Melissa Perfit, 36, could never even find the kitchen growing up.
Once when she tried baking a cake for her family, it was coined the “blue cake” because of its striking resemblance to a dense sponge.
“I was pretty terrible and not interested in cooking at all,” Perfit said.
Fast forward to today, however, and it's apparent Perfit has a recipe for success: The Gainesville native opened her new seafood restaurant in the heart of San Francisco on Tuesday, following her debut on Bravo’s “Top Chef” one year ago.
Ayala, named after the first Spanish captain to discover San Francisco Bay, is located in Union Square’s chic and modern Hotel G.
Its menu is full of fresh variety: a raw bar, crudo dishes, crab, oysters, clams and whole fish preparations.
“The idea is to get people to share a little bit,” Perfit said. “It’s going to be fun because you can come in and have 12 oysters or a whole fish.”
Perfit didn’t always plan on becoming a chef; she attended Florida State University to study film and media production.
She spent one semester abroad interning for Nickelodeon Studios in London, and from there she traveled to countries like France and Italy.
“Everyone would go look at churches, but I’d be the first person at the farmer’s market,” Perfit said.
Although she didn’t cook much in her less-than-spacious dorm, she was exposed to diverse cuisines and, her personal favorite, cheese shops.
Following graduation, Perfit felt a calling to culinary school. Her brother was living in San Francisco at the time, so she followed him there and enrolled at California Culinary Academy.
“Some people go to culinary school because they don’t want to go to college,” Perfit said, “but I was just trying to take everything I could out of being there.”
After she completed culinary school, she moved from kitchen to kitchen gaining experience with food preparation and line cooking.
In 2014, the owners of seafood staple Bar Crudo came to Perfit asking her to take on the position of executive chef, and she happily accepted.
Throughout her time at Bar Crudo, she was approached constantly by the producers of “Guy’s Grocery Games,” a reality cooking show on Food Network.
“They kept emailing and calling me to be on the show, but I didn’t want to be on that show,” Perfit said. “I told my boyfriend if ‘Top Chef’ called, then I’d do it.”
Two days later, “Top Chef” called.
In order to be a season 15 contestant, Perfit performed cooking demonstrations for chefs and Bravo producers in Los Angeles.
“I didn’t think I’d get on, so I was really nonchalant throughout the interviews,” she said, “but I think they liked that.”
Perfit had two months to prepare before filming started in Colorado. When she got there, however, she struggled with the elevation difference.
Cooking at that elevation is different because it takes more heat to do things like boil water,” Perfit said.
She ended up being eliminated after the first episode and returned home to San Francisco.
“I did terrible, I had so much anxiety,” Perfit said. “Some other people on the show were more accustomed to television and feeling that pressure, but I was not.”
Perfit said she and her fellow contestants were close and supportive of one another, and they still have a running group chat.
When Perfit’s season debuted on Bravo, season 14 winner Brooke Williamson invited each contestant to a viewing party at her Los Angeles restaurant.
“It’s easier to watch with other cast members around who knew how the show ended,” Perfit said. “I would’ve changed a lot of what I did, but what’s done is done.”
Now, Perfit’s focused on Ayala’s continuing success alongside her chef-partner Bill Montagne.
“[Seafood] is really important in California ― we have abalone, uni, these really beautiful oysters, Dungeness crab,” Perfit said. “It does have a special place in my heart because people get excited about seafood out here.”
Perfit hopes Ayala will attract locals in a city that’s respected as a food mecca, full of variety in flavors and cultures.
"The restaurant industry here is really tight; there’s a lot of word-of-mouth and support,” Perfit said. “I’m hoping that we get up and running and everyone working here is happy and busy.”
https://www.gainesville.com/news/20181209/gainesville-native-opens-san-francisco-seafood-restaurant 2018-12-10 00:44:00Z
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