Scott Conant wanted to be a plumber, but getting shut out of a vocational school class set him down a different path. The 2004 Food & Wine Best New Chef and Food Network star reveals the exact dish that convinced him to devote himself to Italian cooking, the emotional fan encounters — from a grieving mother to a man struggling to stay alive — that reshaped how he thinks about television fame, how the best thing he's ever done in his professional life isn't in a restaurant, and why Alex Guarnaschelli calls him the "most human" of the Chopped judges.

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Episode Art Courtesy of Food & Wine /Ken Goodman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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