Jonathan Miller wants that rock star chef life, the Anthony Bourdain-type pressure and deliciousness.

First, he'll need to finish high school.

The Art Institute of Atlanta (ENLARGE)

Jonathan Miller Best Teen Chef Winner.

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"Loud, hectic, mildly chaotic work style, the sense of camaraderie in the kitchen," says Miller, a senior at Windsor Forest High School in Savannah, describing the job of his dreams. "I would like to restaurant hop, see how different restaurants are run around the country."

Cooking first caught his attention three years ago when he worked at Ken and Candi's, a barbecue restaurant in Savannah. But he got a taste of celebrity this month when he won the Best Teen Chef title in a contest sponsored by The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institute.

Miller, 18, cooked three Italian dishes during the competition in Las Vegas against 30 other finalists. He won a $40,000 scholarship to the school's Atlanta campus, despite a nasty run-in with a difficult artichoke. (His advice on that: "fear the artichoke.")

He's looking forward to four years of learning to cook, and maybe his own restaurant.

Here are Miller's tastes and trials so far.

His favorite recipe: Gyoza dumplings. In the competition, he used a beef dumpling recipe from a restaurant where he worked. "I love easy-to-eat, handheld food, something you can hand to everybody and they'll all enjoy."

His best home-cooking: Whatever's-in-the-fridge omelettes. "I've been told I make a pretty mean one. I use everything, tomatoes, peppers, onions, anything."

His worst failure: Fried ice cream. "I saw a clip on TV and thought, 'I can do that. Easy.' No, not quite. It was in the work fryer as well, so I had fun cleaning that out before the boss returned."

His backup plan: Engineering, but it's way, way in the back of his mind. He wanted to major in mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech, then work for Volkswagen. Then he found food. "This is really fun, and I understand you can make money at it. My mother was thinking 'Oh? Not an engineer anymore? Really? A chef?' Everybody started getting into the idea. Now they all want to know when I'm going to cook for them."