Jersey Shore native Gabrielle Chappel found cooking on “Next Level Chef” a “crazy and chaotic experience.”
She was a small-town girl competing against other top-notch chefs on a show filmed in Ireland.
“I remember the first day getting there and all of us, connecting with everyone and thinking, holy crap, I can't believe that I have to compete against all these people like professional chefs,” Chappel said Monday.
She not only competed.
She won.
A panel of three judges, including show host and famed chef Gordon Ramsay, picked her over 14 other contestants, including Ryan Von Smith, of Scranton, the owner of Chef Von & Mom in the city’s downtown. (Smith lost in the 8th round, but his restaurant has boomed since. Read more about Smith's story.)
Chappel, 29, received $250,000 for winning the cooking competition's third season. She expects Ramsay will continue to mentor her.
“Next Level Chef” concluded May 9. Chappel showed up for each episode like any job – with an intense level of focus, a desire to learn and a willingness to leave her comfort zone, she said.
“It was also to remain calm. I had this level of focus throughout the entire competition that has become one of my biggest advantages,” Chappel said.
The creation of flavors and fun moments made the experience memorable. The uniqueness of her dishes caught Ramsay’s eye.
“My style of cooking is not traditional French … I pull a lot of inspiration from a variety of global flavors and techniques. I think that what I was able to do ended up really stemming from my ability to sort of stand apart from a lot of the other competitors,” Chappel said. “Maybe Chef Ramsay saw something in me that was maybe a little surprising and a little unconventional. I feel like he saw that as an opportunity to give a chance to somebody who really, really wants to make this their career.”
She overcame and conquered in a typically male dominated industry. Only 39 percent of professional chefs are women while 61 percent are men, according to Career Explorer statistics, an online database.
“In general, as a population, I'd be willing to bet that everyone's memories come from cooking with their grandmothers or their mothers,” she said. “To me, these patriarchal dynamics that exist within the culinary industry (are) more of a reflection of the industry itself.”
She never saw herself “working in a high-end restaurant" because of the dynamics of the kitchen.
“It's brutal,” Chappel said. “I do see so many inspiring women who are coming through the ranks, putting in hours, putting in the work and giving, making a name for themselves and creating exquisite, unique and incredible cuisine that holds a candle to the rest of the industry.”
Chappel believes an emergence of new talent is rising, chefs who work against the grain of high-end restaurants.
“I think what we're going to see is an emergence of new talent regardless of gender is going to be upholding more positive values, and heralding the work they value and ethics of creating good working conditions and workplaces for people to really flourish,” she said.
During the show, Chappel focused on experimenting with ingredients.
The “value” of meat proteins was subjective for her and reflects her small-town Pennsylvanian roots.
“Throughout the season, I tended to intentionally pick cuts of meat or proteins that maybe weren't so heralded for their value. I feel, especially the way I grew up and the way a lot of people grow up, there's no reason that New York strip steak can't have the same immense flavor and complexity of filet mignon,” she said. “There's no reason that a pork meatball can't be given as much care and attention. There's a value to those dishes that can't have it be transformed into something that's just as worthy as you know, a scallop.”
Chappel prides herself in plant-based cuisine. She considers the creativity of it her cooking strength.
“I think that it's my forte and anything else beyond that is something that I've kind of self taught,” she said.
Chappel shared a recent inclusion to her plant-based menu. They are a “fun” recipe for hush puppies, she said. Her version of the deep-fried batter ball is infused with dandelion greens.
They’re served with sort of a chamomile, malted honey and honey vinegar, she said. Chappel hand-picked dandelions for the chamomile at her parents’ Jersey Shore home and tested the recipe there.
“They were a big hit and everyone loved them,” she said.
Chappel wants to convey valuing all types of food. She looks for nuance in her dishes.
“There's a lot of nuances that can be added to these foods that can create impressionable dishes. To me, that's something I want to teach people - that you can make gold out of whatever you just have to put in a little bit extra effort,” Chappel said.
Chappel’s mentorship has just begun along with her new YouTube series. “Gabi’s Next Course'' made its debut on YouTube’s cooking channel, Bite Originals. Through this series, Ramsey’s mentorship shows. With his guidance, Chappel harnesses different culinary creations.
“The beginning of it really is already in a really cool way on display through my new Bite Originals series where you get to follow along on the relationship between me and my mentor Chef Ramsey, as he kind of guides me through this next chapter of this next course of my career,” she said.
A Penn State University alumna, Chappel grew up in Jersey Shore and lives today in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up in small-town America contributed to her success.
“It meant so much to me to be able to show that to people and to know that even my dad's dentist is rooting me on, having that support group from people that know you personally. There's only so many of us … I'm proud of where I came from and it really helped forge my journey into this entire career,” Chappel said.
YouTube marked Chappel’s cooking breakthrough. Working with other YouTube cooking channels like Epicurious helped get her career started and onto “Next Level Chef.”
“I think that that was when it clicked,” she said. “It wasn't just it needed to be something more than a hobby.
Cooking with her family, she found enjoyment in being a chef.
“I grew up cooking with my parents and grandparents. It was something that I always really enjoyed doing but it never occurred to me that it could be a career,” Chappel said.
Chappel remains open to whatever comes next. She compared her culinary ride to a Mario Kart track.
“It feels like I'm in Mario Kart and I just drove over the star. When you hit the star and you just start taking off? That's what it feels like right now, like I am super speeding my way right through this experience,” she said.
She hopes to learn all she can and capitalize on opportunities, including publishing a cookbook.
“If you're a kid from a small town, or if you're from somewhere where you feel like there may not be a lot of opportunity, there's a big world out there and anything you want you can get, you just gotta put yourself in the right place and you'll find it,” she said.
