International celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s company is seeking chefs, home cooks and ‘foodie influencers’ in Northern Ireland to sign up for a new television cookery series with a £100,000 cash prize and access to what is described as “mentorship that money can’t buy”.
He’s challenging cooks here to bid for a place in Next Level Chef, a new television competition in which 12 talented chefs, home cooks and other foodie enthusiasts will be challenged to create what the top chef describes as “phenomenal next level dishes” in “what can only be described as a demanding culinary gauntlet”.
Following its hugely successful US run, contestants will be put through their paces in the UK’s toughest ever food competition as “the nation’s culinary excellence in showcased and celebrated”.
The US series was promoted as the “world’s biggest cooking contest”.
Next Level Chef is described as the next evolution in cooking competitions. Ramsay has designed “a one-of-a-kind culinary gauntlet, set on an iconic stage”. Over three stories high, each floor contains a stunningly different kitchen.
From the glistening top floor to the challenging bottom of the basement, the ingredients will match the environment, because Ramsay believes the true test of great chefs is not only what they can do in the best of circumstances, but what kind of magic they can create in the worst!
Produced by Studio Ramsay Global, Next Level Chef is a one-of-a-kind culinary challenge, billed as the toughest and most epic cooking contest on TV.
The eight-part series, broadcasting in 2023, is set in an iconic and trailblazing TV studio like no other, with three unique kitchen spaces set across three storeys and almost 50ft high.
Each floor will test the contestants’ culinary creativity, agility, flare, and expertise, as they vie to progress to the Next Level.
From the top-level state of the art kitchen utopia to the gloomy basement level ‘scraps only’ surroundings, Next Level Chef will task its chefs to prove they can thrive in any environment.
In a quest to unearth the culinary world’s next sensation, Ramsay will be joined by two of the most elite names in food, as the three judges preside over and mentor a group of talented chefs who will compete against each other to prove they can handle the heat in any kitchen space that is thrown at them.
The contestants will be under the watchful eyes of the panel across all three floors as they battle it out to produce the most
mouth-watering dishes and avoid elimination.
Ultimately, only one can be named Next Level Chef, and the winner will receive a life changing cash prize of £100,000 and a one-year mentorship under all three mentors.
Ramsay continues: “Next Level Chef is off the chart Next Level everything! A culinary competition that is epic on every level.
“From the size of the enormous structure to every challenge, every moment of jeopardy is huge.
“I want to see our chefs, social media
stars, home cooks whatever their level, whatever their experience, show me what they can do.
“Whether they’re at the top cooking in the dream kitchen with every gadget and the finest ingredients or in the middle kitchen, good equipment, good ingredients but nothing fancy or, and this is where it gets really interesting, down in the basement kitchen. Super basic, minimal ingredients and left-over scraps then show me what you’re really made of!
“Talent and tenacity will absolutely shine through, and someone will walk away with an equally Next Level prize. I can’t wait to get started!”
n Applicants must be aged 18 or over by June 1, 2022, and UK residents.
n All shortlisted applicants must be available for one day’s audition in the kitchen workshop in very early August. All selected participants must be available for profile filming sometime in late August or September.
n Principal filming of the series is for maximum two weeks mid to late October 2022.
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