T O P C H E F
48 AMERICANWAY
JANUARY 15 2009
were correct. We had 10 dishes that were
perfect as opposed to the other team’s 15
thatweredisgusting.”
I
nitially, the world of
Top Chef
was
a strange one for Lofaso. “In the
beginning,” she says, “I was very
conscious of the cameras. You have
cameramenand soundguys follow-
ingyououtof thebathroom.Buteventually,
you forget that the cameras are even there.”
In short order, she found other things to
beconcernedwith. “Peopleathomecan’tsee
how intense and nerve-racking it really is,”
she says, explaining that the slightest bit of
criticism fromüberchefColicchio is enough
to send contestants into fits of self-doubt
and paranoia. Not exactly unconscious of
the effect he has on people, poker-faced
Colicchio likens competing on the show to
beinga chefwhofinds out there is an influ-
ential critic in his restaurant— times 100.
Lofaso and the others never knew which
oddball challenge would be coming next
(one time, they had to create a lunchmenu
for grade-school kids), and it was impossi-
ble tobeeven remotelyprepared.AsLofaso
tells it, “Cooking on the show has to be in-
stinctual. It isas if youarehavinganout-of-
body experience. You are basically cooking
without yourbrain.”
And the tensionbetween the contestants
is palpable at times. Like the ongoing feud
Lofasohadwith the obnoxiously cocky and
highly opinionated bearded SpikeMendel-
sohn.While sheacknowledges that rivalries
make the show better, she is also quick to
point out that on
TopChef
, there is nothing
artificial about them. “I said to Spike, ‘You
talk a lot anddon’t produce anything,’” she
says, adding that at one point,Mendelsohn
firedbackbyannouncing that sheshouldbe
thenext chef toget shippedhome.
Things became particularly strained
when the two rivalswere randomly teamed
together for one of the challenges, one for
which Lofaso had immunity (for winning
a previous challenge) andMendelsohn did
not. With his
Top Chef
life on the line, he
wanted to do butternut-squash soup. But
Lofasoand thegroupdecided that beef car-
pacciowouldbeabetter choice.
Unfortunately, itwasn’t ahit. “MingTsai
[
host of
SimplyMing
onPBS, owner of the
Asian fusion restaurant BlueGinger, and a
guest judge on that episode
]
didn’t care for
tofindher.Tensionmorphed intopanic, for
example,aftershehadbeenup fornearly48
hours trying tocompleteanespecially tricky
challenge: catering a wedding in just two
days.Lofaso, leaderofher team,was strung
out on countless cups of coffeewhen, upon
entering theweddinghall, she encountered
six eight-foot-long tables that needed to be
filledwith foodanddecorations. “I thought
we didn’t have enough,” she remembers.
Her stomach began doing somersaults as
she contemplated the possibility that this
challenge could be her last. “I started to
second-guessmyself andwent to the bath-
room to throw up. Then I wipedmy eyes,
felt better, and said, ‘Come on, let’s just go
do it.’”
So, howdidTeamLofasomake out? “We
had five fewer dishes than the other side,”
shesays. “But it turnedout thatmy instincts
A guilty pleasure for foodies,
Top Chef
,
which airs on Wednesdays at nine p.m.
Central time on the Bravo network, fo-
cuses on a group of chefs who compete in
cuisine-oriented challenges such as pre-
paring a tailgate-party feast, making din-
ner with nothing but ingredients found in
the kitchens of middle-class families, and
devising dishes inspired bymovies. The re-
sulting food isevaluatedbya rotatinggroup
of judges, among them former model and
cookbook author Padma Lakshmi,
Food&
Wine
editor Gail Simmons, and chef Tom
Colicchio, who owns theCraft chain of res-
taurants. At the end of every episode, the
personwhomost seriously blows the chal-
lenge is sent home; whoever excels usually
receives immunity from getting tossed on
the next go-round. Ultimately, it all boils
down to three finalists competing for a
winner-takes-all first-prize package that
includes $100,000, a professional-quality
kitchen, and tons of glory.
And the latter of those prizes, according
toLofaso, is themainpoint. It’swhat drove
her to succeed and get a little cutthroat in
the process. “The money would have been
nice, but my situation would still be the
same,” she says, pointingout that$100,000
wouldn’t have covered Foxtail’s silverware
tab. “Itwas always about the title.Winning
it is something tobeproudof.”
Though she embraced the challenges,
Lofaso, a singlemotherof aneight-year-old
girl, insists that appearingona showof this
sort was never part of her long-term game
plan. She fell into it after casting agents
approached her bosses at the then still-
under-development Foxtail and asked for
recommendations. Lofaso, who had just
come over fromWolfgang Puck’s kitchen,
was encouraged togive the showa shot.
Her first surprise was the audition pro-
cess: “There were lots of conversations but
nocooking. Idida tapeofmy life,presented
myself, showed where I work. I think they
wanted to get a sense that you’d be able to
cookand talkat the same time,” she says.
Once shooting commenced, Lofaso in-
tended tododge thepsychodramas thatper-
meate reality TV. She buddied up with the
show’s more serious, more ambitious con-
testants and avoided late nights of party-
ing,which, she says, constitute the
TopChef
norm. Shewanted tobe cool and focused.
Inevitably,though,on-setstressmanaged
Back in theRealWorld
--------------------------------------------------------
After a seasonon
TopChef
,winnersand los-
ers go back to real life, cooking for diners
rather than judges. Here’s where a few of
them are currently spicing things up.
--------------------------------------------------------
RIChARd BlAIs
On season four, Blais was fa-
mous forhispersnickety styleof cook-
ing, which often used exotic devices
for searing, smoking, and infusing. As
chef at the recently opened Home, in
Atlanta, Blais takes advantage of local ingredients
to createdelectableofferings suchasdeviledduck
eggs, slow-cookedpork ribs, and friedgreen toma-
toes with ranch ice cream. 111West Paces Ferry
Road, (404) 869-0777,
--------------------------------------------------------
hARold dIEtERlE
Lower Manhattan is home
to Dieterle’s American restaurant
Perilla. The first-season winner of
Top Chef
, Dieterle attracts foodies to
his cozy, spare eatery, where menus
change with the seasons. Crowd-pleasers include
spicy duck meatballs, bacon-wrapped game hen,
and black-truffle-and-sheep’s-milk ricotta ravioli.
9 Jones Street, (212) 929-6868,
.com
--------------------------------------------------------
spIkE MENdElsohN
He was the contestant
you loved tohate last season, but nev-
ertheless, plenty of fans flock to his
recently opened Good Stuff Eatery in
Washington, D.C. Branching off from
the fancy food served on
Top Chef
, Good Stuff el-
evates the humble burger (one variation is topped
with pickled daikon and carrots) and fries (made-
to-order and sprinkled with rosemary, thyme,
and black pepper). Wash it all down with one of
Mendelsohn’s toasted marshmallow shakes. 303
PennsylvaniaAvenue Southeast, (202) 543-8222,
