Alabama Chef Kelsey Barnard Clark Joins Netflix’s “Next Gen Chef” With a $500,000 Prize on the Line
Kelsey Barnard Clark has never been one to shy away from a high-stakes kitchen. The Dothan, Alabama native who first captured national attention as the winner of Top Chef Season 16 is back in the reality-TV spotlight. But this time, she’s not sweating over the burners. She’s calling the shots as a judge on Netflix’s new culinary competition Next Gen Chef, where 21 ambitious cooks under the age of 30 are vying for bragging rights and a life-changing $500,000 prize.
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Clark, chef-owner of KBC in downtown Dothan, sits at the judges’ table alongside master sommelier Carlton McCoy. The duo brings both Southern grit and fine-wine polish to the show’s evaluations, pushing contestants to balance creativity with discipline. Together, they’re not just judging dishes, they're weighing dreams, potential, and the future of American cooking.
A Culinary Hogwarts
The series unfolds at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York a first for the school, which has never before opened its storied, almost Hogwarts-like campus to a reality TV crew. For Clark and McCoy, both CIA alumni, it’s a homecoming of sorts, layered with nostalgia and high expectations.
The opening episode lulls viewers with sweeping shots of stone buildings and tree-lined paths, only to deliver a gut punch: a grueling entrance exam requiring a three-team, seven-course feast. Half the contestants are eliminated before they can even unpack their knives in the CIA dorms.
From there, the challenges only get sharper. The remaining 12 chefs are asked to dream up dishes from food scraps that would normally hit the compost bin, reimagine fast-casual dining for a campus food hall, and craft futuristic fine-dining tasting menus. Family-style Southern comfort collides with French technique; scrappy resourcefulness meets Michelin-worthy ambition.
Alabama Flavor on the Netflix Stage
Though none of the contestants hail from Alabama, Clark makes sure her home state gets its due. She drops mentions of collards, grits, and other humble-but-glorious Southern staples, nudging the young chefs to see beyond foie gras and caviar. For her, Southern food isn’t just nostalgia it’s proof that simple ingredients, treated with respect, can stand toe-to-toe with the classics of European haute cuisine.
It’s a sentiment Clark has built her career on. Since her Top Chef win in 2019, she’s been a semifinalist for the 2024 James Beard Award for Best Chef: South, released two cookbooks (Southern Grit and Southern Get Togethers), and even launched a YouTube channel, Southern Made-KBC. Add in her appearances on Chopped, Guy’s Grocery Games, and Tournament of Champions, and you get the portrait of a chef who thrives in the pressure cooker of both professional kitchens and TV soundstages.
What’s at Stake
For the young chefs competing on Next Gen Chef, the prize is more than just the staggering half-million-dollar purse. It’s the validation of being named the next culinary star, someone with not only the skill to execute, but also the vision to redefine what dining can look like in the coming decades.
As for Clark, the role feels like a full-circle moment. She’s been the wide-eyed competitor, plating dishes under the glare of TV lights. Now, she’s the mentor, the critic, and sometimes the dream-crusher but always with an eye toward elevating the next generation.
With seven episodes already released since its September 17 premiere and the finale set for September 24, Next Gen Chef has already cracked Netflix’s Top 10 in the U.S. Whether you’re in it for the cutthroat competition, the Hogwarts-like campus setting, or the sight of Alabama’s most celebrated chef championing grits on the global stage, the series serves up drama and deliciousness in equal measure.
