Two Utah Chefs to Appear on Food Network This Week
Jason Talcott, executive chef of the Ogden Golf & Country Club, initially didn’t want to compete on the Food Network’s “Guy’s Grocery Games.” But he says the experience was “Awesome! Now I’ve done it once, it was pretty fun. I would definitely do it again.”
The episode, called “Veterans Holiday Showdown,” is scheduled to premiere Tuesday, Dec. 15. (Check your cable provider’s local listings for the correct time.)
Another Utah chef, Adalberto Diaz Labrada of Fillings and Emulsions Bakery in Salt Lake City, has been competing in the FN’s “Holiday Baking Championship,” which airs on Sunday nights. After several weeks of intense baking, he has made it to the final four chefs.
In the “Grocery Game” episode, Talcott represents the Army, and three other chefs compete for the Air Force, Marines and Navy. Each veteran will make a family holiday meal with a must-use ingredient. In the next round, they make a hometown favorite. In the final round, the vets must shop for their five-star dinners without their carts. The winning vet earns shopping spree for themselves and their chosen USO center worth up to $40,000.
Talcott’s military career includes time as executive chef for Secretaries of Defense William Cohen and Donald Rumsfeld. He oversaw dinners for dignitaries such as Presidents Clinton and Bush, foreign heads of state and defense ministers. He also was the Utah National Guard foods director, and was deployed to Iraq in 2005.
“In the Pentagon, the Secretary of Defense had his own dining room and kitchen that supported his staff, so we did a restaurant where they could come in and eat, in addition to the special functions. There were dietary restrictions and security concerns,” Talcott said in a telephone interview.
He felt his wide variety of experiences helped him compete on the show.
“And a lot of the cooking is where you look through cupboards and come up with something, and that’s what I do all the time at home,” he added.
But he wasn’t interested in competing until he learned that some of the prize money would go to charity.
“The Food Network put out announcements about it, and people who knew me from when I was in the Army’s culinary program sent them my name,” he said. “Honestly, at first I wasn’t that enthused about it. But when Food Network reached out to me a couple of months later, I found out the show is joining with a corporate sponsor to help raise money for USO charities. That’s what finally made me decide to do it.”
He can’t tell us whether or not he won; just that it was great spending time with other military veterans who are also in the food business.
“We have that shared experience,” he said.
He also was impressed with the show’s host, Guy Fierri, known for his spiky bleached hair and bold personality.
“He’s much different than his TV persona,” said Talcott. “He’s one of the hardest-working guys in show business, with all his restaurants and multiple TV shows. And he’s a huge supporter of the military.”
The show, filmed in a giant warehouse-turned-grocery store in Santa Rosa, Calif., was shot all in one day.
“We started at 6:30 a.m. and ended at 8:30 that night,” he said.
Utahns have had success on various Food Network reality contests. In addition to Adalberto Diaz Labrada’s turn on “Holiday Baking Championship,” Utah-based Waffle Love came in second place in “The Great Food Truck Race” in September. Centerville blogger Ashlee Prisbrey competed on the Halloween Baking Championship in October.
Utah chef Viet Pham beat chef Bobby Flay on an episode of “Iron Chef,” and was the season runner-up on “Extreme Chef.”
Utah winners of “Cupcake Wars” include Leslie Fiet of Mini’s Cupcakes, Meagan Faulkner Brown of The Sweet Tooth Fairy Bakery and Janell Brown of One Sweet Slice.
Although North Ogden native Kelsey Nixon didn’t win the 2008 season of “The Next Food Network Star,” she was voted the “Fan Favorite,” and eventually ended up becoming a Food Network star anyway, with her Emmy-nominated “Kelsey’s Essentials.”