Served alongside braised red cabbage in red wine and honey glazed vegetables, tough judge Josh Emett made Sushil plead for his MasterChef dream.
During the fourth season of the reality TV cooking contest, Emett had come across as a harsh critic.
One of his most memorable mean moments was telling Sushil back in Fiji that he was never to cook another curry on the show again.
Sushil said Emett was a tough guy because he had trained under the ultimate kitchen critic, Gordon Ramsay.
"I know that people have been talking about that (curry incident) and Josh being harsh to me, but I would disagree," Sushil said.
"I would say Josh pushed me because he saw my potential."
In an emotional twist during that tense episode, Sushil was offered a job in the kitchen at Huka Lodge in Taupo.
The family man spent a few days there over summer but his "love affair with Wellington" drew him back to the capital city.
He's returned to his IT job Monday to Friday, but on the weekends, Sushil is perfecting his craft in the kitchen of Gault's Wellington establishment, Pravda.
"You have been one of, if not the most, polite, humble, conscientious and respectful contestants in the history of MasterChef New Zealand," Gault said, showing a soft spot for Sushil as he left the competition.
Sushil said he's finding his own style, perfecting his presentation skills and fine-tuning his fusion food.
"In the future I'll be looking at moving to the food industry fulltime."
* MasterChef New Zealand screens on TV One on Sunday nights. www.nzherald.co.nz will interview every contestant as they are eliminated.
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