JANUARY 15 2009
AMERICANWAY 47
It’s a busy night at Foxtail, theWest Hollywood restaurant-turned-nightclub
whereAntonia Lofaso oversees themenu inher role as executive chef for SBE
Restaurant Group. Out on the dance floor, trendsetters get sweaty to Jay-Z,
SnoopDogg, and the like. Here in the restaurant’s broom-closet of a kitchen,
though, Lofasoandher crewbumpelbowson the cooking line,working in sync
to whip up Kobe sliders, crab cakes, and crispy rock shrimp. Plating food in
closequarterscanbeahassle, but it’snotmuchof a sweat forLofaso. She insists
that nothingon the job can rattleher.Not after having survived a tempestuous
stint on season four of
TopChef
, the television show that turns cooks into rock
stars and resembles a crossbetween
TheGallopingGourmet
and
Survivor
.
Right now, as contestants on season five hurtle toward this year’s grand fi-
nale,Lofaso recognizes that, forher, a lotof goodcameoutof thehigh-pressure
experience. “Beingon
TopChef
taughtme thatwhen I putmymind to it, I can
make things happen,” Lofaso says, leadingme from the kitchen to an upstairs
lounge, where it’s considerably less hectic. Soft-featured and outwardly sweet,
dressed in chef’swhites andkeepingan ear open for any issues thatmight arise
downstairs, sheadds, “What cameoutof that show forme is internalpowerand
the realization that I candoanything. I am invincible. Everything ispossible.”
Shemight not havewon thefirst-place slot on
TopChef
, but
surviving the showandmaking it to thefinal round taught this
executive chef a thingor twoabout life—and that anything is
possible. ByMichaelKaplan. PhotographbyBradSwonetz.
Lofaso
j
