Top Chef's Grayson Schmitz a Free Agent as Chicago Plans Fall Through

Grayson Schmitz concocts cocktails at "Hotel Thrillist's" Wayback Ball

By Kathleen Squires

At the Radisson Blu Hotel in Chicago, we ran into Top Chef Texas alum Grayson Schmitz tending bar at Thrillist’s jazzy Wayback Ball this weekend. The former New Yorker talked about her recent move to Chicago while serving up her latest recipe, a potently rummy watermelon lemonade. According to the Chicago Tribune, Schmitz moved to the Windy City to open an event space with her sister. But she revealed that those plans have fallen through, however, and she is now actively pursuing a restaurant position.

“That was the reason of my initial move,” she told us. “But it’s not happening anymore. Things happen and I think it’s not happening for a reason because something else is supposed to happen.” While she’s not yet settled on her next move, she said that she’s “talking to a few different restaurant groups right now and it’s really exciting because there is so much opportunity. And I’m trying to get my head around the different groups and styles of the chefs I want to work with. There’s the party group, the nerdy group, the molecular group. I’m just figuring it all out.”

Photo: Hernan F. Rodriguez