A Chef Is Cooking

Sam Talbot,semi-finalist on Season 2 of Top Chef,has the looks and the media spotlight. In his new star turn,hed also like to be known for his food.

JULIA CHAPLIN

Sam Talbot,wearing a black Valentino coat over a Rogan flannel,moved easily through the fashion ranks at an art opening held last month in SoHo. He traded stories with the filmmaker Jamie Johnson,whom he had just met. And when two non model women came up,stammering and giggling,he politely helped them talk. Depending on your interest in young,attractive chefs from reality TV shows,Talbot,33,is either a nobody,or the breakout star from the show Top Chef,Season 2. He is a perennial favourite on the sexy-chef lists in food magazines and blogs. His dating life,chronicled in gossip columns,reportedly included a string of models. And whenever his name appears in print,the words hot, hottie or hottest are usually not far behind.

Thats me. It is what it is, said Talbot who is 6-foot-5 and has dark,rugged good looks. Everyone talks about who Im dating or not dating or married or not married. The stigma doesnt hurt me in any way. Does it help me? I dont know. Never mind that he didnt even win on Top Chef. Since his TV debut four years ago,hes become a staple on the A-list party circuit. And now he is making perhaps his biggest star turn yet,as the executive chef at Imperial No. 9,a nightclubby restaurant inside a planted greenhouse at the new Mondrian Hotel in SoHo. The two are a perfect match,said Mitchell Davis,the vice president of the James Beard Foundation. Its a Hollywood hotel,its from Los Angeles,its vibe is cooler than anything, he said. Youre not exactly going to the restaurant for the food,even if it is really good.

But that is precisely what he wants: for people to pay less attention to his playboy life and more to his menu. That,he realises,wont be easy,given the media pressure cooker he has created for himself.

He is among a new breed of celebrity chefs who have coasted into culinary fame,less by gruelling dues-paying,and more on their telegenic brand. These new schoolers tend to have tattoos Talbot has 10,use hair gel,wear man jewellery and sport gym-buffed physiques clad in tailored flannels,designer denim and 50 T-shirts. Not content with just being good cooks,they aspire to be multiplatform brands with endorsement deals,product lines,restaurant chains and television shows.

For his part,Talbot grew up in Charlotte,N.C. His mother was a regional vice president for Estée Lauder,galvanising his affinity for style and grooming. His cooking palate was formed at an early age,when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. He rarely uses processed sugar or preservatives and is committed to sustainable food. He got an offer to become the executive chef at Punch,a restaurant in the Flatiron district in Manhattan,and it was there,at the urging of fellow cooks,that he flew to Los Angeles to audition for Top Chef. On the series he was an eye-pleasing presence with a sincere and determined demeanour. Any nonculinary drama he created tended to be from his manly wardrobe choices: skullcaps,beaded necklaces,boxer shorts poking out of his jeans

I didnt really talk much on Top Chef,he said. After the show,he took a cross-country road trip to reflect. When he returned to New York,a friend of his,was opening the Surf Lodge in Montauk,an après-surf restaurant and hotel on the water. Talbot signed on as executive chef,and the place opened 10 days later. That fall he eloped with a Colombian model and T-shirt designerand divorced a little over a year later. Things happen,and people tend to go their own way sometimes, he said.

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Soon after,there was another opportunity. He got a call about being the head chef at the Mondrian SoHo. Every chef has the dream to do a vanity project: 30 tables,just them in the kitchen, Talbot said. But theres a certain lifestyle you live in New York City with bills and all these things,and you start to realise that corporations are a nice pillow to have. And I had free rein with making the menu.