by Gina Scarpa

 

Some call him confident, some call him cocky, but when it comes to Top Chef's Stefan, what you see is always what you get. His memorable personality and cooking skills made him an obvious choice to bring back for a second time, after making it to the finale in season 5. His reinvention of surf and turf this week, on an Alaskan cruise, didn't wow the judges and was told to pack his knives and go. We chatted with Stefan in an exclusive interview about whether or not he's misunderstood and the experience of coming back to Top Chef.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Any reservations about coming back to Top Chef for a second time to compete?
A. Stefan: Actually, no reservations. I knew what it takes to be on the show and it's a lot of work. Chefs always say it's gong to be easy but they don't see everything. People don't see things like all the 7 hour stew room sittings and it's pretty rough!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How do you feel you've evolved as a chef since the first time we saw you?
A. Stefan: I think my cooking hasn't changed. When you have a ton of restaurants... I'm opening three more... I have restaurants, delis. You are occupied, you have 300 employees, and you think, "Oh, maybe I shouldn't have gone." You have no phones or emails. When I got back, I had 35,000 emails!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Were you at all worried about leaving your businesses behind?
A. Stefan: No, I have a good staff. I have fantastic managers and chefs that have been with me for years. That was not the problem. It was more if somebody quit while I was gone.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How did you feel about having CJ and Josie as your fellow returning cheftestants?
A. Stefan: I've known CJ for many, many years. We have cooked together, we have partied together. Josie I've known for years. Josie is Josie. It just what it is. I was glad they were there.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Padma seemed very turned off by some of the things you said or did this season, particularly during Restaurant Wars. Do you think you were misunderstood perhaps?
A. Stefan: I think what it is... Restaurant Wars... I'll give you my perspective on it. When you run a restaurant and you're front of the house, you don't clean every dish. It's Restaurant Wars, not Table Wars. People get me wrong sometimes. There were a hundred people in the restaurant and it's not just about the judges. It's a tv show. There's some editing parts to it, and I love Padma. I don't know if she got me wrong this season.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: When you look back on it, do you feel like your surf and turf dish was the worst of the group? Should Sheldon have gone instead?
A. Stefan: You know what? Should I have stayed in? Yeah, I think so. Did Sheldon deserve to go home? None of us deserve to go home. It's top five but hey. There's always save a chef!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Losing Last Chance Kitchen is never good but if you have to lose to someone, are you glad it was Kristen?
A. Stefan: Of course I am! Kristen's a great chef.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you feel like competing a second time was a good and positive experience?
A. Stefan: Of course! It's a reminder for people that I'm still around. I am working on a reality show, pitching stuff. I enjoy tv, I like people, I'm a very social person. Like during Restaurant Wars, you can see that I'm a very social person.

 

Stay up to date with Stefan by visiting stefansrestaurants.com.

 

Top Chef: Seattle airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Bravo.

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa