Jack's Burger Shack owner Tu Le is officially the Big Burger Battle Champion, taking home $25,000, a Sunwing vacation and ultimate bragging rights.
Despite winning the competition, it was not an easy journey for Le, who was almost sent home after the first round.
"They kept saying in the beginning, it's gonna be a wild ride. And it definitely was. It was, it was crazy. Is a roller coaster of emotions, that's for sure," said Le. "From the first day there, meeting all the competitors to, you know, almost going home on the first day, and just making it, you know, it is a real wild journey. Thinking back, I never for a second thought I could win until the last cook was done."
Le won the competition with a triple patty smash burger with a Sot Vang dip and rice salad on the side, which he dedicated to his wife, Jen Le. He called it the Jen Le burger.
"I wanted to dedicate it to her. I made it that far, and I couldn't have done it without her," said Le. "She was supportive the whole way, and looking after our daughter, like, while I was away filming the show and pretty much every day while I work. So she plays a huge role in my life, and she's the most important person to me."
Le said watching the final episode on May 26 brought back emotions from when he was competing on the show.
"It's [winning] something that's really exciting," he said. "It's exciting to be able to share with everyone now, because it was filmed in December."
During the final episode, after Le was announced as the winner, he said winning the competition completed his story.
"I'm getting ready to retire from cooking professionally. I don't know much longer down the road, that is, but it's really soon," Le said. "I've done this for a very long time. They [the show] didn't really talk about that too much, but that's why I was on the show. It's like the end of my story, you know, like I've been doing this for too long now."
Le said that he is looking forward to spending more time with his family after retirement.
"Spending time with my family probably kicking up on a beach somewhere," said Le, explaining that this is his retirement plan. "Running a restaurant and cooking professionally every day, it's a strain on the family for sure, and I started my family later in life, so I have a young daughter, and I don't get to see you as much as I'd like to."
Le said he isn't quite sure what he is going to do with the $25,000 yet but thinks he will get something for his wife and daughter.
Throughout his journey, Le explained that one of his goals was to represent Alberta and show that there are good restaurants and chefs here, too.
"I've always said that Alberta, and the Edmonton region and St. Albert is very underrepresented," said Le. "To show that someone like me, like an Alberta redneck, could come out there and win this competition against people from Montreal, New York City and St. Louis and all these big metropolis that we can compete with them, shows we have a some pretty good cooks and some pretty good food and some pretty good restaurants in our area."
