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Long Island Chef to Compete on Cutthroat Kitchen

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DJ Chef Cutthroat Kitchen
DJ Chef of Long Beach is competing on Cutthroat Kitchen, a new Food Network show.

DJ Chef, the Long Island party host who cooks up treats while simultaneously spinning records, is going to testing his skills as a contestant on the new Food Network show Cutthroat Kitchen.

Also known as Marc Weiss, this Long Beach native got his start in music when he received a turntable for Christmas when he was 16. He worked at local clubs and then worked as a prep cook at an Italian caterer to earn extra money—eventually merging the two interests into a successful entertainment/catering service.

“I was always coming in late because I was deejaying the night before,” Weiss said of his start in that catering company.

The owner said he was talented, should stop deejaying and go to culinary school. Eventually, he listened to her and went to The New York Restaurant School.  After graduating, Weiss worked at elite restaurants before throwing his own dinner parties. He added music to the dinner parties and became DJ Chef.

He has been on TV shows before, including Food Network’s What’s Hot, What’s Cool and MTV’s Spring Break.

On Cutthroat Kitchen, hosted by Food Network star Alton Brown, each contestant receives $25,000 to “buy” ingredients to use to make dishes. They can bid on ingredients or hinder other chefs by forbidding them to taste their dish beforehand or taking away a vital ingredient, like salt. The winner will take home the money that is left over after the bidding.

“Cutthroat Kitchen is a cooking competition like viewers have never seen before,” said Bob Tuschman, general manager and senior vice president of Food Network. “Culinary skills can get chefs into the kitchen, but they will have to play a game of wits to stay there.”

Weiss could not say too much about his episode, but he said that “it was like crazy” and that with so many restrictions, the clear favorite may not always be the winner.

Cutthroat Kitchen premieres at 10 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11. The episode that Weiss appears in will air Aug. 18.