Plainfield Resident on Food Network Show

Photos courtesy of Food Network

If you’re a fan of the Food Network, you might have recognized a familiar face Sunday night. Plainfield resident Andy Chlebana is one of the contestants on the network’s “Spring Baking Championship.”

“Baking” takes eight of the country’s best bakers and pits them against one another for a prize of $50,000.

Each episode will see one of the contestants eliminated. So far, Chlebana is still on.

Unlike a lot of reality competition shows, Chlebana said they’re not working against each other.

“We’re all working together,” he said. “You’re together for so long and that’s all you’ve got. ...They’re your support group.”

The only drama is the clock.

“The clock always get ya,” Chlebana said. “...I think people think the stop and start thing is TV magic, but it’s real. At the end of the day it’s fun, but it’s a lot of work.”

Getting on the show wasn’t something Chlebana was planning to do. In fact, he didn’t even apply. He received a phone call from Food Network asking if he would like to interview for a spot.

“I don’t know if a friend had given them my name or if they looked me up,” Chlebana said.

Food Network did a series of interviews, including phone and Skype, for which he had to bake something to show them.

“It was a long process and they do a few checks on you before you get the final thumbs up,” he said.

Chlebana got his start in baking through a class at Joliet Junior College. He took a baking class and fell in love with it. He then attended the Culinary Institute of America. After that, Chlebana worked at The Four Seasons hotel in Chicago and The Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, Florida, as well as Washington, D.C.

Chlebana was named the American Culinary Federation’s National Pastry Chef of the Year in 2008 and one of Dessert Professional’s Top Ten Pastry Chefs in America in 2013.

“Spring Baking Championship” airs at 9/8c Sundays.