TOP OF HER CLASS
Local teacher dominates Bravo’s ‘Top Chef’
By Colin Mixson She’s making the cuts!
A Kings County culinary
instructor is cooking up a storm
on the popular reality competition
show “Top Chef,” beating out more
acclaimed food professionals to win
two out of the three full episodes that
have aired so far.
Homegirl Nini Nguyen, who operates
a cooking school in Prospect
Heights, explained the key to her success
using one simple tenet — always
be freaking out.
“I learned that if I’m not nervous
and don’t feel like throwing up, I’m
probably doing something wrong,”
said Nini Nguyen. “The two times
I second-guessed myself I ended up
winning the elimination challenge, so
I just stuck with that.”
A Southern belle turned city slicker,
Nguyen got her start at a New
Orleans chocolate shop after graduating
from Louisiana State University
with a business degree, before going
on to earn her pork chops laboring
in the kitchens of various Big Easy
purveyors of fine dining.
The chef moved to Brooklyn in
2012, and soon scored a gig at popup
restaurant Dinner Lab, where
she traveled to big cities across the
country procuring equipment, hiring
staff, and cooking feasts for up to
120 guests, in a high-pressure routine
she discovered was not that different
from the challenges posed by Bravo’s
Emmy-Award-winning reality show.
“We had to cook things on the fly
with god-knows-what equipment and
Domestic dish: Brooklyn culinary instructor Nini Nguyen has scored two big wins (so far)
on Bravo’s “Top Chef” reality show. Bravo Media / Michael Hickey
had to feed 120 people with whatever
we had,” Nguyen explained.
She became a founding member
of Bergen Street culinary
school Cook Space in 2017, where
she helped develop classes including
Pasta Making 101, Brunch
Breakdown, and Vegan Cuisine for
the Carnivore, which is designed for
health-conscious meat eaters who
still want a full-flavored meal.
“The idea was to make something
that meat eaters would eat, and not miss
the meat or dairy,” she explained.
Filming for the show took approximately
six weeks in the early summer,
COURIER L 40 IFE, JAN. 4-10, 2019 24-7
and Nguyen’s new challenge is keeping
the lid on how she fared in the
televised competition, which offers a
prize of nearly $200,000 for the winner,
she said.
Regardless of whether or not
she emerges as the show’s top chef,
Nguyen’s fame as a contestant
has already paid dividends for her
Brooklyn business.
“There are a lot of ‘Top Chef’ fans
out there wanting to learn something,”
she said. “It’s been pretty good.”
Watch Nguyen compete on “Top
Chef,” Thursday nights at 8 pm on
Bravo. Free.
By Bill Roundy Welcome to 2019!
Start off the first weekend
of the new year with
something light and fun —
like Friday’s “Fifty First
Jokes!” The 13th-annual
extravaganza of
wit will feature 50
comedians taking
the stage of the Bell
House (149 Seventh
St. at Third Avenue
in Gowanus, www.
thebellhouseny.com) to
deliver the first joke that they
have written this year. Your $15 ticket
will get you performances from comics
including host John F. O’Donnell,
Jo Firestone, Liza Treyger, Rob Haze,
Saurin Choksi, and 45 others! The
show starts at 8 pm.
On Saturday, you can get in on the
ground floor of the next glam thing!
A work-in-progress opera about identity
called “Chimera” will debut at
National Sawdust (80 N. Sixth St. at
Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, www.
nationalsawdust.org). The show
features seven different drag
performers — including
former “RuPaul’s
Drag Race” contestant
Alexis Michelle,
and 11-year-old
Park Slope “drag
kid” Desmond is
Amazing — as different
aspects of the
Chimera’s personality. It
all kicks off at 7 pm with a
performance from all–female band
Maenu. Tickets are $22.
And if you get inspired by the
outfits of Saturday night, dress up
on Sunday afternoon for the “I Will
Survive” Dreamland Discoteque
roller disco party, at the new indoor
Dreamland Roller Rink (233 37th
St. at Second Avenue in Sunset Park,
www.dreamlandrollerrink.com). The
all-ages (actually, age 7 and older)
event lasts from 1 pm to 4 pm. A $20
ticket will get you a roller skate rental
and groove-a-licious tunes from Gloria
Gaynor and other divas, a costume
contest, and a 1970s “Soul Train”-
style dance line. There is a full bar for
adults, and lunch is in the food court on
the far side of the courtyard.
Rolling around the rink is good
for you — but rolling a joint? Just
say no! That is the lesson of the overthe
top 1936 propaganda film “Reefer
Madness,” screening on Jan. 9 at 9:30
pm as part of the “Weird Wednesday”
series at Alamo Drafthouse (445
Albee Square West between Fulton
and Willoughby streets Downtown,
www.drafthouse.com/nyc). Learn how
just a single hit of “doobie” will lead to
madness — and murder! Tickets are
$10, so you can spend the rest of your
cash satisfying your munchies and the
restaurant and cinema.
Tapped out: Brooklyn Brewery bartenders Milke Stevens and Tracy
Parsley are ready to pour a free pint for anyone bearing a coupon
from the 2019 Beer Book. File photo by Stefano Giovannini
Kings’ cups
By Anna Spivak Cheers to that!
Beer-obsessed
Brooklynites can
now place their orders for a
new book overflowing with
vouchers for free samples at
dozens of Kings County suds
spots.
Our pals behind the Beer
Book have packed the 2019
edition with coupons redeemable
at 30 watering holes in
the Borough of Kings, and
they kicked off online sales
last month, with plans to get
the coveted coupon catalogues
in buyers’ hands early
this year.
The ninth installment of
the $30 booklet includes tickets
for drinks at pubs across
the borough, unlike its predecessors,
which divided their
coupons into separate books
for Northern and Southern
Brooklyn.
And the latest guide for
hops heads includes vouchers
usable at such suds
slingers as the Adirondack
in Windsor Terrace,
Downtown’s Building
on Bond, Covenhoven in
Prospect Heights, Kings
County Brewers Collective
in Bushwick, Lowlands Bar
in Gowanus, the Brooklyn
Brewery in Williamsburg,
and more.
The arts editor of this
newspaper managed to use
all 30 coupons in the 2018
book — a feat that took him
all over the borough, he said.
“Knocking out all 30 bars
gave me a quest for the year,
and gave me a great excuse
to visit new places,” said Bill
Roundy.
Each coupon within the
booklet is good for one beer,
though some of the saloons
have stipulations in regards
to the type of brew you can
order for free.
All coupons in the 2019
edition are valid through
Dec. 31 of this year.
Pre-order your copy of
The Beer Book at beerbookshop.
com . $30.
The new year gets rolling!
2019 Bklyn Beer Book
is ready for pre-orders
On sale now: Our pals behind The Beer Book recently launched sales
for their 2019 edition, which is expected to ship early this year.
The Beer Book
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/www.dreamlandrollerrink.com
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