Chef Matt Ginn of Evo Kitchen and Restaurant in Portland — and a previous Maine Lobster Chef of the Year — won Tuesday night’s episode of “Chopped.”
Ginn, who is from Cape Elizabeth, competed against three other chefs to win over celebrity judges during the mushroom-focused episode “Room for ‘Shrooms,” according to the Portland Press Herald.
In the show, the chefs are given a “mystery basket” filled with ingredients they must use to prepare a dish for the judges. After each round, which are usually broken into an appetizer, entree and dessert, the lowest-performing chef is eliminated (or “chopped”). The last chef to be eliminated wins the episode and $10,000.
Martha Stewart was included on the panel that judged Ginn’s food, alongside Iron Chefs Alex Guarnaschelli and Geoffrey Zakarian.
It’s mushroom mania for the “Chopped” chefs. Tune in to @FoodNetwork tonight at 9pm ET when I join judges Alex Guarnaschelli and Geoffrey Zakarian as competitors use mushrooms as a main ingredient in their dishes. #Chopped pic.twitter.com/f3hEZUcBBE
— Martha Stewart (@MarthaStewart) July 10, 2018
To support their chef, Evo hosted a viewing party in a downstairs section of the restaurant and welcomed visitors for drinks, appetizers and a streaming of the episode.
After the episode people took to social media to congratulate the Mainer on his win.
Ginn is no stranger to cooking events and competitions — he was the Maine Lobster Chef of the Year in 2015, and just this year participated in the Chef Summit at Sunday River, which brings together top chefs from around Maine and beyond. This year’s list of chefs included two from Montreal and one from Iceland.
As for life after “Chopped,” Ginn could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday morning.
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