As Seen on TV: West Virginia Chefs Edition

West Virginia chefs are dominating television lately. From winning speed challenges to taste tests, these chefs are putting their culinary skills to the test. Vagabond Chef, Brittany Furbee, and Chef Jean-Francois Suteau hail from West Virginia and have recently been featured on the Food Network. Let’s take a look at these award-winning chefs and the dishes they’re crafting!

Matt Welsch

After traveling across the country, Matt Welsch returned to his hometown of Wheeling to start his next culinary adventure; the opening of The Vagabond Kitchen. With a strong passion for community, he prepares dishes from The Vagabond Kitchen using locally sourced ingredients. Welsch’s unique aesthetic is what prompted representatives from the Food Network to reach out to him to participate on the Food Networks show Guy’s Grocery Games. Hosted by Guy Fieri, each episode features four chefs competing against each other for a grand prize of $20,000. This culinary competition is set in a grocery store where contestants face challenges, like preparing an upscale version of a food representative of their region. Welsch prepared a pork entree with potatoes, green beans, portabello mushrooms, roasted red peppers and grilled apple slices. Not only did Welsch best the other three chefs, but he went on to face the shopping spree where he won a total of $20,000.

Brittany Furbee

With a passion for cooking and writing, Morgantown chef Brittany Furbee discovered her love for competitive cooking after her TV debut on Cooks vs. Cons.  This Food Network show features an amateur cook, competing against a professional chef. Both contestants compete to prepare dishes that  impress the judges. After a blind taste test, Furbee’s dish comes out on top, leaving her with a grand prize of $10,000! Since her appearance on the show, Furbee has gone on to enter and win the Taste of America recipe challenge, a victory required to enter the World Food Championships. Competing in Orange Beach, Alabama at the World Food Championships, Furbee placed ninth. To keep up to date with Furbee’s latest recipes, check out her website here.

Chef Jean-Francois Suteau

Chef Jean-Francois Suteau has been impressing guests of The Greenbrier Resort with his baking skills since 2011. For most, baking is a hobby, but for Chef Suteau it is a way of life. Born into a family with a history of patisserie chefs dating back to 1752, it was no surprise when Suteau began his pastry career in 1989 in his hometown of Nates, France.  In January 2018, representatives from the Food Networks show, Best Baker in America reached out to Suteau on Instagram. The following month, Suteau flew out to Los Angeles to compete against eight other chefs for a grand prize of $25,000. Sueatu made it to the finale, impressing judges all the way!

This post was last updated on July 31, 2020