'Top Chef: Chicago': Valerie dishes!

One of the hometown heros tells us about her life before Bravo TV

By M. Kathleen Pratt

March 11, 2008

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In a season that’s all about Chicago, no one has deeper ties to the city than Valerie Bolon. Born and raised in Glenview, Bolon received her culinary training at Kendall College. After graduating, she did a stint at Emeril’s New Orleans, but soon returned to Chicago to cook at the now-closed Gordon. She went on to MK, Spring and Hot Chocolate. When Bravo casting directors approached Hot Chocolate chef-owner Mindy Segal last year, she told them to give Valerie a call. The rest is reality TV history. We caught up with Valerie to find out more about the application process and her strategy on the show.

Though the casting directors approached you first, you still had to put together an audition tape. What did you do?

My audition tape was rather silly, I suppose … my brother helped me as we filmed some clips of me around town showing some of the things I like to do and some of the places I like to hang out … kickboxing, traveling, my local bar—and cooking, of course. [I also took] a bit of a stab at Padma and Tom for some humor.

Do you think that’s why the producers chose you?
Honestly, I don't know why I was chosen. I like to think it was partly because they felt I have a great balance between culinary talent and a very outgoing personality.

There are more contestants with Chicago ties this season than ever before. Did you know any of the others before the competition began?
Yes, Stephanie and I have been friends for years. We worked together about 7 years ago in a Chicago restaurant (Spring) and have been great friends ever since. [We were both surprised] to walk in the first day and see [Season 4 contestant] Dale [Talde], who is from Chicago originally [and also worked at Spring]. The three of us all worked together in that same restaurant all those years ago. A strange coincidence, I suppose.

Head judge Tom Colicchio has said this is deepest talent pool he’s seen on “Top Chef.” Were you nervous or intimidated?
Absolutely. I know for a fact that everyone was nervous. I think it's impossible not to be simply because everything is so secretive and we never knew what we were going to have to do from one minute to the next. I think we all just had to channel that nervous energy in our food. I also think nobody really knew what to expect going into this competition—what were the other chefs going to be like and how difficult were the challenges going to be.

Did you have a strategy?
I had no strategy except to cook my tail off, to try not to screw anything up and not to humiliate myself on television—which I think was a common theme among the chefs. Everything is so spontaneous that it’s difficult to plan anything; it’s all one big surprise to us … It's so much more difficult than it looks.