{"id":275903,"date":"2026-06-24T00:09:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T00:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/275903\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T00:09:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T00:09:01","slug":"bay-ridge-resident-shines-on-100-cooks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/275903\/","title":{"rendered":"Bay Ridge resident shines on \u2018100 Cooks\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>BAY RIDGE \u2014 Another local is a thriving contestant on Food Network\u2019s competition show \u201c100 Cooks.\u201d During the show\u2019s second episode, which aired June 14, content creator and Bay Ridge resident Nikki Apostolou won best weeknight meal.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s lived in Bay Ridge for the last 20 years, having grown up in Bensonhurst.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so excited when I found out I was chosen,\u201d Apostolou said about getting on the show. \u201cI had received a pass in the past, and so I didn\u2019t know if they would pass on me again. You go through multiple rounds of interviews with different people \u2014 casting, production, the network. It\u2019s like a long job interview, but when you get the call, it\u2019s the happiest moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said that her kids were the most excited, especially when she won.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>A dish that Apostolou made during the episode. Photo: Food Network<\/p>\n

\u201cI made Three Sisters Stew, which is one of their favorites,\u201d she explained of the dish that consists of corn, beans and squash. \u201cThey were excited to see me and what I made. I was getting calls from my family across the country and Canada, congratulating me. My heart was very full.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apostolou has been cooking since she was 20. She wanted to really learn how to make a lot of different dishes. She would read \u201cReal Simple\u201d magazine and then cook everything in the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t matter what it was, I\u2019d try it,\u201d she said. \u201cGrowing up, my mom inspired me and influenced me. She would try something or like something and then come home and make her own version of it. She was always trying to be creative and step outside the box from our traditional dishes, too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While winning a challenge was rewarding, Apostolou said being able to bring First Nations indigenous representation on a show airing globally was a highlight.<\/p>\n

\"Bay<\/a>Bay Ridge resident Nikki Apostolou as a contestant on \u201c100 Cooks.\u201d Photo: Nikki Apostolou<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m originally from a native territory, Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, which is just south of Montreal in Canada,\u201d she said. \u201cOur territory has a deep connection to Brooklyn and the areas of Bay Ridge, all the way to Downtown Brooklyn.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNatives from our territory would come down in the early 1900\u2019s to work on the Empire State building, the Chrysler building, Rockefeller Center and even the George Washington Bridge,\u201d Apostolou explained. \u201cThey brought their families here. The Mohawk ironworkers were known as skywalkers. We used to have a Mohawk enclave here in Brooklyn before the 1960s. Many ironworkers from my territory are still here in Bay Ridge today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortly after she was born, Apostolou\u2019s family moved to Bensonhurst. She attended elementary and junior high school in Bay Ridge at what is now Gateway City Academy, spending a year at Visitation Academy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a kid, my grandma would always take me shopping with her down 86th. I always had wonderful memories in the neighborhood, so when I got into my 20s, I came to Bay Ridge as a resident,\u201d she said. \u201cI raised my three kids here, and they get to experience the wonderful community, as well as the parks. My husband and I love the restaurants, too. You never need to go to the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Apostolou<\/a>Apostolou on the runway. Photo: Nikki Apostolou<\/p>\n

She enjoyed her time on the show, thanks to the crew and other contestants.<\/p>\n

She enjoyed her time on the show, thanks to the crew and other contestants.<\/p>\n

\u201cTerry Crews was a great host, and he really cared about us. He would check in, and he knew us by name,\u201d she said. \u201cThe judges Alex Guarnaschelli and Nick DiGiovanni helped us grow as home cooks with their advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the cooks have stayed in touch via a group chat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI could never imagine having 90-plus friends that I could reach out to to talk about life and food,\u201d Apostolou said.<\/p>\n

Apostolou is a full-time content creator, mother of three, and a plus-size model. She also has a line of indigenous candles and soaps called Walking Sky Candles.<\/p>\n

Another Bay Ridge resident, Danielle Caminiti, is also a contestant on the show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAY RIDGE \u2014 Another local is a thriving contestant on Food Network\u2019s competition show \u201c100 Cooks.\u201d During the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[1882,9868,8894,6628,1768,9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-275903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-community","tag-cooking","tag-food-and-drink","tag-food-network","tag-native-americans","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}