New Orleans chef plus friends return to cooking competition. ‘It’s kind of like summer camp.’.
New Orleans chef Nini Nguyen is hoping to spin and cook her way to victory on her third trip to Food Network’s “Tournament of Champions” kitchen.
“I keep going back because not only do I want to win, I think the competition is really fun,” Nguyen said recently while walking her dog in the Crescent City. “It’s like fun to be able to. I say ‘fun’ very loosely because it’s sometimes stressful.”
The show airs at 7 p.m. Sundays and streams the following day on HBO Max and Discovery+.
Celebrity host Guy Fieri is bringing four food world icons to vie in ‘Tournament of Champions: Season 7.’
Nguyen, 39, exited after the first round of the Guy Fieri-hosted competition series’ Season 5 in 2024 and made it all the way to the Season 6 quarterfinals last year.
“Tournament of Champions” is a single-elimination, bracketed tournament, with placement based on previous competition series appearances and wins. Thirty-two of the nation’s top chefs are vying for $150,000 and a coveted “Tournament of Champions” belt.
Bracket placement aside, every chef has a chance of being stumped as there’s another layer of challenge in this contest. It’s called the randomizer. Fieri spins five wheels to determine what protein, produce, equipment, style and wildcard ingredient must be used by the chefs in cooking their dishes. The combinations can end up being helpful or horrendous.
Season 7 brings an added surprise.
Chefs Nini Nguyen, left, and Gabriele Bertaccini work against time and fatigue on ’24 in 24: Last Chef Standing.’
“Top-seeded chefs in every division will be food world icons, four of the most powerful opponents to ever compete on the series, but their identities will remain a secret until the moment they enter the arena,” a series synopsis states. “Every battle will be head-to-head; every spin of the randomizer will keep competitors on their toes and viewers on the edge of their seats, and every dish is make-or-break.”
Here, cookbook author Nguyen (“Dac Biet: An Extra-Special Vietnamese Cookbook”) discusses her previous time on the show and looks ahead to Season 7.
The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
You’ve gotten a good bit of experience with this show. Has it changed since the first time you were on it?
It hasn’t really changed. The randomizer, it’s stumped me before, but it’s fun in regards to where it levels off the playing field. No matter who you’re going against, it’s not necessarily the most skilled — it’s the quickest thinker.
I think that’s why a lot of women have won, because we’re really resourceful. It’s fun to be able to cook against all of my friends. It’s kind of like summer camp, but I also want to win money.
Since there’s no way to prepare for the randomizer, how do you get ready for “Tournament of Champions”?
I watch old episodes. I see what people do, what goes right, what goes wrong, and you study it. You can’t really predict who you’re going to go against. That’s what makes the bracket reveal so exciting. I make sure I brush up on weird ingredients that I might have seen before, like protein. That’s the only way you could really study because you can’t really prepare for weird combos.
As far as competitive cooking, do you prefer to compete against a known or an unknown?
I don’t know. I think, for me, an unknown because sometimes I psych myself out thinking, “What is the other person going to do?” I’d rather just focus on myself and try to put a good dish through. So I guess I’d rather an unknown, but really I would just rather be better at focusing on what I’m doing.
At the end of the day, it goes to the judges. We don’t know who the judges are, so you can’t cook for taste. You just have to cook something that you really love, or like at least, and hope for the best.
This is one of the larger Food Network prizes. What would you do with the prize money?
I’m about to be 40. I’ve always wanted to be a mom. If I win, I would love to take that money to start my own family. I’m not currently married or dating anyone, so I might want to be a single mom by choice and figure things out from there.
You had mentioned last time that you would like to open a Vietnamese restaurant. How is that plan going?
I am looking at spaces right now. It’s very scary because the economy doesn’t seem like a great place. But with that being said, I’m still looking, and I’m putting more pen to paper this year. I hope to have something by the end of the year or at least a space.
Fans can join the conversation on social platforms using #TournamentOfChampions. Get to know the competitors, keep up with the latest news, read winner interviews and more on FoodNetwork.com.
