‘Top Chef’ gets a taste of Grayslake
BY LORI RACKL lrackl@suntimes.com November 3, 2011 6:26PM
Chris Jones of Moto and "Top Chef: Texas" on Bravo.
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Updated: January 3, 2012 1:44AM
The new season of “Top Chef” takes place in Texas, but it’s Chicago that’s forking over most of the talent.
The city has more contestants in the running for top toque than any city. A whopping half dozen of the “Top Chef” hopefuls hail from Chicago restaurants, while New York, Los Angeles and Seattle each has four.
“I think we’re No. 1 for food, so I wasn’t surprised to see so many Chicago chefs represented,” said Chris Jones, chef de cuisine at Moto, the boundary-pushing, molecular gastronomy restaurant in the West Loop that has not one, but two chefs, battling it out on the Bravo show.
Jones, 30, grew up in Grayslake and got his start washing dishes at Max & Erma’s in Gurnee, outside of Gurnee Mills. He never went to culinary school.
Instead, he worked his way up through various kitchens, including the esteemed and now shuttered Le Francais in Wheeling, where Jones temporarily was demoted to dishwasher after being asked to chop tarragon — and he didn’t know what the herb looked like.
Now, he’s working to get Moto a third Michelin star. The Lincoln Square dad has a daughter who turns 1 this week. He survived the first week’s episode on Wednesday.
“She’s the reason I’m trying so hard,” he said. When he’s in Chicago, he eats at Hot Doug’s and Burt’s Place in Morton Grove for pizza.
For season nine, Bravo is beefing up “Top Chef” (9 p.m. Wednesdays) with a few new twists. Since everything’s bigger in Texas, an unprecedented 29 chefs — almost double the typical number — started out as “hopefuls” and compete for 16 official contestant spots.
Those 16 will cook their way through Dallas, Austin and San Antonio to win over the taste buds of “Top Chef” judges, a panel that includes newcomers Emeril Lagasse and former “Top Chef Masters” contestant Hugh Acheson.
Fans have never seen this many Chicagoans vying for the “Top Chef” title, and that makes this season especially sweet, said contestant Heather Terhune.
“Some years there hasn’t been anybody who’s represented Chicago,” said Terhune, executive chef at Sable Kitchen and Bar in River North. “The fact that there’s six … It just goes to show you there’s a big pool of talent here in the city.”
Other Chicago chefs include Richie Farina, 29, of Moto. Farina is a sous chef at Moto, where fellow “Top Chef” contestant Chris Jones “is technically my boss … but I look at him more as a big brother,” he said. Going against Jones was “more comforting than competitive,” said Farina.
Also hailing from Chicago is Sarah Grueneberg, 29, of Spiaggia; Chuy Valencia, 25, of Chilam Bilam; and Beverly Kim, 31, of Aria.
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