Ingredients Seafood Fish Tuna Seared Tuna Tiradito 4.0 (1) 2 Reviews At Cabra in Chicago, 2011 BNC alum Stephanie Izard channels her love of Peruvian cusine to deliver inspired takes on traditional ceviche and tiradito. At the restaurant, Izard dresses raw sushi-grade tuna steak with a creamy Kewpie mayonnaise-laced sauce, thinned with lime and orange juices, and studded with spicy serrano chiles. For a twist, try giving the tuna a quick sear in a screaming hot skillet to add another layer of complexity to the dish By Stephanie Izard Stephanie Izard Video Best New Chef Stephanie Izard. Video Stephanie Izard describes what it means to be named a Best New Chef. Born 1976; Evanston, IL ("I was born the day before Halloween, October 30. My mother calls me 'devil's child.'") Education Le Cordon Bleu; Scottsdale, AZ Experience Sanctuary Camelback Mountain, Paradise Valley, AZ; Christopher's Fermier Brasserie, Phoenix; Vong, Spring, La Tache and Scylla, Chicago. How she opened Scylla when she was just 27 "I was cooking at La Tache, and one of the cooks said, 'You should open your own restaurant.' That was it. The next week I quit, got a giant loan, bought a building and opened Scylla. I think I was on a big adrenaline rush; I could not do that again by myself now." Childhood Experience "I always cooked with my mom; we'd shop together every Sunday and then cook together. She's a good cook, but now I notice that she uses things like jarred garlic; I throw her under the bus every time I do a demo." How she knew she wanted to be a cook "When I was growing up, I was always watching Martin Yan's Yan Can Cook and Julia Child while all my friends were watching Saved By the Bell." Memorable Cooking Experience "When I was eight, my family went to Epcot. We went to 'France' and had ham-filled crêpes with mushroom béchamel sauce. When we got home, I looked through cookbooks and recreated the dish pretty much exactly. My parents couldn't believe it." Kitchen Tool Vegetable peeler. "My sous chef just got me one from an Asian market. It's got a little green face with little googly eyes on it. It also has a wasabi shredder on the inside." Memorable Meal Tetsuya's in Sydney. "I was by myself. It's the only time I've done a big 10-course tasting by myself. I spent the whole time watching everyone else eat, watching their eyes light up. It was also the first time I'd gotten a chef's cookbook and then gotten to eat their food." Cheap Eat San Soo Gab San, a Korean restaurant in Chicago. "They're open late, and the chap chae [a cold noodle dish] is ridiculous. We get a table for 20, sit on the floor and cook all our own food—which, maybe, after a night of cooking, isn't the best part. But we have a little party there." Guilty Pleasure Tamari rice crackers with The Laughing Cow cheese. "It's my go-to snack in the kitchen. There are always tamari rice crackers sitting on my station; I dip them in whatever I'm making that day." Next Restaurant Little Goat. "It will be a diner, with a bar, opening in late fall. We're also going to make all kinds of breads there; we're going to blow up the bread program. So you'll be able to walk in at 7 a.m. and get bread right from the oven." Upcoming Cookbook Girl in the Kitchen (Fall 2011). Advantage to winning Top Chef season 4 "After oversleeping and missing my flight to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, I was 20th on the standby list for the next flight. Then a woman at the counter saw me and said 'That's my Top Chef!' She snapped her fingers and said, 'Get my Top Chef on the plane!'" Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on July 1, 2020 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Photo by Tara Donne / Food Styling by Chris Lanier / Prop Styling by Raina Kattelson Active Time: 15 mins Total Time: 45 mins Yield: 4 Ingredients 2 cups packed fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, roughly chopped 1/2 cup fresh lime juice 1/3 cup Kewpie mayonnaise 1/4 cup roughly chopped seeded fresh serrano chile 1/4 cup roughly chopped seeded fresh poblano chile 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1/3 cup plus 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 1 (6-ounce) sushi-grade tuna steak, chilled 2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled jicama 2 tablespoons passion fruit pulp 2 tablespoons diced peeled mango Flaky sea salt, to taste Directions Combine cilantro, lime juice, mayonnaise, serrano, poblano, orange juice, kosher salt, and 1/3 cup oil in a food processor. Process until mostly smooth with flecks of cilantro still visible, about 20 seconds. Transfer to a medium bowl; cover and chill until cold, at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a medium skillet over high. When oil is shimmering, add tuna to skillet. Cook until browned but rare in the center, about 1 minute per side. Immediately remove from skillet, and transfer to a cutting board. Cut tuna into 24 (1/8-inch-thick) slices. Spoon 2 tablespoons of cilantro-chile sauce onto each of 4 serving plates. Reserve remaining sauce for another use. Top each serving with 6 tuna slices, 1 1/2 teaspoons jicama, 1 1/2 teaspoons passion fruit pulp, and 1 1/2 teaspoons mango. Drizzle each plate with 1/2 teaspoon oil, and sprinkle with flaky sea salt to taste. Serve immediately. Make Ahead The cilantro-chile sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance, covered, and stored in refrigerator. Suggested Pairing Tart, lemony Assyrtiko. Rate it Print