Kansas City chefs are competing on national TV to represent their 'underrated' culinary scene

Laura Comer, executive chef of the Kauffman Center, has come out victorious from both Hulu's "Chef vs. Wild" and the Food Network's "Guy's Grocery Games." She's just the latest Kansas City chef to be featured in national cooking competition shows.
For cooking show “Chef vs. Wild” (Hulu, 2022), Laura Comer was dropped by helicopter into the Canadian wilds for five days with a trained survivalist.

Comer, the single mom of two Boy Scouts and the executive chef of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, subsisted on oysters and water as she focused on constructing a shelter from the elements.

The premise of the show: Two professional chefs compete to create a three-course, restaurant-style meal using foraged ingredients. As she learned the lay of the land, Comer was able to create a meal incorporating huckleberries, duck eggs, insects and witch’s butter, a fungus that grows on trees.