“ | Let's weed out the runts right now. | ” |
Jesse Romero was a contestant on Season 6 of MasterChef. He ranked in 15th place.
Personality
Jesse entered the competition with much confidence and got along with several of the other cooks. However, his confidence ended up turning into arrogance, since he thought that he would be the judge of who did or did not deserve to compete and possessed a God-like complex by targeting contestants who he thought were weak in order to keep the strongest, including himself, to survive. Unfortunately, despite being a good team player, his arrogance didn't match his actual cooking skills, since he thought that he was the best, failed to admit his mistakes, and could not take any criticism, to the point where he tried to argue with Ramsay, all of which made him too arrogant for his own good, leading to his elimination.
Season 6
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
During the Mystery Box Challenge, Jesse was not seen very much. His dish wasn't deemed to be a top entry.
In the Elimination Test, Ramsay checked up on Jesse to see his progress with the Salisbury steak TV dinner themed challenge. Jesse was planning to make a venison Salisbury steak with pickled broccoli and fried macaroni and cheese. Ramsay was concerned about the idea of fried macaroni and cheese, though Jesse was willing to try the idea, clamming that he tried and cooked it before the competition.
When Jesse was chosen to present his dish, Ramsay commented how his dish was one of the bizarre dishes of the challenge so far. Jesse presented a venison Salisbury steak with mushrooms cooking in bacon and duck fat, along with pickled broccoli wrapped in prosciutto and fried macaroni and cheese. Ramsay complimented on the mushrooms, but had a problem with the venison and allowed Jesse to taste his steak. Ramsay stated that the venison was very dry and compared it to taking a mouthful of sand, though Jesse tried to argue that it was dry, but not very dry. Ramsay then told him that venison doesn't work well into a Salisbury steak and added that venison become dry when the meat becomes from bright red to white in color.
While selecting for the bottom three entries of the competition, Ramsay wasn't even going to ask the next person to be in the bottom, since that individual knows exactly who he is. Jesse knew who he was and started to walk to the judges. However, midway, he began to turn back and started walking back to his station. Ramsay stopped him and told Jesse to get his ass over here. Upon Veronica's expected elimination, Jesse was relieved to compete for another day, until he was announced that another person would be eliminated. Ramsay commented how Jesse looked and acted like a petulant teenager, though during an interview, Jesse claimed that he didn't want to lose, since he left his job and didn't care about anything but winning the whole competition. Ramsay eliminated Jesse for his poor venison Salisbury steak, and while be returning back to his station to take off his apron, along the way, he exchanged hugs with Nick, Claudia, Kerry, and Tommy. During his exit, he stated that he was sad to leave since he made close friends, but acknowledged how he learned a lot and had the opportunity to cook for the judges while maintaining his dream to continue working to become a better chef to even open up a restaurant by himself. Jesse hoped that he made his family proud, wished the best of luck to the other competitors, and warned to future contestants to not overcook venison.
Competition History
Week 3 | In/Immune |
---|---|
Week 4 | Win |
Week 5 | Win/Immune |
Week 6 | Win |
Week 7 | In/Eliminated |
Season 7
Season 4
Jesse made an appearance at fellow Season 6 contestant, Nick Nappi's Wedding
Post MasterChef
- After his appearance, Jesse opened Robear Ln, a food booth at White Star Market. He later became Executive Chef at The Gulf restaurant.
Trivia
- He is the first and only contestant to this date to refuse to acknowledge themselves as a part of the Bottom 3 of an Elimination Challenge.
Quotes
- (To Ramsay) "It's dry, but it's not that dry."
- (After being eliminated) "I'm sad to be leaving, but I've made really close friends. I've gotten to know how to cook a lot of things. I got to cook in front of three wonderful chef. I'll just keep working, you know, keep working on becoming a better chef, and hopefully I'll open up a restaurant and fulfill my dreams, and I hope I made my family proud. Most of all, I just want to wish everybody that's still cooking, like, good luck guys. Don't ever overcook your venison."
Gallery
Season 6
Season 7
External links
Jesse Romero on Facebook
Jesse Romero on Twitter
References
MasterChef U.S. Season 6 |
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Judges |
Gordon Ramsay • Graham Elliot • Christina Tosi |
Contestants |
Justin Banister • Darah Carattini • Charlie Chapman • Veronica Cili • Dan Collado • Olivia Crouppen • Ailsa Von Dobeneck • Shelly Flash • Katrina Kozar • Stephen Lee • Christopher Lu • Mateo McConnell • Nick Nappi • Derrick Peltz • Kerry Prince • Jesse Romero • Amanda Saab • Claudia Sandoval • Hetal Vasavada • Tommy Walton • Brianna Watson • Sara Zacek |