Kansas City, Kansas, chef wins top prize on Gordon Ramsay’s TV show ‘Next Level Chef’
A Kansas City, Kansas, native has been chosen as the first-ever winner on celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s reality TV show “Next Level Chef.”
Pyet DeSpain was awarded the top prize during an airing of the show’s first season finale Wednesday night on Fox. She gets a $250,000 check plus a one-year mentorship.
DeSpain faced off against two other contestants Wednesday night. The panel of judges evaluated the show’s participants based on three courses.
For her final dish, DeSpain cooked a rack of lamb served with prosciutto-wrapped green beans and a merlot sauce. It won the approval of Ramsay, who described the meal as “refined” and “utter perfection.”
“That last course was the show-winner,” Ramsay said after DeSpain was announced.
DeSpain was joined by her mother as she toasted the win.
“To put a Native American indigenous woman as your ‘Next Level Chef,’ I feel like I’m a part of history,” she said as she stood beside her mom to accept the win before a live studio audience Wednesday night.
DeSpain currently works as a private chef in Los Angeles. She spent part of her early childhood on the Osage Indian Reservation and most of her life in Kansas City, Kansas, where she worked in her family’s taquerias and restaurants in the Kansas City area, according to her website.
“Next Level Chef” has been renewed for a second season. The show is hosted by Ramsay along with chefs Nyesha Arrington and Richard Blais.
