Marcotte's Owner Competes on ABC's 'The Taste'

For Oak Forest restaurant owner Carey Marcotte, the bright lights of television cameras and the pressure of cooking for Hollywood-types is nothing new. Four years ago, she nearly appeared on Fox's 'Hell's Kitchen,' and her performance there earned her a chance to try out for ABC's 'The Taste.'

Although one spoonful wasn't enough to move Marcotte through to the next round, that didn't put a damper on the Oak Forest restauranteur’s experience.

“It was amazing,” she said. “They flew us out to LA for a week, I got to cook for some amazing chefs and it was just a great experience.”

After the call from producers, Marcotte was thrown into the fray of 12,000 applicants looking to land on the show. Each had to endure the opening rounds of the competition, before advancing as one of the final 60 competitors.

Once in LA, Marcotte had one hour to put her best dish forward for the blind tasting by the judges.

“I was the very first to go,” she said. “They kept asking me, how I felt about going first, and I was telling them, 'I feel it's a huge disadvantage, there's 60 more people to try.'”

The judges all praised Marcotte's food, she said, but were wary of sending the first person through to the next round.

“They were all pretty positive about my food,” she said. “But, they kept saying they didn't want to send the first person through because it was so early and there were only a limited number of spots. I think they put everyone in a spot for a reason. Didn't look at it in a negative way, one of the greatest experiences in my life.”

Although she said she was a bit disappointed about her early departure and not snagging a spot on one of the four celebrity chefs' teams, having the likes of Anthony Bourdain eat her food was an experience in itself.

“It was so crazy, I couldn't believe he was actually eating a bite of my food,” she said. “I kept thinking, 'Oh my gosh, this is so crazy.'”

As for what she prepared for the chefs, Marcotte said she made a pork tenderloin dish that is currently off menu at her family's Oak Forest restaurant, Marcotte's Bar & Grill—Although that could change in the near future.

“You never know, I'm thinking about putting it on there for a special day, I'm thinking maybe Valentine's Day,” she said.

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