NextGen Chef: Not Top Chef, but definitely worth watching

I was skeptical that there could be a cooking competition show as good as Top Chef. While I still love Top Chef more, NextGen Chef was a great watch. The challenges were rigorous (they even had a Restaurant Wars-esque challenge), high profile judges (more on that later), and the prize money was double that of Top Chef - $500,000 (just like Top Chef, they’ve got product placement up the wazoo).

NextGen Chef is done in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), with Kelsey Barnard Clark (Top Chef Season 16) and Carlton McCoy. Instructors at the CIA observed the chefs during challenges and reported back to Kelsey and Carlton about how they did. Along the way, chefs were given Pins of Excellence when they were at the top of challenges.