LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) - He's one of the city's most creative culinary minds, and now Josh Moore is getting thrown into the national spotlight. The Louisville chef will be on the wildly popular show Chopped on the Food Network Tuesday, Jan. 15.
Moore is the executive chef and managing partner at Volare and filmed the show more than a year ago. He's had to keep it a secret ever since.
"It started back in the spring of 2017. The Chopped show scouted the Louisville market and agreed to do the show. They filmed the bio in summer, and I went up this past January to film the show,” Moore said.
He said it's been tough to keep quiet, but it makes the premiere that much more exciting.
The show prides itself on giving chefs a run for their money by making them use bizarre and unfamiliar ingredients. Moore said that was definitely the case for him. He can't give any specifics, but he had to use ingredients he'd never heard of and cook dishes he'd never made before.
"One of the most challenging culinary things I've ever done in my 25-year career--things like Derby at the restaurant, and you're feeding 600 guests a night ordering from a menu, 1000 person catering, sold-out dinners, you plan for all of those things. This is literally you open the basket and you go. It definitely made me really be able to think on the fly. You really don't know anything that's in the basket when you open it, and you don't have a lot of time to create a dish in your mind and then transfer that onto a plate."
Moore said he's so grateful to have this opportunity and thinks it shines a light on Louisville's ever-growing food scene. No surprise, he's gotten all sorts of questions from people.
"Most ask questions like did you win. Everybody asks that, and I tell everybody I can't disclose anything about how far I got on the show or did the ingredients or the judges or anything,” Moore said.
Moore has embraced the experience every step of the way. It's a full-circle moment for this lifelong chef.
"When I was old enough to climb up in a chair and cook with my grandmothers, that's what I did every weekend of my life. I always loved to cook. I always loved to bake. I started in Louisville restaurants at age 14, and have just been doing it ever since and enjoy every minute of it,” Moore said. "We're kind of like artists, and food is our medium that we work with. We have some of the most talented, passionate chefs in this city, and I'm proud to be part of it."
The episode starts at 9 p.m. on the Food Network, and Volare is having a huge watch party for it. It's already sold-out, but you can cheer Moore on from home.
►Contact reporter Sara Wagner at swagner@WHAS11.com. Follow her on Twitter (@WHAS11Sara) and Facebook.