Izard has survived 13 episodes as a contestant on season 4 of Bravo’s "Top Chef," filmed in
Win or lose,
Between meals, she talked to us her about her next restaurant, fan encounters and overcoming her struggles with "Top Chef" Quickfire Challenges.
You won a Quickfire this week. Finally!
I know, right? I was so excited.
Was your Quickfire record on your mind going into the finale?
I definitely went to
What did you do to get ready for the
I bought some Puerto Rican cookbooks and tried to read up on the culture and the food and the different flavors. … I tried to play around with things like yuca and plantain … can't say that they're my favorite things in the world, but it was fun to play.
You had a long time between taping the regular season and the finale—about six months. What else did you do?
I spent most of my time traveling. … I spent a month in
This season had its share of drama. It’s got to be a little nuts to relive it every week. Who do you watch with?
A couple weeks ago I was with a bunch of "Top Chef" people so we all watched it together. This week I was just watching with my boyfriend … so it just sort of depends week to week. My sister had, like, 20 people over one night and we all watched it together.
Do you talk about the show with any of the other contestants afterward?
We definitely [talk]. I'll always get some texts from Lisa and from Antonia and we call and say, "Oh, did I look like an idiot? Did I sound like an idiot?" But I try not to rehash mistakes and things like that too much.
How do you feel about how you’ve been portrayed?
I'm very happy with it … I just seem like sort of the girl next door. It seemed like I was there to cook and wasn't there to be part of all the drama, which is pretty much how I am in life.
Was anyone portrayed unfairly?
[With] everybody's character they sort of focus on [some of their] characteristics and [they’re] magnified a little bit. I'll just take Lisa for example. Of course, she seems like Miss Negative on the show. We're actually good friends, and she does have that side to her sometimes, but I think that maybe … perhaps the other side of her personality doesn't come through as much.
We've got to ask you about Dale Talde. You worked with him in
I do. I thought that the final four all along would be me, Dale, Richard and Antonia. Dale is just extremely talented … He definitely went home too early, but he's still going to have a great career.
Is there anyone else you thought went home too early?
I guess Jen would be the other one. She's very talented. I actually got a chance to eat at her restaurant that she's working at in
Let's talk about the judges. Did you have a favorite? Or at least someone's advice you really looked to?
I did a little reading on [Tom Colicchio] before I went on the show. He's really just into things being cooked very well and seasoned very well. And he always asks questions about what your intention was, and he really takes that into consideration. You know, "Why did you use that flavor?" Whether it works or not, he wants to know what you were going for and if it actually happened. So it was just really interesting to sort of see a little bit of how his brain works and get to know his cooking style a little bit more through his questions and the things that he says.
Being from
[It was] a little bit weird, but it's also nice that they got to come for a day and sort of see what we go though. I saw Paul Kahan (Blackbird, Avec) a couple of days after I got back from filming, and he's like, "Stephanie, that was crazy." And I was like, "Yeah, chef, you were there for, like, two days. I was there for five weeks!"
Speaking of being back in town … are people starting to recognize you?
You know, I figured maybe every once in a while if I was at Whole Foods or something it would happen. But I'm walking down the street and people are shouting out their car windows and it's crazy. … It's great to see
Have you encountered any crazed fans yet?
I went into this one store … and I saw the woman at the counter slightly looking at me, but then, suddenly, she had like a little mini-attack and started shaking. It was almost like she saw Brad Pitt or something. Just to see people react in that manner … it's so unexpected.
What else has changed for you since the show started airing?
This has given me more opportunities to talk with people I might not have been able to talk with. It's helping me figure out where I want to go from here.
So … where are you going?
I'm working on doing another restaurant in
Can you tell us more?
I'm trying to look for spaces right now. I'm definitely going a different route than the Bucktown neighborhood—maybe something a little closer to the downtown area. We're getting a lot of great new restaurants in the city right now, but I think we need a great new restaurant that's a little more affordable, [where] people can go have a great meal and don't have to spend $100 a person. I'm just really excited to start working on it.
M. Kathleen Pratt is the Metromix print editor. kpratt@tribune.com
