Las Vegas Weekly

June 9, 2010 · 11:08 AM

Rick Moonen competes in Top Chef Masters finals tonight

By Robin Leach

Chef Rick Moonen.

Photo: Courtesy

Celebrity chef Rick Moonen will be 3,500 miles away in the Caribbean when food fans at his Mandalay Bay restaurant either celebrate his Top Chef Masters victory tonight or drown their sorrows in champagne.

“The date down in the Dominican Republic was booked long before Bravo announced the final broadcast,” Rick told me. “Neither could be changed.”

But Rick will be more than just in spirits at his RM Seafood. He’ll follow all the drama and excitement via Skype as he does battle against the remaining rivals: Marcus Samuelson from New York and Susur Lee from Toronto. If Rick wins the top accolade, he donates his $100,000 to our Three Square food bank.

If Susur wins, he donates the money to our local tennis hero Andre Agassi’s education foundation. If Marcus wins -- or loses -- he’ll be here at Rick’s restaurant this month as guest chef for a re-created Top Chef Masters dinner.

For those of you who have been following our weekly Vegas DeLuxe reports of Season 2, you know it began 10 episodes ago when 18 chefs were slowly cut down and ordered to pack their knives and leave the kitchen. Rick’s fellow Mandalay Bay celebrity chef Susan Feniger lasted until three episodes ago.

I can reveal that tonight, Rick’s sous chef Adam Sobel also appears on the program, but he, too, is away in the Caribbean. Adam was a total surprise for Rick because the producers had unexpectedly flown in each of the three chef’s kitchen partners to assist them in the final ultimate showdown.

Rick’s staff will host the 7 p.m. viewing party of the final round, and Rick will join via Skype from Casa De Campo in the Dominican Republic at 7, as well. A computer will be linked to a viewing monitor in a two-way set-up so that Rick can see and hear everything that’s going on here, and we’ll see and hear him from the Caribbean.

Said Rick: “To be this close to the title, I’m just dying for it. I thought I was gone a couple of times this season, but I survived through to the final episode. It was the most grueling and toughest set of challenges I’ve ever faced. It was a nerve-wracking experience. Now tonight it’s the entire story of my life as a chef in one TV show for everybody to see.”

We’ll report from RM Seafood via Twitter tonight and have the follow-up interview with Rick right here at Vegas DeLuxe tomorrow.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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