Stephanie Izard Crowned 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.
Here is an excerpt from the interview that was given to the Chicago Sun-Times 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.
Click here to read the rest of the interview.
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