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'Top Chef' tour whisks through Madison

Susan Troller  —  8/28/2008 12:21 pm

Who would have thought that chefs would become celebrities who tour American cities like rock stars?

On Wednesday, the "Top Chef" promotional tour, featuring a state-of-the-art mobile kitchen in a truck and Chicago-based chefs Stephanie Izard and Dale Levitsky, winners from two seasons of the popular Bravo TV cooking competition series, was in Madison to do three shows for eager fans.

The 38 best seats were inside the air-conditioned truck -- parked in the 100 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. -- where the audience was able to see at close hand how Levitsky and Izard cook and also sample a recipe the pair created while dishing about fellow chefs and the celebrity cooking scene. Meanwhile, fans who weren't able to secure reserved seats online stood in the sun to watch the demonstration on a 52-inch TV screen.

Sara Beier from Milwaukee took the day off from work to come to Madison to see Izard and Levitsky. She was part of a group of eight friends, self-admitted foodie fans who have faithfully watched the show through all four seasons. All eight were on hand for the cooking demonstration, and with preregistration tickets in hand, they managed to grab seats in the front rows.

In fact, Beier said, the group has a party every week a new episode runs, and they get together to cook and comment about their favorite contestants, including Izard and Levitsky.

Kristin Meyers and Brent Gentry are part of the group and usually host the parties, using produce they've raised themselves from a plot at Troy Gardens.

"We're huge foodies, and we're very into what's seasonal and fresh," Gentry said. He is so into seasonal produce he sports a tattoo of ramps, a wild garlic-like cousin of leeks, on his forearm.

Meyers explained that the group usually has some kind of theme appropriate to each episode.

"When Rick Bayless was on the show we did a Mexican meal. And, of course, margaritas to go with the food," Gentry said.

"We came to learn some cooking technique, to eat some good food and to meet the people we've been idolizing and criticizing," Jay Sebok added.

Meyers said Levitsky, who is planning to open a restaurant in Chicago called Town and County this winter, was one of her special culinary heroes.

"I was eating at a restaurant in Chicago, and he was our waiter," she said. "My hands were shaking so much I couldn't drink my drink. I think we called him over like three times, just to see him. I had to step outside several times just to gather and calm myself," she laughed.

When asked how they got their start in the restaurant business, Izard said she attended a year of culinary school. Levitsky said he was self-trained, learning through the restaurants where he has worked for the last 10 years. He laughed as he said he began his career cooking at the Ground Round in Iowa City, where he attended college.

"Cooking well is just about experimenting and having fun. Trust your instincts," Izard said.

Both chefs, who have worked together professionally, said they regularly read magazines like Food and Wine, Gourmet, Saveur and Bon Appetit to keep up with trends and personalities in the culinary scene.

At the end of the chatty demonstration, Izard and Levitsky handed out the completed hors d'ouevres. The audience murmured appreciatively as they ate small plates of diced tomato and fruit, dressed with a lemon vinaigrette and served with ravioli-like wonton skins filled with sheep's milk cheese, fennel and minced garlic.

"If you're a truly awful cook, is there any hope for you?" an audience member asked just as the show was ending.

"Well, learn how to season the food you make, and start very, very simple," Levitsky advised. "And never, ever use iodized salt."

The promotional tour will wrap up at the end of September. It began in June, and visited 20 American cities, from Boston to San Diego, and Chicago to Atlanta.

Susan Troller  —  8/28/2008 12:21 pm