Cooking up another win: New Madrid native tests skills on Food Network

New Madrid, Missouri, native Nick Hunter admits to always being competitive -- as a child racing against his sister, Natalie, or playing games with his neighbors and into high school where he was a member of the New Madrid County Central High School Eagles basketball team.

That competitive drive stayed with him into adulthood, when he and two friends formed "Braised in the South," a food truck team that won the Food Network's "Great American Food Truck Race" in 2017.

Hunter called on that competitive spirit once again when he competed in Food Network's "Supermarket Stakeout." In the show, which aired July 26, Hunter again found success but not without challenges to overcome.

Hunter credits chef Jet Tila, whom he described as one of the first Food Network superstars and now a producer of several of the network's shows, with encouraging him. Tila videotaped an interview of Hunter and entered it into the casting pool.

"I got cast for this two years ago, then the pandemic hit," Hunter said during a telephone interview. "This is one of those shows where you can't do it in a pandemic because you actually have to be able to approach people coming out of the store and buy their groceries. So obviously with the social distancing that had us in limbo for a while."

New Madrid native Nick Hunter, right, and fellow contestants in a screenshot from the July 26 episode of Food Network's "Supermarket Stakeout." The episode is slated to air again Aug. 11.Courtesy Food Network

Last fall, Hunter was notified taping for the fourth season of "Supermarket Stakeout" was resuming. Prior to filming, he received several videos of previous episodes to help him learn how the show works.

The show

"Supermarket Stakeout" is a competition series presented by Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli. Set in pop-up kitchens, equipped with a few essentials, each episode begins with Guarnaschelli giving the four chef contestants $500 apiece -- their whole budget to buy ingredients for the three-round cooking competition from shoppers leaving the nearby grocery store.

Each round has a theme the chefs must follow. The way they can acquire their ingredients from the shoppers changes each round, as well.

In round one, the chefs purchase ingredients only by stopping customers outside the store and negotiating for their grocery bags without knowing the contents. In round two, competitors purchase groceries from a single shopper, but can look through the bags before negotiating the price. In the final round, competitors purchase five ingredients total, but can approach as many shoppers as it takes to get what they need.

"There are lot of different, intricate challenges," said Hunter, who is a regional executive chef at Morrison Living in Greensboro, North Carolina. "You want to be able to get stuff fast, but you don't want to get boxed into a corner where you just buy something so you can get back and cook it and it end up not working out. So there is a lot of thoughtfulness to it."

Hunter settled on his strategy.

"I feel like I thrive on mystery baskets and basically that is what this is," he said. "I felt good about my speed. I knew I could make something happen quickly so I was more about quality over quantity. I waited and watched and made sure I was happy with my bag."

Filming

Hunter's competition was filmed in October in a parking lot in Phoenix. His competitors were from New York, Texas and Tennessee.

He said they were fortunate on their day of filming. The day before, temperatures soared well above 100 degrees on the parking lot but a cold front blew through making filming much more bearable as they cooked against the clock and each other.

In the first round, Guarnaschelli asked the four to create a coffee shop breakfast. Although the last to purchase a basket, Hunter raced to his station to create a version of French toast, which earned praise from the judges and passing him on to the next round.

The second round's theme challenged the three remaining chefs to take the judges globetrotting with a dish from a foreign country. Again, Hunter's creation earned praise from the judges but not without a touch of criticism as well.

From taking part in the "Great Food Truck Race," Hunter said he learned a lot about dealing with stress and the importance of enjoying the moment.

"When we did the first couple of episodes, they were brutal because we were so hard on ourselves. When we started having fun and realized this is just a cool opportunity, it really changed the whole dynamics of the game and the competition. I walked into this feeling the exact same way, feeling lucky and with a lot of gratitude for the opportunity," he said.

In the third and final round, the theme was fill-it, using five ingredients purchased from shoppers. Hunter's strawberry cream-filled baguette earned him praise from both judges and a prize of a year's worth of groceries.

Behind the scenes

Hunter had nothing but praise for his fellow competitors.

"They were awesome and even though we competed against each other, we went out and had sushi that night as a group. So it was a very cool experience," he said.

He noted when his three female competitors learned he was the father of two daughters, they bonded even more.

In fact, Hunter continued, he enjoyed meeting everyone involved in the production of the show, describing them as becoming a small family.

"I have found that most of the Food Network chefs are awesome," he said. "They are just as cool in person as they seem on TV. Genuinely good people that I think are grateful for the opportunities they got."

Reflecting that he is now nearing his 40th birthday, Hunter said he no longer sees himself competing against others. Rather, he said, he finds he is competing against himself.

"My whole philosophy was, I just wanted to go out there and be the best, and by that I mean be the best me I could put forward," he said. "I am setting an example for my kids to show them you can do anything you want if you love it and you put your mind to it."

He admitted to being pleased to learn he could still perform well in stressful situations.

"Actually, I enjoyed it. It was kind of like the more stress there is, the more I kind of get in that zone. ... When they turned the cameras on, everyone else just kind of disappeared and I began to actually focus on the challenge," he said.

Both competitions have taught him to be grateful for the support he has received from others. Hunter said his wife, Brynn, and his daughters motivate and enable him to challenge his skills.

"It takes a toll on the family so I am very lucky, I have a great support system, especially Brynn, who is a great partner in this thing. That is part of what makes it easy to compete and try to win because I know I have all the support I could ask for among them," he said.

The support he received from his hometown was overwhelming as well. Once the program date was announced, Hunter said his parents, Craig and Timmie Lynn Hunter, who live in New Madrid, received hundreds of inquiries about the show.

Following his win, his Facebook page was filled with congratulations from his hometown fans, as well.

"It is kind of cool to come from a town like that, that had my back through the 'Great Food Truck Race' and on this little show, which is one episode, nothing crazy, but it is still cool to see that kind of support," he said. "You don't get that in big cities; that is what small town growing up is all about."

The show will air again at 9 p.m. Aug. 11 on the Food Network.