»Ê¼Ò»ªÈË

The bright lights, high stakes and fast-paced pressure of competitive culinary shows are not for the faint of heart. »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË alumni know this better than anyone — more than 100 of our culinary and baking alumni have made appearances on TV’s biggest competitions, including a new show that has recently gained a lot of attention and catapulted »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË Charlotte alum Courtney Evans ’19 into the spotlight.  

Netflix’s “,” which premiered in September, brought some of the brightest young stars of the food world together to compete  for a record-breaking $500,000 prize and the title of this generation’s top talent. 

Evans was one of 21 chefs selected to compete on the show. Though she was only 25 at the time of filming, her experience in the kitchen began at a young age. Born in Danville, Virginia and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, she grew up in a family that loved to cook. 

“As a kid, I always knew I was good at cooking,” she shared. “My parents and my grandmother cooked, and all the women and men in my family cook. So, I was always surrounded by it. When I go to my grandmother's house, we pick peas and collard greens, and then when I visit family in New York, we'll make curries and stews. I’ve had a lot of experience farming and working in the kitchen with my family.” 

Despite her lifelong relationship with cooking, Evans almost didn’t pursue it as a career. “I was actually going to go into the judicial system,” she revealed. “I thought I wanted to get a criminal justice or psychology degree. But I was like, ‘Dang, I'm really, really good at this cooking thing, right? Let me test myself and see how far I want to take it.’” (Spoiler alert: she took it really far.) 

She decided to do a culinary vocational program at her high school, where she learned just how many opportunities there were in the culinary field. “I thought you would just be working in a kitchen and be someone’s line cook. I didn't know about hospitality or food science — I didn't know any of that stuff was possible,” Evans said. 

Knowing she wanted to continue her education, she began looking at colleges. When a »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË admissions rep visited her school to talk about culinary program offerings, she knew it would be a strong fit. “The [ »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË] programs seemed really in depth compared to counterparts,” she said. Plus, studying at the Charlotte, North Carolina campus allowed her to stay closer to home and pursue more scholarship opportunities. 

After earning her associate degree in culinary arts, Evans felt ready to hit the ground running and go right into the industry. “ »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË exposed me to so many avenues of what I could do,” she shared. “The networking and personable skills they taught me made me feel prepared to step into this world and not feel lost. That network and those connections are immeasurable.” 

She started her career with an internship at The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in Charleston, South Carolina, where she was then hired as a sous chef to help run their kitchens for banquets, fine dining and room service. But living in Charleston wasn’t the right fit.  

When her former »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË professor recommended her for a new restaurant that was opening in Charlotte, Evans jumped at the chance to return to the city. She joined the team at Leah & Louise, working under James Beard–nominated Chef Greg Collier. She quickly climbed the ranks from line cook to junior sous chef to co-head chef and finally chef de cuisine. Working there gave her a chance to learn about herself as a chef and what she wanted to say with her food. 

During this time, Evans also had the opportunity to travel, stage at restaurants around the country and participate in different dining concepts and food festivals. In 2023, she was named a , a digital publication that highlights Charlotte’s food and drink scene. No wonder culinary shows came knocking. 

“I didn’t know if I wanted to be on a show or if I was good enough.”

“I got offers from ‘Top Chef’ and ‘Chopped’ but I didn’t know if I wanted to be on a show or if I was good enough,” Evans revealed. She turned down the offers and continued working, moving over to Chef Collier’s new  restaurant. “I had been grinding for about six years at this point,” Evans said. “I was tired, and I decided it was time to take some time for myself.” 

She opted to visit her sister in Spain. Just before leaving, she got a message from the casting director of “Next Gen Chef.” At first, she thought she would turn it down like the previous offers, but something in her gut told her to take the opportunity. She reached back out to the casting director, just making it during the last week of casting. After a gauntlet of interviews with different producers and directors, Evans was chosen to be one of the 21 chefs on the show. The whole casting process happened in five days — then she only had one week to prepare before heading into the competition. And she was still in Spain. 

She raced back to the U.S. to gather her recipes and prepare. Her family, friends, and colleagues rallied around her to get her ready for the competition. "Everybody was behind me, and they wanted to see me be the most successful I could be on this platform. It was a beautiful moment, and I went in prepared and ready to execute.” 

“In that moment, I knew this had to be my best plate.”

Her confidence fueled her — in the opening moments of the show, the 21 contestants learned that half of them would be eliminated in the first challenge, an Entrance Exam that required them to work in teams and each create a dish for a cohesive seven-course meal. 

“In that moment, I knew this had to be my best plate,” she said. “I didn’t know who these people were — I didn't know who I was cooking with, or anything like that. So, when they told us that half of us were going home, I just knew I had lock in.” 

Though her team had a tough start, Evans’ cornmeal crusted sole fish potlikker fumet wowed the judges and showcased how she “French-ifies” her Afro-Southern inspired cooking. 

“I’m technically French trained, but I do a lot of Afro-Southern food — I’m always taking original French techniques and applying them to Southern food, and then kind of reframing that into a fine dining aspect,” said Evans. “I put my Caribbean roots, my Southern roots, my time up and down the East Coast and my French training together to redefine it. So, that’s kind of like my cooking style.” 

Bringing her own perspective, background and voice to her food won the judges over and earned her the most Pins of Excellence of all contestants, which were accolades given to the top performers in each challenge that also provided advantages towards the end of the competition. 

Still, the young chef faced some ups and downs throughout the course of the show. One of her favorite challenges, the Core Creativity challenge in episode three, tasked contestants with finding a creative way to use apples in a savory dish. Her apple butter polenta with West African spiced steak was dubbed “almost perfect” by guest judge Susan Feniger, a renowned chef. It also earned Evans her second Pin of Excellence. 

Riding high into episode four with two pins, Evans was nominated to run the kitchen for the Grading the Brigade challenge, where the remaining eight contestants worked together to run a dinner service as a kitchen brigade. But it wasn’t your average dinner service — curveball challenges such as menu substitutions and special requests were purposefully thrown at the brigade to see how they could adapt and pivot amid service. 

The team struggled with the curveballs and some of her fellow contestants weren’t happy with how Evans had delegated the work. “I think I blocked that challenge out of my head,” Evans laughed. “That was probably my lowest moment, but I gave myself grace. I had to take over a kitchen that I had never been in, work with individuals that I have never cooked with before, work a menu I've never worked before, give everybody assignments and actually execute the whole thing, which is a lot for one person to do in 24 hours.” 

“This is a marathon, not a race.”

After a tough service, Evans was quick to take full responsibility. “Did I cry afterwards? Yes, because no chef wants their kitchen to go down like that,” she said. “I kept my composure as much as I could to try to get to the end of service. And I was proud of myself — I was the only one really tested on that particular form of leadership.” 

Down the stretch, the challenges became increasingly more difficult, but Evans stayed true to her style and approach. However, the long filming days and limited communication with loved ones was a challenge in itself. “One thing that surprised me about this experience was the mental fortitude that it took to do the entire process, because I made it to the end,” Evans said. “They always told us that this is a marathon, not a race. I really felt that towards the end, where the mental exhaustion was at an all-time high.”  

Despite that, Evans was still able to shine in the semi-final Soufflé Showdown, where the six remaining contestants had to create a fine dining entrée and a soufflé. Her entrée, a chicken skin ballotine with rice milk cream, pickled charred leeks and green goddess sauce, as well as her sweet orange soufflé with orange creamsicle sauce and orange brûlée, earned her a place in the finals. She also earned an additional Pin of Excellence from the guest judges. 

The final challenge proved to be the most formidable: serving a four-course meal to a judges table of esteemed chefs who had a combined 13 Michelin stars. “It was so many people who you read about and you're like, ‘I'll never meet this person.’ Now I'm serving them a four-course meal for the finale. That was probably the most intimidating group of people to cook for,” Evans said. 

The group included Thomas Keller, Grant Achatz, Anne Burrell, Harold Dieterle, Paul Carmichael, Emma Bengsston and CIA President Tim Ryan. Show host Olivia Culpo and the main judges, Kelsey Barnard Clark and Carlton McCoy, also joined the guest panel. 

“I really tried to think of them as just normal people, because that's what they are,” she added. “Yes, they have my respect for their accolades, but at the end of the day, I'm going to cook how I want to cook and enjoy cooking it. And I want them to enjoy the food and enjoy the experience as well. Then it becomes more relatable, so it kind of takes the pressure off.” 

“You put in what you want to get out.”

Her four courses were well-received, but ultimately the title of Next Gen Chef went to fellow contestant Andrew Sargent. However, Evans still considers the entire experience to be a major win for her career because it has opened so many doors.  

“You put in what you want to get out, and I clearly put in so much time, mental effort and physical effort,” Evans reflected. “This show really propelled me to take a chance on myself to get to the next stage. I had reached this point where I felt I had hit the ceiling, and this show broke that ceiling for me. I have put so much effort into other people's concepts — and there’s nothing wrong with that — but now I want to see how I can do that for myself. I can work with anybody I want to, start branding myself, work overseas and do all sorts of stuff in whoever's kitchen I want to be in. This experience helped me gain that confidence.” 

As one of this generation’s top culinary talents, Evans is ready to put herself out there, build her own brand and continue telling her story through food. It’s hard to believe she is only 26, but this young chef still has some great advice for the next generation of chefs that will follow her. “Be audacious, because the people who have the most audacity are usually the people who get the most out of things,” she said. “Take everything seriously and enjoy yourself — if you truly soak it in and embody it, it will definitely show later in your career.” 

Visit »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË

Transfer to »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË