Morristown Chef Competing On 'Chopped' Tuesday

MORRISTOWN, NJ — After years at Bobby Flay's restaurants and then running two Morris County eateries, Leia Gaccione will compete on the small screen. The Food Network will put Gaccione's talents on full display Tuesday, July 6, on Chopped: Alton's Maniacal Baskets.

Gaccione spent seven years as Flay's executive chef and chef de cuisine at five of his restaurants. Now she runs south+pine in Morristown and Central+Main in Madison. Gaccione is no stranger to the culinary limelight either, having competed as Flay's sous chef in three Iron Chef America episodes.

But will she impress Chopped judges Alton Brown, Maneet Chauhan and Marcus Samuelsson? You can find out when her episode of Chopped airs at 9 p.m. July 6 on Food Network and discovery+, according to a network spokesperson.

Here's Food Network's synopsis: "Make it maniacal! Alton Brown is in charge of an extraordinary Chopped tournament, and the competitors must brace themselves for shocking surprises in the baskets that have been selected with help from Alton's conspiring fans. In the first basket, the chefs get a big surprise ingredient with a challenging texture. Can they make delicious appetizers with it? In the entree round, some sticky beans and a peculiar salad are shockers, and the final chefs attempt to make winning desserts from the wild ingredients in the third basket."

Gaccione's restaurants haven't been immune to pandemic struggles. She chose to temporarily shutter Central+Main as they awaited another round of government funding. The restaurant reopened March 31.

South+pine was among the dozens of businesses to join Morristown's Adopt a Business — an initiative designed to help local restaurants pay rent during difficult months. Businesses set up GoFundMe pages for the effort.

"I love the fact that Morristown is made up of so many small businesses and I really think that is the magic here," Gaccione wrote on her restaurant's fundraising page. "It is not about the businesses, but the people behind them that I have gotten to know over the past six years, many of which I can call friends."

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.

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