Recounting the biggest night of my life
Lyric Opera in Chicago, aisle 2, row O, seat 9.
It’s like being back in Talisay walking to a dark movie theater called Pag-asa (Hope) all over again: A church by Sunday morning and a movie theater that plays classic Filipino movies the rest of the week where my dad used to take me, and where Mansueta and the rest of the family goes for Sunday church and where I usually fall asleep or do something dumb.
But this time I didn’t do any of that!
I am so excited walking towards the red carpet at the James Beard Awards. I have never seen so many cameras, reporters or celebrity chefs. I’m in line to get my badge next to my fiancée, when I see a familiar face who immediately crosses out my name on the guest list, hands me a badge and says: “Congratulations and good luck, Nikko.
Then, I get nervous. All of this is now so surreal. I stand behind Marcus Samuelsson where I’m next in line to walk the red carpet. Marcus is amazing: the smile, the fit, the confidence. I’ve loved that guy since his days on Top Chef.
I step on the red carpet and all of a sudden all I hear is: “Here, look here, look over here!” One person interviews me for a few minutes, and I walk a few feet further, and then another person asks me a few more questions. I don’t remember any of the questions at all, or I probably just black out. Who knows?
In the heart of the theater, I have a flashback to my senior year in nursing school playing my last game of basketball, a championship game with my nursing team against the college of business. Since my freshman year, I had helped bring this nursing team to the championship three years in a row — but also failed to bring the trophy every year.
The fourth year, my last year, I’m hoping it’s a different outcome before I graduate. Going into the campus gymnasium with a full crowd, half of it is nursing students cheering their hearts out and half of the gymnasium is the rest of the college students who for some reason always hate the nursing team. Everyone just wanted to beat us.
Cue music, “Lose Yourself” by Eminem.
“Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted — One moment — would you capture it or just let it slip?”
2011, my senior year, we went undefeated and brought home the gold. It took me four years to win the sweetest trophy of my college career.
Walking down aisle 2 with my whole crew from Kultura and looking for our assigned seats
… cue music:
“His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. There’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti; He’s nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready.”
We sit down and two minutes later, the awards ceremony starts. My category, Emerging Chef, is the first one to be announced. I see my name on the big screen — cool! — and they announce another winner.
For a moment, I’m stunned, and then I look around the room and realize that I’m in a room I never thought I’d be in. I’ve already won. Just like in nursing school, I’ll be back.
The rest of the night’s celebrations are a blur — like the last three months since I was nominated — in the best possible way. My team and I will never get over it. What a night.
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