BETHLEHEM, Pa. — In an era when fierce and foul-mouthed television chefs are a big draw and the kitchen is showcased as a pressure-cooker for culinary artists, Mary Grube approaches things with a different mindset and philosophy.
Her mentality is one of fun and relaxation, and the kitchen is a playground to experiment as she aims to become America’s next “favorite chef.”
- Bethlehem resident Mary Grube is a competitor in the 2023 Favorite Chef competition
- The winner will get $25,000, a two-page spread in Taste of Home magazine and a cooking experience with TV personality Carla Hall
- Grube would use the prize money to create a culinary program for the 55-and-older community
Grube, a private chef and cooking instructor from Bethlehem, is a contestant in the 2023 Favorite Chef competition, in which the top prize is $25,000 and a two-page spread in Taste of Home magazine, along with a one-on-one cooking experience with “Top Chef” all-star, author, philanthropist and television personality Carla Hall.
Like Hall, Grube has a warm and friendly demeanor and a desire to empower home cooks.
She also has an idea of what she would do with the prize money: She wants to travel through Europe and Asia, seeking out new tastes and techniques to be shared on a culinary program created for the 55-and-older community.
“I think as we get older, we're also more and more interested in cooking these tastes and things that we either learn about on a show or read about in a book or magazine or something. At least I personally am. I’ll read about something, and I'll kind of go cross-reference it on the internet and go, ‘Oh, that looks fun. Let's try that.’”Chef Mary Grube of Bethlehem
“I have traveled a lot over the course of my life," Grube said in a recent interview. "And I just think that so many people can't — can't physically or can't financially.
"And there's just nothing more educating, more mind-expanding, than travel, and to be able to come back and to share that.
“I think as we get older, we're also more and more interested in cooking these tastes and things that we either learn about on a show or read about in a book or magazine or something. At least I personally am.
"I’ll read about something, and I'll kind of go cross-reference it on the internet and go, ‘Oh, that looks fun. Let's try that.’”
The Favorite Chef competition
The 2023 Favorite Chef competition is an online showcase for culinary experts, professional chefs and home cooks to show off their skills. This year, it’s run by Colossal Management LLC, and will be operated as part of a fundraising campaign.
Beginning June 12, people can vote for their favorite chef once every 24 hours for free. Additional votes cast during the competition will cost money and will be received by DTCare, a 501(c)(3) charity organization, and granted to the James Beard Foundation.
The format of the contest raised eyebrows and stirred up controversy in recent years because it crowdsourced online votes to help crown a winner.
“I grew up hearing these stories from my mom and my grandma about these intensely fun parties. You know, where you would pick up the furniture and the house would shake and the dancing through the house, those kinds of parties.”Chef Mary Grube
But a spokesperson for Colossal Management said every vote is legitimate and supports a good cause, and chefs cannot buy votes using bots (online software that imitates human activity) or donate or pay for votes for themselves.
In addition to fighting for the top prize, competitors this year also will gain access to workshops to learn tips and tricks from professionals in the industry, including Hall and Food Network’s Terry Matthews, known as The BBQ Daddy.
The exposure is designed to be a key benefit, giving every chef something to walk away with even if they don’t win.
Competitors will be divided into groups and advance to the initial public voting round. Subsequent public voting rounds will progressively reduce the number of competitors until voting ends Aug. 17, with the grand prize winner being publicly announced the following week.
Quarterfinalists also will be able to submit one or more photos detailing plate presentation, and one person will be deemed “Carla’s Pick” and win a foodie trip to New York City valued at $5,000.
‘Hey, I can make that’
While the Favorite Chef competition seeks out cooking worthy of celebrity, Grube is a chef’s chef — she simply loves to cook for fun and for those who will appreciate it.
Cooking also is in her blood.
She said both her sets of maternal great grandparents immigrated from Greece and opened restaurants in San Francisco, and family gatherings and celebrations were raucous and memorable.
“I grew up hearing these stories from my mom and my grandma about these intensely fun parties," she said. "You know, where you would pick up the furniture and the house would shake and the dancing through the house, those kinds of parties.”
Grube said those gatherings typically contained a food room just for the main course, and a dessert table.
Even today, she said, family get-togethers unfold “into this love and food and hugs and kisses” — a feeling Grube gets when she’s in the kitchen and wants to convey in a cooking program.
“I go in there and I'll just play," she said. "And I think if that play time can be somehow conveyed in a program, I think anybody's going to want to just get in there. And that's what I really want to be able to do.
“I want to get people going, ‘Hey, I can do that. I can make that,’" she said.
"And if there's one thing that I'm really good at, and I don't know why, but I'm really good at kind of breaking down these [recipes] that are conveyed as a very complicated thing. And making it extremely doable for just about anybody.”
