Jacksonville chef competed on Food Network's 'Beachside Brawl.' Here's what he learned.

Popping balloons to learn what ingredients you can use to prepare a meal or whipping up a party platter with food that fits in a beach cooler didn't necessarily make Wesley Nogueira a better chef, but it may have made him a better person.

Nogueira, the Jacksonville chef behind the Khloe's Kitchen catering service, is a contestant on "Beachside Brawl," a Food Network competition show that pits teams of chefs from the East Coast and West Coast against one another.

One chef is eliminated each week. The show was filmed in Los Angeles in the spring, but Nogueira wasn't allowed to say how far he gets in the competition. He was able to confirm he's on the third episode of the show, which airs at 10 p.m. Sunday.

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Noguiera, who previously appeared on "Guy's Grocery Games" and grilling competition show, said he didn't learn a lot from the experience that's going to end up on his menu, but he did learn to open up to the camera. "They want people to show personality," he said this week in a phone interview. "I’ve become a little bit more outside of my shell."

Each week, the teams participate in beach games to learn what ingredients they can and cannot include in their dishes. Antonia Lofaso is host of the show and a rotating group of judges including Guy Fieri, Alex Guarnaschelli, Stephanie Izard, Mei Lin, Jet Tila, and Claudette Zepeda grade the dishes the teams prepare. The show, which started its second season on June 18, is scheduled to run for seven weeks.

The teams prepared Pier Favorites on the debut episode and will make Beachside Eats for the second. Future episodes will be them cooking for an All-American Party, Game Day Eats, Coastal Road Trip and Beach Club Cuisine. One chef will be eliminated from the competition at the end of each episode. The winner will be declared "Best of the Beach" and win a beach getaway.

Joining Nogueira on the East Coast team are captain Eric Adjepong; Nick Chavez of Wilmington, N.C.; Samantha Cruz of Miami; Cara Nance of Lincoln, R.I.; and Martel Stone of Washington, D.C.

Nogueira said he was impressed by how the competitors dealt with the challenges the show dished out.

"There were a lot of curveball challenges. For the most part, your mind is going a hundred miles an hour. It’s really competitive. As much as you think you’re talented, the talent is all at the same level."

Nogueira, a native of Brazil, moved to Jacksonville as a teen and served as executive chef at bb's in San Marco before starting Khloe's Kitchen in 2017. Khloe's operates out of the kitchen at the FSCJ Kent Campus, where he also runs a cafe.

He said he's partnering this summer with Native Sun Kitchen + Market in Jacksonville Beach and is selling lunch every Tuesday through Saturday. His menu is not vegan, but uses non-genetically modified ingredients. They also offer meals on a "grab and go" bar after hours. "We're trying to put together some cool, eclectic meals," he said.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Chef from Jacksonville's Khloe's Kitchen competes on Beachside Brawl