Darnell “SuperChef” Ferguson shares his journey from breakfast pop-ups to full-blown restaurants and the importance of positive feedback. Darnell shares the unique challenges he faced when cooking for the 2008 Olympics and how one teacher gave him the confidence to pursue becoming a chef. Darnell talks about his passion for breakfast and the unexpected pop-ups that led him to open his first restaurant. He talks about overcoming obstacles, resilience and the values that he instills in his family as a father of eight. Darnell reveals the show he would love to compete on and how he gives feedback to home chefs on Grill of Victory. Plus, he addresses the huge upset on Tournament of Champions and what was actually going through his head when he defeated Alex Guarnaschelli.
Darnell “SuperChef” Ferguson shares his journey from breakfast pop-ups to full-blown restaurants and the importance of positive feedback. Darnell shares the unique challenges he faced when cooking for the 2008 Olympics and how one teacher gave him the confidence to pursue becoming a chef. Darnell talks about his passion for breakfast and the unexpected pop-ups that led him to open his first restaurant. He talks about overcoming obstacles, resilience and the values that he instills in his family as a father of eight. Darnell reveals the show he would love to compete on and how he gives feedback to home chefs on Grill of Victory. Plus, he addresses the huge upset on Tournament of Champions and what was actually going through his head when he defeated Alex Guarnaschelli.
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Find episode transcript here: https://food-network-obsessed.simplecast.com/episodes/darnell-ferguson-on-how-he-became-superchef
[MUSIC PLAYING] JAYMEE SIRE: Hello, and welcome to "Food Network Obsessed." This is the podcast where we dish on all things Food Network, with your favorite Food Network stars. I'm your host, Jaymee Sire. And today we are chatting with a chef who is on a mission to dominate food television.
During our chat we talk about how he got started cooking, including time spent in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics. We talk all about his restaurant in Louisville, his family, his eight kids, and of course, all of the Food Network shows that he's part of. Plus he tells us the story of how he picked up his SuperChef nickname.
You know him from winning "Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge," and competing on "Guy's Grocery Games," "Beat Bobby Flay," and "TOC." And right now you can catch him judging on "Chopped Next Gen" and "Grill Of Victory." It is the one and only, SuperChef, Darnell Ferguson.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Darnell, welcome to the podcast. Or would you prefer I call you by your middle name SuperChef?
DARNELL FERGUSON: That's the only name that really matters.
[LAUGHTER]
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, we are so excited to have you on "Food Network Obsessed" today. We have so much to talk about. Obviously, "Chopped Next Gen," "Grill of Victory," "Tournament Of Champions," you are all over the network. We're going to get to all of that very soon. But I do want to start with this nickname, SuperChef. How did you pick up that nickname?
DARNELL FERGUSON: It came to me multiple times. So I kind of let it stick with me the second time somebody called me it. It was first given to me when I was working at a restaurant, and I kind of like buried the chef. We were both working the same station, and he just couldn't keep up with me. It's always been a gift of mine in the kitchen, so he couldn't really keep up with me. And then the line made a little joke at the end of the shift, and was like, oh, you think you're a SuperChef now.
And then when I went to the Olympics and cooked for USA teams, I had the same mentality I did there. I was young then, I thought I was really good then. One of the guys was like, man, you think you're a SuperChef or something, don't you? And I was like, you know what, that's the last time somebody's going to call me that without me making it into a positive.
So we got Olympic tattoos while we was in China. And everybody, they got something Olympic on them or something. Because a lot of these guys do all the Olympics. And I was like, well what should I get? And I was like, I'm getting SuperChef. And it kind of stuck.
It was different when it stuck. Because at that point, and still to this day, people calling me SuperChef is still a little weird. Because chefs are usually just called by their first and last name. Look at Guy Fieri, look at every single person, it's just a first and last name thing.
So for me to have a name that wasn't my full name, it was almost at Ali. You know what I'm saying? Saying I'm the greatest before I was even it.
JAYMEE SIRE: I like that. I like that comparison. And you actually legally changed your middle name to SuperChef. Is that right?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Yeah, I had to. The networks wasn't using it. I was like, let me make this legal.
[LAUGHTER]
JAYMEE SIRE: I love it, I love it.
DARNELL FERGUSON: It was always at that distance on if they can use it or not. So I was like, you know what, make it-- I didn't have a middle name either, so that's good to know. I didn't have one. So it was easy.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, OK. You mentioned Beijing and traveling to the Olympics. That was back in 2008. You were with 20 other student chefs cooking for Team USA. I mean, since you brought it up, I'm just so curious what that experience was like and how it kind of paved the way for the rest of your culinary career?
DARNELL FERGUSON: It was probably the rocket that took my career off. Even though after I got back, I had some issues to deal with. But it was a thing that kind of made me believe I could do more to what I had seen but done before. Like I hadn't seen what I seen in the Olympics. I had never traveled the country, never really been to that many States before.
So when I went to the Olympics, it opened my mind up to say like, I can almost do anything I want to do. And I can be anything I want to be, that I'm supposed to be. So it took me to a whole different place. And it made me-- when I came back to the United States, it's turned me into something totally different.
Like when I got back, no one could work with me. no one could stay at my pace. No one could do what I would do, and never look for money. Because I had already experienced something that was so life giving. And I understood if I give a lot to this industry, I'll get a lot back out of it.
So when I came back from-- the real effect was when I came back from the Olympics. With that impression I had, I was a whole different type of Chef. And I was just ready to tackle the world. After you cook for 16,000 people in a day, cooking for measly--
JAYMEE SIRE: Wow.
DARNELL FERGUSON: Cooking for a measly 200 is easy. What is that, this isn't a headache, this isn't stress. I've seen stress, I've seen headaches. This isn't it.
JAYMEE SIRE: I mean, what happened over there that kind of lit that fire? Was it just the fact that you were cooking, like you said, for 16,000 people? And being able to do it, and being able to keep up, and being able to believe in yourself? Is that kind of what happened over there, or was there like a specific incident or event?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Well, there's a lot of things that happened over there.
[LAUGHTER]
A lot of things happened. But the thing that happened most was that I was around other chefs. We went as a group, but there were actual chefs there, like the people who ran things. And to see those chefs never complain, work 20 hours in the day. To see those chefs, the way they carried themselves, the way their mentality was. And that kind of came back with me.
Like I was with people, we worked about 12 to 14, 16 hours a day, and no one ever complained about one thing. Like there was nothing to complain about. And that kind of came back with me. It was those experiences. It was the fact that when we went over there, I was expecting to see recipes for everything. And there was no recipes.
That's probably why I do so good on competition shows. Because when I was thrown in the fire in the Olympics, they expected you to be something good already. They're like you didn't make it this far, you didn't get chosen because you need recipes. You got chosen because you're good. I was like, you know what, I am good. Let me go ahead and make this recipe up.
And those kind of things, it was times where at that point in my career, I had never made some of the things they were asking me to make. So I realized how resourceful I could be. Like I would go in a corner real quick, and go on the internet and Google the recipe, and then go back. I know how to cook. I just didn't know how to make that dish. And then I would learn it in 45 seconds.
And I had to go back there with confidence and cook it in front of everybody, and make it seem like I knew what I was doing know. So those kind of events kind of change everything for you. You start to believe in yourself with a whole different way.
JAYMEE SIRE: Absolutely. I mean, that's so fascinating. And such a good point about the competition shows, and being able to figure things out really quickly and think on your feet. And just be able to cook without recipes I think, obviously is very important. But clearly you had this interest and this knack for cooking before that. I mean, what about cooking and being a kitchen really drew you to that career?
DARNELL FERGUSON: It was immoral. It was a single moment in life.
JAYMEE SIRE: Really?
DARNELL FERGUSON: It was so easy. Like I could tell you, because I cooked when I was a little kid. But we did some hood cooking. We used to warm up our pizza from the night before at my cousin's house. Like I went to my cousin's house every single weekend. And we used to do our own little creations for breakfast. Like put cheese and cereal, make the slushies, and we used to do all these little things.
But then when I started watching the Food Network with Emeril and Emeril live, that kind of changed everything. I was like, you know what, I like this dude. You know, it was something about him. He was different. And I was like, I like him, and I like a chef coat, too.
Because I always tell people I was thinking about going in the military when I was in high school. I wanted to be like a Navy SEAL. So I love uniforms, I love structure. And that was something that drew me to Emeril, was that uniform. But also his style of cooking, I had never seen it like that. So therefore that kind of drew me in.
And I went to vocational school my junior year in high school. And that was what like catapult, that's what took my teacher, she either was a really good encourager or a really good liar. Because she told me all kinds of things, that I don't know if they were true or not. First time in vocational school because of watching Emeril. I was like, I want to be a chef, I'm going to go to vocational school.
And I remember my first week in there, they had us do a knife skills. They used to give these little boards with all the knife cuts on them. Like a brunoise, a benne, everything is on this little board. And she said, I want you to do all these knife cuts. She gave me a knife. I was like, no one's ever gave me a knife before. And she started laughing.
And she comes back in 20 minutes, and all my cuts are perfect. And she was like, how long have you been doing this for? And I was like, I've never cut nothing before in my life. Like I've never cut anything, no one's ever-- I've never seen a chef knife before. We only use the little tiny knives. So I'd never seen a chef knife before.
So when she seen me do that with that knife and that potato, she was like, oh my gosh, you're so amazing, you needed to be in our competition teams. You're going to do this, this is going to be what you do. And I'm like, I've been wanting somebody to tell me that for a long time.
Because I played sports, but I was never that good that I was that person they would tell that to. I'm the kind of person to say just come to practice tomorrow, don't miss practice. But she really fed into me and told me something I had been looking for. So as soon as I found that out and I heard that, I kind of stopped caring about sports. It was like, you know what, this is my thing. I've been looking for my thing.
Yeah, I remember this was when cooking wasn't popular either. It was just Emeril and that Martha Stewart. Like this wasn't a popular thing, especially in my community. I used to hide behind the ovens when I went there. No one knew I went to vocational school for Culinary Arts. It wasn't the thing I would brag about or tell people about, because I'm going to school for cooking.
But nothing around me leads up to why I'm going to school for cooking. That's like in my neighborhood and back in 2002, that's what I'm talking about. It wasn't the cool thing to do.
JAYMEE SIRE: And I mean, it sounds like you had that competitive spirit from sports. And you kind of transferred that into cooking. And it seems like you kind of have that with everything you do. You want to be the SuperChef, you want to dominate food television and all these things. So I can see I can see that competitive spirit and that fire. And I'm not surprised that that story you told about your teacher kind of is the thing that kind of sparked that.
And you mentioned cooking breakfast with your cousins and that kind of thing. And you have a very specifically breakfast restaurant. Breakfast and brunch SuperChefs of course, is the name in Louisville, Kentucky. I peeked at the menu, very creative. And I'm going to just tell you I need the wings and waffles in my life. I love chicken and waffles, I love wings. So I love that you have combined the two into a breakfast dish. Where does that breakfast passion come from?
DARNELL FERGUSON: It came from me working inside of one of the top hotels in the country. And I was running breakfast at that time. And I was new to the restaurant, and so therefore I'm just in training, right? So I'm just training, I'm not as much worried about the menu as I am worried about the ingredients and how to execute it.
So weeks go by, and then I finally look at the menu. And I'm like, what? We charge this much for this? Oh my, oh my gosh. So I told myself I could do this, and charge way less. And that's where it kind of sparked it. I was like, man, I couldn't believe what we were charging people for just like yogurt, and fresh oats and honey, and fruit. I'm like, man, you charging people $15 for that? Oh my goodness, and they pay paying for it.
So that's where the first spark that, is I thought I could do what they did. It's not necessarily better. Because better is always like an opinion. But I thought I could do it at the same level but different. And then that's where I started thinking about doing a breakfast restaurant at. And it just sparked from there.
And I thought that breakfast at that point when I opened up SuperChefs, the first pop-up. Because we started off in pop-up restaurants. That's when I felt like I could do something that hadn't been really done yet. It was just at that point you got Bob Evans, we had two independent breakfast restaurants in the whole city.
So I'm like, oh, this is my niche. No one's worried about it. And to be honest with you, no chef is going to dive into it. Because you've never seen a breakfast chef before, they're just line cooks. For me being a chef, I thought that I would stand out. Because I would be crossing over to something that no one had crossed over to before in my city.
Which was really being culinary, but in the breakfast field. And that's over 10 years ago I'm talking about. It was hard for me at the beginning, because all my friends are really good chefs. And for me to go do breakfast, I think that they didn't take me as like what are you doing, bro, we don't do this. Like we do breakfast, but it's not like dinner. And I had to turn breakfast into dinner.
JAYMEE SIRE: I love it I mean, I love breakfast, I love brunch. I think it's so clever that you kind of got your start by approaching these restaurants that only had lunch and dinner, and doing these pop-ups. I mean, is that something you kind of recognized as like a void and somewhere that you could get your foot in the door? Or was it exactly what you said, that you just love breakfast so much that you wanted to make that your thing?
DARNELL FERGUSON: When we got doing our pop-ups, that was only because I had been let down by so many people who said they would invest in a restaurant. Like I had already signed a lease at one space, and then a guy just disappeared off the face of the Earth for six months who was giving the other money. And I had just been through so much at that point that I would take anything.
And a guy came over to me where I was sitting at McDonald's one day. Because I went to him to get advice on numbers. I was like, my space I'm looking for is about the same size as your restaurant. Can you let me know how much your rent is, your LG is, your electric, your water. That way I can plug those into my plan.
He found out that I wasn't doing my restaurant anymore. And he had seen me sitting at McDonald's one day. He walked over to me and was like, hey Darnell, I heard what happened, I feel really bad for you, man. I really do, man, because I know that you really wanted that bad. He said, but what about this? He was like, why don't you come into my space while I'm closed, and we kind of do two restaurants in one.
And I'm like, tell me how this works? He was like, I'm not open, he's like, I'm not open for in the mornings. I just do lunch and dinner. And I'm like, OK, I'll think about it. No one had done this, and it was doesn't sound smart. It sounds like something I would never want to do in my life.
Because. I came from the Olympics to nice 5 diamond restaurants, to this guy who owns a gyro place asking me to do a pop-up in his store because he knew I couldn't get my own restaurant. So I'm already going through a lot of stuff emotionally and mentally. I'm like, whatever man, I'll talk to you a little bit.
I talked to one of my friends who had asked me about doing the restaurant years ago. |m like, hey, what do you think about this? And it was so inexpensive to do. I didn't have no money, so it was expensive to me. But it only costs $2000. And I called somebody, and he was like, I'll fund it, I'll move.
He moved down and he moved down within a week, left everything. He dropped out of school, he moved down, and we opened this pop-up restaurant, at that time hadn't been done in Louisville yet. We would operate from 5:00 in the morning to 10:30 AM. And that was our hours of operation.
And what we would do is we would put flyers, like the kind of club flyers that you'd find out little square flyers. We would put those on everyone's car. So we were up 24 hours a day. We would put those in people's car when they went to sleep. But they had to be sleep, because we couldn't go into a parking lot and not be full, right?
So we would do it like 1:00 in the morning. Because we know 1:00 in the morning everyone's at their house. So we would hit up everywhere in the neighborhood surrounding us. And when people woke up they would know that SuperChefs was right there.
It just started off with one pop-up. And within a month, three people asked us if we could do the same thing inside their place. Because what we did is we turned this guy's gyro place that no one went into, into this big place that everybody wants to come to now.
So other businesses who were struggling now, he wasn't struggling when he asked us. But now other businesses who aren't doing anything with their space at this time, who like what we're doing, started asking us.
So we did another pop-up a month later somewhere else. So now we got two pop-ups at one summer. And then now we got a third place that asked us. We had three still in three months. And now so we're starting to get all this notoriety in the city. Everyone's talking about this restaurant that's in the back of restaurants. And before you know it we have four.
JAYMEE SIRE: Wow.
DARNELL FERGUSON: It gets to a place to where we're like, man, this is crazy. We didn't expect that the food would be received as a way it was. But I feel like the reason why we were so successful so early, is that we didn't wait to be great. We didn't wait until we had a restaurant space to do restaurant quality food.
A lot of times people say, oh, I'm doing a pop-up, I'm just doing this as a sample. No, you got to give 100% of what you are, because you want people to come back. So that's what we did. The plating was there, the style was there, the menu, everything. It was just off the hook. Except for the decor, the decor was gyro.
You know, so the decor was gyro. Let's put a little sign that they had our menu in there. But everything else was his. So you came in and it's yellow and whatever. You walk in, you're going to see some pictures of gyros everywhere. So it's confusing. So we did a pop-up one in that same summer at a place called The Ruby Slipper, a consignment store. That's how this thing got everywhere.
JAYMEE SIRE: Is there a kitchen at the consignment store?
DARNELL FERGUSON: They had a little kitchen in the back. So he said, hey, can you do this at our place? And at first I told him, I said, nope, never going to happen. Because it was literally like we were the throwback thrift store of Cracker Barrel. You walk in and it's thrift everywhere.
It's a consignment store, but they were like an old consignment store. So you're talking about vintage everything. And then we had a wall that came up. And then we were behind the wall, right? And so what happened is that people would come in and hear about SuperChefs, but then they would never come in, they would never eat. Because they seen what the place look like.
Everyone was like, no, I'm good. Somebody told me to come here and eat, but we're OK, we'll try somewhere else. And I mean, that used to kill my spirit. Because all you had to do is make it past the wall and you would be OK. Most people wouldn't make it past that wall because of how it looked inside.
And we couldn't control that. We didn't have the finances. We were just trying do the best that we could do with what we had. And if you made it back to where we were at. Where we put a wall up and had some tables and chairs, and still had some purses hanging behind you because it was still a consignment store. You would see that these guys are really good at what they do. They just don't have the setting they would like. So we did that for a long time before we were able to get our own spot.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah, how did you go from consignment store to actual brick and mortar restaurant?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Well, the good thing about the pop-ups were a lot of people came in and a lot of people love what we did. And you'll get people who could see your vision. But man, this is better than everywhere else we've ever been. And eventually people wanted to invest.
And that's where it came from. People that invested in our startup were just our customers. But they had money and they were startups. So we did our first restaurant in Ohio, and then the second one we did in Ohio. Because it was so hard to find a restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky. Because Louisville was at that point, and still maybe today, it was the number two per capita for restaurants per people.
JAYMEE SIRE: Really?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Yeah, Louisville is packed with independent restaurants. I mean, on top of each other, left, right, up, down. This is the place to come eat. So because of that, there's never any spaces. Everyone was building. Whereas for me, I can't build, I just need to rent. So it took us a year to find a location in Louisville.
When we finally did, we found a beautiful store. And then within six months, it caught on fire and burned down. So it was like, it never got-- And my story never ever seems to get any rest. It works out.
JAYMEE SIRE: How did you get through that devastating event? I mean, it just seems, like you said, a lot of your life has kind of been one thing after another one challenging thing that you had to kind of overcome. How did you get through? You finally get your dream restaurant, and then it burns down.
DARNELL FERGUSON: I think I got through it because at that point, by the time that restaurant burned down, I had been through so much stuff in my life that I started to learn from what I went through in my life. And I had the right people around me at that time, that were telling me that I was more than just a chef.
Up until that point, because I feel like a lot of times people think even in competition shows, when your back's against the wall, you're going to be this amazing person. It doesn't work like that. You know what happens is who you've been before that will eventually come out at that moment.
So because I have been working on myself, my personal, my spiritual life. Like not just being a chef, but working on my personal attributes in life. And I had a really good group of men around me that kind of reminded me of those things. And you're more than a Chef. This is what you do, yes, you're a chef. But that's not just who you are.
So by the time the restaurant caught on fire, I was able to deal with that. Because I had already been preparing myself to learn from what I've been through. So I was able to help my staff out. I was able to be a leader at that point, because I had already been doing the work daily I needed to. So it kind of helped me out a lot.
JAYMEE SIRE: And I've read that you specifically try to hire younger employees, and kind of help provide that mentoring for them. Is that why that's so important to you?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Oh, for sure. Because the one thing, I mean, I could tell you, I was talking to a chef yesterday. And I was telling him, I was like, man, the reason why I'm so patient with chefs, and I'm so patient with young cooks, and patient with employees is because no one was patient with me. I had to be perfect since day one.
I didn't have any grace anywhere I went to, but it also helped make me great, too. So I will say that. It also plays a part to why it's important for me to make sure I'm doing my part with the next generation. And that's why I always tell people, I won't be the executive chef's favorite chef in the world. But I guarantee I'm his line cooks favorite chef. Because that's my message, that's my thing to the younger generation.
So that by the time these guys who I'm coaching in high school for their competitions, and the elementary school kids I get to work with. By the time they're getting to be 10 years old some of them, hopefully I'll be like Emeril was to me at that point. And that's the goal is to keep going it, and just to pass it down. Because we do have a very young staff. And most people are amazed at our restaurant is so accredited. But when you walk in, it's so young.
JAYMEE SIRE: Do you think if you had a figure in your life like you are providing for some of these younger guys and gals. Do you think things would have been different? Or are you glad with how everything progress in your life and got you to this moment?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Oh, I'm glad how everything went in my life and went for me. I wish that I had someone on the business side of life still. Like for instance, now that I'm getting a little further in business, now I've had those friends from those competition shows. Like I could reach out to Brian Malarkey, and say, hey man, how do I go about doing this in Vegas? I'm trying to do this.
And he'll sit down, give me every single information that I need to do it. And he'll connect me with somebody to make it happen. So now I do all the reaching out no matter what stage I'm in in my life. I feel like now's the time I need to do what I'm doing to young kids. Because now I'm trying to get more with Food Network. Now I'm reaching out to Guy, I'm reaching out to all these people saying, hey, how do I make all these things happen?
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, in addition to being a SuperChef, you are also a super dad. You have eight kids. Did you come from a big family yourself?
DARNELL FERGUSON: No, no, it's just me and my sister. Oh my goodness, I couldn't imagine what life would be like with a lot of us. It was sheesh.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, you do have a lot of you now. I mean, what do you guys like to do as a family together?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Oh my gosh, there's so many. We do everything. I mean, we just live life. Like yesterday, it was just like going out shopping. It could just be going out doing anything. We don't really-- it's a lot of us. Like sometimes we look back and look at it and be like, oh my goodness, our car is fully packed. We have a big truck, you know?
So we need to look for a nanny right now, so we can make things easier on ourselves. We love going to the beach. We like things where they could just run around and play, and it's not that many rules around it. Because there are different age levels, from the little baby all the way to 14 years old. So the age range is wide. So we try to do something where everybody can just be themselves.
JAYMEE SIRE: Do any of your kids like to cook with you?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Oh, yeah, for sure. Especially my son, Legend. He's probably the number one. I think the girls, they like to cook with me. But I think they just like to cook with me, they're not in it for the food. Whereas legend, you can tell he loves the food. He loves the skills. He wants to do every single thing. I got one out of eight is good. That's a good ratio for me.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah, no, that's great. Do you see him following in dad's footsteps, or is it too young to tell?
DARNELL FERGUSON: No, for sure, 100% I see him following. 100% I see him being a chef. He's a really good looking kid, too. Like he has this very long hair. So I said, oh my gosh, he's going to have a fantastic culinary career. He is, he's the man. So for sure him, and everyone can see it, too.
He comes to the restaurant, he wants to be on the line. He's only four years old. So everyone sees him.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, he's only four?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Yeah, he's only four. And you can't stop him from cooking. You can't stop him if you do anything in that kitchen, for me or my wife, he has to do it with you. Like he tells you like, oh, I want to do it. Like he's never going to stand back. The girls you have to catch at the right moment where they want to help you. But him, he'll put everything down every time to help you.
JAYMEE SIRE: You seem like such a fun loving, positive guy. How do you instill that positivity in your kids as they kind of grow up and become their own person?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Well, I've kind of told myself that its not going to be my responsibility to make them positive. But it's going to be my responsibility to tell them all the positive things. So I've taken the stress away from myself. Because it sometimes like, why are y'all negative? Why don't y'all like this? You have a lot going on.
But I was like, I just got to remind them what they have. I try to remind them of how to think about things, how to think about friendships. Because they're at the point where friends matter, people's opinions matter. They grew up in a whole different era to me. We didn't have social media growing up. So trying to adjust to those things. But it's just a reminder, I think that if you see something, you should say something. And that's really, really how I do it.
JAYMEE SIRE: Let's say it's a summer evening, you and the whole fam, you're grilling for your family. What's on the menu for you guys?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Corn, corn, and more corn.
JAYMEE SIRE: Really?
DARNELL FERGUSON: They love corn on the cob. Oh my goodness, they'll eat tons of it. So my kids love corn on the cob, hot dogs. We're simple. My kids don't eat like me and my wife. Me and my wife eat like chefs. My kids, they different. They just want some crab legs. We can get on the grill with some crab legs with some butter, they're good to go.
But it's the one, Legend, it's the chef of the group who usually is the one who don't want to eat nothing. It's the craziest thing ever. He doesn't like anything.
JAYMEE SIRE: He just likes to cook it?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Yes, he doesn't want to eat it. So we would definitely be grilling corn. And we would do things like, they eat light, so they're very easy eaters. Except for when it comes to crab legs. My kids love crab legs. And they don't know the difference in crab legs yet. So they think every crab leg is a king crab leg.
So we eat king crab leg a lot in our family, even though its snow crab legs. They're always snow, but every single time they eat them they think it's king crab. We got king crab tonight. I'm like, no, we don't. But whatever you tell your friends is cool with me.
JAYMEE SIRE: Speaking of crab, you have a new restaurant coming soon called The Drip'N Crab, right? Is your kid's obsession with crab the inspiration behind that restaurant?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Yes, that, and the fact that I remember being in New Orleans with Emeril. He had invited me down there for a while. And when I was there with him, he asked me, he was like, what's your favorite food? And I was like seafood. And then he was like, well, you have no seafood on your menu. I was like, yeah, that makes sense.
So from that day I've been waiting for the opportunity to do seafood. And opportunity finally fit itself. And my kids love it. They ask me all the time when is the restaurant opening. And this is for me a lot right now, a lot of those seafood boil places are open up all around the country. And what I wanted to do was give a chef-driven version of that.
So this is not comparable to any other seafood boil, and go get crab legs and corn and sausage in an egg with it. This is the future of those restaurants. So I'm excited to expose people to what those type of restaurants could be if a chef owned them.
JAYMEE SIRE: What is it about Louisville, Kentucky that is so special to you?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Oh, it's my home. Its the best. I couldn't tell you, as much as we want to move. Like not that we want to move. But as much as we dream of one day living in Florida or something like that. There's never a day that says we want to leave Louisville. It's just a good place. Its good people, it's good food, it's competitive, and it's a good market.
I started here. And then once since I was young, I've always felt like something big was going to happen in Louisville. I didn't think I would be the big thing, but something big would happen here. It's just been a great place for me. The city supports it. And it's just crazy, if you can see the effect of SuperChef on Louisville. You would be amazed that I wasn't an athlete or something, or a musician.
Because the kind of response we get from people are what you see from musicians, and artists, and celebrity actors, and stuff like that. The way they've embraced our identity and food.
JAYMEE SIRE: Darnell has been one busy guy lately. Coming up next we talk all about his appearances on "Chopped Next Gen," "Grill Of Victory" and "Tournament Of Champions."
Well, you are a SuperChef, and you are quickly becoming a superstar on Food Network. You are on so many shows right now. And I said earlier, you said that you want to dominate food television. I think you're well on your way.
Let's talk about "Chopped Next Gen" first on Discovery Plus. I love the concept. The culinary innovation on that show is very mind blowing. What is it like judging those types of dishes that are so forward thinking?
DARNELL FERGUSON: It's like, how I'd imagine it's like LeBron James judging a slam dunk contest. It's like it fits him, it's like he would know. If anybody would know, he would. So for me it was like I was home. I was first of all so happy they didn't ask me to compete. I was like, oh my goodness, thank you, God.
[LAUGHTER]
Because this kind of show is made for my style of food. So I thought that they would be like, Darnell's like a next Gen type of Chef, he's like the younger age. I thought they were going to ask me to compete. So when they asked me to judge, I was so happy.
And I felt like it was an honor. And I wanted to make sure that I gave those chefs the feeling that I had when I compete. So it was so cool to do that, man, to be in front of those young chefs, and kind of see myself with them still today. So I didn't feel like I was above them. I felt like I was just waiting. So it was so cool, man.
The food they did was great, man. I loved the ube. It was a ube panna cotta. That's what it was. It was delicious though, man. The personalities were great. You can see their excitement. They were way more prepared than I was the first time I went on Guy's Grocery Games. Which is the first time I ever competed.
I was nervous. They didn't seem nervous. Its like they were ready for this. It's like it was different. It's like I don't know if it's like growing up with social media makes you more ready for social things. But they were ready, man. It was so cool to watch them and see them, and they performed.
JAYMEE SIRE: The set on the show is also just gorgeous. It's outdoors. Was that because you were shooting during the pandemic? Or was that kind of the plan all along?
DARNELL FERGUSON: First of all, that set was paradise there, man. Like that was a beautiful set. The weather was perfect, the food was cooking. Oh my goodness, man, that was beautiful. I was never expecting that. I was expecting what I seen on Chopped, to be inside of a building somewhere.
So when they said, oh, no, its outside. I said, what do you mean it's outside? Like we're outside shooting, have you not seen the set? I was like, OK, this is going to be a good time.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, it looked like a good time. Did you have any fun behind the scenes stories that you can share from filming?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Me and Mei went at it one time over who should win the show. We went over for like 30 minutes, we were a disagreement. It was cool because it was like that's the moment I wanted, that's what I wanted to do with my career. Is I wanted to fight for what I thought food should be like. And she fought for what she thought food should be like. And it was kind of cool because none of us disagreed with each other. We just thought that we were right.
It's like no, you're not making-- what you're saying is true, but you're overseeing what I'm saying, which trumps that one. So it was kind of fun for me and Mei to go back and forth. Because she's from Top Chef, you know I'm more from Food Network. So it's kind of cool to see my view on food. It's the creativeness, like how you push the elements.
You can't be perfect on any competition show. Sometimes you are. I want to be. But you say it's your first time doing the dish, right? Whereas Mei is more about the execution. I'm more about the possibilities. Like did you actually take the risk? Did you actually try something we haven't seen? Where she was like, well, what you put on my plate was this. So it was kind of fun, man. It was good to make those friendships.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah, no, I love that. Because you guys are obviously very passionate about it, and wanting to kind of promote what you feel is super important in this next generation going forward. If you were to compete, I know you were excited to judge, would you rather compete on "Chopped" the original or "Chopped Next Gen?"
DARNELL FERGUSON: Oh my goodness, that's easy. Next Gen, for sure. And don't be taking this as an invite either.
[LAUGHTER]
Before I know, I'll get an email from somebody trying to have me be next year on there. But no, it would definitely be Next Gen. Next Gen, Oh man, easy too, man. Because Next Gen, I'm all about the possibilities, seeing food differently, giving it to people in ways they haven't seen it yet. Like that's my whole style at Urban Eclectic that I created, was this food that people can relate to. But it's in ways they've never seen it before. So the innovation, the creativity, put me on Next Gen for sure.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well let's talk about "Grill of Victory," as well. Because that was also shot outdoors. You've got three home cooks on each episode competing for the outdoor grill setup of their dreams. How much fun was it to judge that show with the amateurs?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Well by nature, just to get this out there in the world, that was my first time ever judging.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh.
DARNELL FERGUSON: So even though it didn't come on first, it was my first time ever judging. So it was different. Because my first time judging, I wasn't judging professionals. So therefore the things you want to say, you have to second guess yourself. I say should you say that or should you not say that. They're at home cooks. So it was good.
But the thing about it is the food they produce was like they were chefs. So therefore it was easy to judge. If they were putting together food that was like, oh my goodness, it was so simple. They salt and pepper on the chicken and grilled it. I'd have been like, OK. But this wasn't that, man. This guy did something with spam one time. I was like, what in the world? Like how do you even think of doing that?
So it was fun, and it was so cool, man. Sabin and Tregaye and everybody I got to work with. And they knew it was my first time, so therefore they were so helping, making sure that they would start conversations. Because you don't know, I don't know how to play the game. I'm like, do I talk yet, do I not talk? So it was like they made sure that for my first time judging, it was so comfortable for me.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, it sounds like you're a fast learner. So I'm sure you picked it up pretty quickly. You mentioned you have judged both professionals and amateurs now. I mean, do you feel like you kind of judge them differently, and kind of take different things into consideration when you're giving them feedback?
DARNELL FERGUSON: I do. I got to judge them differently from the standpoint, not the food, though. The food get judged evenly, the food that you put up. But what I judged on professionals is totally different than. Because my stance on judging, my first look at judging is always from a competitive standpoint.
How did you compete? How did you do as far as with your time, with how you did things, how your game plan was? What you put on the plate versus what you could have did. So I'm judging first from a competition standpoint, because that's where I come from. So therefore when it's at home cooks, I'm not giving the same things. You should of did this and this, like you've never worked in a restaurant before, you know nothing about doing that.
Whereas the chefs, you know better. You know you shouldn't have did that to that, you know you should have seared that off, you should have fried it first. Like those are different ways of judging. But for me, my way of judging is just to always have a smile. Always try to encourage them in a way that makes them feel like you can do this, but you just didn't do this.
JAYMEE SIRE: I think one of my favorite parts of the show was also seeing their outdoor kitchens come to life. It was sort of like HGTV meets Food Network. So I'm curious what the outdoor kitchen of your dreams would look like? And do you already have it?
DARNELL FERGUSON: No, I don't have it at all now. I don't even have a grill. So that's how much I don't have.
JAYMEE SIRE: Really?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Yeah. I don't even have a grill. So my outdoor dream kitchen would have all industrial kitchen equipment in there. Like everything I have in my restaurant, I would have outdoors. Flat top grill, fryer, stove-top. No ovens, though. Because if I'm grilling, I don't need a oven. But I would have a smoker, though. You know what I'm saying?
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes.
DARNELL FERGUSON: I would have beer on tap, wine dispensers. Because you've got to have a good time. You have some music playing, TV up, everything. Because what people don't get in the kitchen, which I want to show people is, is how we roll once it's time to start pushing out tickets. Like if you can hear the music that's playing, how everyone's in their zone. Like that's a big part of cooking.
So first off, the people are asking, oh, how you make this recipe? I say, well, make sure you're not in your kitchen and it's quiet as like you could hear a pin drop. Make sure you're in there comfortably first. Have something going on that's going to make you in a good spirit. Because cooking is a lot of how you feel. You can always taste something that wasn't cooked by someone who likes to be there.
JAYMEE SIRE: On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your own grilling skills? I mean, you said you don't even have a grill. So I don't even know if this is a fair question. But I'm sure you can hold your own.
DARNELL FERGUSON: Well, I also don't have a basketball, but I'm an all-star IN that, too. I would probably say probably a 12 out of 10. I can grill.
JAYMEE SIRE: Wow, OK, all right.
DARNELL FERGUSON: I don't have a grill now. I've had them in the past. And I'm not home as much, in the sense of like outdoors. Because it's cicada season out here in Louisville. If you know what I'm talking about?
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, Yep.
DARNELL FERGUSON: So I don't even want to be outside. But I can definitely grill. Its an art to grilling. And that's why when they asked me to judge a grilling show, I'm like, oh, I know all about it. Because we do it in restaurants. And I've done it just outside.
Growing up grilling it's always something you've done at the parks, and that you've done growing up. So I understand it.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, from judge to competitor, we of course, have to talk about "Tournament Of Champions." You competed on both seasons of the show. And we obviously have to revisit season one, where you pulled off an insane upset. One that Guy Fieri called the biggest upset in culinary history.
You were an eighth seed. You went up against Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli. She was the number one seed from the East Coast. So describe that feeling when you found out you were moving on to the next round?
DARNELL FERGUSON: I was excited as I could be inside. But I told myself I wouldn't show it until I left. Because when it happened, I felt bad because I like Alex so much. And she took a big risk about going against me. I think she kind of knew what was possible going against me.
She's judged me before. And it wasn't excitement. I had so much respect for her, that I didn't even enjoy the moment that much until after I got off the stage. When I got off the stage, it was good to go. But when I was on there, I couldn't wait, man. Like I couldn't believe it.
No one could believe it, though. Its crazy. The part is that everyone was shocked, not just me. So it's like, oh, so everyone when I'm walking away has the same amazement I have. So everyone's energy is just in this crazy place. Then when I see the other chefs the next day, they're like, Oh my gosh, we can't believe it. But great job, man.
I mean, I didn't celebrate on TV. You can look at my face, I didn't celebrate that much because of the respect I have for Alex. And the fact that she is such a top dog. And she went into this competition, where I feel like a lot of people who are in her position said no. So therefore I wanted to make sure I showed a lot of respect to her in that sense.
And now I come back next year, I'm pretty sure I'll be at two seed. If I get upset, I don't want nobody jumping up and down in my face.
JAYMEE SIRE: That's true, that's true. That's a good point.
DARNELL FERGUSON: You know, and also I don't think I was in my best game that day. And I think that when you won but you weren't your best, it's not really much to celebrate, for me. I thought I could be so much better than I was. And that was part of it, is that I was like, man, I didn't do this right. I was so nervous, though. Like I had never been that nervous competing.
And Alex got the best of me. Because of the whole, we went last, they built it up. It was such a trauma filled time before we went. The David versus Goliath. And it was a lot going on, that they kind of made it feel like what it was. And when I won, I couldn't believe it. I'm like, man, I just could not, I couldn't believe it happened.
JAYMEE SIRE: But I mean, you're a competitive guy, you're a confident guy. I have to imagine you still had a lot of confidence going in that you could do it. Or was it a surprise to you, as well?
DARNELL FERGUSON: No, I knew I could do it, but I didn't think I did my best dish. So I beat her with not my best dish. Whereas when I went to the next round against Amanda, I was on all cylinders that round. I just forgot the fried bread, so therefore I lose.
And then now I never can hear the end of that. Like I could be in the Vegas strip walking, and someones like, oh that's Darnell, the SuperChef, hey, don't forget the fried bread. Like it never ever stops. Like people will always let me know about the fried bread, even though they don't even know fried bread is.
JAYMEE SIRE: That's amazing.
DARNELL FERGUSON: Alex started everything. And now you know season two happened. And then it was like I felt so comfortable coming back season two. Like I came back a whole different person. I was literally 45 pounds bigger. I was better, I was more confident. I came back a whole different person, like I ate my old self. And was like let me show you something different.
JAYMEE SIRE: It is an intense show. I mean, you've got the randomizer, you've got blind judging. So what are your keys to success when it comes to these competitions, and specifically, "Tournament Of Champions?"
DARNELL FERGUSON: Oh man, there's no key. There is nothing you can do about this, man. You got to be adapt to whatever. Because the worst thing you can do is try to have a game plan, or have something you can do or will do.
And what the randomizer will do is give you the exact thing you never wanted to have on that list. And it's going to give you the time you didn't think you could do it in. And it's going to give you something like, it's always something, man. And it's like I wish there was a way that you could like win something. To be like, OK, you won last round in this amount of points, so this round you cannot use one of these sections.
[LAUGHTER]
Because you look at it and oh, it doesn't look that bad, or well I think for most people it looks bad. But it is an animal. And the further you get, the worse that animal becomes.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes.
DARNELL FERGUSON: Because even in the last round with Maneet, what most people don't know is that I had never-- I didn't even know what sturgeon was. So to have to compete with it, like literally, I asked I said what is it.
[LAUGHTER]
I was like, oh, it's fish? Good to know. I didn't know what it was. Because what restaurant's cooking sturgeon? No restaurants cooking sturgeon. It's usually known for its caviar. But no one's eating the fish that often, ever. So therefore that was an obstacle within itself. And then to get like hot and cold. You need it to be hot, but then we need to be frozen. I'm like, it just never stops for me. But it definitely pushed me to be something else.
JAYMEE SIRE: What is your randomizer kryptonite, if you have one? Is it the sturgeon, or did you see something else on there that you would never want to touch?
DARNELL FERGUSON: No, it's the first round. The first round for me is the hardest. Because it gives you stuff like skirt steak or not even skirt steak. It would be something like beef chuck. Like what do you do with beef chuck? Like do we make roast beef? It's the simplest things will get you.
And its like even though me and Tiffany, we had a whole chicken. It's like, OK, you have to think like, she used both parts of the chicken. Whereas for me, I just used the legs. Everybody said, oh, that's not smart to use a leg. But for me, it's like well, man, if I cook two different types of chicken, and one's not cooked perfectly. They're going to say, oh, you should just use one. You didn't have these whole thing.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah, I feel like that's always like what happens. It's like a chef does one thing really well, and tries to do it two ways. And that's always their downfall. So I think that was a smart move on your part. We want to wrap up with a few rapid fire questions. And then we have one last question that we ask everybody here on "Food Network Obsessed." So are you ready?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Yes.
JAYMEE SIRE: Ready for the rapid fire? I promise its easy. All right, waffles or pancakes?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Waffles. Cinnamon Toast Crunch waffles, too. That's my favorite.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, yes, I saw that on your menu. Yes, that looks awesome All right, in honor of "Grill Of Victory," hot dog or burger?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Oh, hot dog. Burnt hot dog, though. Not just a regular hot dog. You got to have a little crunch on it.
JAYMEE SIRE: I agree with you. Burned hot dog is the way to go, 100%. If you could only have one kitchen appliance, what would it be?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Oh, one kitchen appliance? It would just be, I just need a burner, like a saute burner. I could make everything happen on that burner. I can fry, I can boil, I can bake, I could do everything on a burner.
JAYMEE SIRE: Late night snack of choice?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Late night snack of choice is ice cream, popsicles and ice cream.
JAYMEE SIRE: What flavor of ice cream?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Yesterday was this mint chip. But it had little pieces of cookie in there, chocolate cookie and fudge.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, OK.
DARNELL FERGUSON: It was like a mint chip with fudge and cookies. It was off the hook.
JAYMEE SIRE: All Right.
DARNELL FERGUSON: Oh my goodness.
JAYMEE SIRE: Since you are a SuperChef, who is your favorite superhero?
DARNELL FERGUSON: I mean, out of respect to the name, if it's not Superman, we got a lot of issues going on here. I should've called myself the Spider Chef or the Iron Chef. That was SuperChef. I had the SuperChef, though I like Superman. He should have changed his name to something else.
JAYMEE SIRE: So Superman should change his name?
DARNELL FERGUSON: No, so it was Superman, but it used to be Thor. Thor used to be my favorite until he cut his hair. And it was like, Oh.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK.
DARNELL FERGUSON: Not that, not no more.
JAYMEE SIRE: No more. Favorite show on Food Network?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Oh, "Guy's Grocery Games" still.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah.
DARNELL FERGUSON: Yeah, my favorite show.
JAYMEE SIRE: All right, well this has been so much fun. I loved talking to you. But before we go, one last question.
DARNELL FERGUSON: Uh-hmm.
JAYMEE SIRE: What would be on the menu for your perfect food day? So breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert. You can time travel, travel to different countries in between meals, spend however much money you want. There are no rules, it is your perfect food day. And the floor is yours.
DARNELL FERGUSON: Breakfast, I would have breakfast on the beach. Just a nice smoked salmon omelet. But hot smoked, not cold smoke. I don't like lox. It would definitely be the smoked salmon, I'm on the beach. I would have lunch in Philly, and have a Philly cheesesteak.
JAYMEE SIRE: Where are you going for your cheesesteak?
DARNELL FERGUSON: Oh my gosh, I can't even pronounce it right now. You asked me too fast. It's not one of the ones you would think either.
JAYMEE SIRE: Like D'Alessandro?
DARNELL FERGUSON: No, its called Arbor--
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, I know which one, it's ibba.
DARNELL FERGUSON: Yeah, ibbable. Is it ishtables? I don't know. I think its ibbable.
JAYMEE SIRE: I know what you're talking about, yeah.
DARNELL FERGUSON: I would be there. And for dinner, I would be in Las Vegas getting some grilled garlic Parmesan oysters from the Oyster Bar inside of the Harris. Because we eat those like, oh my gosh, you couldn't understand. They're so good. And then I would finish it off with some good slushies. Because I like alcoholic slushies.
JAYMEE SIRE: That's your dessert? You're drinking your dessert?
DARNELL FERGUSON: No, no, no, no, no, that's just the alcohol. The desserts a whole different ballgame. I went gelato for dessert. Gelato, creme brulee or cake.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, that sounds like a delightful food day. And we so appreciate you taking the time to share your stories. And just the way you've gotten to where you are is so inspiring. And best of luck in the future, and continued success in your SuperChef's superhero, dominate food television quest.
DARNELL FERGUSON: Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have a great day, as well. And I'll see you on the network soon.
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JAYMEE SIRE: I so enjoyed meeting Darnell, and hearing all about his unique journey to becoming a fan favorite on Food Network. For more of Darnell, you can catch him judging "Grill Of Victory," Mondays at 10:00/9:00 Central on Food Network. And also on "Chopped Next Gen," which is streaming now on Discovery Plus.
As always, thanks so much for listening. Make sure to follow us wherever you listen to podcasts, so you don't miss a single thing. And if you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to rate and review. We do love it when you do that. That's all for now. We'll catch you foodies next Friday.
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