Fed up with theories that Top Chef Chicago is nothing more than a lesbian morality play? Been reminiscing about the good old days of last season and wondering what your favorite contestant, Casey Thompson, has been up to? Lucky for you, so have we. Casey, Executive Chef of Dallas's Shinsei Restaurant, was one of the final three contestants during Top Chef Miami, and I could tell from the other end of the phone line that her life hasn't slowed a bit since then. She's supposed to be blogging about this season, but since she admits that she hasn't quite found the time, read on to find out what she thinks of this year's contestants, her favorite cooking ingredients, and where you may see her in the future.

How did you decide that you wanted to become a chef?

I was going through some changes in my life. I was living in Houston and working for a different job, and it was one of those decisions like, "Do I move now do I start a new career? Is this the time?" How did I decide to work in a restaurant? My mother didn't think it was a good idea for me to go back to school. It was expensive and a lot of time. She recommended that I work in a restaurant to see if I even liked it, and I did.



Now that you are the executive chef at Shinsei, what's your schedule like on a daily basis?

It totally depends on the day. Since Top Chef, my life has changed so much. I'm so much more involved in the front of the restaurant. Before, I was braising the meats, I was portioning, I was doing the ordering and desserts. After Top Chef, there was no way that I could handle that on my own, so I hired a sous-chef who takes on a lot of those responsibilities. Now, I oversee the restaurant as a whole. If it is a busy day, I am here by 9 a.m. We work with a prep team in the morning and get everything ready for evening so that, when the cooks show up at night, everything is where it should be. I am doing lots of paperwork and emails, overseeing the staff, tasting sauces and stuff down the line.

How do you keep your menu fresh and contemporary?

Seasonally is when we change the actual menu, but I run specials everyday to keep interest in what we've got going. We do catering, so we have to keep a solid menu that we can refer to in the brochures. It wouldn't be feasible for us to run daily specials boards, but I'll do it on special sheets if say we do a big party. So much of what we do is see how we can sell the produce that is in the house. And I am constantly reading and picking up food magazines and seeing what the trends are. I read the New York Times -- that is one of the best ways for us to keep in touch with what is going on out there.

I was actually going to ask you about what you read? What magazines do you look at? Do you ever read blogs or content on the web?

I don't read blogs. I actually read Food Arts Magazine. I'm constantly reading Sante – about food and wine –, I read Food and Wine, Gourmet, I'm always picking up Asian Restaurant News, where you read about how to make Peking duck – it's a lot about technique and also written in Japanese. It's really cool. Online, if anything, I read, not bloggers, but people who have created food web sites where they share experiences, like pictures from the latest restaurants they've been to. It is like they are going around dining for me, and I get to see what's going on. I also talk to chefs, share ideas, do test kitchens, look at new products.

What kind of barriers, if any, do you think exist for women in the culinary world?

Currently, I don't feel that there are any barriers. I don't really ever look at it like that. There are cooks in my kitchen that have never worked for a woman, and now I have opened their eyes to that the fact that we can do it too. I'm not proving it to them and not proving to other chefs, I'm just doing what I love. I don't say, "Look, I'm a woman and what I've achieved." If anything, it's "Look at how young I am and what I've achieved. You can work that hard and achieve. You can't go into it being like, "I am a woman." I have never looked at it that way

What do you think about this season of Top Chef? Are you watching?

I'm supposed to be blogging this season, but I have not have time. I've tried to sit down and watch the first couple shows. The third and fourth I could not get to. I was a little disgusted by their behavior. There are some really strong chefs but I also think there is a lot of riff-raff that they need to get through – those that don't seem to have the experience. They may have worked for some restaurant in New York City, but it may not have even been good. For some, I can't believe what they came up with, and I can't believe they haven't been eliminated yet. But I think that eventually once those clear out we are going to see some really good cooking from some of the better contestants.

What do you mean?

Some of the ways that they have behaved and lost their tempers, which people did on my season too, but I looked at them like, "Don't lose your cool on TV." Losing your cool is not the way to go about it and it seems like everyone has lost their cool on the show.

Who is your favorite contestant?

Right now my favorite is Richard. He is a solid chef who has been on the top and the bottom because he takes risks. He could is putting it out there and using some different equipment. Stephanie is another one of my favorites. I also like Mark. I think he comes out with some solid dishes that have worked, like the couscous stuffed sardines, which totally can change people's mind about sardines. He doesn't do well with an American-style bar-b-que, but who cares? We don't cook like that on a daily basis. So Richard, Stephanie and Mark. They could screw up though, so who knows?

How does the studio-kitchen environment of Top Chef compare to the kitchen in your restaurant?

Well it's a high-pressure situation, and it's not something that we are used to in the kitchen. You don't run around and have to come out with a dish in 30 minutes. There are times [in my kitchen] where we are about to open and I have to pull things together, but if it doesn't come out, you say, "Okay, we won't serve it today." We are not racing against that kind of time, and in your restaurant kitchen you are trying to figure out how to make money out of the things in your cooler. That's how a restaurant works. You come up with your best work by taking something and saying, "What are we going to do with it?" In Top Chef, you have a plate and end up throwing so much away and it's so wasteful. We would not act that way in our own kitchens.

Who have you kept in touch with from your season?

I talk to Dale, I talk to CJ and I talk to Tre on occasion. I've seen Brian but we don't call each other. I talk to Dale often.

Is he still dating that guy from Project Runway?

They broke up a while ago, and he's been working to get his restaurant up and running. He's working on the plans and the space and everything.

What do you cook at home?

I really don't because I get maybe one day off a week, so when I am off, I'm doing other things. I don't feel like being at home in the kitchen. There are things I have to do, errands I have to run.

What are some of your favorite ingredients to use?

Probably my fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, black vinegar I use a lot, and a sesame chili oil – you can purchase it – its kind of hard to find but it's a great ingredient.

Do you have a cooking mentor?

Absolutely, I learned so much about the basics from Dean Fearing, he is considered the chef of the Southwest. He is where I got my start. He gave me the opporunity and I worked my way up in this kitchen. He opened Fearing's at the Ritz, named Esquire Magazine's best new restaurant in the nation. I really did learn a lot about the basics. How to peel asparagus, how to kill lobster, these are all the techniques that you need to gain efficiency in. You cant be picking at asparagus. Also, Kent Rathbun. He owns Abacus, where Trey worked. He is a great restaurateur. He owns about 6 total, so I learned so much about how to run kitchen efficiently and manage staff.

Where do you see your career heading in the next few years? Will you be opening your own restaurant?

You know, I really don't know at this point. I am approached by people who have ideas, and I've asked my mentors. The thing about me is that everyone else [from Season 3 of Top Chef] has left their job or is doing private dining. The thing about me is I worked to hard to get where I am, and I didn't want to run out of this job. I want to make sure that I have both feet on the ground, balanced and centered, and that I don't burn bridges. This is my second year as an executive chef, so I'm still constantly learning. I feel that, after having asked some of my mentors when would be the right time, they say you have to make sure that all the stars are aligned – menu, backer. In this next year, I do see that I'll be traveling. My schedule is booked. And I don't know. I don't have a restaurant lined up and I've not signed any contracts, so we'll see. I definitely see great things but I don't know what they are.