Towson Chef Wins 'Chopped' On Food Network

TOWSON, MD — A Towson chef put his skills to the test and won on the Food Network show "Chopped." The executive chef at Cunningham's — Jay Rohlfing — was finally able to share his win after the episode aired on national TV this week. It was reportedly filmed more than a year ago.

The Food Network show pits four chefs against one another. They are given a set amount of time to come up with an appetizer, entree and dessert using specific ingredients.

Then the judges rate the dishes based on creativity, presentation and taste. The winner gets a $10,000 prize, while the other chefs are chopped from the competition.

The episode that aired June 18 was called "Holy Bologna."

Here's how Food Network described it:

Four chefs are forced to get creative from the start when they find a kitschy, oddball cake and an unusual hybrid veggie in their appetizer baskets. An offal surprise and a fun fungus dish keep things interesting in round two. In the final round, an ice cream mishap leaves one of the chefs scrambling to put a key lime dessert together.

One of the items in the appetizer basket was a bologna cake.

"When I opened it up, I just didn't understand it," Rohlfing told WMAR, describing the cake as an "oddball ingredient" that appeared to have originated in the Midwest.

He's a native of the Baltimore area.

Rohlfing, who lives in Parkville with his wife and child, is expecting another baby this fall and plans to use the $10,000 prize money from his win on "Chopped" to buy more land for their farm and growing family, The Baltimore Sun reported.

He and Cunningham's are believers in working with locally sourced ingredients; the restaurant operates Cunningham Farms in northern Baltimore County, where it grows vegetables and raises animals for its produce and meats.

Cunningham's closed its regular operations down at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 18, so the restaurant could host a public watch party at its location at 1 Olympic Place.

"We don't need a TV competition to tell us he's the best chef around," the Cunningham's pastry chef posted on Instagram afterward. "Those of us who have worked with him already knew."

Rohlfing is one of several chefs in the Baltimore metro area to earn accolades on "Chopped."

Chef David Thomas of Ida B's Table in Baltimore won a Thanksgiving-themed episode in 2018 and Chef Johntay Bedinfield of La Marketa in Pikesville was the winner in an episode that aired in January.

Rohlfing, who has been the executive chef at Cunningham's since 2016, trained at the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts. He was also a chef in Florida and at Linwoods in Owings Mills before coming to the Towson eatery.

For those who missed it and want to tune in, "Holy Bologna" will air on Food Network at 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 27, and 3 a.m. on Friday, June 28.