How many 13-year-olds do you know film cookie tutorials and guest star on cooking shows around the country, while still trying keep their grades up and finish junior high?
After winning the first American season of "MasterChef Junior," Alexander Weiss went from being a native New Yorker to a semi-professional chef. Weiss, who began cooking with his parents at a young age, won the competition over 12-year-old Dara.
His winning menu consisted of basil lemon shrimp and heirloom tomato crostini for his appetizer, a pan-seared veal chop served over potato gnocchi with sage and shallot butter sauce for his entree and a deconstructed napoleon cannoli for his dessert.
According to FOX, Weiss always knew he wanted to be in the food industry.
"I always knew that I wanted to cook, but I never knew I would get famous for it," Weiss said in an interview.
Weiss is working to strike a balance between education and his new semi chef career. He told FOX that his friends no longer care for school lunch, since he started cooking.
"All my friends ask me if the school lunches are up to par and if I should tell them to throw it out or not," Weiss said. "They always want me to cook lunches because they don't really like the lunches. Anytime I cook now, unfortunately, there's a lot of pressure."
The young chef admitted to not yet mastering the soufflé. Weiss told FOX his first attempt was a raspberry soufflé, which turned into soup; the same went for his second attempt.
"Then I tried a passionfruit one and it was OK, but that was when Dara came into town so I had her help," Weiss said. " Still, together we couldn't get the soufflé. So that's my quest now, the soufflé."
Weiss said "MasterChef Junior" was the opposite from the adult version of the show, calling all the contestants on the show friends and calling the show itself "friendly competition."
Known for his angered rampages and mean streak, chef and judge Gordon Ramsay, was reportedly the opposite of what was expected, according to Weiss. The mini-chef said Ramsay, whose show "MasterChef Junior" was picked up for a second season, was "surprisingly nice."
"Anytime on-camera or off-camera, doesn't matter, he was still himself, very nice," Weiss told FOX. "It was nice to see a different side from when I used to watch 'Hell's Kitchen' and 'Kitchen Nightmares' and the adult 'MasterChef.' We're trying to become like them when we get older and we're striving to be the best like them."
Weiss, who said it was hard trying to keep his victory a secret, reveled that he watched the show every Friday with his parents and admitted that trying to keep a straight face was pretty impossible.
As for contestants for the second season Weiss offers them some useful advice.
"Whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen. A lot is at stake but if you go home, then you just go home a better chef, more knowledgeable and with more friends.," Weiss said. "That's what I always thought throughout the show.
"Another tip, I'd say, is when you're doing a mystery box, think it through rather than going right away and doing things that don't go together. Take the time," he said.
Weiss told FOX he hopes to make a guest appearance for the second season.
