Pyet next level chef where is she now
Next Level Chef Winner Pyet DeSpain And Mentor Nyesha Arrington Reveal Show Secrets - Exclusive Interview
Can you elaborate a little more on your approach to the judging process for this show? Because, like you say, the stakes are so much higher, you're invested in these team members you're mentoring. You're also trying to balance cooking on these different floors, how do you balance all that?
Arrington: This has been the largest platform of culinary stage that I have been a part of. I've done lots of TV programming and things, but never like a series where we're filming five days a week, and waking up at 6:00 in the morning, and I'd go to the gym at 4:00 in the morning to get my blood flowing. It's hard, when you're sitting in a makeup chair for an hour and a half. Like I said, I'm so invested in it. I want to hit the ground running when I get out there and present that challenge for the day. I want eyes wide open, blood flowing, like "let's go."
To be on the judges' side, I didn't want to just be with my clipboard, giving tasting notes. For me, it was important to give life notes [and] experience so that people can take this knowledge and apply it to other places in the
By Kalvin Valdillez; photos courtesy of Pyet DeSpain
The season of the brackets is upon us. And though many are filling out their brackets with NCAA basketball teams for March Madness, Meal Network viewers are inputting the names of 32 highly esteemed chefs on theirs. Now in its sixth season, the hour-long reality cooking contest known as the Tournament of Champions brings together both seasoned vets and up and coming chefs for a thrilling and entertaining single-elimination battle.
Not only are the chefs competiting against each other, but they are also up against the ‘randomizer’, which is a wheel that determines the protein, produce, equipment, style, ingredient, and time of their cook. The chefs must incorporate each aspect of the randomizer into their plate or else they deal with disqualification. The dishes are then subject to a blind judging process, where their food is placed in front of a panel of top tier chefs who do not know whose meal they are judging. The competitors must watch the judging process from their trailers and are called back to the stage once the results are in. The winner advances in the bracket until only one chef remains victorious and is awa
Chef Pyet Despain is proving there’s more to Native cooking than fry bread
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Smoked tepary bean dip, braised bison with dandelion greens and wojapi berry barbeque sauce.
It's not unusual for L.A. chefs to experiment with new menu items. But these dishes have an ancient history, with flavors and textures reimagined by chef Pyet Despain, a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe who also has Mexican American ancestry.
Despain first earned a name for herself working as a private chef. Then in 2022, she won the top spot on Gordon Ramsay's television competition seriesNext Level Chef, bringing her even more attention.
Now her creations can be found at Abernethy’s, located inside the Music Center complex in downtown L.A., as part of its Emerging Chefs Program.
Fry bread and corn soup
Despain spent part of her childhood on the Osage Indian reservation and the rest in Kansas City. She celebrated both her cultures, regularly attending ceremonies and powwow cele
PBPN Tribal Member Wins “Next Level Chef” on FOX
PBPN tribal member Stephanie “Pyet” DeSpain won the title of “Next Level Chef” on Gordon Ramsay’s cooking reality show on the FOX Network. The grand finale episode in which she won aired on the evening of Wednesday, March 2, 2022.
Chef Pyet battled 14 other contestant chefs for the title of “Next Level Chef” as well as a $250,000 prize and a year of mentorship from the three celebrity chef judges from the show: Gordon Ramsay, Richard Blais and Nyesha Arrington. Ramsey said Pyet brought herself, her history, and her heritage to every dish she prepared as he announced that she was now the First Ever Next Level Chef. Throughout the show, Chef Pyet constantly reinvented herself and her dishes by channeling her Native American heritage into her food. In this way she continually created delicious food the judges had never tasted before.
Pyet visited the PBPN Boys and Girls Club and the Fire Keepers Elder Center in February to give a demonstration and prepare meals. She hopes to return in April to work more with the community.
Next Level Chef champion Pyet DeSpain on struggle, mentorship, and heritage
Chef Pyet DeSpain. // Photo by Mark Mendoza
Born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas, Chef Pyet DeSpain took the first-place title in Gordon Ramsay’s latest cooking competition, The Next Level Chef. Through the trials and tribulations of constant kitchen shifts, ingredient changes, and time restrictions, DeSpain came to conquer.
Next Level Chef debuted in 2021, with the concept of professional chefs of all backgrounds, including personal chefs, head chefs, and social media chefs competing head-to-head for a chance to win $250,000.
While battling for a chance at a huge prize, the chefs were divided into three teams based on the selection of notable chefs Nyesha Arrington, Richard Blais, and Gordon Ramsay.
DeSpain showed authenticity, appreciation, and approbation for her roots by incorporating Native Indigenous and Mexican flavors in her dishes. Throughout the competition, DeSpain’s assigned mentor was Arrington, a highly decorated and world-renowned chef.
DeSpain unfolds her experience in the cooking competition by sharing the struggles she faced, the strong relationships that wer