Biloxi chef known for Southern cooking takes on Chef Alex Guarnaschelli on Food Network

Chef Austin Sumrall is known for his Southern cooking at White Pillars restaurant in Biloxi and he’s putting his skills up against Chef Alex Guarnaschelli and two other renowned Southern chefs.

The cooking competition show “Alex vs America” airs Sunday at 7 p.m. on Food Network.

“It was so much fun,” Sumrall said of the the episode that filmed in October.

Chef Alex is just as exceptional as she comes across on her cooking shows, he said. He called her a “super cool person and a very good chef.”

The challenge on Sunday’s episode is Southern cuisine. Sumrall represents Mississippi and competes against chefs from Tennessee and North Carolina in addition to Chef Alex.

The show filmed in the Food Network’s stadium kitchen with Chef Alex cooking at the same time.

“There’s a lot of banter back and forth,” he said. “She was picking on me,” Sumrall said, and he tried hard to give it back.

Second challenge

This isn’t the first time the two chefs are on the same Food Network show.

Sumrall, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, said he also competed on “Chopped” when Chef Alex was one of the judges.

That show hasn’t aired yet, and he can’t talk about how he did on either of the shows until they premiere.

After he appeared on “Chopped,” he got a call inviting him to take on “Alex vs America.”

He said the competition of the cooking shows and the time constraints are just as intense as they look on television.

“I was glad that I’d been on ‘Chopped’ before this one,” he said.

Sumrall has competed in a lot of cooking events and usually does well, he said. He doesn’t get nervous easily, but said there is a lot of adrenaline and chefs have to figure out how to manage the stress so they can focus on preparing the food.

“It was a little bit easier for me this time around,” he said.

Hometown favorite

The anticipation is growing as people in South Mississippi find out about the show.

“Lots of excited people are waiting very patiently to see what happens,” he said.

Austin and Tresse Sumrall opened White Pillars in December 2017 and have gained a legion of fans, who say they’ll be watching Sunday.

“Oh he’s going to smoke them,” one person posted on Facebook, while another wished him good luck and said: ”Enjoyed our meal at your restaurant last Friday — great food!”

Sumrall said his wife went with him to Los Angeles for the taping of the show and their nearly 8-year-old son is pumped about seeing his dad on the Food Network.

Meanwhile, Sumrall is focused on making the switch to the summer menu at White Pillars.

Okra, squash and corn are the first of summer local ingredients coming in, he said, and he just added a couple of new dishes to the menu this week.

White Pillars is a farm to table restaurant and Sumrall said, “Summer’s probably my favorite season to cook in.”

People are texting him to see when locally-grown tomatoes will be ready for the menu and the chef said his farmers tell him he’ll have them in just a couple of weeks to add to his Southern dishes.