Venezuelan Minnesotan chef, newly approved for asylum, will star on ‘Chopped’

Fans of the television show “Chopped” and the Minnesota fine dining scene may see a familiar face on the screen.

Soleil Ramirez is the chef and owner of Crasqui, a fine dining Venezuelan restaurant in St. Paul. She’s a contestant on Tuesday night’s episode of the long-running cooking competition.

She spoke with MPR News guest host Emily Reese about the experience — which came just in time after years of struggle.

Below is a transcript of their conversation, lightly edited for clarity. Press play above to listen.

How did this opportunity come about?

The first time they sent an email, I thought was a scam, because I didn’t apply for anything.

So, after four or five emails, you know, I was like, “OK, I should reply, because maybe it’s true.” I couldn’t even believe they were actually contacting me.

Tell us about the experience. Where was it filmed?

I went to New York. The entire crew of “Chopped,” all the producers, the judges, absolutely everybody was very kind.

So what were your directions for the competition?

We had a crab-rangoon pizza. That was very weird. Mizuna, a type of lettuce, very similar to arugula. And we had a drink mix, like powder, and salmon in the first round. They don’t tell you anything. What you see in the screen is 100 percent true, so you really don’t have time to think about absolutely anything.

How did it go?

I cannot tell you anything. I can get in trouble. And also, you know, we are so, so close, it’s been very hard for me to maintain my mouth completely closed.

I will say it’s probably one of the only things I did in 2024 just for my career, for myself, that part of that little girl who always wanted to make her dreams come true.

I think this show helped me a lot, just to give me that kind of kind of power to keep going. Because for us, the last couple of years has been very hard.

After the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for more than 300,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. last month, you told MPR News you were in limboabout whether you’d be able to get a green card, but you’ve since been approved for asylum. Is that right?

Yes. I needed to send a letter to Amy Klobuchar after eight years waiting, because every time my lawyer or myself tried to talk to immigration, they said my case was pending, pending, pending. Her office could help me to expedite my case. So I got my interview on Jan. 14, and on Feb. 4, I received the approval for the asylum.

What was your immediate reaction to that news? And how do you feel now?

The relief. I think I just lost like, 100 pounds. Every day I woke up just thinking, “OK, what is going to happen now?”

Because when you have a case of asylum like mine, I mean, I have a box with all the proof and all the stuff, just to try to tell my story and try to convince the people the trauma I went through, and that was the reason why I was asking for protection.

I cried. I cried almost all day. I came back from my lawyer’s office to the restaurant, my employees were here waiting for me, and that night, we celebrated together.

I don’t even know how to explain the feeling. It’s like when you have a pain for so long and then you just take a pill and that disappears. That was a very big relief.

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