A Next Level Chef Contestant Keeps Setting Kitchens On Fire
"Next Level Chef" is the first-of-its-kind cooking competition where 15 contestants, ranging from social media culinary influencers to professional chefs, cook the best dish they can in 45 minutes while receiving mentorship from hosts Gordon Ramsay, Richard Blais, and Nyesha Arrington (via Parade). The "next level" title plays into the format of the show, where the cooks compete on three different levels on the set as well as three different kitchens that all offer unique environments and ingredients.
Filmed at the top of the tallest non-permanent structure in Las Vegas, as Blais attested to in a recent exclusive Mashed interview, the state-of-the-art kitchen inside is where chefs get their first pick of ingredients from a moving platform. Each participant only has 15 seconds to grab their ingredients before the platform descends to the middle kitchen and then to the basement, where chefs have the last pick of ingredients and the most inferior equipment.
In the interview with Parade, Gordon Ramsay explained that he was adamant about not "training" the chefs, like other cooking shows, in order to maintain the authenticity of a live cooking battle. With a $250,000 prize on the line, the competition is fierce and, while under pressure, the chefs are bound to make mistakes, including the seemingly inevitable kitchen fires.
Tricia Wang is on fire, but not in a good way
"Next Level Chef" is the first cooking competition to have social media chefs, amateur culinary creators, and professional cooks battle against each other (via Parade). As host Gordon Ramsay told the publication, "After our first big challenge, one of the professional chefs, a phenomenal young cook out of New York, turned around and said, 'I have a newfound respect for social media chefs.'" Although the online personas have held their own in the competition so far, there may be an extra layer of nerves for them, which Twitch streamer Tricia Wang has referenced a few times during the show.
The heat of the competition combined with her nerves even resulted in several grease fires. The first of the series happened during Season 1, Episode 5 (via YouTube), taking place in the especially finicky basement kitchen. Ramsay helped extinguish it, nearly sending himself "A-Blais" in the process. But it wasn't the only time this season. As Ramsay told followers on Twitter this week, he said, "Update ... she did it again." That's right, Wang's food went up in flames in the kitchen again in Episode 9 — and not once, but twice during the episode! In her defense, Wang said that the second fire was on purpose to "char her chicken." The irony is that (spoiler alert!) by the end of the February 16 airing, Tricia's chicken came out raw and she was eventually eliminated (via YouTube).