A Boston-area chef will be playing to his strengths as he appears on Food Network’s popular cooking show competition “Chopped.”
Laurence Louie is the chef and owner of Rubato Hong Kong Cafe, which opened in Quincy about a year and a half ago.
The cafe specializes in traditional Hong Kong and Cantonese comfort food, but with a modern twist. Rubato has garnered attention from Eater Boston, Bon Appétit and the producers at “Chopped.”
“They reached out to us on our Instagram,” Louie told MassLive in a phone interview Wednesday. “We applied and then made it through the rounds of interviews and then eventually made it to the actual competition.”
Food Network confirmed to MassLive that the season 57 episode will celebrate Chinese cuisine, which is something Louie felt right at home about.
“It was a really exciting episode to be a part of,” he said. “The other chefs … they’re all kind of in the same boat, you know, I think it’s folks [who] are coming from a similar background.”
Chefs Lurence Louie, Katie Chin, Dave Wang, Justine Ma, in front of baskets, as seen on Chopped, Season 57Courtesy of Food Network
Louie is competing against chefs Katie Chin, Justine Ma and David Wang, Food Network said. No matter the outcome, Louie is happy with the continued publicity that Rubato will get from people watching the show.
“At the core of it, win or lose, that was kind of my mentality going in,” he said. “It’s good exposure and I think it’s good for the restaurant.”
People who want to see if Louie gets chopped can watch the episode on Food Network on Tuesday, March 5 at 8 p.m. Otherwise, people can catch the episode after for free on Philo, DirectTV or Fubo.
