Morris County Chef Wins 'Chopped': 'I Thrive Off Of Chaos'

MORRISTOWN, NJ — When life gives Leia Gaccione black radishes, tuna noodle casserole, pickle jelly beans and lutefisk, the Morristown chef makes a tasty dish. That was just one of Gaccione's tasks as she cooked her way to victory on Tuesday's episode of "Chopped: Alton's Maniacal Baskets."

Gaccione runs south+pine in Morristown and Central+Main in Madison. Although Gaccione has earned kitchen cred in Morris County, she and three other chefs had to cook with some challenging and unusual ingredients for a national audience.

"I'm not a Michelin star kind of girl," Gaccione said during her introduction. "I thrive off of chaos."

She proved herself correct, earning the chance to come back and compete for $25,000.

Gaccione and competitor Keesha O'Galdez made it to the final dessert round after chef Mohan Kulasingam forgot to put cauliflower leaves in his entree.

The executive chef wowed the judges with her dessert, turning musk stick marshmallow tart, frozen rhubarb, rock candy and black limes into rock candy-dusted fritter with black lime caramel sauce.

Gaccione spent seven years as Flay's executive chef and chef de cuisine at five of his restaurants before running her own establishments. She competed as Flay's sous chef in three "Iron Chef America" episodes. Gaccione also hosted a docu-series, "Her Name is Chef," which highlights "six bad-ass, inspiring, sheroes of the kitchen." The show was released April 27.

The episode aired on Food Network and is available on Discovery+. It can also be viewed on YouTube for a fee.

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