Local Culinary Grad Achieves the “Impossible”

LINCROFT, NJ (Nov. 13, 2015) – For the second time this year, Monmouth County Culinary Education Center graduate Emily Chapman took top honors on the Food Network competition program “Chopped,” defeating celebrity chef Robert Irvine and winning $40,000 in an episode airing on Nov. 12.

The program, titled “Chopped: Impossible,” was a tournament of champions featuring 12 previous “Chopped” winners. Chapman, a 27-year-old Ocean Township native, won $10,000 in her first appearance on the show in January.

Through two shows airing in November, Chapman defeated five professional chefs and restaurant owners by making culinary meals out of strange mystery ingredients such as “thousand-year-old egg” and fried brain sandwiches.

In the finale Chapman went head-to-head with Irvine, an internationally acclaimed chef and host of the Food Network program “Restaurant: Impossible.” Her dish, composed of beef tongue, steak and beef jerky-flavored soda, was declared the winner by a panel of celebrity chef judges.

“This is one of the greatest feelings of my entire life,” Chapman said, following the win. “It’s amazing the love and support I’ve been receiving not just from home, but from strangers all over the country. I did this for them, for everyone who has been there for me and everyone who was cheering me on. It means more than you know.”

The Culinary Education Center, located in Asbury Park, is a partnership between Brookdale Community College and the Monmouth County Vocational School District. For more information on the center call 732-988-3299 or visit www.brookdalecc.edu/culinary.