Astrid Lavenia

Hometown	Mandeville, LA
Age	41
Occupation	Food Sales Rep
Statistics
Mystery Box(es) Won	0
Top Entries	0
Bottom Entries	1
Placement	22nd
Episode Eliminated	Top 22 Compete

Astrid Lavenia was a contestant on Season 5 of MasterChef. She ranked in 22nd place.

Personality

Astrid was nice to her competitors, but was arrogant and did not know how to cook. She made the most mistakes and was also shown to be disrespectful, and not just through her cooking, but also through her lack of knowledge of the kitchen, as she had a complete disregard for the sanitary conditions, especially when she was keen about pushing scraps of food all over the floor of her station. In the kitchen, despite showing some potential very early on, she always made dishes that showed she lacked skill in the kitchen, which was the reason that she was the first person to be eliminated.

Season 5

Episode 1

Astrid was one of the nine home cooks that was initially not accepted into the MasterChef Kitchen, but were given a second chance. She said she wanted Gordon Ramsay to cook alongside them, an offer which he accepted. During the second audition round, Astrid was seen throwing peels and scraps of food on the floor, which made Christian ask if she cooked like that at home. Joe came up to her station, ordered the other cooks to stop, and said he would not tolerate disgusting working conditions. She thought she was about to be eliminated, but she was given a warning and knew her dish had to shine.

Astrid was in the second group of 3 to present their second dish. She presented her seared chicken breast with a potato hash, and the judges enjoyed the flavors. She was the only one of the three in her group to receive an apron, and Joe told her to clean it up in the kitchen.

Episode 2

During the Dessert Mystery Box Challenge, Astrid revealed she was making lemon tarts. After the time ended, she was called up with Cutter, with Big Willie and Courtney being at the other end. The judges revealed one duo were the Top 2, and the other were the Bottom 2, and one of them would be eliminated.

After she and Cutter were named the Bottom 2, she presented her Lemon Tarts with lavender and fresh berries. Gordon noticed that the tarts were raw, to which Astrid replied, "I imagine so". He told her she should have left the dish in the oven if it wasn't cooked, and he struggled as he didn't see much potential in her, When Graham tasted the dish, he noticed that the tarts were hard as a rock.

After the two dishes were tasted, Astrid was eliminated for having the worst dessert of the challenge, as she served raw food. She was disappointed to leave so soon, but accepted her mistakes and said that she should've practiced baking as it was her weakness.

Competition History

Week 2	Eliminated

Post MasterChef

• After her appearance, Astrid became a DSR at Ben E. Keith Foods in New Orleans.
• She is currently a Manufacturing Sales Representative at BakeMark.

Trivia

• At 41, she is the oldest woman of the season.
• She is the second contestant to be eliminated during the Mystery Box Challenge, following Samantha (Season 3).
• She is the first contestant to rank in 22nd place.
• She is the second contestant of Argentine descent, following Natasha (Season 4).

Quotes

• "I thought they had people that cleaned."
• (After being eliminated) "Wow, it sucks being eliminated, but at the end of the day, I understand; I own it. Maybe I should've read some more recipes and practiced baking because that is my weakness."

Gallery

Season 5

Astrid's Confessional

Astrid's 2nd Audition Dish

Astrid receiving her Apron

Astrid's Mystery Box Dessert

Cutter and Astrid in the Dessert Mystery Box Bottom 2

Astrid Eliminated