(Courtesy: @chefdarianbryan/ Instagram)
A Jamaican-born chef makes history being the first Black person and Jamaican immigrant to win Gordon Ramsay’s show Next Level Chef season five.
Chef Darian Bryan is from Clarendon, Jamaica and moved to Buffalo, New York at 20 years old.
His mom had a “cook shop” in Jamaica, a roadside food stand that usually offers home-cooked meals and at a young age learned culinary skills from her.
“I didn’t enjoy it as much when I was younger, because I got stuck scaling all these fish, like 200 pounds of fish at times. Breaking the crab claws, washing them, seizing them up. I’m like, ‘this sucks man. I want to be a kid, I want to go play with my friends’, but that teach me discipline and hard work,” Chef Darian Bryan tells the Brandon Gonez Show.
But this chore evolved into passion when his mother left Jamaica and he started cooking for the locals in the neighborhood, his sisters and grandparents at only 15 years old.
He then started his journey in becoming a professional chef by moving to the United States, working at Denny’s Diner to learn how to cook American food and went to culinary school at SUNY Erie Community College.
Wanting to bring some of his Jamaican roots to his school kitchen, he shares that his instructors trusted him to bring traditional dishes like oxtail, curry goat and escovish fish to the classes.
“I was so nervous because here I am, about to get recipes for these students to follow. They never cooked this for the day after their life,” he shares.
“But it’s what I cooked back home, and it went over real, real well. And these folks were like, ‘hey, let’s just do it’, and it’s still a thing at school right now. It’s been like 14 years and they still teach my cuisine there.”
Upon finishing his studies, Chef Darian Bryan pursued further education in hospitality management. His transition into the world of celebrity private cheffing began when he crossed paths with an NFL player while working at local dining establishments.
His first client being the late NFL player Vontae Davis, and others include New England Patriots Wide Receiver, Stefon Diggs.
Although Bryan was met with this success, he opened up about some of the challenges he faced along the way.
“I come here poor, I couldn’t afford knives, books, and a uniform for culinary school, and I was the only guy in class that, you know, couldn’t afford those things,” said Bryan.
Being from Jamaica where the national dialect is “patois”, he describes the hardships he faced with the language barrier while in school.
“We get broken up in groups, like groups of four, five, whatever, and nobody want to be in my group, because I’m the weird guy that can’t speak proper English. I don’t know what a celery is. There so much I didn’t know.”
Going from not knowing what celery is to winning Next Level Chef shows where determination and perseverance can really get you. Many sleepless nights due to long hours practicing knife skills and recipes is the mindset he brought into the culinary competition.
“Gordon Ramsay has been my guy for years, like when I first came here. I was just so lost, it’s like a big, big world,” he said.
“When I come over to all this cuisine, I’m like, “Yo, where do I start? What’s knife skills? What do you tuck your fingers in? So I went to YouTube and started watching videos, and Ramsay was the first person I saw cooking. I’m like, “Oh, who’s this guy? He talks weird, so okay, cool. I talk weird too.”
After seeing a commercial for Next Level Chef during the Superbowl, he knew that he had to apply, and had envisioned winning the competition, which came to fruition.
“It’s possible to make your dream come true, and I’m a living example of that. I really put myself out there, not knowing what the outcome is going to be, to really make my country and my people proud. So winning was the only option.”
Chef Bryan is a father and a husband to his wife, Jessica Bryan.
“I always tell people my success is not just by me. I got a great group of people who support me every day. My agents, my wife, my kids. It’s motivation for me to do great. And my mom,” Bryan shares.
Bryan is truly an example of believing in yourself and how working hard can lead to success.
Taking home the Next Level Chef title, he also took home $250,000 and a one year-mentorship with the show judges, Gordon Ramsay, Nyesha Arrington and Richard Blais.
He is also the owner of three restaurants in Buffalo, New York, called Bratts Hill, Reserve Steakhouse opening in June 2026 and its sister restaurant Back of House Burger, opening this Fall.
He also gave Toronto a heartfelt shoutout and showed love for one of his favourite cities.
“I love Toronto, man. Toronto is a place to be. That place is so cool. All these different restaurants [and] great food. I just take my wife there for Mother’s Day the other day, too.”
