Omi Hopper will appear in the second season of Next Level Chef, which will air on Sunday, February 12, 2023, after the Super Bowl at 10:30 p.m. ET. The show will move to Fox every Thursday at 8:00 PM ET starting with the second episode. The series will follow Omi and 17 other chefs as they compete for the coveted title and $250,000 grand prize.
Omi’s journey to becoming the Next Level Chef is an exciting one. The beauty shop and her day job at Sephora were closed due to COVID and the ensuing quarantine. This ultimately resulted in the chef spending time in the kitchen cooking for friends and family while filming himself to preserve his Puerto Rican culinary heritage.
She began her adventures on TikTok, where her one-minute films quickly became popular, garnering thousands of views. Chef and other contestants were split into three teams as she took part in a series of cooking competitions, each led by Chef Gordon Ramsay, Chef Nyesha Arrington and Chef Richard Blais. In addition to trophies and cash prizes, winners receive a year of mentorship by three celebrity chefs.
Next-level chef contestant Omi Hopper started her cooking career on TikTok.
Omi decided to take care of her family after losing her job due to the epidemic by preserving her Puerto Rican traditions through food. Her one-minute TikTok videos caught the chef’s attention a lot. The Next Level Chef candidate is currently most known on social media as “Cooking Con Omi”, with over 295k followers on Instagram, 52k followers on YouTube and over 410k Follow on TikTok.
Omi was born in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico and moved to Providence, Rhode Island at the age of 11. She fondly recalls the summers she spent with her grandparents, which prompted her to continue her Puerto Rican heritage through through her kitchen. The Next Level Chef candidate addressed her motivation and wide social media presence in an interview with TODAY. Omi wants her food to reflect what she has learned from the women in her life. She stated:
“I started cooking at a very young age with my grandmother and aunts. They are a very passionate group of women. As a result, I grew up seeing them always having fun in the kitchen, cooking, dancing, making jokes. and eager to try each other’s cooking.
Her dishes now bring people together and even bring them back to memories of the past. Omi told the newspaper that she is aware of her obligation to not only involve but also prepare food for people as her social media channels grow in popularity.
Omi told The Providence Journal that the only way she can help her films get attention on social media is to create new material every day. To ensure that her cooking videos reach her target audience, the chef had to research the right algorithms. She stated:
“Food and cooking have to inspire me and I want others to feel happy looking at it.”
The Next Level Chef finalist is currently working with sponsors and other influencers to help her company scale. She also pays homage to her grandmother by inventing her own brand of sofrito, Mi Sofrito Fresqusito, which is a blend of herbs, spices and other flavors used as the base for Latin American cuisine. The chef is also working on additional merchandise.
Oma’s journey to starting her own food company began after she was inspired by an online Zoom course and received business support. She then met Lisa Raiola, the president and creator of Hope & Main, and began training to start her own food company. The cast of The Next Level Chef doesn’t speak in the typical “recipe style” of many food bloggers and TikTokers. According to news sites, she diligently researched recipes because she has her own process and culinary taste. Omi is currently transforming into a food entrepreneur, developing two new items. The first is a freeze-dried version of her sofrito, and the second is a marinade made from it.
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Both of these ingredients can be delicious additions to Latin recipes, she claims. Her husband, Kradin Hopper, whom she calls a “thinker,” has helped her create her own brand. Omi appeared on Next Level Chef as a member of chef Nyesha Arrington’s team. The cooking show contestants will prepare delicious dishes to keep them safe until one of them wins the coveted title, prize money, and mentorship. Viewers will have to tune in to see them all. Don’t miss the premiere of Next Level Chef Season 2’s first season on Fox on Sunday, February 12, 2023, at 10:30 p.m. ET after the Super Bowl.
Categories: Entertaintment
Source: HIS Education