Reality Bites: Top Chef's Camille Becerra

Welcome to Reality Bites, our new blog feature in which we'll be checking in and catching up with some of our favorite stars of the reality television circus. For this first installment, PAPERMAG roving correspondent Jon Boschetto interviewed Top Chef's Camille Becerra. Bon appétit!

Camille Becerra, one of this season's recently eliminated contestants on Bravo's Top Chef, is one tall glass of water. A tall glass of pretty, cool, and sometimes tart hibiscus-scented water. The Elizabeth, NJ, bred chef-entrepreneur fumbled this season with a bite-sized pineapple upside-down cake, but lucky for us denizens of New York's outer boroughs, Camille is back in the kitchen at her urban American boîte Paloma in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Camille took a few minutes from her busy schedule to dish out some goodies to PAPERMAG about her time in Miami, what she's up to now, and her take on the Brooklyn scene.

Jon Boschetto: Hey Camille, thanks for talking to us!

Camille Becerra: Of course, I love PAPER!

JB: And we love you. And reality TV. I heard that you never watched Top Chef before you were on it. That's crazy!

CB: Yeah, it was a surprise. It was a whirlwind. It started off with just getting a phone call from a friend who works the velvet ropes at Marquee, and he told me all the producers were in the club. And the next day I was talking to the casting directors about food and television, I went to LA for a couple more interviews, did a short film, and then I was in Miami, surrounded by cameras and all the other chefs from Top Chef!

JB: Do you still see any of the gang? A lot of them were from New York.

CB: Yeah, they come to Paloma and visit. We got together to watch the premiere episode of Top Chef. They're a great crew and we've become best friends.

JB: We loved your hibiscus-flavored shellfish on one of the Quick Fire Challenges. It looked really delicious!

CB: Thanks. Hibiscus is very tart so it's almost like -- with shrimp you're always using lemon and stuff, so it was a different take on tartness, which I feel worked out wonderfully.

JB: How's it been after Top Chef, being an overnight celebrity?

CB: It's totally fun, but I'm so busy with so many things that I'm working on, so to hear you say that is a bit shocking. My day is just full of things to do and ordering and getting the restaurant ready, and all these other projects, so I really don't have the luxury to ponder about things like that! But thanks!

JB: And you're working on a book?

CB: I'm actually starting off with a three-part cookbook. The first part is some essays about high-flying cocktail parties and other fun culinary experiences, the second is daily specials -- a series of menus and recipes -- and the third part is about the art of Zen cookery. I used to cook at a Zen center and all the food was donated, so it's that kind of take on cooking, where you're given certain constraints and are limited in the products you're using, and just finding ways to work that. So it's a whole different experience in cooking.

JB: That sounds awesome. Would you consider the food at Paloma to be influenced by Zen cooking?

CB: Yeah, at the Zen center, you're really limited in what you have. A lot of creativity stems from being limited, and when you have those limits you have to use your creative side a lot more. At the restaurant we use a lot of local farmers and everything is seasonal, so it's very much like that... We limit ourselves to what we have within the area.

JB: Speaking generally, what's your take on the restaurant scene in Brooklyn? Any favorites?

CB: I love the restaurants in Brooklyn. They're slightly different from what you get in Manhattan. There are a lot of artists, a lot of people who are creative, and a bunch of foodies. It's not so chi-chi as Manhattan would be -- it's pretty much basic, good, well-done food. I love Diner, in Williamsburg. That's a definite favorite of mine.

JB: What type of music do you play at Paloma?

CB: Well right now we are totally giving Amy Winehouse spins during dinner. We love her. And also the new Marc Ronson album, which is a compilation of different remixes of old songs. Those are two of our favorites at the restaurant right now.

JB: And rumor has it you're opening another restaurant! Can you tell us a bit about it?

CB: I'm a devout Greenpoint restaurateur right now. Eventually I'd like to come out of my little nest here, but Greenpoint is a great neighborhood. There's so much going on here -- great boutiques, great restaurants, great bars. So I'm going to hang close and do something just a few blocks away from where we are now. It'll be different -- the menu's going to be more of a late night bistro with a little Brooklyn spin to it.

JB: Well, we're looking forward to it. Thanks, Camille!

CB: Thank you.