MILWAUKEE — Chef Adam Siegel owns Lupi & Iris in downtown Milwaukee. He said he’s beaming with pride because his restaurant was the focal point in “Top Chef’s” premiere episode.
Bravo’s “Top Chef” premiered on Wednesday night. It was shot in Wisconsin, so all eyes were on the Badger State for the reality show competition.
“It was great to be on the show to be a part of the people that are representing Milwaukee and Wisconsin, and to get that national spotlight is just incredible,” said Siegel.
Siegel said he didn’t feel nervous appearing as a guest judge in the national spotlight.
“The biggest feeling that I had was being nervous about, ‘How does the restaurant look?’ and ‘How is it going to be represented on national TV?’” said Siegel.
After just one day, the national attention has already sparked new business. Siegel said he’s not only excited for his restaurant, but for the entire state’s culinary industry.
“Already last night after episode one, we had a huge boost in our reservations. So [I am] looking forward to seeing what that does for us going forward,” he said.
Dan Wustrack is the director of catering at Lupi & Iris. He said he’s been a fan of the reality show since its first season and was thrilled to earn some screen time himself.
“I was one of the service team, that when the food was done, they have this hands-up moment and then myself and three of our associates at Lupi & Iris, we brought the food from the chefs to the judges,” said Wustrack.
Annie Thomson had lunch at Lupi the day after the premiere. She said she and her husband were happy to see their favorite restaurant take center stage.
“Wisconsin is more than just cheese and dairy and this is such good food here and we are really excited to see what Milwaukee has to offer and how it’s represented in the show,” said Thomson.
Siegel said he’s honored his restaurant could represent Wisconsin and said the whole experience was almost surreal.
“To see all the chefs in this kitchen right here was really great, and how it held all of them in here at one time was really incredible. And to just be a few feet away from them, watching the whole thing go down was great,” said Siegel.
It’s a memory Siegel said he’ll never forget as he and the rest of the state continue to put its culinary and food industry on the map.