Charlotte chef competes on Food Network’s ‘Chopped’ cooking show. How did he do?

Food Network fans in Charlotte tuned in to see familiar chef Jamisen Booker of The Asbury competing Tuesday night on “Chopped.”

The show — which has showcased several of Charlotte’s best chefs — challenges contestants to make an appetizer, entree and dessert with random ingredients. One chef leaves the competition in each round.

In Booker’s episode, the competitors used ingredients “that would usually be thrown away in hopes of turning edible trash into culinary treasures.”

“Anything and everything can be utilized,” he said in his introduction segment on the show.

The chefs: Booker, The Asbury’s chef de cuisine, described his food as “new age Southern.” He competed against three other chefs: Shanel DeWalt, a Kellog chef in residence and director of Make Food, Not Waste; private chef Christian Izquierdo; and executive chef Zach Hutton of Scratch Kitchen in Oklahoma City, a 2022 semifinalist for the James Beard Awards’ Best Chef Southwest honor.

The judges: Chefs Marc Murphy, Tiffany Derry and Fariyal Abdullahi judged the battle, with host Ted Allen at the helm.

How to watch: Booker appeared on Season 58, Episode 11 in a battle where cheese takes center stage. The show aired at 8 p.m., Tuesday, April 9 on Food Network. You can also set the DVR to catch it on reruns Wednesday, April 10 at 3 a.m. or Tuesday, April 16 at noon.

The competition: In the 20-minute appetizer round, the contestants’ ingredient basket was filled with shrimp shells, shrimp, dill pickle juice and blue oyster mushrooms.

Booker made an Asian-inspired arugula shrimp salad with a pickle juice vinaigrette and brown-butter sauteed mushrooms. He added brown sugar, sriracha, ginger and bourbon in creating the dish, then put carrots on at the last moment for color.

“At The Asbury at the Dunhill Hotel, we’re teaching and training in zero waste,” he said. “Our mission is to create a 100% zero-waste restaurant within the next year.”

Overall, the judges were pleased with his efforts. “This has got so much flavor — the shrimp is, like, bananas tasty,” Murphy said. But Abdullahi felt the carrots were “a distraction.”

Izquierdo was first to be “Chopped,” and the others moved on to Round 2.

In the 30-minute entree round, the basked contained carrot tops, asparagus stems, leftover baked ziti and lamb neck.

While his competitors each made meatballs, Booker made a baked ziti tuile with carrot top polenta, lamb ragu and pickled asparagus stems based off of a Carolina-style barbecue sauce. He added pino grigio, shallots and brown sugar into the lineup in his dish.

“This is definitely my favorite asparagus that I’ve had, ever,” Abdullahi told Booker. But Derry and Murphy thought Booker spent too much time creating his tuile, giving short shrift to the lamb and the polenta.

Ultimately, Booker was “Chopped” before the dessert round. Hutton came out on top in the episode with a spoiled milk ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce and candied orange peels.

Booker is in good company: Several chefs from Charlotte have made appearances on Food Network in the past few years. Among them are:

• Chef Lisa Brooks of Heart & Soul Personal Chef Service was on “Chopped’s” first all-Black cast and judging panel.

• Chris Coleman of the Goodyear House and Old Town Kitchen and Cocktails was crowned ”Chopped” champion, as was Luca Annunziata of Forchetta and Anthony Denning of Another?! Food Truck.

• Coleman; Sam Diminich of Restaurant Constance and Your Farms, Your Table; and Alyssa Wilen of Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen have appeared on “Beat Bobby Flay.”

• Frankie White of B.W. Sweets was featured on ”Girl Scout Cookie Challenge.”

• Optometrist and baker Sherelle Morrison was a contestant on the “Halloween Baking Championship.”

You’ll also be able to watch Booker compete in similar fashion in the next round of the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association’s Chef Showdown on May 8 in Wilkesboro.