I ended up running the kitchen, when it wasnвЂ™t my kitchen to run.вЂќ The team I was on, we were all really creative, but no one was leading us. Six hours to open a restaurant is completely ridiculous. What about the showвЂ™s signature challenge? The episode in which chefs vie to open a restaurant in a single day is both the most eagerly anticipated and most frustrating challenge.

вЂњThat was really tough - three hours to cook outside in toaster ovens? Who does that?вЂќ вЂњThe most difficult was the Thanksgiving challenge,вЂќ she says. They edit out his quips, but heвЂ™s quite funny. ItвЂ™s funny to see him going from judge to human. So what about the judges: Tom Colicchio Lakshmi, a former fashion model and new and acerbic Toby Young? Spend that much time battling bizarre challenges with a small group of people, she says, and youвЂ™re bound to bond. вЂњIвЂ™m close to a lot of them,вЂќ she says, вЂњAriane, Carla, Leah, Stefan and Fabio, Jeff.вЂќ The pair will cook together for a special event at Absinthe next month, and again at the Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival April 16-19. TheyвЂ™re close friends, Lauren says, who still hang out. Lauren, a member of the self-proclaimed Team Rainbow, just laughs when the flirty topic comes up. Season four Top Chef Stephanie Izard picked Lauren as a favorite early on, predicting that the big prize would go to either Lauren, Italian charmer Fabio Viviani or fellow European Stefan Richter, whose culinary creations consistently wowed the judges - and whose confessions of a dreamboat-style crush on Lauren provided a little added entertainment for viewers. Meanwhile, industry insiders, bloggers and foodies lapped up their every move. They duked it out on the line at Craft Restaurant, dissected recipes at Le Bernardin, and made something old, new, borrowed and blue for Food & Wine editor and longtime вЂњTop ChefвЂќ judge Gail SimmonsвЂ™ bridal shower. Cameras followed Lauren and her fellow chefs as they cooked for such varied judges as the Foo Fighters, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Eric Ripert. Lauren responded with a purГ©ed chickpea soup topped with cilantro yogurt and pickled chilies, and flavored with her secret ingredient, the trendy, curry-inspired vadouvan sheвЂ™d brought from the Bay Area.ДЄnd so it went, for six weeks of filming. Take that recipe, she said, and make it soup.

Ten minutes into a Quick Fire Challenge that involved infusing a little personal style into a вЂњTop Chef: The CookbookвЂќ recipe, for example, host Padma Lakshmi told the harried cheftestants that the judges had changed their minds. The вЂњTop ChefвЂќ judges loved her clean flavor combinations - a baby BLT amuse bouche, for example, that combined heirloom tomatoes, quail eggs, basil and smoked bacon drizzled with balsamic syrup - and her dry wit and cool demeanor under pressure.ДЇaced with the showвЂ™s usual trademark twists, Lauren simply rolled up the sleeves of her white chefвЂ™s jacket and got to work. New York-born Lauren was trained in classic French technique, but the flavors she favors at Absinthe - and on вЂњTop ChefвЂќ - showcase new American cuisine and local, seasonal ingredients. Totally stressful and nerve-racking, but IвЂ™m lucky I had the opportunity.вЂќ I live alone and to go back to the college dormitory thing, cameras in your face - aside from that, it was fun. вЂњThe worst part was living with all of these people. Lauren, with her colorful tattoos, broad grin and assured, almost cocky air of confidence, was a natural. Not, she marvels, any actual Quick Fires, the showвЂ™s rapid paced challenges that bestow equal parts panic and immunity, at least in the early weeks. LaurenвЂ™s audition materials included video footage of cooking and hang time with friends, head shots and interviews. They wanted personalities, she said, who would make good television. вЂњThe magic elves actually contacted me,вЂќ she says, вЂњwhen they were doing casting here a year ago.вЂќД«ravoвЂ™s producers werenвЂ™t just looking for culinary skills.

Absynth restaurant san francisco