In Food Network-land, "he" is a synonym for "Iron Chef"

I won't be the first to say this, and I won't be the last. So, let's get this over and done with: the next Iron Chef is neither made of iron nor a she-ef...just give me that one, I beg you. Now, let's discuss with our local favorite Chef Jill Davie who was the second and last female contender to be ousted in this very young competition.

First, a quick review: in the premiere, the Vegas odds-on favorite Traci des Jardins was summarily dispatched. The second epi began with the "Simplicity" challenge where each chef was tasked to represent his or her culinary style in a single bite in 30 minutes, and poor Jill came out of the scrum with...buffalo tenderloin.

The elimination challenge required "Innovation." And when one thinks of innovation with a capital "I" who else comes to mind but Wylie Dufresne with a capital "W.D." If you recall, Chef Dufresne's appearance on the finale of season two's Top Chef nearly caused resident molecular gastro-nerd Marcel's hair to stand on end—or not. A quick primer from the venerable mad food scientist, and chef Jill whimsically played off the idea of fake food with a faux bucco where a potato mimicked shank bone while the freezo fritto was liquid-nitrogen frozen veggies that should have tasted like they were fried, if only the production crew didn't make the plates sit around for over two hours...in a hot kitchen. 

Alas, the judges got Chris Cosentino's razor clams-and-shaving cream dish (who am I to question what it tasted like, but that dish looked like, um, never mind) but not Chef Jill's whimsy and sent her along her merry way. We caught up with the spritely chef to talk tenderloin, liquid nitrogen and the sticky business of English grammar.

Did you drink after that elimination challenge? We would have gotten piss drunk.
You know, I had a beer. I had a St. Pauli Girl actually, now that you mention it. And I sat and I thought, "Hmm, was that really a proud moment?" But the other part of me thought you can't take it personally. That's not a dish that I would be serving anytime soon. The most important thing for me is that I had a good time and I didn't come across as some big loser, because I know that I'm not.

Oh no, not at all. We can't say it enough: we think you're adorable.
Why thank you! Well, that's good. I don't know, some of the guys are so ego-ey and into it. And alot of the times I'd just start laughing. Because I was so over being with the guys at some point. This one time, I remember it was just so hot and crazy in the kitchen, I looked into the camera and I asked (feigns ditzy voice), "Is my mascara running? Really. Because I need to know." (Laughs)

So what do you think about the male-dominated field now?
Um, not too much. But one thing...what did [judge] Donatella say?

Editor's note: We know exactly what Miss Arpaia said in the first episode because we also recoiled at her choice words of what she is looking for in an Iron Chef. We quote, "An Iron Chef has to know who he is and be very confident about it..."

I know it’s grammatically correct to say "he." I understand it’s "proper." But it was kind of awkward to be standing in front of a panel of judges, and Tracy and I are going who is the “he”? Who will the "next he” be? I’m certain she didn’t mean for it to come out that way but it was just one of those things. And being a UC Santa Cruz graduate, I’ve become so condition to respond to that. I literally felt the dagger go through my heart, like “Oh Lord, I can’t believe this!”

What was your first "representative" dish supposed to be?
You know, the reality was that some of the people ran up there and grabbed their stuff. And I was like, "Oh, I guess I'm getting the buffalo. You have scallops. Geez, wouldn't that have been great!" Granted, it was a beautiful piece of tenderloin, and I was going for a petit buffalo filet mignon with crispy-fried mustard greens. In hindsight within the allotted 30 minutes, I should have gone with maybe seared, like rare-something.

Any chance we'll see any of those dishes at Josie soon?
Oh, no. [Molecular gastronomy] was futile. It wasn't very realistic for me. Personally, I could care less about it. It was fun to learn about. Definitely insightful. I’m just not impressed by foams, but that’s just me. Everybody is different. Hey, now that Halloween is coming up, liquid nitrogen would make a really good tableside goulash.

Indeed. Anyone know where we can pick up some liquid nitrogen? —Jiyeon Yoo