Little Rock chef Alicia Watson is sooooo close to winning Food Network's "Big Restaurant Bet."
On Tuesday, during the fifth and penultimate episode, Watson advanced to the finale of the cooking competition. She and Torrece "Chef T" Gregoire of Draper, Va., are the last two standing from the original eight contestants. They are competing for a chance to partner with chef, restaurateur and Food Network star Geoffrey Zakarian, who is putting up a $250,000 investment to "make their restaurant vision come true."
The finale airs at 9 p.m. Tuesday and can also be streamed on discovery+.
Watson, 62, is originally from Chicago and moved to Little Rock about 20 years ago. She is the owner of Vito and Vera, a plant-based "culinary wellness business" that she started in 2020 after a career as an occupational therapist in home health. She creates locally sourced, plant-based meals and delivers them throughout Little Rock, North Little Rock and Maumelle. She also offers catering.
It was during her time as an occupational therapist that she became interested in culinary wellness.
"I looked at my patients, who were receiving all kinds of therapies and yet their comorbidities were increasing, and I wanted to do something for them. That's when I realized that food was medicine and decided to do plant-based food."
At 57, she enrolled at UA-Pulaski Tech's Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute while also working full time.
"It was a trip, but I had big visions. I needed to go to school for the [credibility]."
Watson says one of her favorite "Big Restaurant Bet" moments came during the first episode.
"Geoffrey Zakarian said I would have to cook a chicken, and I was freaking out. But then winning that was the most memorable. The plant-based chef came in and won the chicken challenge."
And she's come out on top in another competition. Last month, she won $5,000 in the Cureate Courses Pitch Showcase in Springdale.
Watson wants to use her "Big Restaurant Bet" stint to promote plant-based cuisine and show that it can be healthy, yummy and profitable.
"There are not a lot of plant-based chefs on TV," she says. "The biggest thing for me is to show people that plant-based can be normal, and no matter how far I get in the competition, I hope people see what I'm doing as a viable business."
email: sclancy@adgnewsroom.com