The name of the game was Redemption.
After competing on the Food Network show “Guy’s Grocery Games” in 2019, Landrum chef Sarah McClure was invited back for a “redemption” episode of the four-chef face-off hosted by legendary chef Guy Fieri.
The competing chefs, who had all been on the show previously and lost, were tasked with using the ingredient that took them down the last time around. For McClure, it was ricotta cheese.
“The goal was to cook something that you thought would redeem you from your past loss,” said McClure, a fourth-generation restaurateur who co-owns Southside Smokehouse.
Both episodes were filmed at a studio grocery store in Santa Rosa, California, that was built specifically for the show. Competitors have 30 minutes to plan, shop, cook and plate their meal — no stopping or retakes.
There’s a big incentive to win, too, since the last chef standing gets a shot at winning $20,000.
“You’ve got 30 minutes, and that’s it,” McClure said. “It’s so fast-paced.”
On the most recent episode, which will broadcast again at 8 p.m. June 28, McClure made grilled lamb chops soaked in a ricotta solution, fiddlehead fern shoots, morel mushrooms and Merguez sausage over ricotta whipped sweet potatoes and a ricotta mint cream sauce.
“I was thinking it’s springy, it’s fresh. It’s locationally and seasonally appropriate, and it’s big and showy,” McClure said of her dish.
All things she thought the judges would like. But it didn’t go over well with one of the judges, and McClure and another chef were both sent home after the first round.
Still, McClure said she’s proud of what she cooked.
“I felt like it was a better dish than some of the things I did on the first episode, but I guess that’s why it’s a game show,” McClure said.
Her customers also wanted to try it, so she sourced all the ingredients and made it at the restaurant.
“We sold out of it in about three days, so that was exciting,” McClure said.
Her experience has made her want to appear on other food shows, particularly “Beat Bobby Flay.”
And she’s hoping to convince Food Network producers to come to Landrum and feature Southside on an episode of “Diners Drive-ins and Dives”, which Fieri also hosts.
“We’ll see what happens,” McClure said.
