KAPA DJ moves into quarter-finals in ‘Favorite Chef’ competition

The Favorite Chef title is looking more obtainable as KAPA DJ Darde Gamayo enters into the quarter-finals of the worldwide competition.

The winner of the Favorite Chef competition is selected through public voting in a tournament-style competition that narrows with each round until a winner emerges. This next round of voting for the quarter-finals started Monday and ends July 11 at 4 p.m. HST.

The winner will appear on the cover of Taste of Home magazine and take home $25,000.

Favorite Chef is powered by Colossal, an organization that hosts a variety of competitions to support charities.

There are 17 featured competitions paired with a charity that relates to the overall campaign. Favorite Chef is paired with the James Beard Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to create a more equitable and sustainable future in the restaurant industry.

Money is raised through buying votes.

There are five groups of 12 home chefs. Gamayo must emerge as the sole victor in her group to move on to the semi-finals. As of Monday, the KAPA DJ was in first place.

Click here to vote.

Voting in the semi-finals will take place from July 12-18. The voting finals will run July 19-25 and the winner will be announced around Aug. 2.

Gamayo, who was nominated for the contest anonymously, didn’t think she’d make it this far. “I thought I would’ve been eliminated earlier on. Thanks to everyone’s support in voting I made it through.”

For Gamayo, winning Favorite Chef is an opportunity to highlight local Hawaiian food.

“I really want to showcase the simplicity of Hawaiian food. When you watch Food Network and cooking shows, they showcase 15 different spices. We don’t need all of that to make our food taste good,” she said.

In thinking about what she’d like to put on the Taste of Home magazine cover, Gamayo imagines images of simple local dishes like laulau.

“It’s just taro leaf, protein and salt. That’s it,” Gamayo said, adding she’d also like to showcase spam musubi.

The KAPA DJ is getting nervous. The winner of the competition is flown to New York City sometime in the fall.

“If I do go I need to do my hair, I need to take lei for everybody,” Gamayo said.

While the person who nominated Gamayo for Favorite Chef is still a mystery, the KAPA DJ gives them a shoutout every time she’s on the air saying: “If you’re listening, I just want to say thank you!”