Chapel Hill Chef Wins Food Network’s ‘Chopped’ Competition

Chapel Hill chef Dan Jackson can add a new aspect to his resume: “Chopped” winner.

The executive chef for the new Italian restaurant Osteria Georgi in Chapel Hill recently won Food Network’s “Chopped” competition on Tuesday, June 15.

The culinary competition on the Food Network features four chefs cooking surprise ingredients from a basket — with the worst dish in each round sending one chef home. Some ingredients Jackson had to work with on Tuesday’s episode included challenges like algae oil, black ants, sunflowers and meatless breakfast sausage.

In an interview with the News & Observer, Jackson said he’s always wanted to participate in a cooking competition.

“The reason I got into cooking was more the competition of it, the athleticism of it,” Jackson said. “You have to move well behind the line and think on the fly as a line cook. You have to use your movements and know what pan to grab and what needs to happen.”

Jackson, a Chapel Hill native, said “Chopped” producers first reached out to him in early 2020 and he prepared to compete on the show in March. That was before, however, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and devastated the restaurant industry. Jackson was laid off, and he and his wife moved back to North Carolina at the end of the summer.

From there, Jackson was hired as the executive chef of Osteria Georgi, a product of the Giorgios Hospitality & Lifestyle Group, which opened this spring at 201 South Elliott Road in Chapel Hill.

Another one of the group’s restaurants, Kipos Greek Taverna, recently moved from its West Franklin Street location nearby to where Osteria Georgi is open. The Greek-food eatery now operates in the Eastgate Crossing Shopping Center and re-opened in November.

Jackson’s talents in the kitchen clearly translated to the competition and Chapel Hill residents raved about his performance on the show.

“The smartest thing he did was to always hold back some of each basket ingredient so he always had a Plan B,” wrote Jill Cozzi on the Chapel Hill Carrboro Foodies Facebook group. “He clearly did his homework about the show. Smart!!”

Featured image via Osteria Georgi

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Chapel Hill Chef Wins Food Network's 'Chopped' Competition

Chapel Hill chef Dan Jackson can add a new aspect to his resume: “Chopped” winner. The executive chef for the new Italian restaurant Osteria Georgi in Chapel Hill recently won Food Network’s “Chopped” competition on Tuesday, June 15. The culinary competition on the Food Network features four chefs cooking surprise ingredients from a basket — with the worst dish in […]

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