Anyone who has visited Bicyclette Cookshop, off Vanderbilt Beach Road and Tamiami Trail in Naples, knows chef Kayla Pfeiffer has heart. Last year, we featured the young-gun talent as ‘one to watch,’ and this month, we honor her experimental culinary joint among Gulfshore Life’s Best New Restaurants. Now, it's not just Southwest Florida that knows the formidable culinary maven; the whole country knows Kayla as a Champion of the Food Network hit cooking competition show Chopped.
On the Tuesday, January 9 episode, titled Don’t Lose Heart, Kayla sailed gracefully through curveball ingredients, including a whole alligator heart—an auspicious challenge for the Florida-based chef. “That's the one dish that I would definitely make again,” Kayla says. “Even with that marshmallow fluff, it added a different texture and an almost brightness with that corn syrup sweetness.” But, recreating the dish may pose a challenge—even with her living near the gator-filled Everglades. “I'm trying to get alligator hearts. They're hard to find, believe it or not,” she says with a laugh.
Kayla consistently impressed the judges with her masterfully balanced bites, creative approach and cool-under-pressure attitude. The dessert round posed the biggest challenge for The Culinary Institute of America-trained chef, who prepared monkey bread with balsamic candied kumquat and licorice-infused cream. “I'm no pastry chef. That's not my strong suit, so I went into it and was like, ‘I'm going to wing it and just do what I know,” she says.
Kayla watched the episode alongside staff and a house full of diners at Biyclette while carrying out dinner service. “It was like a big sporting event, which was kind of cool,” she says. “I'm happy that I could rep’ the Southwest Florida area and hopefully put us on the food map a little bit more”
If you missed the episode, well, don’t lose heart. You can catch upcoming airings on Monday, January 15, at 11 p.m.; Tuesday, January 16, at 11 a.m.; and Monday, February 19, at 9 p.m. Night owls can catch 3 a.m. airings on January 10 and 16, and a 1 a.m. taping on Tuesday, February 20.
Photography by Erik Kellar
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Chopped champion and Executive Chef Partner at Bicyclette Cookshop watches her victory live while running dinner service with Bicyclette owner, Louie Mele.