IN THE MARKET
San Antonio chef bags appearance on Guy Fieri's Guy's Grocery Games
Flavortown may be more of a concept than an exact set of coordinates. But on May 24, the pin will be firmly set in San Antonio as Braunda Smith becomes the latest local chef to compete in Guy’s Grocery Games.
Part Supermarket Sweep, part Chopped, the popular Food Network show pits four chefs in a cooking elimination contest using ingredients commonly found at the grocer. Guy Fieri assigns each round’s theme, then gleefully introduces at least one twist as a challenge.
Sometimes chefs are told they can only use canned goods, and sometimes they must “shoplift” wearing oversized tracksuits. The last chef standing is sent on a panicked run through Flavortown Market as they solve clues for a chance to win $20,000.
Although the affable owner of Lucy Cooper’s Ice House confirms she will battle it out on the Guy Fieri-hosted show, Alamo City fans will have to wait until the air date for further specifics. A rep for Discovery, Inc. did not return a request for comment by press time.
If Smith prevails, she will be the first San Antonio chef to take home the final prize in the series. Cesar Zepeda of Sangria on the Burg and James Canter of Guerilla Gourmet fell just short of the final round when they were put through the wringer.
Still, Smith’s punchy fare should find a fan in the famously flame-shirted host. From cheeseburger eggrolls to a pulled pork sandwich loaded with ham, applewood-smoked bacon, and sausage, Lucy Cooper’s serves precisely the kind of grub Fieri would describe as “lights-out delicious.”
Let’s hope that Smith makes a winner-winner Grocery Games dinner.