{"id":272064,"date":"2026-04-17T05:20:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T05:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/272064\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T05:20:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T05:20:21","slug":"rising-san-diego-chef-stars-in-food-networks-chopped-castaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/272064\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising San Diego chef stars in Food Network\u2019s \u2018Chopped Castaways\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5\/KUSI) \u2014\u00a0If you consider yourself a foodie, local restaurants Herb & Sea and Herb & Wood may already be on your radar. If you consider yourself a really serious foodie, then Chef Aidan Owens should be a familiar name, too.<\/p>\n

The budding 28-year-old chef has worked in some of the best kitchens in San Diego, making a name for himself in the ever-evolving culinary scene this city has to offer.<\/p>\n

And now Owens is going to be on television, starring in the latest spinoff of the Food Network\u2019s \u201cChopped\u201d cooking competition show.<\/p>\n

Born in Sydney, Australia, Owens grew up living an agrarian lifestyle in Byron Bay with a mother he described as a \u201chippie\u201d on a farm filled with chickens, ducks and vegetables.<\/p>\n

Later in life, he set his sights on the Golden Coast, landing in San Francisco and ultimately San Diego. He bounced around. Starting at Kettner Exchange, while he pursued going to school and becoming a historian.<\/p>\n

But Owens said he eventually realized sitting in a classroom wasn\u2019t for him, and Chef Brian Redzikowski, who is now the corporate executive chef at Kettner Exchange, encouraged him to consider cooking as more than just a side gig.<\/p>\n

Owens dropped out of school and started working full-time in restaurants. About a year later, he was a traveling sous chef managing several restaurants.<\/p>\n

For a fresh 21-year-old, the job became a lot to handle.<\/p>\n

\u201c That was horrible, I kind of like lost my mind a little bit,\u201d said Owens. \u201c I just wanted to be a line cook again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owens said he realized that managing a restaurant was making him miss out on seeing friends on weekends or doing the types of things someone his age should be enjoying, like traveling or going to music festivals.<\/p>\n

So he left the role and started traveling around Mexico, Los Angeles and Big Sur with a friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized I was like kind of missing out on some stuff,\u201d said Owens. \u201cWe just bounced around and didn\u2019t take life too seriously for a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the change in scenery, Owens said he realized one thing stayed consistent, and that was his love for cooking.<\/p>\n

\u201c So clearly I like doing this, and I was like, \u2018Alright, maybe I get back into it,’\u201d he said. \u201cThe second I got back into it, I took it really seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owens landed at TRUST restaurant group, where he helped reopen the grill at Fort Oak in Mission Hills and eventually became sous chef at TRUST in Hillcrest. When the head chef spot at TRUST opened up, Owens said Owner Brad Wise approached him and asked if he\u2019d want to try out for the position.<\/p>\n

After a 60-day trial period, Owens became the head chef of the restaurant, a daunting task that he took on for the next three years or so.<\/p>\n

\u201c I really enjoyed the challenge of it; it\u2019s not an easy job. I figured that out,\u201d he said. \u201cIt turned into like those 16-hour days and the craziness. That restaurant was a challenge. I was doing that for about three years, and then I was ready to just go on to the next project in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

That next project happened to be working for Puffer Malarkey.<\/p>\n

Started by Brian Malarkey and Christopher Puffer, the restaurant group owns and operates Herb & Wood, Herb & Sea, Animae, Le Coq and Herb & Ranch.<\/p>\n

Co-owner Malarkey<\/a> is a reality TV frequent flyer.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s hosted the Food Network\u2019s \u201cCutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out\u201d and has been a judge and contestant on \u201cGuy\u2019s Grocery Games,\u00a0Chopped,\u00a0Tournament of Champions,\u201d and \u201cWildcard Kitchen.\u201d He also starred on a season of \u201cTop Chef\u201d and \u201cTop Chef All-Stars\u201d and won as a mentor on ABC\u2019s \u201cThe Taste with Anthony Bourdain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s kind of how he made his bread and butter is doing TV shows,\u201d said Owens about Malarkey\u2019s TV experience. \u201cI will say when that guy has like 30 minutes to do something, he can do three times the amount as anyone else. And it\u2019s practice, but it\u2019s also insanely impressive to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<em>Chef<\/a><\/p>\n

Chef Owens and Malarkey in the kitchen (Puffer Malarkey Collective).<\/p>\n

\u201cChopped Castaways\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the show Owens stars in \u2014 combines the physical challenges of \u201cSurvivor\u201d with tasks like spearfishing and archery, and the classic cooking challenges of \u201cChopped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owens said the unique concept was what ultimately convinced him to join the show despite being approached by other cooking shows in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201c I love \u201cSurvivor.\u201d My mom was like obsessed with \u201cSurvivor.\u201d I grew up watching \u201c\u2018Survivor,’\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For about a month, Owens filmed the show on a remote island in a location he said he can\u2019t disclose, with other talented chefs all vying for a $100,000 grand prize. He faced off in classic \u201cChopped\u201d style challenges that featured mystery baskets, time limits and unconventional ingredients.<\/p>\n

\u201dIt was way, way harder than I thought it was gonna be. I think people think like those TV shows are super staged, and to some degree they kind of are,\u201d said Owens. \u201c You have 30 minutes to build fires, grab pans, do this, break down a chicken, marinate it, cook it, flip \u2014 you have 30 minutes. It is a very, very, very difficult style of cooking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through those challenges, Owens said he grew surprisingly close to his fellow competitors, two of whom are also based in Southern California, despite production\u2019s occasional efforts to instigate fights.<\/p>\n

\u201c They\u2019d be like, \u2018Who do you think is the weakest?\u2019 And everyone was just like, \u2018I think everyone\u2019s here for a reason,’\u201d said Owens. \u201cNot that like typical TV drama.\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as the future is concerned, Owens said he eventually would like to open his own restaurant in San Diego, but when it comes to reality TV, that career might be over as soon as it started.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to experience it because I know a number of our chefs at this restaurant group have done it. You never know until you try something,\u201d said Owens. \u201cI\u2019ll never have regrets of like, \u2018oh, I can\u2019t believe I didn\u2019t go to this crazy remote island and do this insane experience\u2019 because now I\u2019ve done it.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can watch Owens and other contestants face off on \u201cChopped Castaways\u201d starting on May 12 on the Food Network or HBO Max. New episodes will air on Tuesdays at 9 p.m.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN DIEGO (FOX 5\/KUSI) \u2014\u00a0If you consider yourself a foodie, local restaurants Herb & Sea and Herb &…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[118009,118010,118014,49755,118012,118013,74,76,75,118011],"class_list":{"0":"post-272064","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-aidan-owens","9":"tag-brian-malarkey","10":"tag-chopped","11":"tag-food-network","12":"tag-kettner-exchange","13":"tag-puffer-malarkey","14":"tag-san-diego","15":"tag-san-diego-headlines","16":"tag-san-diego-news","17":"tag-sous-chef"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}