Pensacola now has 2 'Chopped' champions, but our top chefs are no strangers to TV (2024)

Pensacola chef Darian Hernandez won the hearts of Pensacolians, recognition on a national stage and the taste buds of judges when they crowned him and his partner Izzy Buasier as champions of the Food Network show "Chopped” Tuesday.

The Valentine's Day special was themed after a "Blind Date Night" challenge that paired each chef with a mystery counterpart. The show represented chefs all around the country from California to New York, including a fellow Panhandle chef from the 30A beach community.

With that win under his belt, Hernandez, the executive chef at the newly opened Brother Fox inside Lily Hall, has officially joined a growing list of other Pensacola chefs that have graced TV screens across America.

Chopped champion:Pensacola chef wins top prize on Food Network Valentine's Day special

Irv Miller

Irv Miller is Jackson’s Steakhouse founding executive chef. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in 1982, Miller has a long history of serving the Florida Panhandle. His first endeavor as a chef was Les Saison’s in Destin.

Over the decades that Miller has served the Pensacola area, he’s appeared on over 51 episodes of WSRE’s PBS cooking show “Flavors of the Coast.”

On Jan. 20, 2013, Miller and Jackson’s Steakhouse were prominently featured in an episode of Emeril Lagasse’s “Emeril’s Florida,” a series showcasing Florida’s unbeatable combination of authentic Gulf Coast cuisine and scenery.

In the episode called "Viva Florida," Lagasse celebrates Florida’s 500-year history and talks about Pensacola’s contribution. Miller serves Lagasse a plate of Apalachicola oysters prepared similar to Rockefeller, having a creamy spinach base with a mornay sauce, bacon and panko crust. He also prepared a grits and shrimp dish before wrapping up with a fried green tomatoes and crab meat dish.

The segment finishes with a cooking lesson from both Miller and Lagasse as they prepare a special dish called “dressed wagyu.” The dish consists of wagyu beef, chimichurri, broccoli, a bit of soy sauce, caramelized onions, arugula and kale chips.

Miller’s lists of awards, accomplishments and other national spotlights could fill a story on their own. To read more about them, head over to his website: http://www.chefirvmiller.com/.

James Briscione

Angelena's co-owner and executive chef James Briscione is no stranger to the camera — he's the first-ever two-time champion of Food Network's Chopped, after all.

Briscione may have made a name for himself elsewhere, but his first experience in the kitchen was at Jubilee on Pensacola Beach, where he began working when he was 16. At the time, he played center and tight end on the football team at Booker T. Washington.

He has since become a Food Network regular, serving as a host and judge on television and starring in original Food Network digital productions.

"Man Crafted" is a Food Network digital series Briscione hosts where he seeks to discover how unique and interesting people deal with learning unique and interesting recipes.

In one video, Briscione teams up with the crew from a former New York distillery as they combine bourbon with dried plum stuffed pork loin to create a holiday feast.

Another Food Network digital series Briscione hosts is "Cooking with Dad." This show is all about learning to cook easy, family-friendly meals with his sous-chef and daughter, Parker, with appearances from his wife and Angelena's co-owner, Brooke Parkhurst.

Briscione vs. Flay:Pensacola Chef James Briscione triumphs over Iron Chef Bobby Flay on Food Network

Most recently, Briscione's biggest achievement was his triumph over Bobby Flay. In March 2022, Flay and Briscione went head-to-head in an action-packed episode of Food Network's Beat Bobby Flay.

Briscione was paired with one of Flay’s fierce competitors for the title of Iron Chef, chef Sue Torres out of Vero Beach before he could get a shot at cooking off against Flay. He ultimately won with crawfish tortellini stuffed with andouille sausage bathed in a crawfish sauce, served with charred corn and brown butter.

And just to pad out the rest of his resume, Briscione was also named on People Magazine's "Sexiest Chef Alive" list in 2016.

Edward Lordman

Last year, the Food Network aired a six-week series called "Beachside Brawl" that recruited chefs from all around the country to settle the debate about whether the East Coast or the West Coast does summer food better.

Food Network said in a statement that it intended to allow each chef to showcase their region's signature dishes.

Pensacola chef Edward Lordman was selected to join chefs from New Jersey, Massachusetts and Tampa Bay to make up the East Coast team.

Beachside Brawl:Pensacola's Ed Lordman made the finale of Food Network's 'Beachside Brawl.' How'd he do?

Lordman, a Georgia native, has been working his way through Pensacola kitchens since 2014. Lordman said he was following a mentor to take a position as a sous chef at the Pensacola Country Club, where the two were able to work to bring the club to platinum-level status.

Since then, Lordman has taken on roles as sous chef and head pastry chef at Restaurant IRON, executive chef at Polanza Bistro and recently as a chef at The Grand Marlin of Pensacola Beach. He also launched an independent company, Southern Grit Culinary and recently became theexecutive chef for The Pointe in Gulf Breeze.

Executive chef:Pensacola executive chef Ed Lordman is bringing 'Beachside Brawl' momentum to The Pointe

The News Journal followed Lordman's six-week journey as he battled his way through the competition vying for the title of "best of the Beach" and a $25,000 vacation.

In the final episode of the show Sunday, Lordman beat out another Florida chef to win the title "Best of the East Coast" but suffered a narrow defeat in a final showdown with the West's best chef.

A Taste of History

Chef Walter Staib picked Pensacola to round out the 12th season of the PBS show A Taste of History, featuring three of Pensacola's best-known chefs: Irv Miller, Gus Silivos of Agapi Bistro + Garden and Scenic Highway and Black Rushing of Union Public House.

The 15-Emmy award-winning series takes viewers on journeys learning about food around the globe, typically hitting 13 destinations each year, according to Staib. The show balances a mix of domestic and international travel, though travel restrictions from the pandemic provided more opportunity for travel within the U.S. in recent seasons.

A Taste of History:PBS television series A Taste of History begins filming in Pensacola, featuring 3 top chefs

The unique local episode tasked each chef to create a dish that encapsulated the Pensacola area. And they needed to do so over a wood fire, just as it was done years ago.

Staib said he was amazed to learn the history within Pensacola and also impressed by the pristine detail in the Historic Pensacola Village with over 450 years of history packed into America’s first multi-year settlement.