The next great American culinary success story is coming to you from Boardwalk Pictures and Schitts Creek’s co-creator and actor Dan Levy.
Dan is searching for unheard-of culinary voices across America by giving them a chance to compete for their big break together with a team of experts.
It is a fun competition where we will toast talented chefs and celebrate the underdog of meals- Brunch. Whether you’re the owner of a neighborhood gem making a difference in the neighborhood, a sous or executive chef with entrepreneurial dreams, a food truck or private chef changing the lives of everyone you feed, or any other of these.
Meet HBO Max’s The Big Brunch Cast
The HBO Max original produced by Levy celebrates inspiring and unheard voices from around the nation by offering ten chefs the chance to win a $300,000 cash prize, using the well-liked eating experience as the ultimate connector.
1. Antwon Brinson
Antown Brinson was born in the little New York city of Niagara Falls. He had the excellent fortune of growing up in a home where the enthusiasm was the only source of energy. Over 250 children were raised by his mother, who was a committed foster parent.
When he thinks back on his upbringing, he realizes that my mother’s love and passion-driven drive taught him the value of taking the initiative and going after your dreams. He also understood from a young age that he wanted to do something to make the world a better place.
He founded Culinary Concepts AB in March 2018 with the motto “reach one, teach one” in mind and after realizing the dire need for a skilled workforce in the hospitality sector. Brinson’s goal was to establish a mission-based company that empowers people, cultivates their passions, and teaches life skills through culinary arts.
2. Daniel Harthausen
In Richmond’s culinary community, Daniel Harthausen is not yet well-known. His pop-up restaurant Young Mother, which serves food with influences from Korean and Japanese cuisine, has nevertheless continued to sell out for the rest of 2021.
Harthausen has experience working in a variety of Richmond restaurants, including as the bar manager for Brunch and Supper. He oversaw the Common House’s coffee program in addition to serving drinks. On September 16, he resigned from his position to return to Adarra, where he serves and tends a bar.
3. Kip Poole
With more than 12 years of expertise in both education and hospitality administration, he has the know-how to lead and manage staff, students, and events of all sizes, putting in place operating procedures, reducing expenses, and boosting profits while still giving top-notch service.
Through his strong leadership abilities and meticulous attention to detail, he is able to foster an environment of excellence and motivate employees and kids to put their trust in him.
Using his extensive expertise working in a variety of unique cultural institutions, restaurants, event centers, sports and entertainment facilities, and off-site temporary venues, he can rapidly monitor and educate employees or students to conduct events in operations. His career-long expertise and experience have given him the ability to consistently assist staff and students in achieving both short-term and long-term objectives.
4. J. Chong
The highly regarded food scene in Asheville seems to improve every single day. Chef J. Chong, who has gained fame for her Cantonese cuisine (especially those dumplings), is one of the coolest and most adored people to emerge in Asheville’s culinary scene recently.
On January 27, the warm, homey eating area at La Guinguette in ‘Black’ Mountain switched up its customary French-Latin vibe for an obviously Asian motif. A full house of guests arrived for chef J. Chong’s first Chinese New Year pop-up supper, welcoming in the Year of the Rat, as paper lanterns and red and gold menus welcomed them.
The eight family-style courses served that night each had a distinct cultural and personal significance for Chong. The Toronto, Ontario native, who prefers the pronouns she, her, and hers, grew up in a Cantonese-speaking Chinese family that she characterizes as “very, very traditional, extremely strict,” where each meal served on a holiday had a special meaning.
5. Catie Randazzo
Catie Randazzo, a native of Columbus and the former chef and proprietor of Ambrose and Eve, is one of ten chefs participating in The Big Brunch, a new food competition series that will premiere on HBO Max next month.
Dan Levy, a co-creator of the Emmy Award-winning television program Schitt’s Creek, is the show’s creator and host. Levy will be joined at the judges’ table by restaurateur Will Guidara and chef Sohla El-Waylly.
After several years of operating the Challah! food truck, Randazzo opened Ambrose and Eve in November 2018 with his previous business partner Matthew Heaggans (who is also relocating soon).
6. Kelly Jones
Kelly Jones works as the executive chef at Shibumi Jones Supperclub in the Hudson Valley of New York. She currently hosts dinner parties at Brown Barn Farms with Orange County Distillery and sources directly from neighborhood farms. When it comes to learning about sustainable and regenerative farming, she has a strong enthusiasm.
She is constantly seeking partnerships with farms, creameries, vineyards, distilleries, and brewers, as well as with chefs, bartenders, and event coordinators.
7. Mason Zeglen
Mason Zeglen used cooking as a release during difficult times. When he was 13 years old, and his parents separated, he started cooking. He stirred jam pots. From the family’s sizable vegetable garden on River Road in Killington, he canned, froze, and consumed fresh English sugar peas. He created everything from scratch using farm-fresh ingredients.
Zeglen prepared dinner for his mother and younger sister three nights per week so that his mother could clean Killington’s homes before and after dinner in order to make ends meet.
8. Nadege Fleurimond
Nadège, who was born in Haiti, joined her father in Brooklyn when she was seven years old and learned how to cook from him. Nadege has always connected cooking with gatherings and community since she first learned to cook at the age of eight.
In order to give Haitians, Haitians in the United States, and friends of Haiti access to experience Haiti and its rich culture, she leads culinary trips there. Her most recent culinary endeavor, BunNan, is a plantain-themed restaurant born out of her passion for food and desire to introduce the rest of the globe to Haitian, Caribbean, and ‘black’ diaspora cuisine.
She frequently organizes cooking lessons and other culinary experiences when she is not organizing an event.
9. Roman Wilcox
Due to his volunteer work, one El Paso chef has been given a position on the upcoming HBO MAX cooking competition series, The Big Brunch. A previous pupil gave Chef Roman the suggestion to enter the most recent HBO MAX cooking competition, The Big Brunch.
He put off responding to the application email for a few weeks before deciding to push himself ultimately and apply to be on the show.
Days later, he received a call from the show’s producers, and after re-interviewing several times, he would be offered a position on the new cooking competition program.
10. Danielle Sepsy
Danielle Sepsy is the chef and owner of The Hungry Gnome Catering & Baked Goods in NYC. When he was just 13 years old, she launched her own scone business out of her parents’ house. This was the beginning of her passion for food.
Since that time, everyone who has tried Danielle’s scones has dubbed them “the BEST scones in the universe,” and they have become her most frequently requested dish. Danielle, however, is not a one-trick pony; both her savory and sweet dishes are praised for being fun, daring, and plain delectable.
The International Culinary Center’s Professional Culinary Arts program and Penn State University’s School of Hospitality Management both graduated Chef Danielle Sepsy.
Meet The Judges Of ‘The Big Brunch’
Judges Will Guidara and Sohla El-Waylly have been added as the ‘The Big Brunch’ Executive producers for Boardwalk Pictures, including Dan Levy, Andrew Fried, Sarina Roma, Dane Lillegard, and Faye Stapleton.
1. Sohla El-Waylly
American chef, restaurateur, and YouTube celebrity Sohla El-Waylly will be joining in as the judge in ‘The Big Brunch.’
She worked at Bon Appétit as an assistant food editor and starred in videos created for the publication’s YouTube channel. She also collaborated with Andrew Rea to create videos for the Babish Culinary Universe YouTube channel.
The beginning of the chef’s involvement with the culinary business was during her early years as a child growing up in Los Angeles with her Bengali parents, who had a Baskin-Robbins shop. Later, while attending UC Irvine to study economics, El-Waylly worked as a hostess at The Cheesecake Factory. After realizing that cooking was her true calling, she enrolled at The Culinary Institute of America.
2. William Guidara
American restaurateur William Guidara who operates restaurants in New York City is another host on the show. Guidara shared ownership of the 2011-founded Make It Nice hospitality firm, which includes Eleven Madison Park, NoMad New York, NoMad Los Angeles, NoMad Las Vegas, NoMad Bar, and Made Nice, with chef Daniel Humm.
Despite having qualifications from Cornell University’s esteemed School of Hotel Administration, he wasn’t drawn to fine dining since he thought it was dull and formal. After attending culinary school in the north of Spain and working in the restaurant business since he was thirteen, he quickly found himself training at Spago in Beverly Hills and went on to become a pioneer in contemporary luxury dining.
Meet The Hot, Dan Levy
Dan Levy is the host as well as the creator of The Big Brunch competition on HBOMax. He was inspired to make the show by his love for his friends who are in the culinary arts, many of whom were impacted by the epidemic and restaurants closing. He admires their commitment to care for us in the most humane way possible—by feeding us.
While talking about cooking himself, he said couldn’t. Nobody wants him to prepare their meals. He is the perfect dinner guest, and he is immensely appreciative. He’d eat just about anything but couldn’t cook.