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

'', 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 award ...

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

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ( ...

series ''

Iron Chef Gauntlet ''Iron Chef Gauntlet'' is a television series on Food Network that began airing on April 16, 2017. The series is a reboot of the ''Iron Chef'' and ''Iron Chef America'' series that gained popularity on Food Network and is hosted by Alton Brown, w ...

'', 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 sush ...

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, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...

and grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, 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 on ...

area at the Camelback Inn Resort & Spa and Christopher Gross'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 Dale Talde (born October 25, 1978, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American chef, television personality, and cookbook author, best known for competing on two seasons of the Bravo reality television cooking competition series ''Top Chef'': '' Top Ch ...

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 Shawn may refer to: *Shawn (given name) *Shawn (surname) See also * Sean * Shaun Shaun is an anglicized spelling of the Irish name Seán. Alternative spellings include Shawn, Sean and Shawne. Notable persons with the given name include: Peop ...

's Spring, and then as

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the ...

Dale Levitski Dale Levitski is an American chef and television personality. He is a former Top Chef television series alum. Career Television Dale Levitski competed on Top Chef season 3. After having been one of the runners-up to Hung Huynh (along with Casey ...

'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, 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''. 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 refe ...

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 Fulton Market District is on the Near West Side of Chicago. In the 19th and 20th centuries, it served meat-packing, warehouse and industrial purposes, but has gentrified in the 21st century with corporate headquarters, tech industry, hotels, b ...

, called Duck Duck Goat. In July 2021, Izard opened her second Girl and the Goat location in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, 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 The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

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 Richard Blais (born February 12, 1972) is an American chef, television personality, restaurateur and author. He appeared on the reality show cooking show '' Top Chef'', and is known for his take on classic American cuisine. Blais was the runner ...

and Lisa Fernandes. 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'', 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 ''

'', 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, ''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 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