Stephanie Izard

Early life and education

Stephanie Izard was born in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois 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 in 1998 before attending the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Scottsdale, graduating in 1999.

Early career

After graduating with a culinary arts degree, Izard worked in the Phoenix 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 at Jean-Georges Vongerichten'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 at Dale Levitski's La Tache.

Scylla

In 2004, at the age of 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 Magazine. Izard closed Scylla in August 2007.

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. Over the course of the season, Izard won two "Quickfire" challenges, 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 Lisa Fernandes.

On the Top Chef Season 4 Reunion Special, Izard won the title of "Fan Favorite", receiving a $10,000 prize in addition to her Top Chef title and prizes. She is the only "Top Chef" winner to also win Fan Favorite.

Girl & The Goat

In the wake 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 summer of 2010. The 130-seat restaurant features an eclectic menu showcasing Mediterranean influences and "nose-to-tail" cooking, emphasizing the use of offal alongside traditional cuts of meat.

Saveur magazine, in their first-ever restaurant review, dubbed Girl & the Goat “America’s Best New Restaurant." Girl & 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."

Little Goat

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 & The Goat's burgeoning bread program. The restaurant offers upscale diner food and all-day breakfast.

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 February 2015, Izard announced the opening of a third restaurant in Chicago's Fulton-Randolph Market District. Duck Duck Goat.

In 2016, Izard Launched This Little Goat, a line of bottled sauces and spice mixes inspired by international cuisines.

Appearances

In April 2012 Stephanie Izard was featured in an episode of Hulu's A Day in the Life TV series. The episode followed Stephanie 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 Stephanie's new restaurant Little Goat.

Izard also made an appearance of Food Network's Iron Chef America where she battled Iron Chef Michael Symon in a head to head bread competition. Symon turned up the heat taking the win. In 2017 in the first season of Iron Chef Gauntlet, she won through the final round and defeated Iron Chefs Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto and Michael Symon, herself earning the title Iron Chef in the process.

Personal life

Izard has a dog named Burt, who is a frequent guest on her social media networks and has his own Twitter. Izard currently resides in Chicago with her son, Ernie (born in 2016), husband, Gary Valentine, a cicerone and craft beer consultant, whom she married on October 6, 2013.

Awards, nominations and accolades

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