Selena Gomez might have moved out of her kitchen and into the restaurant scene but she still keeps it real.
In the actress’s new Food Network show Selena + Restaurant, which premiered on May 2, she explores buzzy Los Angeles restaurants and learns from their chefs. The six-episode series is a spinoff of her show, Selena + Chef, both of which are available to stream on Max.
On the May 9 episode, Gomez heads to Hollywood hotspot Lemon Grove to learn from Marcel Vigneron. PEOPLE has an exclusive look into the delicious dishes they create and the blunt comments that come with making them.
The Rare Beauty founder is joined by her longtime friend Raquelle Stevens in Vigneron’s kitchen. The pair are equipped with safety goggles — and the gear alone proves that the dishes on the new series will be less conventional than what she made on Selena + Chef.
Vigneron guides Gomez, who is also wearing gloves and an apron, to put blackberries into liquid nitrogen.
FOOD NETWORK
“Sel, I feel like you’re in a music video right now with the glasses and the smoke,” Stevens jokes.
After flash-freezing the berries, the Top Chef alum tells Gomez to put them into a plastic bag.
“Do I smash it? Because I really want to use this,” she says, picking up a meat pounder, and Vigneron confirms her suspicions.
Gomez hits the blackberries, breaking apart the “individual cells.” Vigneron is closely watching to make sure she does so safely.
“This is for sure getting out some anger,” Gomez says gleefully, getting a little carried away before Vigneron stops her.
“You’re looking pretty good there, Chef,” he says, clueing the “Lose You to Love Me” singer to stop. He then tells her to put the “blackberry caviar” into a cup and set it aside.
Vigneron explains that the concept behind his experimental dessert is a full moon. He spoons a blackberry puree to the bottom of a plate which “represents the night sky,” he says.
He continues, adding two dark-colored cake pieces to the puree. “And then our black sesame cloud is kind of, you know, a cloud,” he says.
FOOD NETWORK
“I’m sorry, before you continue, what the hell is that?” Gomez politely interrupts with her brow furrowed.
Vigneron happily explains that it is a black sesame praline sponge cake and Stevens replies, “Yum!” Gomez then sprinkles the “blackberry caviar” on the puree to represent stars before Vigneron adds the final element: a coconut semifreddo as the “full moon.” With that, the dish is complete and the friends cannot contain themselves.
“What the hell?” Gomez repeats while Stevens excitedly exclaims, “Woah!”
In the series premiere on May 2, Gomez and Stevens learned a spicy seafood dish from Wolfgang Puck at his restaurant CUT Steakhouse in Beverly Hills.
According to a press release about the show, the “ultimate goal” will be for Gomez to create a dish “good enough to make each restaurant’s menu.”
“After cooking mostly virtually from my kitchen with some of the best chefs for the last four years, I was thrilled to step into their world,” Gomez said in the release. “You’ll have to see if being in person helped my skills at all.”
Later episodes will feature chefs like Shirley Chung, Andrew and Michelle Muñoz, Keith Corbin and Stephanie Izard. Just like Selena + Chef, the chefs will choose a charity to highlight and receive a donation from the show.
News
*That’s* How They’re Writing Him Off?!? Blue Bloods’ Final Season Sets the Stage For Danny’s Devastating End
Credit: Getty Images All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Soaps.com may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. With only five more…
Matthew McConaughey honors his late father James with throwback photo: ‘Made men fathers’
Matthew McConaughey took to social media on Sunday to acknowledge Father’s Day. The 52-year-old actor shared a throwback photo with several older men and wrote: ‘made men fathers. #fathersday.’ His dad, James Donald McConaughey, passed away in 1992 when the star…
Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey? Reexamines One of the Biggest Cold Cases in History
On Dec. 26, 1996, John and Patsy Ramsey awoke to a nightmare. Their youngest child, 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey, was missing, with a chilling ransom note left behind. The day took a devastating turn when John Ramsey discovered JonBenét’s lifeless body…
Allison Janney Says She ‘Threw the Script Across the Room’ for The Diplomat Season 2 Finale
Allison Janney. Photo: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Allison Janney is revealing how she reacted to seeing one specific script for The Diplomat. During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Nov. 4, Janney, 64, explained that when she first read the script for the political thriller’s season…
Inside The Lincoln Lawyer cast’s real-life romances: Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Neve Campbell, Becki Newton and more
The Lincoln Lawyer promises plenty of drama both in the courtroom and out but offscreen the stars of the show live regular lives with their loved ones. The romantic complexities on the legal Netflix series aren’t reflected in their real-life…
The Ending of ‘The Diplomat’ Season 2, Explained: Breaking Down Who Planned the Attack and the Shocking Death
(Image credit: Courtesy of Netflix) Season 2 of Netflix’s political thriller The Diplomat begins with a bang—literally. Created by The West Wing alum Debora Cahn and starring Keri Russell, the series follows the titular diplomat Kate Wyler (Russell) as she’s appointed ambassador to the United…
End of content
No more pages to load