Stephanie Izard slices the competition to become the 'Top Chef'
Call her the first lady of food, Chicago’s captain of cuisine or simply top chef.
On Wednesday night’s finale of “Top Chef: Chicago,” Stephanie Izard sliced, diced and chopped her way to the top of the stock pots and beat out New York chef Lisa Fernandes and Atlanta’s Richard Blais to take the title.
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Stephanie wins 'Top Chef'
What put Izard over the top was her roasted lamb medallions with braised pistachios.
We chatted with Izard by phone this morning:
Q. Congratulations on becoming the first woman to win “Top Chef.” Where did you watch the final show?
A. [The South Side restaurant] Room 21 for a private Bravo showing. My parents and sister were there. It was pretty exciting.
Q. The finale was shot in mid-May in Puerto Rico. You must have the best poker face. How did you keep from spoiling the ending for them?
A. I know. I’m usually the worst. I tell everyone everything. My mom and sister looked like they were about to throw up at one point. At one point, my sister looked over to me and said, “You look sad. You must have lost.”
Q. Did you celebrate afterwards?
A. I went to Cans Bar. They had a little party there for me. It was crazy. I entered and people were cheering. And I thought, “Wow. I feel like I won the Super Bowl!”
Q. What’s going to be the first dish you cook post-win?
A. Probably a grilled cheese for lunch. [Laughs] Maybe I’ll put ranch on it to taste better.
Q. Up until this season, the finale has always been the chefs cooking “the meal of a lifetime.” You all seemed to have been thrown a curve ball. Did you know ahead of time?
A. I went down to Puerto Rico thinking they were going to make us do a tasting menu. I came ready to cook and didn’t have a set menu in mind. I wanted to wait to see what they gave us.
Q. You got to pick first last night and had your choice of working with three famous chefs — each had a specific platter of ingredients. Did you pick by chef or ingredients?
A. It wasn’t by ingredients. One of the trays had scallops, duck and pork belly. All the foods I love to cook with. I’ll admit I was a bit star struck by Eric Ripert [famed chef and co-owner of New York’s La Bernardin].
Q. You seemed to hover over him while he was helping you cook. Was he OK with that?
A. He is amazing and I would never compare myself to him. He has his way of doing things and I have my way. This was about my food and my cooking and I wanted it done my way. He was OK with that.
Q. What would have been on your menu for your meal of a lifetime?
A. I don’t even know. I’m sure it would have been seafood-heavy. Though, I would like to think that the lamb dish I ended up cooking would be on there. It seemed to be one of the favorites.
Q. Yes, Ted Allen seemed to go on and on about the braised pistachios in it. What inspired you to add them?
A. Braised pistachios were on the menu at my former restaurant [Bucktown’s Scylla] all the time. I ate them at some point and decided I loved them. They bring such a great texture to dishes. I love just munching on them, but when you use them in dishes they bring another dimension to everything.
Q. Tom Colicchio thought your leeks weren’t cooked enough. What was going through your head at that moment?
A. I was shocked. I had tasted some of them in the kitchen and those were done. I agree with him that they seemed to be an afterthought. I was looking for something that would hold the ravioli on the plate. If I could do it over again, I would have picked something else.
Q. The ricotta pound cake looked delicious, by the way. Where did you get the recipe, and what was it about the finished dessert that caused you to doubt yourself?
A. It came from one of the 200 cookbooks in my house. I was trying to find it this morning, but couldn’t. I think I started doubting myself because I didn’t go with my own style. I also think I should have kept it simple. I was trying all these different fillings and toppings for it. I’m a perfectionist and know when something isn’t quite right and the pound cake wasn’t what it needed to be.
Q. Did you have a second dessert choice?
A. I didn’t have backup. I probably could have pulled something together. I had made the cake early that day and figured I could make it work. If I could change anything, it would be the decision to make that cake.
Q. Many people thought Richard Blais was favored to win going into the finale. Lisa Fernandes also had a surprisingly strong showing. What do you think happened?
A. Lisa obviously had spent the time off before the finale cooking for friends the same as I did. She brought her “A game.” Richard is a lot like me. We both have the same tendency to overthink things. You have so many ideas going around, sometimes you don’t grab the right idea out of your head.
Q. Lisa kind of emerged as the villain this season. Do you think that was warranted?
A. With everyone’s character, they look and find a personality trait and zoom in on it. She can be a little negative, but she’s a really good friend of mine. I feel bad when I read about negative stuff about her in the media I guess if you’re going to be on a reality show it helps to try to be at y our best all the time.
Q. What was going through your head in the show leading up to the finale when you discovered Dale Talde left the pork belly out all night?
A. I was surprised. I don’t know if it was being in Puerto Rico and just being chilled or what. I know he didn’t do it on purpose and we did have a whole pig. There was other pork to work with. If you could have seen his face that morning. He was pretty upset.
Q. You mentioned you and fellow contestant Dale Talde go way back. When did you first meet him?
A. When I first came to Chicago eight years ago, I worked with him at Vong’s [Thai Kitchen]. We worked together at a couple of other place, too. Chicago is like one big fraternity of chefs. Everyone knows everybody else and has worked with them.
Q. For the most part, did you agree with the judges’ comments all season long? Anything off the wall that stands out?
A. It’s slightly a blur. I can picture Tom [Colicchio, the show’s head judge], but I don’t want to think about them right now. It was all surprising, crazy and hard to pinpoint certain moments.
Q. Was there a favorite judge who just seemed to get what you do?
A. Anthony Bourdain. He seemed to love everything I did. When I saw him at the first challenge, I was shaking. I couldn’t believe they were making us go up against Bourdain so soon. It was so exciting to meet him.
Q. What were your favorite and least favorite challenges and why?
A. “Restaurant Wars,” because I owned one and we’re all in this business with hopes to do just that. It was great to be able to work the back and front of house in one episode. Running a restaurant isn’t just about staying in the kitchen. My least favorite would probably be any challenge [with] quickfire put in front of it. [Laughs] I’m just not good at pulling out ideas in 15 minutes.
Q. Many people were most surprised that you bombed on the first quickfire challenge, to put your spin on Chicago-style deep dish pizza.
A. To be honest, I can’t stand deep dish pizza. I thought my pizza had some good flavors, but Rocco [DiSpirito, guest judge] was probably right about cooking the prosciutto. It sucked being called out in the first five minutes of the show. That wasn’t the most fun way of starting things off.
Q. As a resident and from a culinary perspective, is there anything about Chicago that wasn’t featured on the show that should have been?
A. Going in, I had a million ideas and thought we should do this or that. We went to a Bears game and I thought we should have made our own hot dog. Other than that, I thought the show captured the city.
Q. Was being a resident of the city where the show was being shot an advantage or a disadvantage?
A. It was a little of both. It was weird living in a house for five weeks that was right down the street from where I live. We’d get in the car everyday and everyone would ask me where we were going. When we went to the Green City Market, I was like, “Cool, I’ve been here a million times.”
Q. This one comes from one of our readers, Shari: In terms of the availability of fresh food, do we have it as good as the rest of the country or are we lacking in quality because we’re in the Midwest?
A. We’ve got it just as good. You can find some great produce at the market. Especially right now. Yes, seafood has to fly a couple hours to get to us, but you just have to know where to get it.
Q. What did the other chefs think of the quality of food?
A. We all were cooking from stuff bought at Whole Foods. It was familiar. The only thing they couldn’t believe was how expensive everything is. We had the one challenge where we had to make a meal for under $10. I have never walked out of Whole Foods spending less than $100.
Q. Your signature style seems to be using fruit in new ways. Where is that coming from?
A. I don’t know. I think about food constantly. I think about flavors. I like things to be well-balanced. Fruits give a dish a natural bit of sweetness. I like to be a little surprising and not using something just to be crazy.
Q. Speaking of crazy: Richard made a bacon ice cream. Did you taste it?
A. The pastry chef at my old restaurant used to make it all the time. I love it, but that’s because I love bacon. Bacon belongs on everything.
Q. When are you planning to take your trips to Barcelona and the French Alps? And will you be taking two sperate trips or just one big European tour?
A. I don’t know. Hopefully, I’ll be able to squeeze it in before the new restaurant opens.
Q. Have you begun scouting out locations for your new restaurant?
A. I have a little bit. I met up with my realtor at the [victory] party. I’m ready to find the perfect space and get my restaurant open.
Q. What areas are you interested in and why?
A. I’m not quite sure. I’d like the outskirts of downtown so people could still come in for lunch, but I want it to still have a neighborhood feel.
Q. Any themes or concepts about the new space yet?
A. It’s a little early. I can picture my dream restaurant in my head, but when I try to describe it people tell me “what are you talking about?”
Q. When do you hope to have it open?
A. I’m shooting for next spring. Spring is a great time to open a restaurant. Opening a restaurant in under a year, I think I can pull that off.
Q. What about the menu? Will any of your “Top Chef” recipes find their way onto it?
A. Maybe the lamb. The lamb was very me. Olives, fruits and nuts. If not the lamb, then some other meats with olives, nuts and fruits all combined.
Q. How has the show and your win changed perceptions that the rest of the country may have of cuisine in Chicago?
A. I’m so proud I was able to win for Chicago. Chefs keep moving here and opening restaurants. Anyone who still thinks Chicago isn’t one of the top restaurant cities hasn’t been here. We’re on the verge of pushing New York out of the way.
Q. Why do you think that is?
A. New York has too many restaurants. Chicago was like this untapped market and Chicago people love good food. That’s a great reason to come here and open a restaurant.