Omi Hopper will be featured in season 2 of Next Level Chef, which will air on Sunday, February 12, 2023, after the Super Bowl at 10:30pm ET. The program will move to Fox every Thursday at 8pm 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 in grand prize money.
Omi’s path in Next Level Chef is very interesting. Her cosmetics workshop and her day job at Sephora have been closed due to COVID and the resulting shutdown. This eventually led to the chef spending time in the kitchen cooking for friends and family while recording himself to preserve his Puerto Rican culinary heritage.
He started his journey on TikTok, where his one-minute films quickly became popular, gaining thousands of views. The chef and other contestants were separated into three teams as he took part in a series of culinary competitions, each with mentors in chef Gordon Ramsay, chef Nyesha Arrington, and chef Richard Blais. The winner will get not only the title and monetary reward but also a year of mentoring from three famous chefs.
Next Level Chef contestant Omi Hopper started his culinary profession on TikTok.
Omi decided to support his family after losing his job due to the epidemic by preserving Puerto Rican traditions through his food. His one-minute TikTok video drew a lot of attention to the chef. The Next Level Chef candidate is currently best known on social media as “Cooking Con Omi” (Cooking with Omi), with over 295K followers on Instagram, 52K followers on YouTube and over 410K followers on TikTok.
Omi was born in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, and at the age of 11 moved to Providence, Rhode Island. He recalls the summers he spent at his grandparents’ house, which inspired him to continue his Puerto Rican heritage through his cooking. The Next Level Chef candidate reflected on his motivation and his large social media presence in an interview with TODAY. Omi wants his food to reflect what he has learned from the women in his life. He states:
“I started cooking at a very young age with my grandmother and aunt. They are a very enthusiastic bunch of women. As a result, I grew up seeing them always cheerful in the kitchen, cooking, dancing, making jokes, and eager to test each other’s cooking.”
His cuisine has now brought people together and even brought them back to the past. Omi informed the newspaper that he is aware of his obligation to not only remain relevant but also provide food for his people as his social media channels gain popularity.
Omi told The Providence Journal that the only way he can help his film gain traction on social media is to generate fresh material every day. To ensure that his cooking videos reach the desired audience, the chef needs to research the appropriate algorithm. He stated:
“Food and cooking have to inspire me, and I want other people to feel good while watching it.”
The Next Level Chef finalist is now working with sponsors and other influencers to help her company grow. He also paid tribute to his grandmother by creating his own brand of sofrito, Mi Sofrito Fresqusito, which is a blend of herbs, spices, and other flavors used as a base for Latin cuisine. Chef is also working on additional items.
Omi’s path to establishing his own food company began after he was inspired by an online Zoom class and was awarded a business grant. He then met Lisa Raiola, president and creator of Hope & Main, and began his training to launch his culinary company. The Next Level Chef cast members don’t speak in the typical “recipe style” of many food bloggers and TikTokers. According to the news site, she finds the recipe difficult because she has her own culinary processes and talents. Omi is now turning into a food entrepreneur, developing two new items. The first is a freeze-dried version of his sofrito, and the second is a marinade prepared from it.
Both of these ingredients, he claims, could be delicious additions to Latin recipes. Her husband, Kradin Hopper, whom she calls “the thinker,” is helping her in the creation of her own brand. Omi appeared on Next Level Chef as a member of chef Nyesha Arrington’s crew. The contestants of the cooking show will prepare amazing dishes to ensure their safety until one of them wins the coveted title, cash prize and mentorship. Viewers have to watch to see everything. Don’t miss the season debut of Next Level Chef season 2 on Fox on Sunday, February 12, 2023, at 10:30pm ET after the Super Bowl.
Categories: Biography
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
