Bucks Co. Reading Specialist Vying For Title Of "Favorite Chef"

DOYLESTOWN, PA — A reading specialist from Doylestown Borough is in the running to become the nation’s next “Favorite Chef.” But first she’ll need everyone’s help to reach the semifinals.

Stefanie O’Mara, aka “Wannabe Chef Stef” - has made it to the quarterfinals of the national online competition and is vying to reach the finals and a chance to take home a cash prize of $25,000, be featured in “Taste of Home” magazine, and appear on TV with celebrity chef Carla Hall.

“Winning this contest would be a personal honor, but it would also be a victory for every teacher, parent, and student who has ever believed in mixing passion with purpose," said Chef Stef. "This is more than a contest - it's a chance to represent the heart of our community in a national spotlight.”

Voters can cast their ballots for Chef Stef through May 22 by clicking on this link and casting one free vote per day. They can also buy extra votes, with proceeds benefiting the nonprofit James Beard Foundation, which promotes equity and sustainability in the culinary world.

To advance to the semifinals, she will need an outpouring of support to boost her up to first or second place. As of Saturday, she was listed in ninth.

In the kitchen with Chef Stef. (Courtesy of Stefanie O'Mara)

“After many, many rounds before this, I am humbly in shock that I’ve made it this far,” said the home cook, who is optimistic that she can make it into the semifinals. “I have a lot of teachers, colleagues, parents, and administrators who are supporting me. I also have a lot of family and friends pulling for me.”

She has also been busy sharing her culinary creations with the community, including special deliveries of her “super-duper, buttery chocolate 10-step brownies” and her double-layer citrus pound cake.

“Shockingly, I have raised over $2,000. And from my colleagues - mostly teachers - that’s really like $10,000 in real people’s terms,” she said. “I’ve had an outpouring of support trying to help me get ahead.”

The online cooking competition, presented by Colossal and hosted by culinary icons Carla Hall, Aarón Sánchez, and Andrew Zimmern, challenges contenders to showcase their skills and impress the featured celebrity chefs with their culinary talent.

Each week, the contestants are given a culinary assignment by the chefs. The contestants then whip up their dishes, take high-quality photos of the completed dish, post them on social media and ask for the public’s vote and social media response.

“You make it to each level by the amount of votes you can collect,” said O’Mara, who is competing against 12 “super fierce chefs” in the quarterfinals, whom she calls “amazingly trained. So what I’ve been calling myself is ‘Wannabe Chef Stef’. I don’t have their experience, but what I do have is a passion with purpose.

“I have always loved food. I love eating it. I love making it. I love being around it. I love preparing it for my family and my friends,” said Chef Stef. “And more so than ever, I lean on food because it pulls people together from all walks of life, from all cultures and ethnicities. It’s something that I have absolutely fallen in love with.”

For the competition, Chef Stef has whipped up a deconstructed fresh pasta dish with a white sauce, three different types of sautéed mushrooms, and fresh, local asparagus.

Chef Stef's deconstructed pasta dish.

A scallop dish whipped up by Chef Stef.

She also made a whole chicken on the stove. “You stuff it with local fresh herbs and extra virgin olive oil and then you let it sit,” she said. “I love this. My family loves it. It comes out so tender that it falls off the bone,” she said.

On the sweeter side, Chef Stef made a three-layer citrus cake with German flower petals on top. She used “a really delicious homemade lemon curd with a little bit of orange and lemon. It was very soothing to the palate. It wasn’t so sweet that it was overbearing,” she said.

“Everything I make is fresh and affordable,” she said. “Everything I make is from local markets. I pick up produce at Kimberton Whole Food in Ottsville, a delicious market with the best produce around. I also get my mushrooms at the Doylestown Farmers Market. They have the most exotic, fresh mushrooms around.”

She developed her love of cooking from her uncle - Tony Wall - who was an executive chef at the Hyatt Regency in New York City for years. He later opened his own restaurant - the Matisse - in Belmar, New Jersey, before Superstorm Sandy severely damaged the restaurant and it had to be torn down.

“He was a stellar, outrageously good cook. His influence dragged me into it,” she said. “A big reason why I’m doing this contest is to pay homage to him. He passed with a very aggressive form of cancer.”

His influence led Chef Stef to the launch her own social media page to spotlight her work in the kitchen. Since then, an endless parade of mouthwatering dishes and desserts have been featured on her site.

Chef Stef has lived in Doylestown Borough for the past 15 years after growing up in Northampton Township next to Tyler State Park and graduating from Council Rock High School in 1999. She initially planned a life as a singer/songwriter, but instead pursued a career as an educator.

Today, she works as a reading specialist at the Bucks County IU and travels to schools throughout the county to work with kids with reading disabilities, including dyslexia.

Since joining the “Favorite Chef” competition, she has been involving her students in her culinary journey, mixing passion with purpose.

Chef Stef relates that one of her students - a sixth grader named Alice who is severely dyslexic - also wants to be a chef. “She and I have been sharing recipes and this experience together. Even though she’s not fully understanding the extent of the contest, we talk about it. I tell her, ‘I might not be the best, but I am going to be the hardest working. And that’s what you are.'”

This weekend, O’Mara said she planned on making some of the recipes shared with her by Alice.

“This has been such a connected piece to the kids I work with," said Chef Stef. "These kids have every reason to have a chip on their shoulder, to not be able to succeed. All my students have a form of dyslexia or some significant reading disability. What I’m telling them is that no matter what you do in life, you’re going to have to work hard at it to succeed.”

The Favorite Chef competition brings together thousands of chefs, home cooks, and culinary creators each year to compete for the ultimate prize and raise awareness for the James Beard Foundation, to promote equity and sustainability in the culinary world.