The second season of Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars is a delicious treat for fans. The series follows restaurant industry titans Gordon Ramsay and Lisa Vanderpump as they compete against each other. They each have a team of beverage and food entrepreneurs who take part in challenges. And the last contestant standing will win $250,000. And more importantly, either Lisa or Gordon will win bragging rights. Seriously, these two aren’t kidding around.
During the fifth episode, Chuan Liu of Team Ramsay was eliminated. For the challenge, both Lisa and Gordon asked their teams to create a seasonal ad campaign for a limited-edition wine. This contest was nerve-wracking because the wine was from these legends’ personal brands. So, each team had 24 hours to select a holiday, create a wine name and label, film a commercial, and give a live presentation. Then, a group of 100 wine enthusiasts voted for either Lisa’s wine or Gordon’s wine, based on the commercial.
After Lisa’s team won, Team Ramsay entered The Grilling, which was savage. Gordon focused on Chuan Liu she had suggested naming the wine, Re-Brand.
Reality Tea spoke with Chuan Liu about her Food Stars elimination, how her company Levels of Grandeur started, and the important lesson that she learned from the show.
How Chuan Liu took a leap of faith starting Levels of Grandeur
Gordon was impressed with Chuan Liu’s line of artisanal cocktails and beverage syrups. She started the company with her brother, Shan Liu, in September 2021.
“It was towards the tail end of COVID. And I was working in consulting at the time. I’ve always been a corporate America girlie,” Chuan Liu told us. “And I was working from home and I was easily working, like, I don’t know, over 70 hours a week. I just … I got burned out. You know I think with everything that was going on with COVID in terms of, unfortunately, people you know, passing away. People that you never thought would be affected by COVID in that manner.”
She continued, “You know, I just got to a point where I thought, ‘I want to spend my life doing something that is more meaningful, right?’ And so my brother and I, we’re best friends. We’ve always been super close. And so I literally just called him one Sunday, and I said, ‘Hey! We’ve always talked about going into business together. I’m feeling pretty there. So if you’re serious, I’m serious, you know just say the word,'” Chuan Liu said.
“The syrups, we’ve always kind of worked on that over the years together. So my brother has managed bar programs where he’s had to create everything in-house. That’s where the foundation of the cocktail syrups started,” she explained. “You know, he would create these wonderful flavors. I’d help him R and D (research and develop) them, [and] test the flavors. We’d give them out to our friends who worked in the industry to get feedback and people would always be like, ‘Man. These are really good. You guys should sell these.’”
Why these syrups aren’t just for cocktails
And the syrups aren’t solely for cocktails. “They’re non-alcoholic, which makes them super versatile, so I tell people all the time, they’re also great for mocktails, coffees – I use mine for coffees and for sparkling waters a lot, teas, etc,” Chuan Liu stated. “We have some people who literally just buy them to pour on ice cream. So I always encourage people to not overthink it – it’s just a syrup. So anything you would use syrup for, you can use this for that as well.”
The company has 10 or so flavors on the retail side. “And then on the commercial side, we try to keep a rotating portfolio of like staples, along with some seasonal stuff. So I’d say altogether like, maybe upwards of like I’d say 25 to 30,” the entrepreneur told us.
So, what is the most popular flavor? “Right now is actually the one that I took on the show with me, which is a passionfruit vanilla. I know the espresso martini [has] been holding on for so long, you know, and we were kind of convinced that the next 90s cocktail to be revived would be the porn star martini,” Chuan Liu stated. “So, we created the passionfruit vanilla just to do like plug-and-play porn star martinis. And it’s done, really, really well. It’s actually almost outsold our top-selling ever of all-time flavor, which is our burnt sugar, so we were really surprised to see that.” Eventually, Chuan Liu hopes that Levels of Grandeur will “kind of be like a staple brand. So, hopefully, five years from now, we’ll be in homes and we’ll be in bars like all across America. That would be great!”
Was Chuan Liu hoping for Team Vanderpump or Team Ramsay?
So, why did Chuan Liu decide to be on Food Stars? “Well, I went onto Food Stars because you know I do believe truly that beyond the syrups part of it, and even in that regard I do believe that what we’re doing is very innovative. So, we do have certain products outside of the syrups that I’ve never seen in the food and beverage industry … on the major market and so I felt like this was a really great opportunity to showcase obviously our brand, those products, and to kind of just get some big visibility and exposure for us as a company overall,” Chuan Liu said.
As for whether she wanted to be on Gordon’s team or Lisa’s team? “Truth be told, I was just happy to be there,” she said with a laugh. “But of course, I did … I did want to be on Gordon’s team. Yeah. For sure.”
And being part of a reality TV show was an interesting experience for Chuan Liu. “I will say that being on the other side of the experience, I have a new-found respect for people who do reality TV and especially people who do the competitions on reality TV. You know, when I was watching Season 1, we’re sitting here watching the contestants, and you have these moments when you’re like, ‘Why would they do that?’ Or ‘Why would they say that?’ Or ‘Why would you just make that decision?’” Chuan Liu explained.
“And then you get in the midst of it and you understand just how stressful and chaotic and unpredictable certain aspects are, so, yeah. It’s definitely a lot more challenging than it seems.”
What did Chuan Liu think about Gordon?
Chuan Liu was thrilled to be on Gordon’s team. But was she intimidated by him? “Yes and no. I think that I had already hyped it up that he was going to be like super intimidating. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that you know, he’s … the worst of how you see him on TV … he’s not that all the time.” she stated. “But obviously, just his presence there, being there, and you know kind of coaching you and giving you the feedback, of course, you’re like, ‘Ahh!’”
She continued, “I think for me, again kind of looking back in retrospect, I think the most important lesson would be to … and it’s funny, because you know they said this a lot when we were on set, too … which is to just be yourself, you know? That’s it. We’ve all made it on. You know we were all given this opportunity for a reason. Everybody there had different personalities, and everybody brought different things to the table, and so I think it would probably be that, right? So whatever got you there, that’s what you should let shine,” Chuan Liu told us.
It’s probably no surprise that Chuan Liu’s favorite challenge was the themed bar challenge. “It was the one I was more comfortable in, and you know it was the one where I felt like I was able to contribute to the team in a meaningful way. So, yeah. I would say for sure probably that one,” she said.
Of course, every team has strengths and weaknesses, and Chuan Liu shared her take on Team Ramsay. “I would say our biggest strength would probably be the individuals that we had on the team. I think that we had a pretty well-rounded team in terms of you know the different skills that everybody brought to the table,” Chuan Liu said. She added, “I would say our biggest weakness would probably just be, I’d say, personal drama. And I’m just going to leave it at that.”
The wine challenge
Losing the wine challenge sent Team Ramsay back to The Grilling, and ultimately sent Chuan Liu home. “So, in my opinion, I think that the two sub-teams were not super aligned on exactly what the narrative would be, what the story was, and how we were going to tell that story. And so when we broke out into the separate teams and we reconvened again, we were kind of like, ‘Oh no!’ It doesn’t really fit, right?” she explained.
“At that point, and again, I’m only speaking for me personally, it was more about damage control. Well, okay, these things are already kind of in place, so what can we do at this point to kind of still bring everything together to make it make sense and to tie together all the pieces and connect the dots? So, I think maybe, if we had all kind of started off on the same page when we split up and kind of tackled our own parts of it, we could have done that better individually,” she said.
Why Team Ramsay lost the challenge
“In my honest opinion, I don’t think the commercial was bad. And I don’t think that our presentation was bad. I just think that the other team just knocked it out of the park,” Chuan Liu remarked. “You know what I mean? I think their presentation, along with the commercial, was so much more cohesive. It was playful, it was quirky, it was entertaining, it was engaging. I mean it was all the things that you would want it to be, right? And rightfully so, they won the challenge and I think they did a fantastic job.”
She continued, “But at the end of the day, my opinion still stands, which is that I don’t think that anything that we did particularly sucked. I just think that it was just not as great. But I think because again there just were some misalignments in the initial planning stages,” Chuan Liu said. “I think that just if you put them side by side, clearly one was way better in terms of planning, execution, theme, presentation, etc. Rightfully, they won.”
When asked if she was surprised that Gordon sent her home, the beverage syrup entrepreneur said simply, “Yes. Yes, I was.”
How did Chuan Liu feel about the label drama?
During The Grilling, Lisa confronted the team about using the idea of a label that you could write on, remove, and keep. This was an idea that Jess Druey created for her brand, Whiny Baby Wine. Jess was a member of Team Vanderpump.
“I personally would not have pursued that same style. You know just given the close proximity and again, maybe this is looking back in retrospect. Maybe I should have vocalized or said something about it,” Chuan Liu commented to us. “But to me, when we were doing the challenge, I kind of thought to myself, ‘I mean, she’s got this really innovative, fun idea for a label for her own brand.’ I’m like, ‘Surely they’re going to be doing the same exact thing for this particular challenge, right?’ I mean I know if that was me, that’s what I would do.” She added, “And so definitely I had some internal concerns about you know, ‘Are they going to be too similar?’ Did I think that was the best approach? Not really.”
The one thing that Chuan Liu would do differently
While Chuan Liu has no regrets about appearing on Food Stars, there is one thing she would do differently. “I think kind of just looking back on it, you know I probably … I think I was very cautious. Everything that’s going on, working with people that you don’t know a single day in your life, right?” she explained. “You’re on a team with lots of strong personalities, lots of strong opinions, and then of course you’re being recorded, you know, on camera. So then there’s like just the pressure of being perceived, right?”
Chuan Liu continued, “And so I think having been overly cautious did not really allow me to be myself truly. And so I guess my only regret would be that part of it, which is that if I could do it over again … I mean whatever it took, right? Maybe try to be a little bit more relaxed so that way I could just let my personality really shine.”
But finishing a challenge gave this Team Ramsay member a feeling of satisfaction. “Again you think you have all this time to do all these things, and you don’t. And even if you do, the time honestly just flies, right? And again, because you’re working with people [that] you never worked with before, you know there’s a lot of give and take. It’s like, well, you have to consider everybody’s opinion, and everybody works in a different kind of way,” she stated. “But I will say, at the end of every challenge, you know it was very rewarding and kind of shocking to see that like, ‘Oh wow!’ We actually did do this in a day’s time. Or two days’ time. Or whatever the case may be. So that part of it was pretty cool.”
Who does Chuan Liu think will be the next Food Star?
Next up, Chuan Liu was asked to pick her Food Stars Dream Team. She selected Jess, Roman [Desmond], Rose [Hankins], Erica [Levin], Kyson [Clark] and Andrew [Whiting]. “That is a very solid team. Absolutely,” she stated.
As for who will claim the $250,000 prize? Chuan Liu replied, “There are so many great contestants. I think I’ll pick three people. I’d say Roman. I’d say Erica. And I’d say Jess.”
And Chuan Liu is still in touch with her co-stars. “Well, Kyson and I live in the same city. And we grew really close during the filming of the show, so of course, we’re still in touch. Andrew actually recently flew in, I’d say maybe a couple of weeks ago, for a watch party. So that was cool, too,” Chuan Liu stated. “And everybody else on social media, of course. It’s definitely a unique experience that only that group of people will know about.”
This interview was edited for conciseness and clarity.
Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars airs on Wednesdays at 9/8c on FOX.
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