by TM Petaccia

Charlotte chef Richelle Espinosa-Brewer competed on Food Network’s Guy’s Grocery Games, Wednesday evening (January 3)

Chef Richelle Espinosa-Brewer, formerly of The Crunkleton, is the latest in a long line of Charlotte-area chefs to fire up in the kitchens of Food Network.

Known as “Chef Shiki,” she was one of four contestants on this evening’s season 34, episode 8 of Guy’s Grocery Games. Hosted by celebrity chef Guy Fieri, the show combines the 1960s classic game show Supermarket Sweep with a Chopped-style cooking competition. The last chef standing gets the opportunity to speed shop “Flavortown Market” to find specific items to win up to $20,000.

“I absolutely enjoyed my time on the show,” she says. “The experience is full of adventures and challenges. The set is full of energy and life, and everyone just brings out the best in each other in the most competitive way. The interactions are wholesome, and the conversations are ones that will never be forgotten.”

The theme for this episode was “One-Stop Speed Shop.” Contestants were instructed to grab all the ingredients they needed for two rounds of cooking in under four minutes. Someone would be eliminated before the second round. They were also instructed to use frozen pretzels, the evening’s “red light special” ingredient, in one of the rounds.

Chef Espinosa-Brewer’s Round 1 dish on Food Network’s Guy Grocery Games

The theme for the first round was “Weeknight Dinner.” Espinosa-Brewer made seared pork chops over grits with sautéed mushrooms. Contestants were evaluated in four categories on a 20-point scale per category. After the first round, Espinosa-Brewer was in the lead with 41 points.

The three surviving contestants then drew numbers out of a bowl, which allowed them to select one additional ingredient from the corresponding aisle number. Espinosa-Brewer chose frozen demi-glace.

“There are twists and turns to every part of the show. It keeps you on your toes,” Espinosa-Brewer says. “I was constantly having to pivot my plan for what I wanted to accomplish with what I had. Challenging, to say the least, and more so than in any way of dealing with the daily keep at any restaurant, but man, was it so much fun.”

Chef Shiki’s final dish on Guy’s Grocery Games

The theme for the final round was “Upscale Dinner.” Espinosa-Brewer went surf-and-turf with seared filet mignon with a Gorgonzola and pretzel crust, served with butter-braised lobster, spiced potatoes, and demi-glace bathed vegetables.

In the end, Espinosa-Brewer came up a single point behind the evening’s champion, chef Justin Paruszkiewicz of Michigan.

She may have narrowly lost the competition, but won some friends as she and her fellow contestants bonded over the experience. “We all keep in touch almost every week. We tell each other about our wine dinners, menu changes, or just how the restaurant day went. I am proud to have made those friendships. I can tell you we all celebrated with each other after being on set laughing and cheering each other.”

Despite the loss, Espinosa-Brewer looks at the experience as something to build on.

“Competing did help me grow mentally as a chef,” she says. “I’ve always had a problem with being self-deprecating, but this experience that I’ve had made things become more clear. I love working in a restaurant, but something about being competitive, making those friendships, and being on set just clicked. It made me feel more focused than I ever have.”

These days, Espinosa-Brewer is hoping to find a new chef position, but is also considering a concept of her own.

“I am currently looking for a restaurant to work in, but haven’t found a workplace that feels like the right place, a home with my coworkers as family. It’s a big dream, I know, but I know it exists. If it doesn’t, I’m ready to open a restaurant that makes my dream come true. I have had two storage units for nearly five years now, one filled with BOH equipment and one filled with FOH furniture.”

You can see the re-air schedule of the show on the Food Network website.