He got blasted by Chef Ramsay for leaving his stations filthy, but he came really really close to winning the big guy over on the basis of his strong cooking skills. Here's my interview with "Hell's Kitchen" runner-up, Lou Petrozza:

MSN: So Petrozza, it seemed to me watching last night's episode that you were going to win and you didn't.  What do you think happened?

Petrozza: What do I think happened? You saw what I saw. We both saw as much as I could possibly have seen last night. When I was cooking and doing my thing, expediting on the line, I wasn't really privy to what was going on in Christina's kitchen. But last night I was able to see. What happened? That was the question. I couldn't pinpoint any single deciding factor. I think it might have been a few different things. But I'm not sure. Your guess is as good as mine. That's all I can say. I respect Chef Ramsay's decision. I'm sure it was based on important factors. But I don't know what else.

MSN: So what made you decide to try out for "Hell's Kitchen" in the first place?

Petrozza: You know what? Friends and family kind of put me up to it. "You should try out for this. You'd be good at this." And it was like, "You think so? Maybe I will." And then there were more people, co-workers, "Lou, you should try out for 'Hell's Kitchen.'" So I just went for it. I attacked it.

MSN: Now you came very, very close to winning, obviously. Is it better to come that close and to show your skills, or would it be better to not have to go through the weeks of ordeals and not get the brass ring at the end?

Petrozza: No, no, no. I'm very happy about the distance that I made it, the length of time I was able to stay in "Hell's Kitchen." I'm relatively happy with my performance. Would I have done anything different? Yeah, sure. You should always do things better a second time. You get that much better at it. ... Could I have done it better the first time? No, I gave it everything I had. I gave it everything I had.

MSN: What sorts of things might you have changed if you could do it all over again?

Petrozza: You know what? Just for the heck of it, just for goofs and giggles, I'd pick Matt instead of Jen. Maybe that would have worked out a little better. Maybe it wouldn't have. Maybe it would have worked out a little bit worse. He was no superstar in Christina's kitchen, that's for sure. We saw that last night. I don't know. As far as I knew, he could have been a superstar. I didn't know till last night when I saw him in all his glory that he was really the meatball he had been through the whole show.

MSN: I was going to ask you about that. What was going through your mind when you decided to go with Jen rather than Matt?

Petrozza: I'll tell you exactly: Jen has the potential and she has the strength and she has the brains to be able to put it together and to be able to work one of those stations very successfully. However, Jen struggles with a bad attitude problem. ... [Once it rears its head], she's done. Matt has a bad attitude with a lack of skills  and abilities. Jen has a superbad attitude. It's a crap shoot. It's a crapshoot. They're both logn shots and I put my money on the one who seemed like she might turn out the winner for me.

MSN: Now it seemed to me like overall, you had the stronger team of cooks.

Petrozza: Yes.

MSN: But you had struggled with preparing your menu. Why did you have so much trouble getting out of the blocks that way?

Petrozza: I think Christina was prepared. Christina had a menu in her head or on a little piece of paper or wherever it was, Christina had a menu planning this thing before she came on the show. Myself, I got up each day and attacked the day. And you know what? My first interview, I didn't think I was going to get on the show. My second interview, I was very happy to get a second interview. I gave it my best shot. I didn't know there was going to be a third interview. My third interview, I was giving it my best shot again in L.A. There were a lot of amazing people in L.A., so I didn't know if I had a shot. So I took it day by day, and I attacked it with everything I had. I think Christina was prepared with a menu. Christina works around a lot of young, talented, cutting edge chefs, because she was attending school at that time. A lot of fresh ideas.

MSN: Now to what extent do you think your age got held against you, because 47 is a little late to be considered a protege?

Petrozza: Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's no question about that. ... Do I think it's a factor? I do think it's a factor. Let's face it: you're making an investment and it's the Ramsay show. This is Ramsay's deal.

MSN: Petrozza, what's going to become of you from here on in??

Petrozza: If I have a dream, if I have a desire, it's to do some cooking with the media. Maybe I can supplement my income or make that livelihood. If I've got what it takes, I'm going to go for it. I'm going to attack it with all the vigor that I had to get on and to do some of the things on "Hell's Kitchen."

- posted by Raoul