Stephanie Izard finds her passion.
While attending the University of Michigan, Stephanie Izard felt a bit lost. It was her dad who suggested she consider culinary school.
She knew she’d found her fit the very first day of attending Scottsdale Culinary Institute.
Izard gained an audience as the first female “Top Chef” winner on season four, and is now the chef/co-owner of three Chicago restaurants, Girl and the Goat, Duck Duck Goat and Little Goat Diner. Last year she launched her own line of sauces and spices, This Little Goat. Earlier this year she beat out Bobby Flay to win “Iron Chef America” on Food Network.
Bringing along some of her favorite dishes, Izard will be one of the featured chefs, along with Richard Blais, Alex Guarnaschelli, Jeff Mauro, Jack Bishop, Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison, at the Kohler Food and Wine Experience, Oct. 19 to 22 at the American Club Resort in Kohler.
Izard lives in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood with her husband, Gary Valentine, and their 16month-old son, Ernie. Look for her second cookbook, “Gather and Graze,” next spring.
Q. How did you get started cooking?
A. I think all chefs start cooking because their mom was a terrible cook and they had to fend for themselves or their mom was a great cook. I happened to grow up with a great cook.
I went to University of Michigan. Back then, being a chef was a little different than now. It was never thinking being a chef would be a possibility. My junior year of college, I was unable to pick a major. My dad actually suggested culinary school. I remember thinking, “That’s something I can do?”
Q. What’s the first dish that made you think you wanted to cook professionally?
A. The thing I always look back to, it started when I was really young, and it probably is what put it in my parents’ mind.
When I was 7 or 8 we went to Epcot, and I say “France” in quotes, and we had crepes with cheese, ham and mushrooms. When we got home from the trip, I flipped through all my mom’s cookbooks and found a recipe. I made the dish and re-created it exactly. I remember getting in the kitchen and figuring it out. That was one of those starting moments.
Q. Which title means more, “Iron Chef” or “Top Chef?”
A. That’s a tricky one. They both came at the right time in my career. I’m happy to have been a part of “Top Chef” back in season four when it was a newer show. When I first got off, I didn’t like to give the credit to “Top Chef,” but it definitely opened doors.
“Iron Chef,” it just came at a great time. I’ve got three restaurants and time when I can step into a new competition to get me excited about my cooking skills. My cooking skills when I opened Girl and the Goat seven years ago, I don’t think I would’ve won. The time was right.
Q. After “Top Chef” you opened Girl and the Goat. How did you approach naming the restaurant?
A. My first restaurant was called Scylla, from “The Odyssey.” It was a Mediterranean restaurant and I looked up seafood, literature, and it seemed like a pretty name. Turns out nobody could pronounce it and she was an evil sea monster. So during the time period between “Top Chef” beginning and the finale, I learned my last name was a type of goat in French. When you look up Izard and goat, you get a type of mountain goat.
It is a much easier word to pronounce than Scylla. I’m Girl and the Goat. Okay, now I have to learn to cook goat. I’d never cooked goat before.
Q. You’re coming up in October to do the event in Kohler, but do you spend any time in Milwaukee?
A. I love Milwaukee, especially that you can find great beer and cool bars all over. It feels like a version of Chicago in a good way. My husband and I went up for Summerfest for the first time this year. We were seeing Zac Brown Band, and we went to my friends’ restaurant, DanDan.
Q. What will you be making in Kohler?
A. Bringing up some dumplings and street food with us. We spent pretty much a year traveling through China and coming back and trying to decipher Chinese cookbooks and how to make different dumpling wrappers and noodles. I love doing demonstrations and showing people what we learned along the way.
Q. In your spare time where can we find you?
A. I either start off swimming or spin class. I try to get to the gym six days a week, and that’s really all my free time.
Q. What do you note about Chicago’s restaurant scene since you started?
A. It has definitely become an epicenter. Just a shout-out, last year with Paul Kahan we launched Fulton Market Street Fest . This year’s will be Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Last year it was just a street festival about the neighborhood. This year we have about eight chefs from out of town, Marc Forgione, Aaron Sanchez, John Besh, Chris Cosentino, dinners, cooking classes and wine presentations.
Q. Is there a recipe or tool that you carry with you into every kitchen?
A. There are things all over the menu that remind me of mom. I don’t have any grandma recipes to pass down. I’m always jealous of people who have those heritage recipes. My mom always cooked everybody else’s heritage.
Q. Do you have a most memorable meal?
A. My husband and I went to Le Bernardin. He’d never been to such a nice restaurant before and had a tasting menu with wine pairings. He’s much more of a burgers and grilling guy. Watching his face light up during the meal was so fun.
Q. What’s your dream destination?
A. I have traveled through Asia a decent amount, but I haven’t ever been to Italy. Slap my hand, bad chef. I’ve only been to Spain for a few days. I’ve only been to Evian for this trip I won on “Top Chef.” I have so much traveling to do. I do a lot more traveling through reading, because, time.