as a chef. Do you want me to duplicate a cannoli that someone else made? Do you want a lemon ricotta cannoli? What? \u2019I had one bad day in the kitchen. And that\u2019s all it takes.”
\nDonning his “MasterChef” apron, O\u2019Brien remained undeterred. Disqualification fueled his passion to learn. Food Network became his best friend along with books, TV shows, DVDs and “everything I could get my hands on.” “I\u2019ve learned so much from self-study,” he said. “I study everything. I practice every day. My entire life revolves around food. I spend every waking moment wanting to learn more.”
\nWilliam Sonoma cooking classes and weekend brunch at the University of San Diego followed suit. Serving 600 students made-to-order eggs and a vegan brunch as part of a two-man team “was exhilarating and crazy.” “The hustle \u2013 the chase of the adrenaline rush to prove myself worthy was addicting,” he said.
\nO\u2019Brien says that he\u2019s graduated from the desire to be artistic to the desire to show the world that he can become one of the best chefs in America, “a leader in the food world.” “I\u2019ll give it my all,” he said. “I\u2019m everything they say one needs to be to be a great chef. I\u2019m talented, organized and meticulously clean. I\u2019ve taught myself the ins and outs of cooking. I even know how to deglaze a $300 pan to save it from getting burnt. A great chef works harder than anyone else. That\u2019s my goal. I\u2019ll prove myself in every kitchen I cook in.” Sharing his “flavor with the world,” O\u2019Brien\u2019s developing his signature cuisine, California comfort food, “elegant, Michelin Star quality macaroni and cheese.” The art of food sustainability is also highlighted because “people need to know that the food they eat affects the planet.”
\n“How many understand what bycatch from seafood is?” he said. “It\u2019s a chef\u2019s responsibility to teach food sustainability and better the planet one plate at a time. Our culture is unhealthy due to poor nutrition. Chefs can change that. I know how to cook healthy and be healthy.”
\nO\u2019Brien walked his own weight-loss path through proper nutrition, losing 39 pounds in 62 days. “Being healthy is easy when you put high quality food in your system,” he continued. “Quality ingredients make healthier and happier people. I\u2019m always happy. You can\u2019t cook when you\u2019re mad.”
\nFuture goals include owning 20 acres “in or around San Diego” to raise livestock and fresh ingredients to serve from farm to plate in a restaurant next door to his home. “I have aspirations of learning everything I can and working my ass off to become an award-winning chef,” he concluded. “I can conquer any feat put in front of me. They say you never work a day in your life if you love what you do. I love cooking. I love food.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pacific Beach resident Brien O\u2019Brien is embarking on the food journey of a lifetime \u2013 the pursuit of an associate of arts degree in culinary arts at The Culinary Institute of America. The prestigious Greystone Campus in St. Helena, Calif., only accepts the world\u2019s most talented through a vigorous vetting process. However, the highly coveted […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":273951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11559","_seopress_titles_title":"\u2018MasterChef\u2019 appearance changes life goals of Pacific Beach man","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11559,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-273950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}