Downs and Ferguson can be seen in the show’s premier on Tuesday.
The grudge
Prior to working together, Downs and Klum always had a little bit of a rivalry. Both chefs recalled meeting after the Dayton Business Journal hosted a Dayton’s Best Chef competition in 2012. Downs ended up coming out on top with Klum placing third. At that time, he was the executive chef at Coco’s Bistro.
Four years later, Klum started working for Downs as chef de cuisine at Park City Club, a restaurant Downs once owned across from the Fraze Pavilion in Kettering. Downs ended up letting him go in 2018 when she closed the restaurant. He said she “cut the cord unexpectedly,” and Downs admitted they didn’t talk for a while. Downs continued to operate Roost Modern Italian in Dayton’s Oregon District.
“A couple years after she let me go, we kind of started to chat a little bit,” Klum said. “It was a little more cordial, but there was a time there where I didn’t want to look at her and she didn’t want to look at me.”
Filming of the show
The two filmed “SuperChef Grudge Match” in June at Warner Bros. Studios in California after going through a lengthy interview process. They both said how unexpected it was to get the call.
During the interview process Downs learned just how much was expected of her. She said acting was just as important, if not more, as cooking on the show. Acting was something that she had never done before, but said it was comparable to playing sports.
Klum recalled how nervous he was to compete on the show to the point he was throwing up two days prior.
“I think people think it’s more scripted than what it is and it’s not,” Downs said. “You have no idea what the challenge is.”
“SuperChef Grudge Match” does have a live audience, in addition to a 30 minute time crunch for chefs to prepare a dish and the pressure of multiple cameras and the host talking to the chefs during the show.
Each chef also brings a secret ingredient that is supposed to challenge the other.
Cherished knifes are up for grabs
“There’s a lot on the line,” Downs said. “The biggest thing is the knife.”
Downs brought a knife that she bought when she first opened Roost and Klum brought one of his first knifes that he used throughout culinary school.
In addition to a prized knife from the losing chef, the winner also walks away with a $10,000 cash prize and bragging rights for life.
No matter what the outcome is, the two chefs have reconnected.
“It brought Dana and I really, really close together again,” Klum said. “It literally settled the grudge.”
“When we worked together we really did enjoy working together. He’s so talented and such a nice person,” Downs said. “It kind of took us back to where we were when we worked together and I really missed working with him.”
What’s next
After the show, Klum is considering the possibility of getting back into the kitchen. He currently works in sales at ProduceOne.
“You just never know what life is going to throw at you,” Klum said. “Life can just change and pivot on you in a heartbeat and in this case it was for the good.”
As for Downs, she is continuing to own and operate Roost and said if the opportunity presented itself to be on Food Network she would have a lot of fun doing it.
Downs will make an appearance on Season 34, Episode 8 of Food Network’s “Guy’s Grocery Games” airing Wednesday, Jan. 3. Downs filmed this episode in February before “SuperChef Grudge Match.”
HOW TO WATCH
What: “SuperChef Grudge Match” featuring Dana Downs and Matt Klum
When: 9 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 26
Where: Food Network
What: “Guy’s Grocery Games” featuring Dana Downs
When: 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 3
Where: Food Network
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