TV beckons NSU junior

Some cook for fun, while others cook for work. But Nicholls State Culinary student Johnathan Lynch’s labor of love should help him find a way to do both.

And after taking home one of four $3,000 prizes earlier this month at the Almost Famous Chef Competition in Napa Valley, Calif., Lynch has taken a huge step toward his dream.

“They had some people at the top of the industry come over and taste my food and say they enjoyed it, so it was a very rewarding experience,” he said. “It was a nice, little chunk of change with a free trip on top of everything.”

Although Lynch failed to win the $10,000 grand prize, the Ruston native was voted the Fan Favorite award.

“People were able to watch the live stream of the event, and they got to see me interact with other people and talk about my dish and they voted based on what they saw on TV,” said Lynch. “So even though I didn’t win the entire thing, something I want to do with my life is be in front of a camera, and people voted me the best one for that. I think I won the right category in my own regard.”

Lynch credits his victory to the large amount of support he has received both at home in Ruston and at school in Thibodaux.

Before Lynch can move on to fame and glory in the culinary profession, he has to finish up at Nicholls by receiving a bachelor’s degree from the John Folse Culinary Institute.

As a requirement, Lynch will have to

do two externships before graduation, and he says he plans on using the contacts he made in Napa Valley for his first one.

“I made some connections that are going to help me with senior externships, maybe jobs in the future, just contacts that are going to be good for me in my future career,” he said. “My dad said the exposure that I got and the people that I got to meet, if I would have done it normally, it would have taken me around 10 years. So I got 10 years of exposure and contacts within a weekend.”

For his second externship, Lynch said he would like to study abroad in France next year through a culinary program Nicholls has set up.

As for his post-college dreams, the junior would like to spread his cooking joy on television.

“I would love to see myself involved with media and food in whatever avenue that might be,” said Lynch. “And if that doesn’t come to pass for me, I think I would really enjoy coming back and being a teacher either at this school or at another school, because I would still get the people and the teaching aspect of the business. Even though it wouldn’t be on screen, I would still be passing what I’ve learned onto other people so they could get as excited about food as I am.”