Omi Hopper will feature in season 2 of Next Level Chef, which will air on Sunday, February 12, 2023, after the Super Bowl at 10:30 p.m. ET. The program will be relocated to Fox every Thursday at 8 p.m. ET beginning with the second episode. The series will follow Omi and 17 other chefs as they compete for the coveted title and the $250,000 grand financial prize.
Omi’s path on Next Level Chef has been interesting. Her cosmetics workshop and her day job at Sephora were both shuttered due to COVID and the ensuing lockdown. This eventually led to the chef spending time in the kitchen cooking for friends and family while filming herself in order to preserve her Puerto Rican culinary heritage.
She started her adventure on TikTok, where her one-minute films quickly became popular, garnering thousands of views. The chef and other contestants have been separated into three teams as she participates in the culinary competition series, each with a mentor in chef Gordon Ramsay, chef Nyesha Arrington, and chef Richard Blais. The victor will get not only the title and the financial reward but also a year of mentoring from the three famous chefs.
Omi Hopper, a Next Level Chef participant, began her culinary profession on TikTok.
Omi resolved to fend for her family after losing her employment due to the epidemic by preserving her Puerto Rican traditions via her food. Her one-minute TikTok videos drew a lot of attention to the chef. The Next Level Chef candidate is currently best known on social media as “Cooking Con Omi” (Cooking with Omi), with over 295K followers on Instagram, 52K followers on YouTube, and over 410K followers on TikTok.
Omi was born in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, and at the age of 11 relocated to Providence, Rhode Island. She recalls warmly the summers she spent at her grandparents’ home, which motivated her to continue her Puerto Rican heritage via her cuisine. The Next Level Chef candidate reflected on her motivation and her massive social media presence in an interview with TODAY. Omi wanted her food to reflect what she had learned from the ladies in her life. She stated:
“I began cooking at a very young age with my grandma and aunts. They were a horde of ladies with a lot of enthusiasm. As a result, I grew up watching them always joyful in the kitchen, cooking, dancing, making jokes, and eager to test each other’s cuisine.”
Her cooking has now brought people together and even transported them to recollections of the past. Omi informed the newspaper that she was conscious of the obligation she had to not only stay relevant but also prepare food for her people as her social media channels gained popularity.
Omi told The Providence Journal that the only way she could assist her films acquire attention on social media was to generate fresh material every day. To guarantee her culinary videos reached the desired audience, the chef had to research the appropriate algorithms. She stated:
“The food and cooking have to inspire me, and I want others to feel happy while watching it.”
The Next Level Chef finalist is currently working with sponsors and other influencers to help her company expand. She also paid tribute to her grandmother by inventing her own sofrito brand, Mi Sofrito Fresqusito, which is a blend of herbs, spices, and other tastes used as a basis for Latin cuisine. The chef is also working on additional goods.
Omi’s path to establishing her own food company began after she was inspired by an online Zoom class and was awarded a business grant. She then met Lisa Raiola, the president and creator of Hope & Main, and started her training to launch her culinary company. The Next Level Chef cast member does not talk in the typical “recipe style” of many food bloggers and TikTokers. According to news sites, she finds recipes difficult since she has her own culinary process and flair. Omi is currently transforming into a food entrepreneur, developing two new items. The first is a freeze-dried version of her sofrito, and the second is a marinade prepared from it.
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Both of these ingredients, she claims, may be tasty additions to Latin recipes. Her husband, Kradin Hopper, whom she refers to as the “thinker,” is assisting her in the creation of her own brand. Omi appears on Next Level Chef as a member of chef Nyesha Arrington’s crew. The culinary show’s participants will prepare amazing meals to ensure their safety until one of them wins the title, cash reward, and coveted mentoring. Viewers will have to tune in to see everything. Don’t miss the season debut of Next Level Chef season 2 on Fox on Sunday, February 12, 2023, at 10:30 p.m. ET after the Super Bowl.
