Chef Darrell Johnson, co-owner and chef at Shreveport’s Crescent City Bistro, will appear on an upcoming episode of Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen. The episode will debut at 8 p.m. CST on Wednesday, Aug. 17. The popular program, which was created by and is hosted by food television pioneer Alton Brown, pits four chefs against one another in a cooking contest that is complicated by acts of sabotage. The episode was filmed in February. Johnson is planning a watch party for the episode, but hasn’t nailed down details just yet – he encourages anyone who’d like to know about the watch party to check the restaurant’s Facebook page for updates.
“It’s been a long process, from traveling to different cities and auditioning to calling producers and doing video chats,” Johnson said. “They get thousands of applicants, so to break through was a lot of hard work.” Johnson clearly enjoyed filming Cutthroat Kitchen, and it sounds as if the Food Network team enjoyed working with him. He can’t share details, but did disclose that future appearances on Food Network programs are in the works.
“All of the producers told me that this episode is one of the most fun episodes they’ve had in 10 seasons of doing the show,” Johnson said. He described host Alton Brown as “a wealth of knowledge” and “someone who not only has the knowledge but can apply it.”
When pressed for more details about how the show went and what may be “in the works,” the characteristically mellow Johnson only had this to say: “Stay tuned.”
20×49.com wrote about Chef Johnson, his culinary training and the restaurant that he runs with his wife, Aunna, in a previous blog post. Despite its humble location, Crescent City Bistro is one of our favorite new restaurant openings of 2016. With Food Network knocking on the door, it seems like a safe bet that Johnson and his restaurant are headed for big things in the latter half of 2016.
To learn more about local restaurants, check out the 2016 edition of Eat Here: A Food Lover’s Guide to Shreveport-Bossier.
