Connecticut Chef Opens Up On Passion for Food Ahead of Food Network Appearance

Xavier Santiago is an in-demand chef throughout the State of Connecticut. If you've been to David Burke Prime at Foxwoods, Barcelona in West Hartford or Rooftop 120 in Glastonbury, you already know all about his work. If you haven't, it's time to check him out.

Xavier is currently enjoying a run on the culinary competition that airs on the Food Network called Chopped. We caught up with Xavier to find out about his background, learn about cooking competitively on TV and to see who he thinks is the biggest "phony" in the celebrity chef world. Here's how that went:

I had a feeling we would get along with Xavier -- he seems like a straight talk kind of guy. My co-host did not believe we would get him to answer the question about celebrity chefs that have fooled everyone. Somehow, I knew he would answer and he did it diplomatically. He didn't say that he didn't like Gordon Ramsey and he did not say he was not a good chef. He basically said he has a different style.

Check Xavier out tonight (8/12/19) on the Food Network's Chopped at 10 pm EST.