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Meet Top Chef Hopeful Richard Blais

YumSugar — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:28:31 -0700

We've introduced you to the next set of Top Chef hopefuls, however we've been lucky enough to get to know a few of them better. You already met Andrew, and today we'd like to present Richard.

Richard Blais is already known in the industry as being innovative and adventurous. He's got a penchant for molecular gastronomy, but he's got the résumé to go with it. He's worked along side Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, and Ferran Adria, plus he's helmed several restaurants including One Midtown Kitchen in Atlanta. And if he looks strangely familiar to you, it might be that he recently battled Mario Batali on Iron Chef America.

So, what should we expect from him? And why would someone with such a fantastic résumé even bother with Top Chef? To find out what he had to say, read more.

YumSugar: What drew you to Top Chef, why'd you decide to audition?
Richard: It came about, well they found me. I got a phone call and went on the audition. I really wasn't thinking too much about it. I'd seen the show of course, but my initial reaction was, well I don't really know too much about the show. My ego got in the way for a split second, but then I talked to myself about what an immense personal challenge it is and decided to do it.

YS: How did Top Chef compare to Iron Chef?
R: It's a totally different competition. It's a different thing. Iron Chef is kinda restaurant versus restaurant, if that makes any sense. Whereas Top Chef is like a gladiator being stripped of his armor. You're kind of raw and by yourself . . . that sounds sad, I made that sound sad, but it's not. It's just much more of an individual competition.

YS: Was the Top Chef experience what you were expecting?
R: I was nervous going in. It was very tough, tougher than I thought it would be. I was not prepared for the social pressure. The cooking was okay, a stove is a stove, food is food, I've seen it before. But hey, go live in this house with 15 other people. . . . I pride myself on being socially awkward.

YS: Were you surprised to see another faux hawk? [Note: Cheftestant Jennifer also sports a similar hairdo.]
R: Yeah. We both have fair skin, light colored hair, and are really good cooks. It was definitely an odd thing for both of us. I wondered if I got in because I had a cool haircut, but then saw hers. To be quite honest I think mine's a little bit better than Jen's, but don't tell her that! I've seen the photos, it's a little bit poufed up in some of them. I'm wondering if there wasn't a little bit of PhotoShop going on.

YS: What were some of the ingredients you brought with you on Top Chef?
R: Raz el Hanout - a North African spice - some cool equipment - a little electric smoker, immersion circulator, portable cooker - coffee oil, lecithin, xanthan gum, crazy molecular gastronomy stuff that's not that crazy.

YS: You seem to like the more scientific/gastronomy techniques. Want to tell us more about that?
R: Scientific? [laughs] I failed chemistry twice. . . . Science is a part of food, art is a part of food, culture is a part of food. One of the great things about cooking is that I don't feel like I have a job. I just do what i do.

If you can find a way through science to make you food better, then you should do it. Whether it's technology or technique. My genre gets portrayed as cold and it's not. If you can use the microwave to make your meal better then you should do it it, but if you zap food with a laser gun just to zap food with a laser gun, then it doesn't make any sense.

Photos courtesy of Bravo

Top Chef's Richard Blais Waves Goodbye

YumSugar — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:01:51 -0700

I've been rooting for Top Chef's Richard Blais ever since we interviewed him back in March. Of course, I was psyched that Stephanie won, but Richard definitely wowed me this season with his clever and cheeky approach to cooking.

Watching Wednesday's season finale, I was shocked when Richard told the judges he "choked" in the last challenge. Thankfully, I had the honor of interviewing him again yesterday and got to hear all about what was going through his head. To read what he had to say about the finale, his fauxhawk, and his next restaurant, read more.

YumSugar: Was being on Top Chef what you expected?
Richard Blais: I had watched the show, but I’m not as passionate as I’ve found most of Top Chef nation to be. And it’s a tough experience for sure. I don’t think I was prepared for the social aspect of it and living in a house with strangers. To me, it would be really nice at the end of the day to go lay down in a quiet room and think, instead of having to go back and live with a bunch of people under the microscope so to speak. If you’ve never done a reality show, it definitely takes time to get used to.

YS: Were you happy with how you came off on camera?
RB: No. I see myself on the camera in the first episode, and I’m like, Wow, how did I get through casting? I’ve got be the weirdest-looking person. I have friends and family; why did no one tell me about my haircut, that maybe it was a little bit too long?
It was a shock to see that my hair’s that pointy. I got used to it eventually, and I’m sure it took the viewers time to get used to.

YS: Do you regret telling the judges that you choked in the final challenge?
RB: It’s tough to get a gauge on what happens at judges' table just watching the show. There’s a tremendous amount of dialogue that goes into it. I don’t think it was different from how I approached the judges' table throughout the competition. I’m very hard on my craft, and if it’s not perfect, I’m not afraid to admit it. I think using the term “choked” might have been a little rough on my part. But it’s important to represent yourself as being self-aware. That’s all I was doing. I’m not conceding the race or saying, “Hey listen, I suck. Give it to someone else.” I’m letting Tom and the judges know that it’s not the best meal I’ve ever cooked in my life, but I’ll probably never walk away from a meal and say that.

YS: How do you feel about your missteps in the final challenge?
RB:I think it was pretty obvious, for me as a viewer that I didn’t achieve what I’d been achieving throughout the season. Lisa, she overachieved - I don’t think there were many times the judges had so many nice things to say about her - and Stephanie stayed par for the course. I don’t think that anyone really knocked it out of the park. I hope that I don’t sound like I’m being defensive, but it was a lot closer in reality than it looked on TV. Usually at that point in the competition, Tom knows where it’s gonna go, and when we all walked away, he said wasn’t sure.

YS: What's next for you?
RB: The reason I went on the show was not to win $100,000 or to wear a crown that says Top Chef on it. The reason I went on Top Chef was for the personal challenge and to expose myself to people who might want to get behind a creative spirit and who want to back a restaurant driven by that passion. Right now, I'm running a restaurant called Home, and [my consulting company] Trail Blais will be opening a restaurant called Flip that’s a modern hamburger place here in Atlanta, very casual. I think we’ll have the world’s first liquid nitrogen milkshake bar.

YS: Will you have bacon milkshakes?
RB:I think there has to be. We’ll probably have fois gras and bacon and Krispy Kreme donut ice cream.

Photos courtesy of Bravo

Richard: "Everytime I Get Close to a S'more, I Tear Up"

partysugar — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:00:11 -0800

When one thinks of Thanksgiving desserts, s'mores don't necessarily come to mind. Unless you're Richard Sweeney, of course. Last week's axed Top Chef contestant will forever be haunted by Thanksgiving s'mores. I spoke to Richard, who was surprisingly cheerful, today about his time on the show, life after the knife, and the Foo Fighters. To find out what he had to say about his experience, read more.

On his decision to make s'mores: I'm trying to think exactly how it came up. They requested chocolate and bananas and first we thought about doing a frozen banana with a warm chocolate sauce. I can't remember if they were my idea or not. I noticed lots of little things since I've watched the episode, and ultimately, I shouldn't have done that dessert. I did dessert for the Craft challenge and desserts are usually the kiss of death on Top Chef. Why I chose another one is beyond me. I should have stayed away from desserts and avoided them for awhile, but I thought I could do the s'more. Now everytime I get close to a s'more, I tear up.

On serving the Foo Fighters: I think they know actually a lot more than you would probably guess about food. Especially for what we got to see on air, they edited out a lot. They picked up on a bunch of little things we did. My team lost, so I don't think they appreciated my food very much. I think the initial comment that Dave made - when he said it, it sounded really bad, but it was done in a joking way. I didn't take it offensively. At judge's table, I realized the vanilla cream sauce I made had fallen and it did look kind of like spit. It was disappointing that I didn't get to find out what they thought about the other dishes I made. I did a spin on a Caprese salad. They wanted a mayonnaise-based salad, so I made a pesto mayo for Caprese. I made a spicy sweet potato dish that the judges really liked. When I went into the stew room, I didn't think I was totally safe, but knowing I had one good dish and two bad, and Jeff had three bad, and Danny had two bad, I thought I was somewhat safe because Jeff and Danny had no positive critiques. I went back thinking I wouldn't be on the chopping block.

On Tom and Padma: This is such a popular question. It's really hard to get to know them super well. You don't have a lot of contact with them. We don't finish a quickfire challenge and have a beer together, so it's really hard to know their personalities. But from the promotional shoots and the time spent with them, I noticed that Tom's a quiet guy. He kicked it to himself. His professionalism really shows. He wants it to be about the food and not about personality.

Padma's just as beautiful in person. All the gay guys at the bar ask me that. After she spit out Ariane's dessert, the next time she saw Ariane, she went up and asked her if she was OK. It was nice to see that human side of the judges. It's their job to judge us and not be our friend, but it's nice to see that human side. We see that little by little at events, too.

On living with the eliminated contestants in the sequester house: We drink a lot. I made lots of sangria. I came up with about 30 sangria recipes because we got sick of wine by itself. We had cable, but no Internet or phone connection. We watched the Olympics and we went out together sometimes. We were actually in Jersey City. No one expected us to be there and when we went out we would get a questioning look. It was relaxing and stressful at the same time. You want to know what's going on in the kitchen, but if your not in the competition you want to go home. It was almost too relaxing. We got stir-crazy. It's still very confined. The cast and production people are taking you where you need to go. When someone was eliminated, we were stuck in the house all day waiting for them. It was a stressful, relaxing, weird drunken time for all.

On the remaining chefs: Stefan is someone to watch out for. He's the most traveled and has been doing this for a long time. He knows his stuff. Fabio has consistently been doing well. There's a couple other people who haven't gotten a lot of face time yet. Ariane bouncing back this week, was a testament to her. To be in the bottom two weeks in a row and come back in a challenge where everyone is asking her about the turkey, we didn't trust her, and to come out on top is hard. She stepped up and showed she can do it.

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Yummy Link: Richard Blais's 31-Course Tasting Menu

YumSugar — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:13:31 -0700

Earlier I mentioned that Top Chef contestant Richard Blais helmed several restaurants in the past. One of them was his own eponymous Blais, in which there was a 31-course tasting menu. Learn what it was like to eat there, warning, the photos are going to make you drool. - The Amateur Gourmet

Top Chef Vegas: Episode 12

partysugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:12:49 -0800

It was down to five cheftestants on last night's episode of Top Chef. The final Las Vegas challenge - the next two shows take place in Napa, California - highlighted the Bocuse d'Or, the world's most prestigious classical cooking competition. A plethora of big name chefs including Thomas Keller and Daniel Boulud, guest judged. Ready to discuss? Keep reading.

Top Chef Masters: Episode 6

partysugar — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:30:40 -0700

The first round of Top Chef Masters was completed last night. The final quartet of chefs included no females, but Jonathan Waxman, Roy Yamaguchi, Michael Cimarusti, and Art Smith. The best thing about this episode was the return of Gail Simmons. Did you watch? If you are interested in discussing, read more.

Is it bad that I secretly want Jonathan Waxman to win simply because he trained Bobby Flay?
Have you ever been to Roy's? Do you like his Hawaiian Fusion?
If you competed on Top Chef Masters, what would your charity be?
How fabulous is Art Smith? Wouldn't Richard from Top Chef 5 consider him a teddy bear?
Whose quickfire dish looked the best to you?
There was a lot of camaraderie between the masters, do you think the regular Top Chef contestants would have felt differently about the shop-for-each-other elimination challenge?
How inspiring was it when the chefs set each other up with wonderful ingredients?
When should a chef cook out of his comfort zone and when should he stick to what he knows?
"Gael Greene and I go way back." Do you think Jonathan and Gael had a fling in the 80s?
Are you excited for the Champions Round?

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2007 James Beard Award Winners

YumSugar — Tue, 08 May 2007 13:15:12 -0700

Last night the who's who of the food world all came out for the James Beard Foundation Awards. If you're not sure what that is, let me just say that it's sort of like the Oscars of the food world. They give awards to several categories of cookbooks, journalism, chefs, media, and more (including humanitarian & lifetime achievement awards). The "They" is a group of Awards Committees consisting of food-industry professionals. The judges are chosen by the committees and choose the winners by reviewing all entries and voting via secret ballot. Oh and just to be fair, if you're a judge, you can't enter to win in that category.

So now that all the rules and regulations are spelled out let's talk about the winners. The big "star" of the night was David Chang (pictured) of Momofuku in New York who won the award for Rising Star Chef of Year. Also noteworthy was Traci Des Jardins of Rubicon here in San Francisco, she was one of the few female chefs to win anything (she won the Pacific regional award for Best Chef).

For the list of winners and a gallery of folks on the red carpet, including: Martha Stewart, Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi with NY's Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Salman Rushdie and Bobby Flay (who was inducted into the Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America), read more

Winners list after the gallery. Check out the James Beard Foundation website for a full list of winners (including nominees).

View 27 Photos ›

RESTAURANT AND CHEF AWARDS

Outstanding Restaurateur Award
Thomas Keller of The French Laundry
Outstanding Chef Award
Michel Richard of Michel Richard Citronelle
Outstanding Restaurant Award
Frontera Grill Chef/Owners: Rick and Deann Bayless
Best New Restaurant
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
Rising Star Chef Of The Year
David Chang of Momofuku Noodle Bar
Outstanding Pastry Chef Award
Michael Laskonis of Le Bernardin
Outstanding Wine Service Award
Michel Richard Citronelle - Wine Director: Mark Slater
Outstanding Wine And Spirits Professional Award
Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards
Outstanding Service Award
Tru Owners: Rick Tramonto, Gale Gand, and Richard Melman

BEST CHEFS IN AMERICA

Best Chef: Great Lakes
Grant Achatz Of Alinea

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic
R. J. Cooper III of Vidalia
Frank Ruta of Palena

Best Chef: Midwest
Celina Tio of The American Restaurant

Best Chef: New York City (Five Boroughs)
David Waltuck of Chanterelle

Best Chef: Northeast
Frank Mcclelland of L’espalier
Best Chef: Northwest
John Sundstrom of Lark

Best Chef: Pacific
Traci Des Jardins of Jardinière

Best Chef: Southeast
Scott Peacock of Watershed

Best Chef: Southwest
Nobuo Fukuda of Sea Saw

Best Chef: South
Donald Link of Herbsaint

AMERICA’S CLASSICS

Aunt Carrie’s Owner: Elsie Foy
Brookville Hotel Owners: Mark and Connie Martin
Doe’s Eat Place Owners: The Signa Family
The Pickwick Owner: Christopher Wisocki
Primanti Brothers President: Demetrios Patrinos
Weaver D’s Owner: Dexter Weaver

BOOK AWARDS

Cookbook of the Year
The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook
Matt Lee and Ted Lee
Cookbook Hall of Fame
Moosewood Cookbook
Mollie Katzen
Asian Cooking
Cradle of Flavor
James Oseland
Baking and Desserts
Baking: From My Home to Yours
Dorie Greenspan
Cooking from a Professional Point of View
Grand Livre de Cuisine: Alain Ducasse’s Desserts and Pastries
Alain Ducasse and Frédéric Robert
Entertaining and Special Occasions
The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking and Entertaining
Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison
Food of the Americas
The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook
Matt Lee and Ted Lee
General
Tasty: Get Great Food on the Table Every Day
Roy Finamore
Healthy Focus
Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way
Lorna Sass
International
The Soul of a New Cuisine
Marcus Samuelsson
Reference
What to Eat
Marion Nestle
Single Subject
The Essence of Chocolate
John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg
Wine and Spirits
Romancing the Vine
Alan Tardi
Writing on Food
The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Michael Pollan
Photography
Michael Mina
Photographer: Karl Petzke

HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR

Art Smith

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Barbara Kafka

WHO’S WHO OF FOOD & BEVERAGE IN AMERICA

José Andrés
Jim Clendenen
Bobby Flay
Dorie Greenspan
Michael Pollan

Full list of winners - including nominees

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Hosea: "I Am Not Going to Apologize For Winning"

partysugar — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 03:30:26 -0800

The fifth season of Top Chef is officially over, and in an interesting turn of events the new winner was neither Carla nor Stefan, but the strapping young baldy from Boulder, CO, Hosea. Since speaking with Hosea on the phone last Friday, I have a new perspective on the somewhat misunderstood chef. He actually has a degree in engineering and looks at the kitchen with a scientific mind. His last meal, humbly, would be the perfect BLT. To find out what Hosea had to say about winning and his relationship with fellow contestant, Leah, read more.

On winning: It feels great! It's kind of overwhelming. I still haven't gotten used to the idea of it. It has really humbled me. Yes, I'm very pleased, but I'm not claiming that I am a better cook than everyone else.

I just happened to cook the best meal. I was at the Miami Food and Wine Festival last week and Daniel Boulud shook my hand and asked me when we're going to cook, and that amazed me! I think I'll get a lot of great opportunities out of winning.

On the people who don't think he should have won: I don't know why there are haters out there. I don't understand it. I put my best work in at the end there. I talked to Tom yesterday and he told me I did the best job and that is why I won. I don't know why people are so against me. I stuck in there, I worked my ass off, and I'm really proud of myself for my accomplishments. There's nothing I can do about the way other people will perceive me. I won. I belonged there. I don't understand why there's the hatred out there. I have a big passion for food, I love what I do. I have proven myself time and time again - that I belong here - and I am not going to apologize for winning.

On his relationship with Leah: We are good friends. We talk a lot. We enjoy each other's company, but I live in Colorado and she lives in New York. We are both single now and we do like each other. We have kissed each other since the show ended. I think if we lived in the same city we would probably be dating. I am having dinner with her tonight, but I'm not going to tell you where!

On Bravo's portrayal of him: You know it's hard to say. The editing is interesting for sure to watch. It's not just about the food we made. For me it was about the food, so it would have been nice of them to show that I am smart guy, I am a caring person. I have an engineering degree. Because of the editing they really focused on the thing with Leah and then the rivalry with Stefan. But that was about five percent of what I talked about!

On what he's learned from participating in Top Chef: The biggest lesson I took away from the show is that I still have a lot to learn. I have so much left that I haven't seen or cooked or learned. I have a long way to go as a chef. I am still like a baby in this line of work. I am thrilled to have this opportunity and to have proved to myself that I can learn it and do it. I am very scientific and pragmatic. I think of the smartest way to cook. You know there is a lot of math involved when you are running a kitchen.

On working with Richard Blais: Having Rich on my side was a huge help! He was so perfect for what I needed. He offered a lot of advice, but never tried to get in the way of what I was doing. He worked his ass off. That guy is badass! He is quick and he did the perfect plating.

On what's next: I'm taking some time off to be with my dad. He's gotten worse. I am going to see what I can do for the family in terms of the sickness. My dad was diagnosed with cancer nine months ago and it's spreading. He's not doing very well, so I want to be with him. As far as the future, I'm partnering with a food company to create a product line. I'm working on my own restaurant, which will hopefully be open in the next nine months. In the short term future, I am staying here in Colorado. It's where all my contacts are. I work with a lot of local farmers, ranchers, and growers. I want to stay here for awhile, for at least the next year. I'm not sure what the future holds. Hopefully I'll be doing a restaurant in Boulder or Denver, but I don't want to talk too much about it because I don't want to jinx it.

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Announcing the 2008 James Beard Award Winners

partysugar — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:15:37 -0700

Yesterday, the VIPs of the culinary community took off their chef's coats and headed down the red carpet to their very own awards show. Considered the Oscars of eating, the James Beard Awards are the food world's most prestigious honors. With categories covering the entire spectrum of the industry - cookbooks, journalism, chefs, restaurants, and media - the event brought out the best of the best.

The big winner of the night was Chicago's Grant Achatz, who was voted the nation's top chef by the foundation. Other winners include Mario Batali and partner Joe Bastianich for outstanding restaurateurs and San Francisco's Craig Stoll of Delfina for best chef in the Pacific.

To take a look at a list of winners and a gallery of the celebs on the red carpet, including Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto, Katie Lee Joel, Wylie Dufresne, Kim Cattrall, Jacques Pepin, and Todd English, read more.

Outstanding Restaurateur Award
Joe Bastianich/Mario Batali, Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca; New York, NY
Outstanding Chef Award
Grant Achatz, Alinea; Chicago, IL
Outstanding Restaurant Award
Gramercy Tavern, New York, NY; Owner: Danny Meyer
Best New Restaurant
Central Michel Richard, Washington, DC; Chef/Owner: Michel Richard
Rising Star Chef of the Year Award
Gavin Kaysen, Café Boulud, New York, NY
Outstanding Pastry Chef Award
Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson, Tartine Bakery; San Francisco, CA
Outstanding Wine Service Award
Eleven Madison Park, New York, NY; Wine Director: John Ragan
Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional Award
Terry Theise, Terry Theise Estate Selections; Silver Spring, MD
Outstanding Service Award
Terra, St. Helena, CA; Owners: Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani

For more details, check out the official list of categories, nominees, and award winners.

View 13 Photos ›

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Girl Talk With Top Chef Antonia Lofaso

YumSugar — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:00:08 -0700

On this week's Top Chef, we saw final-four contestant Antonia Lofaso leave Puerto Rico. When I spoke to her yesterday, she was in New York lunching with fellow finalist Stephanie. The two chefs were in town for Bravo's A-List Awards, and Antonia was nice enough to take a break from her meal of gnocchi and sweetbreads to chat about her time on the show.

Antonia isn't just a Top Chef contestant; she's also a fan who has watched the series since the first season. To hear how her experience compared to what she'd seen on TV and find out what her 8-year-old daughter thought of it all, read more.

YumSugar: How’d you get involved in Top Chef?
Antonia Lofaso: It was actually something that came through my restaurant group. [Production company] Magical Elves did a little scouting, and they made a recommendation. At that point I was just turning 30 and wanted to put myself out there and push myself.

YS: So were you a fan of the show before?
AL: I’m a huge fan of Top Chef. I watched it since season one. It was kind of nerve-wracking watching it: The day before I left, it was the episode of season three where they had to cook on the plane. I thought, oh my goodness, am I really going to do this right now?

YS: Do you think what viewers see is an accurate representation of what really happens?
AL: I think the show is very accurate. Obviously in the long run, there needs to be a story told and people want to see a story. But for the most part, everyone says what they say and looks the way they look and does what they do. Someone could say, "Oh that was misconstrued," but you did say it. I’m waiting for Top Chef to have replays, where you say, “I didn’t do that,” and then you see Padma hit the switch.

YS: How long were you at judges' table? What was going through your mind?
AL: The whole process goes on for hours. By then it was six o'clock in the morning, and we'd been up since 8 a.m. the previous day. It’s like that movie Defending Your Life. You get up there and talk about your concept. They want to understand the story you’re trying to tell, what experience you were trying to get across with your food. And they let us talk for as long as we need to, so that they have all the information they need to make a proper decision.

YS: What would you have done differently in this challenge?
AL: If I could do it again, I don’t think conceptually I would have done anything differently. I felt like I really wanted to take advantage of the ingredients we had and make it more about the island than about doing pork belly the way I’d normally do pork belly. Execution-wise, absolutely I would do it differently. That’s where I fell the most short was on my execution. I pride myself on being a very strong technical chef, so to be called out for that was hard.

YS: You seemed a bit more frazzled in this episode than in past challenges.
AL: I actually felt that. My restaurant just opened eight weeks out from the show, and to tell you the truth, I wasn’t there mentally in any capacity that I should have been. I got off the plane in Puerto Rico, and my head was still in California. Not that that’s any excuse, but it was just disappointing. Of course everyone’s like, you just opened a restaurant, you haven’t seen your daughter. I knew all this, but I still love the fact that I'm able to produce under those circumstances, and unfortunately I didn’t produce. For me that is upsetting.

YS: How is the restaurant going?
AL: The restaurant is going really, really well. I’m blessed. I’ve got a great location, and the restaurant group is full-force ahead. They plan on opening Foxtail at the Sahara hotel in Las Vegas next.

YS: You said that your daughter told you to win or not come home. Were you allowed back in the house?
AL: Yes I was. My daughter was very sweet actually. You always teach kids that whether or not you win or lose isn’t important, and when I got home it was very, “Aww, don’t worry mommy, at least you tried.” She liked seeing me on TV, but I think it was more exciting for her friends at school. I’m definitely the cool mom.

YS: So this is probably a silly question, but who do you think should win?
AL: I’m sitting here with Stephanie, so I have to say Stephanie. I really hope that Steph takes it. She has a huge heart and great integrity. I love Richard 100 percent, but of course, we’d love to see a woman win this year. And if it’s not going to be me, it’s going to be her.

Photos courtesy of Bravo