Ventura teen cooks his way onto 'Top Chef Jr.'

The first rule of reality TV is, don’t give away the ending before the show airs.

So Ventura resident Carson Peterson, 13, can neither confirm nor deny that he won the $50,000 grand prize as a contestant on the second season of “Top Chef Jr.,” which premieres at 6 p.m. Sept. 8 on Universal Kids.

What he can say is that he’s already lined up an internship at Slate Bistro + Craft Bar when the Camarillo restaurant opens next month.

“I’d like to learn the ins and outs of a real restaurant kitchen,” Carson said of the prospect of working with Slate’s executive chef, Abdu Romero, and its owner, Vince Pillard, who is a friend of the family.

For now, Carson is busy being an eighth-grader at Cabrillo Middle School, participating on the Casitas Rowing team at Lake Casitas, creating “Culinary Word of the Day” videos for his Instagram account and doing media interviews to help promote “Top Chef Jr.”

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On Thursday, he and fellow cheftestant Sophie Frankowski, of New Orleans, appeared on “The Today Show” to demonstrate how to make butternut-filled ravioli. They were joined by “Top Chef Jr.” host Vanessa Lachey and celebrity chef turned head judge Curtis Stone, a personal favorite of Carson’s.

“He just cool. He’s got that Australian accent and is super friendly,” Carson said.

During a visit to Stone’s Los Angeles restaurant Gwen, Carson enjoyed a tasting menu that included slow-cooked lamb with olive tapenade, orecchiette with peas and pancetta and roasted carrots served with yogurt sprinkled with leek ash. He was so inspired he went home and tried to replicate the latter in the kitchen he shares with his parents, Calvin and Kristine Peterson, and 4-year-old sister, Cara.

“My carrots weren’t quite as good, but they were close,” Carson said with a laugh.

He saw eye-to-eye with Stone in other ways, too.

Physically, they are about the same height. Carson, who was 6 feet 3 inches when the show was recorded early this spring, has since grown to match Stone, at 6 feet 4 inches.

They both also cite their grandmothers as culinary inspiration.

Stone’s Beverly Hills restaurant, Maude, is named for his late paternal grandmother, whom he calls “granny” on the show. Carson makes many references to his nonna, also known as Andrea Gifford.

“She’s more on the Italian side. I make her pasta-dough recipe, and her sauce is the most amazing thing,” Carson said. “I admire the passion she has for cooking and the way she changes when she starts to cook. She can be super happy and fun, and the minute she starts to cook, she is down to business.”

Carson remembers pulling up a chair and helping his mother and nonna in the kitchen at age 4 or 5, but said he didn’t get serious about cooking until he was 8. He describes his current culinary style as “multicultural with a classic spin.” (The same might be said of his dining preferences: Carson lists Kao Ramen by Mama and the French-style bakery Café Ficelle among his favorite spots in Ventura.) 

Carson has been known to dip into cookbooks by Jacques Pépin, Thomas Keller and the late Julia Child for dishes like coq au vin, confit byaldi and fish cooked en papillote, or in an envelope fashioned from parchment paper.

Those skills came in handy when Carson auditioned for the show at the suggestion of his parents. Although the initial casting call at a Los Angeles-area hotel was limited to answering questions, Carson had to show that he knew his way around knives, pantries and mystery bags stuffed with ingredients to cook his way onto the show. 

Of one such bag, he said: “I seared the steak, prepared the asparagus with lemon butter and made a reduction using the peaches and soy sauce.”

Carson is the first Ventura County resident to appear on “Top Chef Jr.” The show’s inaugural season, which aired from October 2017 through January, included a food-truck themed episode shot at the Simi Valley Town Center.

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If he wins, Carson knows where the prize money will go.

He would start by making a donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities, which helped his family when his little sister was sick, Carson said.   

He’d also put some aside for college. Specifically, Harvard University, where Carson would like to study law.

“I watch cooking shows 24/7, but I needed a lot of convincing to audition for ‘Top Chef Jr.’ because I wanted to make sure I was ready,” he said. “My parents said, ‘Even if you don’t make it (onto the show), think of the wonderful experience you’ll have.’ They were right.”

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Lisa McKinnon is a staff writer for The Star. To contact her, send email to lisa.mckinnon@vcstar.com. To have the VCS Eats newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, visit http://bit.ly/VCS_Eats and type in your email address.