Totally Rad!

Season 3 of Bravo’s "Top Chef" put up-and-coming Chicago chefs on the map, with local chef Dale Levitski cooking his way to a cool second-place finish. Season 4, set almost entirely in Chicago, brought it home with a win by hometown girl Stephanie Izard. Will the tradition continue? That rests entirely on the shoulders of Radhika "Rad" Desai, the only Chicago-based contestant on Season 5, filmed in New York and premiering Wednesday.

Desai, 28, has been executive chef at Between Boutique Cafe and Lounge, an intimate late-night small plates spot in Wicker Park, since it opened in mid-2007. Though "Top Chef" is about to thrust her into reality TV stardom, you’ll still find Desai in the kitchen there six nights a week, working her eclectic global style. On the side, she’s assembling what she calls "kind of a biography-slash-cookbook … a collection of recipes that make me think of different points in my life so far."

When we spoke to her by phone last week, she told us about finding out she made the cut for season 5, her worst kitchen disaster and more.

Did you watch “Top Chef” before you went on? Are you a fan?

Definitely a fan. I religiously watched it.

So what was your favorite season?

I think Miami was my favorite season. The characters were just really fun, and I like how they cooked—their style of cooking. … they had a good energy.

At what point did you decide you were going to try to make it on the show yourself?

The last season, when I saw it was in Chicago, I was like, “Wow, I should have applied.” I didn’t know if I was ready then … I don’t know if you’re ever ready. But this time I saw that they were casting and I decided, what the heck, I’m going to go for it. And after a month or so of the application process I finally got the call.

How does that feel, to get that call?

I was actually walking to work, and I knew it was coming any day now, either yes or no. So I saw the California number and my heart was pounding … I was by myself in the middle of the street in Wicker Park just going crazy.

Who was the first person you told?

I called my mom first. I was like, “You can’t tell anybody, but I have to tell you.”

And how did she react?

She was at work … she was like, gasping for air.

Do you come from a family that does a lot of cooking?

Definitely. Growing up, we always had family dinners together and the kitchen was kind of the central spot of our house. Everyone was always there, hanging out. I watched my parents cook a lot.

What are some of your other influences?

I guess a little bit of Latin. My training at school was French, so just classic European techniques. And one of my really close friends growing up was from Belgium, so that influenced me too.

Once you were on the show, did anything surprise you?

Just being there is really surreal. It was really crazy …

Were you nervous cooking in front of the cameras?

Oh my gosh, yes. I don’t even know if “nervous” is enough [to explain it]. I was very, very tense.

Did you do anything special to relax, to get in the zone?

If there was a glass of wine available, I might have drank that. [Laughs.] No, I don’t know … you know … keep breathing and trying not to throw up.

Did you have a strategy?

You know, I tried. Everyone, I think, has a game plan. Once you get there though, you just cook as hard as you can. That’s all you can do: cook your best food.

One of the reasons people watch “Top Chef” is to see those behind-the-scenes meltdown moments that everyone has—even really talented people—but you usually don’t get to see. Tell us about your biggest kitchen disaster ever.

Oh gosh … I was trying to light a pilot last year on the stove [at Between] and I was blowing on it … blowing on it … blowing on it … and it finally lit—and it [singed] most of my hair and my face and on top of my head.

Was there a big fireball?

I don’t remember … I was like, “Oh my gosh, that was really hot!” And then I smelled my burnt hair.

So do you have a fear of pilot lights now?

Definitely. I have my sous chef do it.

Dangerous stuff, being a chef! If you weren’t cooking in Chicago, where do you think life would have taken you so far? Would you still be at your first job as a park ranger?

I don’t see myself anywhere else, but I guess I’d still be trekking around Death Valley, showing people the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere.

M. Kathleen Pratt is the Metromix dining producer. kpratt@tribune.com