After his mother died in January 2025, Morgan told 小萝莉影视 he was 鈥渒ind of in a rut鈥� and considered leaving the restaurant industry entirely. But the invitation to enter the reality TV cooking competition reinvigorated him.
鈥淚 also knew that my mother, if she were with me, would want me to go on the show,鈥� Morgan said. 鈥淪o I took the leap, and I’m happy I did.鈥�
Running from March through May 2026, 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Culinary Cup鈥� featured 16 chefs from around the U.S. who competed to win a $1 million cash prize, the largest in history for a culinary show, according to a CBS news release.
Padma Lakshmi, former host of Bravo鈥檚 鈥淭op Chef,鈥� created 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Culinary Cup鈥� and served as a co-judge alongside chefs and restaurant owners Michael Cimarusti and Wylie Dufresne.
Morgan, the executive chef of the Persian and Middle Eastern-inspired restaurant became a finalist.
Despite not winning 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Culinary Cup,鈥� Morgan told 小萝莉影视 that being on the show was a 鈥渨onderful experience.鈥�
But the journey to the finale wasn鈥檛 easy for Morgan. He said his progress was 鈥渧ery up and down,鈥� noting that he had 鈥渉igh anxiety,鈥� especially in the beginning.
Some days required up to 14 hours of filming. Though Morgan said long hours are 鈥渘ot unfamiliar to us as chefs,鈥� it was often unclear to the competitors whether certain days of filming would be dedicated to interviews, cooking or eliminations.
鈥淚 went home to my wife crying because I was like, 鈥業 don’t think I should have done this.鈥� And I didn’t perform incredibly well in the beginning,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think I would get in my own head about the people I was up against, the caliber of the judges, and ‘Oh, am I doing enough?’鈥�
At one point in the show, the competitors were tasked with voting for who was most or least likely to win 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Culinary Cup,鈥� with Morgan being voted least likely.
For the D.C.-area chef, he said, 鈥淚t lit a fire under my ass, for sure. 鈥� I started to realize that I was overthinking things in the first half of the season. That was my Achilles’ heel.鈥�
By the end of the show, Morgan said he left with more confidence in himself.
鈥淚 think most of us carry a little bit of impostor syndrome, and I’ve definitely had that throughout my career, regardless of how well I’ve done or any rewards or accolades I’ve received, just because you don’t know how you stack up against other people,鈥� Morgan said. 鈥淪o being able to do as well as I did in a setting like that gives you a ton of confidence.鈥�
In the end, representing the D.C. region was a point of pride for Morgan.
鈥淲e have an insanely talented restaurant scene in D.C. and the DMV, and to be able to go on the show and perform well, and bring home the silver is pretty awesome,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don’t think people realize how high of a caliber of chefs we have here. So I was honored to hold it down for us.鈥�
On whether or not Morgan plans to enter additional cooking competitions, he said his focus for now is on making Joon 鈥渢he best restaurant I possibly can 鈥� but we鈥檒l see.鈥�
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