Chef Luca Annunziata is the latest Charlotte chef to compete on Food Network series Chopped. Annunziata is the former chef and owner of Passion8, then Luca, with his wife Jessica. He’s currently executive chef at Forchetta on the ground floor of the Uptown Holiday Inn.

The episode, Season 45, episode 10, is titled Time and Turmoil. Chopped consists of four chefs cooking three courses using ingredients from a mystery basket of ingredients. Judges eliminate one chef from the contest after each course based on that dish. The last elimination, after the dessert round, takes into consideration all of the courses. Last night’s competition culminated in a cook-off between Italian-born Annunziata and another Italian-American chef Lina Zarcaro of New Jersey.

The baskets included Manila clams, blooming quesadillas, dried cuttlefish, sweetbreads, seaweed-coated peanuts, and boozy cranberry gelatin. Judges on the episode were Amanda Freitag, Maneet Chauhan, and Scott Conant.

“I did this competition 100 percent,” Annunziata told the judges. “I put my love and my heart in it.”

Chef Chris Coleman of The Goodyear House also recently won on Chopped, and Sam Diminich of Your Farms, Your Table won on Beat Bobby Flay. 

Watch the full episode here by logging in with your TV provider.  —Kristen Wile

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