I've eaten my way across this great nation, and I have to say that we here in the Northeast have the highest concentration of World-Class chefs and restaurants in this country.

If you've been to David Burke Prime at Foxwoods, Barcelona in West Hartford, or Rooftop 120 in Glastonbury, you know that they all serve up premium cuisine. Well, a CT chef that has previously or currently worked at all three is representing the Nutmeg state on an upcoming episode of the Food Network's popular show Chopped.

According to the Courant.com, Connecticut chef Xavier Santiago will compete on Chopped on the August 13 episode. If you're not familiar with Chopped, it's a judged cooking competition that pits chefs against each other making something edible, or grossly inedible, out of mystery ingredients. It's funny to see the look on the chef's face when they unveil ingredients such as squid, liquid smoke, or sweetbreads.

Hopefully Santiago will get a Connecticut-friendly ingredient, like Whole Belly Clams, or three-eyed fish straight from the Naugatuck River. That'll show the weak competition from the West that we don't play around with our food round here.

Here's a quick look at some of the skills Chef Santiago literally brings to the table:

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