Chef Mary Lou Davis is competing to win season 19 of Hell’s Kitchen. With 17 other talented chefs to compete against, Mary Lou has plenty to fight for to come out on top. Here’s everything you need to know about the energetic Texan.
Season 19 of Hell’s Kitchen stands apart from the rest. Filmed over two years ago, the season filmed in Las Vegas, rather than Hollywood, where it has always filmed in the past. Not only is the location of filming different, but so is the grand prize one the line. The winner this season can look forward to $250,000 and the promise of a head chef position at Gordon Ramsay’s new Lake Tahoe restaurant too.
In the premiere, 28-year-old Mary Lou Davis stood out from the crowd immediately, thanks to her bright purple hair and infectiously energetic personality. An executive chef from San Antonio, Texas, Mary Lou has worked hard to get to a leadership role in the culinary world. A self-described “loud ball of energy,” Mary Lou earned the low score of 2 on the first challenge. Despite this disappointment, she seemed relatively unshaken and determined to impress Ramsay in her next go-round.
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Mary Lou’s culinary journey began in 2013, after she finished studying at the University of North Texas and realized that the path she’d set herself on wasn’t the right one. She then enrolled in the competitive, well-known Culinary Institute of America of San Antonio. After graduating in 2015, Mary Lou was hired as kitchen manager for Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, then moved to Perry’s Steakhouse, where she worked as sous chef. She brought her sous chef skills to Tower of the Americas, then moved to Whiskey Cake Kitchen & Bar, where she continued to move up the ranks. She now serves as Executive Chef for the farm-to-table establishment, noting on her professional Instagram that she is not only the youngest chef at her restaurant, but also the only female.
In her free time, Mary Lou runs a YouTube channel called Geeks&Grubs. In these videos, she dresses up as some of her favorite characters and cooks food that fits into the theme of the fantasy world. Recent films that have inspired her videos include Black Panther, Ratatouille, and Princess and the Frog. It was this social media presence that got Mary Lou noticed by Hell’s Kitchen producers. Check out a photo of her decked out in her Black Panther gear:
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Mary Lou clearly knows how to have fun in the kitchen, but will this sense of play translate to success in Gordon Ramsay’s hyper-critical eyes? How will this spunky Texan fare as her Hell’s Kitchen journey continues?
Source: Mary Lou Davis/Instagram, Geeks&Grub/Instagram
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