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Popular reality competition series Next Level Chef season 2 aired a brand new episode on Thursday, March 30, at 8:00 pm ET on Fox. It documented the remaining contestants participating in a themed challenge. They gave it their all to create incredible dishes and impress their mentors to secure their safety and keep moving forward in the competition.
While some Next Level Chef contestants did exceedingly well, others fell short of impressing the judges. Preston, Vinny, and Pilar had to battle it out in the elimination round.
While chef Gordon took charge of guiding the contestants, chef Nyesha and Richard had to blind taste the dishes. They ultimately decided to let go of 19-year-old chef Preston from the competition. Fans were disappointed to see the young chef leave. One tweeted:
What transpired on this week's episode of Next Level Chef?
Tonight's episode of Next Level Chef saw the contestants getting ready for a brand new day of challenges. They assembled in the kitchen where they were greeted not just by their three mentors but also with a brand new twist. Chef Gordon announced that the team competition was over and they had to fight for themselves.
The mentors also revealed that the top floor was closed for the week. Nuri and Tucker also had to let go of their hard-earned immunity pins. The official synopsis of the episode, titled Going Global, reads:
"Each person grabs a box with a country's flag on it and is tasked to make the country's signature dish; one chef's dreams come to an end."
As the top floor was shut, the mentors divided the Next Level Chef contestants in the middle and basement floors by analyzing their performances up until now in the competition. Tineke, Pilar, Nuri, Tucker, Mehreen and Omi were assigned to the middle, while Shay, Chris, Michelle, Preston and Vinny took the basement.
The challenge had the chefs create a signature dish from a country that they would pick as the platform dropped. Although the names of the countries were written on the boxes, they didn't know what they would cook until they opened it. Check out which countries the Next Level Chef contestants chose to work with.
1) Middle floor - Tineke (Spain), Pilar (Jamaica), Tucker (Italy), Omi (India), Mehreen (Lebanon), and Nuri (Thailand).
2) Basement - Michelle (Canada), Vinny (Sweden), Shay (Austria), Chris (Greece), and Preston (Morocco).
The chefs got to cook their best possible dishes from the countries they chose. A few struggled with their choices and ingredients, while others like Nuri let the nerves get the best of them. The mid-round mayhem helped them with another ingredient of their choice.
The Next Level Chef mentors then began their blind tasting. They were impressed with Tucker, Mehreen, Tineke, Michelle and others. A few contestants missed out on flavor profiles, heroing the designated cuisine and struggles with meat.
After much deliberation, the judges were most impressed with Omi, Tucker and Michelle. Meanwhile, Tineke, Nuri, Shay, Mehreen, and Chris will be cooking from the middle floor.
The three chefs moving into the basement next week were Pilar, Vinny and Preston. However, they had to go through an elimination round this week, where they were tasked with cooking a classic French dish — duck a l’orange in 30 minutes.
Next Level Chef mentors Nyesha and Richard were to blind taste the dishes. By the end of the episode, they had chosen to send 19 year old chef Preston home as his duck was drowning in sauce and was very sweet.
Fans react to Preston's elimination on Next Level Chef
Preston was definitely a fan-favorite as viewers were disappointed to see him go. Fans also showered their support for the young chef. They believed he had a lot of potential, being just 19 years old and had a long career in front of him. Check out some of these tweets below:
Season 2 of Next Level Chef is getting interesting with each passing episode. As the installment progresses, the contestants will face tougher challenges that will test their culinary abilities. Viewers will have to stay tuned to find out who will take it all the way to win the competition.
Don't forget to tune in to a brand new episode of Next Level Chef next Thursday, April 6, at 8:00 pm ET on Fox.
