Samantha Gordon of Gate 6 ½ recently won $10,000 on the Food Network show Chopped. In each episode of Chopped, chefs face off to prepare a full day’s worth of meals. They’re under a time limit, and have to use all the ingredients the show provides them. At the end of each meal, a panel of three guest judges chops one chef who fails to measure up in terms of taste, presentation and creativity. The last chef standing takes home bragging rights and a cool $10,000.
Last June, Sami competed against chefs from Boston, Cambridge and Newark. For breakfast she whipped up sausage and potato hash with fried egg and chipotle/pork crema. Her lunch was a salt fish cake with Meyer lemon and herb mayonnaise. And she topped it off with a dinner of marinated rack of lamb with a lentil and rice salad.
Sami got her start cooking on upscale yachts before opening her culinary business, Croissami, in 2013. There, on Gate 5 Road, she bakes all-natural croissants and other breakfast options. She also caters events ranging from 6 to 100 people. Cocktail parties, 5-star dinner parties, afternoon BBQ’s, drop-off meal service, family-style meals, buffets, brunches and business lunches and dinners can all be tailored creatively to a client’s needs, budget and dietary restrictions.
She got on Chopped by responding to a casting call for strong women chefs in the Bay Area and went through an extended interview process. It took over six months for her episode to air, but it can now be viewed on the Food Network or YouTube.
“If I can swing it,” says Sami, I will be going back later this spring to film Chopped Champions and the chance to win $50,000.”