NJ chef beats addiction, now on Gordon Ramsay’s ‘Master Chef’

We’ve talked about heroin addiction so many times on our show. Thousands per year die from overdoses in New Jersey. What some people don’t understand about the throes of heroin addiction is that you’re soon not doing it to get high, you’re doing it to stop feeling so sick from withdrawal.

When you see a guy from New Jersey not only beat it but start taking really good care of himself and then forming a passion and a dream it’s truly inspiring. Truly inspiring is Ryan Walker from Monmouth County’s Millstone Township.

Walker was addicted to heroin for about a decade. He finally did what for many proves impossible. He got clean. Then he got genuinely healthy.

He took up an interest in healthier food and cooking and became passionate about it.

When I got sober, I really fell in love with food,” Walker says, adding, “Then, when I started the Keto diet, it’s a little limited.

So he experimented and found ways to improve everything. It turned into such a labor of love that he now wants to open his own farm-to-table style restaurant. He already has the name picked out based on his signature dish.

The Steak & The Egg.

Just sourcing as many of the ingredients as you can from on-site. It’s just better than organic. You can’t buy those eggs that I got in my backyard. Those are some spoiled chickens.

That’s a reference to his nine backyard birds.

I’m a big proponent of regenerative farming,” Walker went on. “I talk a lot about it on social media and just how good it is for the environment and how healthy the food can be for you. My dream right now is to get The Steak & The Egg up and running. I want to do it in Jersey.

That dream is off to a great start because after everything this 33-year-old construction superintendent has been through he’s now competing on Gordon Ramsay’s “MasterChef: United Tastes of America.” The competition between home chefs is broken down by different regions of the country. They’re competing for $250,000 and he appeared on the first episode of season 13 on May 24.

And yes, he was awarded an apron.

Because he advanced he’ll be seen next on the June 21st episode. If you want to cheer on a Jersey guy who’s been through hell and back look for it on FOX. “Master Chef” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m..

That $250,000 would go a long way toward Walker’s dream restaurant. No matter how it ends, he’s already come a very, very long way.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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