Dishing Chats with Top Chef Masters Finalist Jennifer Jasinski


Jennifer Jasinski, Jackson Hole Restaurants, Jackson Hole Dining
Every time I go to Denver, I have to eat at Rioja. It’s that good. So when its Executive Chef Jennifer Jasinski was a competitor on my favorite television show last year (Top Chef Masters on Bravo TV), I tuned in to cheer her on every week as she fought her way to the finals.

The chef, who owns and cooks at Rioja, Euclid Hall, Bistro Verdome, and the newest in her empire, Stoic & Genuine, was trained at the CIA and mentored by Wolfgang Puck throughout her earlier career. She has been recognized by Denver Magazine as Chef of the Year, Best New Chef and Rising Star and in addition to her tenure on Top Chef Masters, also competed on The Food Network’s Thanksgiving Challenge.

Last time I was in Denver, following a delicious lunch at Rioja, I sat down with the busy chef to find out about the experience.

First, how did you, a California girl from Santa Barbara, who has cooked all over the world, end up in Denver?

I came up on a few business trips. I really liked the people, and the city had a great vibe. I am not a big city person. It has a really nice feel to it here, and there is not much urban sprawl so I randomly decided to move here. That was in 2000.

What was the plan?

I thought I would ski a lot, and I did the first couple of years. I also liked mountain biking a little bit. I liked the city and thought it would be a good place to open up a restaurant.

You now have four, so it must be?

People here wanted to live in a nice town and eat good food. The guests have also become more informed and trying more things outside their comfort zone.

Denver is really great for small business owners – it is a very savvy town with arts, music and progressive cuisine.

The show (which aired during the summer of 2013) was filmed last winter over about six weeks. Tell me a little bit about the experience?

It was the hardest thing I have ever done. It really makes you evaluate lots of things about yourself. It really affected me a lot more than I thought it did.

In what way?

There are waves of emotion every day. It shreds you up with a crazy roller coaster of emotion.

Was it difficult, especially as such an established chef, to be critiqued and judged every day?

The judges were critical, but they were very smart and thoughtful about what they said. I understood where they were coming from.

What was the most challenging aspect of being on Top Chef Masters?

The time constraints were the hardest thing. You had to be a very fast cook. No one should go on that show if they aren’t a fast cook. I learned to cook quickly while working at the Rainbow Room. I think It also took me about five challenges to learn where things were in the kitchen.

It must be a lot of pressure to be given complicated challenges. Did the stress ever get to you?

I handle stress in general really well.  I think my colleagues underestimate me a lot.

You didn’t get to sleep very much and you filmed almost every day. Once you jump out of a plane together you really bond. (At the first challenge, contestants sky dove to the cooking spot.)

What was exciting about the process?

I think that in the end, the most fun thing was getting to cook for some people I can’t get in front of every day. Ruth Reichle Dana Cowen, for example.

I was very excited to make it to the finals, I didn’t win but I didn’t lose. I came home happy to see my husband.

I have always wondered this when I watch, do they really tell you what the quick fire challenge is right as it starts? I sort of assumed you might be five minutes off camera to plan?

I happens just like you see it!

Top Chef Boston airs on Bravo. You can watch episodes online if you need to catch up for the finals, which air over the next two weeks.  

Posted in

Allison Arthur

Owner and publisher of Dishing magazines in Jackson and Park City.

Terra
Tom Evans
Haagen Dazs