If you were watching FOX on Sunday night, Super Bowl LVII wasn’t the only big event on the network. After the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35, Season 2 of Next Level Chef premiered in the prime post-game spot.
The competition show features three teams of chefs cooking in kitchens located on different levels. The team on the top level gets the best ingredients and works in a professional kitchen. The middle section gets more modest equipment and chooses their ingredients second, with the bottom kitchen using less desirable utensils and appliances while getting the last pick of the food platform. The teams are mentored by celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay, Richard Blais and Nyesha Arrington. The winner receives $250,000 and a one-year mentorship. Chef Arrington spoke with The Root about working with Chefs Ramsay and Blais and how Next Level Chef differs from other competition series.
“Cooking competitions are high pressure and intense on their own, but to add the level of mentorship behind it, and also a very nice cash prize to fuel their culinary dreams is incredible,” Arrington told The Root. “That’s absolutely what drew me to wanting to be a part of this. I get to watch the progress of these amazing creators throughout the cooking competition. They grow outside of the show as well, so it’s kind of like the first of its kind.”
The contestants come from a wide range of backgrounds. There are experienced professionals who’ve worked around the world, up and comers looking for an opportunity and social media personalities trying to grow their brand. The variety of people vying for the top prize, makes it easy for viewers to find someone they identify with. All these different culinary styles also leads to a more interesting and less predictable competition.
“There’s three floors cooking simultaneously. You’re trying to nurture and celebrate, at the same time, you’re trying to create these growth opportunities for these chefs and also push them just enough so that they are mildly out of their comfort zone, so they’re pushed to grow in a short amount of time,” she said. “But, you also want to celebrate their wins and pump them up. And you’re right there with them. You almost feel like it’s your competition as well. It’s their competition to ultimately win or lose, but you get so invested in their stories and their incredible journeys.”
If you’ve seen any of Gordon Ramsay’s numerous other cooking shows, you’re familiar with his classic fine dining culinary background. You’re also probably familiar with his brutally honest mentoring style. Richard Blais is known for his unique combination of classic techniques and molecular gastronomy. Arrington also has classic fine dining experience, but she merges it with her interest in global flavors to create what she calls “Food that Hugs the Soul.” For Arrington, working with Ramsay and Blais is one of the true highlights of the series.
“We spend a lot of time together on camera, but also off. In our morning meetings we’re discussing challenges for the day and we talk as chefs before we step out into those kitchens,” she said. “We think about these challenges, and we ask each other ‘What would you make?’ and we all 100 percent have three different styles of dishes. We say ‘If you got the strip loin or if you got that lamb, what would you do with it?’ We really come from an authentic, organic place with this. The art of the craft of cooking is to be able to share ideas, so it’s truly amazing.”
Next Level Chef airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on FOX.