Stephanie Izard is an American chef and television personality best known as the first female chef to win

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's ''

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo on March 8, 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional che ...

'', taking the title during its fourth season. She is the co-owner and executive chef of three award-winning Chicago restaurants, Girl and the Goat, Little Goat, and Duck Duck Goat, and opened her first restaurant, Scylla (now closed) as chef-owner at the age of 27. Izard received a

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

for "Best Chef: Great Lakes" in 2013 for her work at Girl and the Goat. She has made a number of appearances on ''Top Chef'' since her win, both as a guest judge on subsequent seasons and as a participant in '' Top Chef Duels''. In 2017, Izard competed in the

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series '' Iron Chef Gauntlet'', where she overall defeated chefs

Bobby Flay Robert William Flay (born December 10, 1964), is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and reality television personality. Flay is the owner and executive chef of several restaurants and franchises, including Bobby's Burger Palace, Bobby's ...

Michael Symon Michael D. Symon (born September 19, 1969) is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is of Greek, Sicilian, and Eastern European descent. He is seen regularly on Food Network on shows such as '' Iron Chef America ...

, and

Masaharu Morimoto is a Japanese chef, best known as an Iron Chef on the Japanese TV cooking show ''Iron Chef'' and its spinoff '' Iron Chef America''. He is also known for his unique style of presenting food. Career Morimoto received practical training in sus ...

to obtain the title of Iron Chef.

Early life and education

Stephanie Izard was born in the Chicago suburb of

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, Downtown Chicago, ...

and grew up in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2 ...

, where she developed an interest in food from her parents. She earned a degree in sociology from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1998 before attending the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Scottsdale, graduating in 1999.

Career

After graduating with a culinary arts degree, Izard worked in the

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the o ...

area at the Camelback Inn Resort & Spa and

Christopher Gross Christopher Gross is an American chef and businessman owning, Christopher's at Wrigley Mansion (located in Biltmore Circle in Phoenix, Arizona). Currently, his third restaurant concept. Recognition In 1995, Gross won the James Beard Award, an ...

's Fermier Brasserie. Izard returned to the Chicago area in 2001, with a job as

garde manger A (; French) is a cool, well-ventilated area where cold dishes (such as salads, , appetizers, canapés, pâtés, and terrines) are prepared and other foods are stored under refrigeration. The person in charge of this area is known as the "" o ...

Jean-Georges Vongerichten Jean-Georges Vongerichten (; ; born in Alsace, France, on 16 March 1957) is a French chef.

's Vong. While working at Vong, Izard met future ''Top Chef'' contestant Dale Talde and Heather Shouse, with whom she would later co-author the cookbook ''Girl in the Kitchen: How a Top Chef Cooks, Thinks, Shops, Eats, and Drinks''. After leaving Vong, Izard worked as tournant at Shawn McClain's Spring, and then as

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command in a kitchen; the person ranking next after the head chef, usually the more hands on manager with regards to training staff and organising the kitchen. Duties and functions The sous-chef has many re ...

at Dale Levitski's La Tache.

Restaurants

In 2004, at 27, Izard opened her first restaurant, Scylla, in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago. The 50-seat restaurant, named for the Greek mythological creature

Scylla In Greek mythology, Scylla), is obsolete. ( ; grc-gre, Σκύλλα, Skúlla, ) is a legendary monster who lives on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite her counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the strait are within an arrow's ra ...

, offered a menu emphasizing seafood and a sweet-savory interplay with dishes like lobster-stuffed profiteroles and grouper with sweet corn risotto and lobster sauce Reviews and awards included three stars from the ''Chicago Tribune'', "Best New Restaurants 2005" from ''Chicago Magazine'', and "Ten Best Small U.S. Restaurants" from ''

Bon Appétit ''Bon Appétit'' is a monthly American food and entertaining magazine, that typically contains recipes, entertaining ideas, restaurant recommendations, and wine reviews. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center ...

''. Izard closed Scylla in August 2007. In the wake of her ''Top Chef'' win, Izard met future business partners Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz of the BOKA Restaurant Group, and the trio eventually opened Girl and the Goat in Chicago's West Loop in the summer of 2010. The 130-seat restaurant features an eclectic menu showcasing Mediterranean influences and "nose-to-tail" cooking, emphasizing the use of

offal Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but usually excludes muscle. Offal may also ref ...

alongside traditional cuts of meat. ''Saveur'' magazine dubbed Girl and the Goat “America’s Best New Restaurant" in their first-ever restaurant review." Girl and the Goat was nominated for the James Beard Award (Best New Restaurant) in 2011, the same year that ''Food & Wine'' magazine named Izard, a "Best New Chef." In March 2011, Izard announced that she would be teaming up with the BOKA restaurant group to open a second restaurant, Little Goat. Little Goat was an opportunity for Izard to expand the Girl and the Goat's burgeoning bread program. The restaurant offers upscale diner food and an all-day breakfast. In February 2015, Izard announced the opening of a third restaurant in Chicago's Fulton-Randolph Market District, called Duck Duck Goat. In July 2021, Izard opened her second Girl and the Goat location in

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, the first of her restaurants outside Chicago.

Television

''Top Chef''

Around the time of Scylla's closing, Izard signed on to the Chicago-based fourth season of Bravo's ''Top Chef'', which she ultimately won, becoming the show's first female winner and claiming a $100,000 prize. Throughout the season, Izard won two "Quickfire" challenges and five elimination challenges and was on the top eleven out of fourteen episodes. In the Puerto Rico-based finale, she chose Eric Ripert to assist with her prep work in preparing a four-course tasting menu for judging, which prevailed over the menus offered by fellow contestants Richard Blais and

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. On the ''Top Chef'' Season 4 Reunion Special, Izard won the "Fan Favorite," receiving a $10,000 prize in addition to her ''Top Chef'' title and prizes. Until Kelsey Barnard Clark of season 16 and Melissa King of season 17, she was the only ''Top Chef'' winner also to win Fan Favorite.< ref name="Bravo"/>

Other appearances

In April 2012, Stephanie Izard was featured in an episode of Hulu's ''A Day in the Life'' TV series. The episode followed Izard for an entire day while she worked at her restaurant. About halfway through the episode, there is a planning meeting to discuss the development of Izard's new restaurant, Little Goat. Izard also appeared on Food Network's ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, whi ...

'', where she competed against, and ultimately lost to, Iron Chef Michael Symon in a head-to-head bread competition. In 2017, in the first season of '' Iron Chef Gauntlet'', she won through the final round and defeated Iron Chefs

, and

, earning the title Iron Chef in the process.

Other projects

In October 2011, Izard published her first

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cour ...

, ''Girl in the Kitchen''. Following its release, Izard and her team went on a national "Goat Tour" to promote the book. While in each city on tour, Izard teamed up with a chef friend in town to co-host a collaboration dinner to benefit Share Our Strength, an organization dedicated to feeding hungry children, of which Izard has been a supporter. In 2016, Izard launched ''This Little Goat,'' a line of bottled sauces and spice mixes inspired by international cuisines.

Personal life

Izard currently resides in Los Angeles with her son, Ernie (born in 2016), and husband, Gary Valentine, a

craft beer Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

consultant, whom she married on October 6, 2013.

Awards, nominations and accolades

* 2013

"Best Chef: Great Lakes" Winner * 2012

"Best Chef: Great Lakes" Nominee * Listed as one of the "Top 10 Chefs to Follow on Twitter" by Bon Appétit Magazine

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Izard, Stephanie Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of Le Cordon Bleu Chefs from Chicago Businesspeople from Evanston, Illinois Food and drink award winners Food Network chefs James Beard Foundation Award winners Reality cooking competition winners Top Chef winners University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni American women chefs 21st-century American women