Chef Gordon Ramsay Puts the Spotlight on Texas Talent in a Unique New Cooking Competition

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay recently announced the relocation of his restaurant headquarters to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Now that Las Colinas is home to the TV host’s food empire, an entire Texas team is leading the brand’s expansion across North America. The chef already has his own Dallas restaurant concepts in the works, but until then, Ramsay is spotlighting Texas talent in another way. Next Level Chef, Ramsay’s newest cooking competition show, throws together a mix of 15 professional chefs, home cooks, social media stars, and food truck owners to show off their skills.

Two home chefs from Austin, (Amber Rebold) and Lubbock (Angie Ragan), made the cut, along with Mariah Scott, a professional chef from Houston.

The show revolves around a unique setpiece: a tri-level stage featuring three very different kitchens. The top level features a top-of-the-line workspace, the middle level offers a standard commercial kitchen, and the lowest level is a bare-bones basement. The group is divided into three sets of five (mentored by Ramsay, Nysesha Arrington, or Richard Blais) and randomly assigned to one of the kitchens each episode. The goal: to highlight the talent that can transcend even the crummiest kitchen.

With the season’s competition just heating up — new episodes of Next Level Chef on Wednesdays at 8 pm on Fox, or Hulu the next day — we caught up with Scott to learn more about the professional Texas chef’s journey.

PaperCity: Tell us a bit about your background.

Mariah Scott: Growing up, I moved around a lot and spent the summers at my grandparents’ house. That’s when I would help my grandmother cook. My grandparents are from the South but relocated to California. I learned about Southern cuisine at a very young age.

PaperCity: How did you make the move to Houston? 

Scott: I am originally from the Bay Area of California, but as a child, my mother moved me and my three brothers around a lot because my father was abusive. We found refuge in homeless shelters for women with children. We lived in so many major cities — Chicago, Atlanta, Sacramento, and Pasadena to name a few.

As an adult, I moved to Houston after receiving a job offer to become an international flight attendant. That’s when I packed up my little Jetta and drove to Texas from San Francisco. I flew the skies for years. My love for food reemerged and my passion was reignited by traveling all around the world. I was introduced to so many cultures and flavors. Having over 30 country stamps in my passport, I fell in love with food all over again but in a deeper way.

Then I received a phone call. My grandmother was killed in a car accident while driving home from church. That moment changed my life forever. I started focusing on self-love and reevaluated how I wanted to spend my life. That’s when I quit flying and enrolled full-time in culinary school where I obtained my degree in Culinary Arts. I started teaching classes at William Sonoma pre-pandemic. Once the pandemic hit, that culinary job was no longer available. That’s when I became a full-time private chef and began working for one client in the Museum District.

PaperCity: What is it like as a private chef in the city?

Scott: I absolutely love cooking for dinner parties and small boutique events. I am all about themed menus. I love providing personalized experiences and find joy in creating recipes. Food brings people together and that is one of the things I enjoy most about being a private chef.

 

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A post shared by Mariah Scott | food +lifeStyle (@i_am_mariah)

PaperCity: How did you end up on Next Level Chef? Did you have to apply? 

Scott: I received an email from a casting company about Next Level Chef so I applied. The process took months and was super intense. I was chosen out of 50,000 applicants.

PaperCity: What was it like working with Gordon Ramsay? Did you enjoy being on chef Blais’ team?

Scott: I absolutely loved being in the kitchen with Gordon Ramsay. He is tough and also caring. I have so much respect for him that I don’t mind him in my face yelling at me. I mean he is freakin’ Gordon Ramsay. He has earned the right to be like that. Being on Chef Blais’ team was awesome. He totally understood my thinking process and I rarely had to explain what I was doing because he got it. It’s like our minds synced and we were sending messages telepathically. He is so smart and creative. He is sort of like a mad scientist and I am here for every minute of it.

PaperCity: What was it like working with a mix of home, social media, and professional chefs?

Scott: I loved working with all the different chefs. I was once a home cook and in today’s day and age, social media is a valuable tool. So, I could relate to all the contestants on the show and I learned something from everyone. They did a great job casting the show. We all got along, yet we were all different.

 

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A post shared by Mariah Scott | food +lifeStyle (@i_am_mariah)

PaperCity: Which level kitchen (bottom, middle, or top) do you think you made the best dishes in?

Scott: To be honest, I made the best dishes in all kitchens but I think the basement is the best place to shine because it shows innovation with limited resources.

PaperCity: What was the most fun thing about being on the show?

Scott: Besides having the opportunity to have three amazing chefs taste my food, the most fun for me was challenging myself with ingredients and time constraints in ways I have never been challenged before. I love being pushed to my limits because great things can happen when you are uncomfortable. The chase to the platform [which contestants had limited time to go grab ingredients from before it headed up to the next level] always had my heart pumping and the adrenaline became addicting.

PaperCity: Most challenging aspect?

Scott: Thinking on the fly and creating a recipe without even knowing what is going to be thrown at you.

PaperCity: What is your plan for the prize money if you win?

Scott: If I win Next Level Chef, my plan is to finish my cookbook and start a travel food cooking show and lifestyle product line.

PaperCity: What are some of your favorite Houston spots?

Scott: So many to choose from, but definitely any restaurant by chefs Hugo Ortega or Chris Shepherd. I mean, both chefs make amazing food but both are also great people. Chef Hugo and I are alumni from the same culinary school and Chef Chris Sheppard is an amazing person. I had the opportunity to meet [Sheppard] when I cooked for his cookbook launch at Williams Sonoma. Plus, he does a lot of philanthropy, which is important to me.