Grayson Schmitz

• Top Chef contestant
• Age: 29
• From: New Holstein, Wisconsin
• Lives in: Old Town

Schmitz’s tomboyish personality made her a fan favorite on the ninth season of Top Chef, though it was a striking dish of black chicken with beets and quail egg that landed her in the final five. “I’m amazing at my craft,” says the confident Culinary Institute of America grad, who recently moved to Chicago from New York to launch a culinary salon–meets–cooking school with her sister.

In the market for: A tall, athletic, outdoorsy guy who’s rough-and-tumble but doesn’t chew with his mouth open. “I need someone I can turn loose at an event and he’ll be fine,” she says. “Somebody who can chat it up.”

Conversation starter: Horses. She hopes to own one someday.