Catching up with our Top Chef
NEW RESTAURANT | Casual gastropub on menu for Chicago's Stephanie Izard
(Rich Hein/Sun-Times)
The new season of "Top Chef" begins tonight, and last season's winner, Chicago's own Stephanie Izard, is busy putting the final touches on her new restaurant.
The 32 year-old culinary wizard will momentarily step out of the kitchen and away from menu planning for her new space to blog about it on Bravo's Web site.
That's easier said than done, though. She says she's written the menu out about five times and each time, it's a little different.
"It's sort of a Mediterranean-inspired gastropub," she says. "Fun and casual is what I'm going for."
Izard had hoped to have the new space open by spring, but now says June or July is more realistic. She is currently in final negotiations to lease a space in the West Town/Wicker Park area, but couldn't say just where yet.
The raw space will need to be built out, something she says she's excited about.
"I get to design the kitchen from the ground up, and that's not something I've been able to do before," she says.
High on her wish list? Viking brand appliances ("I'll settle for anything that has more than six burners, like my last restaurant," she says with a laugh) and a professional meat smoker.
The new space also will feature an open kitchen, enabling diners to see Izard at work and interact with her.
In these somewhat difficult economic times, Izard is intentionally trying to keep the price point low. That means some of the signature seafood dishes from Scylla, her former restaurant that she closed before competing on the show, probably won't make the final cut.
On the entree short list: a lot of different meats and produce, with an emphasis on locally grown organic food.
"At commercial farms, things are overproduced and don't have as great of a flavor," she says. "If it's local, you can go out to the farm, visit with the farmer, see the facilities and see it's of the quality that you're looking for.
"It's nice to know where your food is coming from, since you're putting it in your body."
Izard provided a taste of what the food at her new restaurant might be like with this exclusive recipe for pork and apple ragu.
For her latest creation, she played around with several varieties of locally grown apples before settling on the Honeycrisp.
"Honeycrisp apples seem to hold their texture, and the flavor is nicely balanced," she says. "Red Delicious apples are a little too sweet, and Granny Smiths are a little too tart. This is right in the middle."
She also recommends buying thick-cut bacon from behind the deli counter rather than a packaged brand. Not only does it taste better, but you can purchase just the two slices you need for the recipe.
"If you can get it from a butcher where they smoke their own bacon, that would be ideal," she says. "It always has a much better flavor."
A good butcher also should be able to grind the pork fresh for you.
Another tip? Izard says to experiment with a couple of different brands of organic canned tomatoes to find the ones you like best.
One of her winning recipes from the show is sure to have a place in her new kitchen, though.
"I figure I'll probably have to put the winning lamb dish [roasted lamb medallions with maitake mushrooms, braised pistachios, manzanilla olives and blackberries]. It seemed to be something that won the judges over. It might not be the exact same recipe, maybe just some of the components, but that dish really represents my style.
"Besides, I like using olives and fruit together. That freaks people out."