Top Chef Winner Kevin Sbraga on His Dining Pet Peeves, Running His Own Restaurant and More

By Kelly Dobkin

Top Chef season seven winner Kevin Sbraga knew he wanted to be a chef from the time he was eight years old, having grown up working in his father's bakery in New Jersey. After winning Top Chef, Sbraga departed his executive chef gig at Rat's in Hamilton, NJ, to open his own restaurant Sbraga in Philly a little over a year ago. We recently hosted a Google+ Hangout with Kevin and learned about his love of motorcycles and why he'd never do Top Chef again. But we had our own questions for the talented young chef, so we called him up for a quick chat. Check it out below.

Zagat: Growing up in the business, it seems like you knew at a pretty young age that you wanted to be a chef. Did you ever consider other career paths?

No. At seven or eight years old, I already knew I wanted to be a chef. Honestly, I never thought of anything else.

Zagat: You mentioned earlier that you're possibly working on a book - would it be a memoir?

Yup, we just wrote the proposal for it, and it's like a memoir-style book. It kind of talks about my early childhood, life on Top Chef, life after Top Chef and the process of opening a restaurant.

Zagat: The chef memoir genre really took off in popularity since Anthony Bourdain's first book. Do you think that food TV has made the public more interested in the lives of chefs?

Yeah, definitely, it really ties together what we do as chefs for our guests. People live vicariously through us as chefs, and it makes it exciting for them.

Zagat: Do you keep up with or watch any of the Top Chef series or any other food TV shows?

I do once in a awhile. I'm still a huge fan of Top Chef, so I watch it as often as possible. When I do have time, that's one of the ones I watch. I also like Next Iron Chef, Iron Chef America. There's a lot of good cooking shows out there.

Zagat: Now that you're a restaurant owner in addition to being a chef, what do you think are common mistakes that new restaurants make in the first year?

Spending too much money to open. That's one of the things that happened with our restaurant, one of the mistakes we all make. Also spending too much on staff - you always want to be geared up and ready but [you have to make sure you're] training everyone...a lot of our chefs get in the hole that way and it creates a lot of problems. Thirdly, not clearly defining their goals - what they're setting out to achieve. And, lastly, not listening to their clientele because the customers really tell you what they want. 

Zagat: What's the most exciting aspect of the Philly dining scene for you right now?
There's just so many great young chefs in Philly and the food scene's blowing up and in another two years, people are really going to be paying attention to what's going on here.


Zagat: What's your biggest restaurant pet peeve when you're out as a diner?

My biggest pet peeve is slow service or ingenuine people. We all want delicious food, we want it in a timely fashion and we just want to be taken care of. I dont need to be overly adored but just taken care of. 

Zagat: Your food dips into many different cuisines. Is there a world cuisine that you'd be curious to learn more about or incorporate into your food in the future?

More Mediterranean, more North African. The spices and things that are happening there are something that I'm really interested in learning about. 

Zagat: Do you have any time to travel?

Technically not, but this summer I'm actually taking a trip to the Mediterranean - I'm leaving tomorrow. We're going to Greece, Turkey, Italy and Croatia. I can't wait.  

Zagat: I know that you work with your wife but how do you balance running a restaurant and spending time with your kids?
To be honest, right now, there is no balance. With the restaurant being so young, I'm always there.

Zagat: What's next for you - any new projects on the horizon?

We're working on the book, and I'm constantly looking at other restaurant spaces in the Philadelphia market and elsewhere and just looking to expand the brand wherever. One thing that I've learned is that you can't put all your eggs in one basket - you've got to spread out and consider all your options.

Zagat: You've accomplished so much already in your career. What other goals do you have?

To be considered one of the best chefs in the country, to be well-respected, to grow the brand and to leave a legacy in the food scene.