Fox’s ‘Next Level Chef’ gets prime post-Super Bowl slot
Most viewers may know “Next Level Chef” for its three-tiered kitchen set or its high-stakes competition. But chef Nyesha Arrington thinks what really sets the Fox series apart is its emphasis on mentorship.
“It’s truly so freakin’ rewarding,” she says. “I mean, to be able to put these chefs out on a platform to be seen, to be heard, to be celebrated is freakin’ incredible. You know, I get to be this sort of blip in their lifetime. I’m just truly at an intersection in their life and they’re going to go on and they’re going to do great things. But it’s so rewarding to me to be able to share the passion, share the knowledge, to celebrate the craft of cooking and carry on that legacy.”
The series returns for its second season Sunday, Feb. 12, in prime network real estate, the coveted timeslot following Fox’s coverage of Super Bowl LVII. Back, of course, are host Gordon Ramsay, Richard Blais and Arrington to mentor teams of home cooks, social media chefs and pros through a competition where they must prove how well they can perform in the best and worst conditions, as represented by the set’s three levels of kitchens. The winning chef gets a $250,000 prize and a year’s mentorship from all three mentors.
For Arrington, having the best equipment and ingredients on the top level is what every chef wants, but she says that also comes with its drawbacks.
“I would say it’s mildly overwhelming,” she says, “the amount of equipment that’s in there because some of these things, you really have to spend time to know how to use them to your advantage. And so I think even just that sort of few moments of trying to – for lack of a better way to say this – download a lot of information very quickly under a huge time restraint, but then also think about a creative dish and execute that under pressure, it’s very challenging.”
Conversely, Arrington says, the bottom level with its basic equipment and ingredients is where she’s seen the greatest creativity.
“I think it’s human nature, when you’re under pressure you work a little bit faster, a little bit quicker, a little bit smarter,” she says, “because you actually just don’t have the time not to. If you’re in the top kitchen and you get a filet mignon and truffles and caviar and all this stuff, it’s like OK, you might think you get the best dish. But really, the most creativity is when you have (a cheap) piece of meat, you have to kind of put love into that. And so that’s really where I see a lot of these chefs really giving it their all.”
“And a lot of these professional chefs, they’re used to working in these fancy kitchens and it’s cool to actually see them out of their element and go back to basics with these basic kitchens. It’s really entertaining.”