MASTERCHEF: Esther Kang, a lawyer from Los Angeles, CA, is the most recent of the eliminated contestants. Fox Broadcasting Co. CR: Chris Tomko/FOX
Esther Kang is just the latest of the contestants to get booted from MasterChef (Mondays, 9:00 p.m. ET/PT, Tuesdays, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT, FOX). However, unlike the others that went before her, Kang believes the bottom three (including her) all deserved to get cut.
“I think that definitely there were three of us on the bottom that had the three worst cakes and it could have gone either way,” she acknowledges. I’m just the one that they chose. If I have a disillusioned version of what I can or should do it’ll just chew me over.”
She admits that Chef Gordon Ramsay can be a tough critic, but he certainly improved her skills in the kitchen. In fact, Kang says all the criticism from the judges, beginning with Ramsay, then Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliot turned out to be the best education for her.
“I still respect him and I did learn a lot from him,” she gushes. “The way that they all critique your foods you learn so much. The technical things that I wouldn’t have thought it was one of the things I needed to accomplish a dish. When they tear or pick apart your dish, it’s really a school.”
Though she plans on continue as a lawyer on a part-time basis, Kang has already kicked off her own business – and naturally, it’s centered around her cooking abilities.
“I actually started a food company. It’s actually a cookie baking shop,” she says proudly. “We ship nationally and it’s called Batch From Scratch. Rather than jumping in and taking on more, I chose something that let me get my feet wet. Hopefully, I can grow from there.”