Celebrity Beat

Chicago’s Stephanie Izard, whose win on the hit Bravo series Top Chef aired last night, spent Tuesday pre-celebrating at Relax Lounge. She arrived at the West Town spot around 10:30 p.m. and stayed until close, sipping Grey Goose and tonics, and hanging out with friends including Dale Levitski, a runner-up from Top Chef’s previous season and a regular Tuesday-night bartender at Relax. (Levitski has a new spot in the works; read about it in Dish).

The festivities continued last night: After a private party and screening of the Top Chef finale at Room 21, Izard, her parents, her sister, and a group of friends headed over to Bucktown’s Cans Bar, where the newly minted top toque drank cans of PBR.

She’s the gal of the hour, but you can catch sight of Izard this Sunday, June 15th, at Le Passage. After cooking a sold-out dinner with Drawing Room Chef Nick Lacasse, Izard will stick around and mingle at the club, where two specialty cocktails of her devising will be on offer. Tickets are $40 in advance; call 773-276-7582.

And the Wannabe Beat

Not everyone can be a rock-star chef—or a regular old rock star, for that matter—but pretty much anyone can act like one. Metro hosts the Chicago regionals of the 2008 U.S. Air Guitar Championships tonight, Thursday the 12th. Registration is closed, but this is one spectacle worth seeing; check out past highlights here. All performances will be limited to one minute; all guitars must be invisible; and no backup bands will be allowed. I’ve been asked to sit on the distinguished panel of judges (perhaps due to my appreciation of Zeppelin’s “Fool in the Rain”), and I’ll rate the tours de force on technical merit, stage presence, and “airness” (you have to show up to fully understand). Tickets, $14, are still available. The night’s winner will go on to compete in the August finals in San Francisco.