Tacoma chef competes in second season of high-stakes Food Network show set in Italy
Last fall, Tacoma-based chef Jan Parker lived with and competed against 11 “rising culinary stars” in a 16th-century villa nestled in the hills of Puglia, the southern heel of the proverbial Italian boot.
After a successful debut in 2023, Food Network’s “Ciao House” — in which a dozen chefs compete for the title of “Capo di Casa” and an immersive culinary training across Italy with the masters — was renewed for a second season. The show is hosted by celebrity chef and frequent competition judge Alex Guarnaschelli and Gabe Bertaccini, a Floretine chef and television star (Netflix’s “Say I Do”).
The season kicks off with a two-hour premiere on Sunday, May 19, at 8 p.m., running weekly through the finale June 23.
In the show, the chefs live alongside one another, “Real World” style, and undertake challenges from the villa’s (wildly nicer than most) home kitchen. They also visit local businesses to learn about Italian traditions. One such excursion focused on pasta shapes, said Parker, and another on a bakery.
In line with most culinary competition shows, the hosts critique the contestants’ dishes and determine, in this case, who will be packing their suitcase, but on “Ciao House” there’s a “Survivor”-esque twist: When working in teams, the losing bunch must vote off one of their own.
Asked about the experience, Parker, known in her hometown industry for her cool demeanor and supportive working environment, didn’t seem ruffled by the potential for tension.
“We’re all trying to adjust to being in a foreign country, being on location, and having to compete with each other and also live with each other,” she said in an interview last month. “I call them chef brothers and sisters now because we all went through the same experience. We’re familia, you know, because it goes beyond the competition. There were many amazing parts to being a part of the show, but that is the best thing.”
TACOMA CHEF ON FOOD NETWORK
Although far more intensive, this Italian sojourn was not the first televised competition for Parker, whose seasonally driven, contemporary takes on her native Filipino cuisine have drawn crowds at the Proctor Farmers Market and other local festivals since 2018. She previously competed on the television network’s mega-hit “Chopped” (Season 56, Episode 9, “Beef Knuckle Down”).
“Having a bunch of cameras, for me at least — it’s something to get used to,” recalled the chef. “But everybody on the crew made me feel very welcome.”
The same casting agency contacted her about “Ciao House” through her lively Instagram page, where she chronicles where you can find her signature adobo chicken and locally famous chili garlic noodles, as well as her personal life. A mother to two sons, she is in the process of opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant in an as-yet-undisclosed location in Tacoma.
Following her “Chopped” appearance, viewers noted that her “faces were very animated,” she joked. “I was very serious about the competition!”
She went through a series of interviews, outlining her talent, experience, cooking ability and work in the community.
“You sell yourself, in a way,” she said. “My narrative is very important, too: being a woman chef and being a Filipina who’s trying to pioneer that here in Tacoma.”
Neither was it her first European encounter — in fact, it was almost a return home.
Before settling in Tacoma, Parker and her husband, who was in the military, lived in Europe; her father was also in the Navy and part of her childhood was spent in Italy.
“I kind of see it as a revisitation, full-circle, the place that I fell in love with food, sparked my interest in food,” she said. “That made it super meaningful.”
The challenges on “Ciao House” ask the chefs to incorporate traditional Italian ingredients and techniques into their personal style. For Parker, the crossover made sense.
“I knew from living there that the food was gonna be fresh. It excited me!” she said, noting the frequency of noodles in Filipino cuisine and its Chinese influence. “I knew that whatever it was I was creating, I had a good chance of incorporating Filipino cuisine and infusing it with Italian cuisine.”
Of course she couldn’t reveal many details of the show, but whatever happened, she would still agree to another competitive invitation.
“Going into a competition like this, you just have to keep an open mind, and I have definitely learned so much from the beginning to the end of the whole process,” she said. “This show has actually helped me just to reflect on the skills that I have, reflect on how I can work well with people, and also reflect on how I can go to a foreign country and also thrive.”
They also provide an irreplaceable opportunity to “be surrounded by high-level people,” she added. Getting to know Guarnaschelli, for instance, was “a surreal feeling” and an inspiration to see how she supported up-and-coming chefs, especially fellow women.
As for how many times she mentioned Tacoma, she laughed.
“I want people to know about Tacoma because I feel like it’s such a great place, that we can always increase tourism and the beautiful things in our city,” she said. “I also want people to know — Filipinos or just chefs who are trying to share their culture ... of taking the step to cook the food they want to cook — that it is possible.”
CIAO HOUSE 2
▪ Season premieres with 2-hour episode, May 19 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network
▪ New episodes weekly through June 23 finale
▪ Streaming later on MAX
This story was originally published May 13, 2024 at 10:00 AM.