ORANGE, Texas — An Orange chef competed in a national cooking competition and placed third.
Jennifer Caldwell, the owner of Luna Nashoba food truck, competed in the Favorite Chef competition presented by Top Chef season 5 winner Chef Carla Hall.
In order to enter the competition, Chef Caldwell submitted photos of her food, posted her recipes and was judged by the entire country.
Caldwell officially entered the top 10 after votes were counted on July 6, 2023.
Sweet and savory honey crunch crawfish hot wings, red pepper jam and deep-fried cinnamon rolls are just some of the recipes Caldwell made for the competition.
Caldwell is an Orange native who grew up learning to make gravy with her granny.
At 18 years old, she joined the United States Coast Guard, where she became a trained chef.
"Because for them food is moral, and so if you don't have good moral to them it's probably the food," she previously told 12News.
Caldwell brought her cooking techniques back to Southeast Texas and opened Luna Nashoba.
She announced on her Facebook that she officially came in third place.
"Thank y’all so much for all the support and encouragement!!! Y’all rock …. Now I’m still in for Carla’s favorite as far as I know," Caldwell said on the Facebook post.
She ended the post by teasing that she had "big plans" for Luna Nashoba coming out September 1 ,2023.