New Food Network show challenges 2 D-FW chefs to cook for 24 hours

Two chefs from Dallas-Fort Worth say that 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing was the most intense cooking marathon of their lives. The Food Network show premieres April 14, 2024.

“It’s just like the Olympics,” said chef Vijay Sadhu, a restaurant consultant from Plano who has worked for Dallas chefs Stephan Pyles and Tim Byres.

Sadhu called 24 in 24 “nonstop.”

Chef Kess Eshun, a realtor and baker from Frisco who left Ghana to pursue a degree in computer science in the U.S., called the show “crazy.”

“It’s going to be one of the best shows on TV, I promise you that,” she said.

The two join 22 other chefs for the whirlwind challenge.

24 in 24 unfolds over five episodes. Hosts Michael Symon and Esther Choi lead the contestants in 24 consecutive hours — chopping challenges, cooking competitions and more. Food Network regulars Scott Conant, Stephanie Izard, Jet Tila, Bryan Voltaggio, Michael Voltaggio, Brooke Williamson, Eric Adjepong and Maneet Chauhan serve as judges.

During the finale on May 12, 2024, we’ll learn which chef muscled through the day-long competition and won $50,000 and “the trip of a lifetime.” (A news release doesn’t name the place.) We sincerely hope that chef found time for a good nap, too.

We quizzed North Texas chefs Sadhu and Eshun on the Last Chef Standing particulars.

Just how rigorous was this 24-hour competition?

“It’s totally different to any other show at Food Network,” Sadhu said. “It is so intense. You need to have a set mind. You need to be very focused. You need to know what you’re doing. It is not just an ordinary cooking show.”

In a video announcing the new show, one of the 24 chefs looked straight into the camera and said: “I’ve never cooked for 24 hours straight.” He pauses, possibly contemplating what he’s gotten himself into. “I don’t think you’re supposed to.”

What did you do to prepare?

Nothing, Eshun said. “I’ve stayed up more than 24 hours when we had my bakery,” she said. (She’s talking about Kess Kravings Patisserie and Cafe, which is no longer open, though she still makes food for pickup.)

“I went in green,” she said about the Food Network show. “I thought, ‘24 hours, I’ve done this.’ Bring it on.”

But the challenges were tougher than she expected. “I learned that when I set my mind on doing something and I get distracted with something else, my mind just shuts down,” she said. “I can function under pressure, but with competitions? It was crazy.”

Sadhu was more direct. Yes, he did prepare, he said, by meditating. “It helped me center my focus.”

What’s your culinary point of view?

Sadhu is from India. After he moved to the U.S., he cooked in Dallas at Stephan Pyles, Smoke, Cook Hall in the W hotel, Pepper Smash and more. He was a consultant on new Frisco sports bar Fanzo.

“My style is global, with big, bold flavors,” he said. “It’s not that you need to be Indian to cook Indian food or French to cook French food. Cooking has no boundaries, no caste.”

Eshun has a computer science degree, and she still codes, but she is also a residential realtor and a French pastry chef who specializes in croissants and petits gâteaux. Her cooking style is “to take street food and put it on a plate,” she said. She hates to waste food, which she said comes from her upbringing in Africa.

“Every dish that I cook, I make sure it’s something from my childhood [in Ghana].”

Do you like being challenged in the kitchen?

Both said yes, and perhaps that’s why Food Network keeps calling. Sadhu has appeared on Beat Bobby Flay and Eshun was on Holiday Baking Championship.

“I love the pressure. I love it. I love the adrenaline,” Eshun said. “And, it’s fun meeting people.”

Are you proud of how you cooked?

Neither could give too much away. But yes, said Sadhu: “It was very nice.”

Eshun was more lukewarm. “There are 24 chefs. Amazing chefs, let me tell you.”

What did you do immediately after the show finished filming?

Sadhu: “After the show, I was dead. I took a good nap for 5 to 6 hours.”

Eshun: “I had two shots of vodka and I went to sleep. I was tired.”

24 in 24: Last Chef Standing premieres April 14, 2024 at 7 p.m. on Food Network.

D-FW chefs Kess Eshun and Vijay Sadhu are hosting a watch party at 6:30 p.m. April 14, 2024 at Fanzo, 5977 Preston Road, Frisco. Tickets cost $100 per person and include a three-course dinner and cocktails.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on X (formerly Twitter) at @sblaskovich.