Alaska Lizzie remains in the cooking competition show: MasterChef

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - Many community members are tuning into the nationally televised cooking show: MasterChef: United Tastes of America and who are they watching? None other than Fairbanks’ resident Lizzie Hartman, also known as “Alaska Lizzie.”

Hartman and a few of her friends gathered at The Venue in downtown Fairbanks Thursday night for a watch party. The episode featured a team competition at Dodger Stadium. The plan was to host the party at Goldpanner Field, but Mother Nature had other thoughts. So, like in the cooking show, Hartman had to pivot, and she and her friends gathered at The Venue in downtown Fairbanks.

As far as being on such a national stage, Hartman said, “The word I kept coming back to again and again, I just felt grateful to be from small town Fairbanks to be all the way down in California, hanging out with Gordon Ramsey and the crew and filming. I just felt incredibly grateful.”

Friends of Hartman and some MasterChef fans gathered for the watch party to support her accomplishments. One of those people was Isaiah Mangum, the Venue founder and creative director. He said, “She is just this tiny ball of energy that like resonates just love, and so I think it’s really cool that she of all people gets to be the face of Fairbanks right now.”

She’s wearing that face of Fairbanks with pride, saying she’s thankful to represent not only the Golden Heart City but also the 49th State.

“I feel like anyone that’s been able to get outside of Alaska, and it’s that national platform we should celebrate because it just brings attention to Fairbanks. It brings it all back to our city. So for me, it wasn’t about representing myself or even being in the competition; it was about bringing Fairbanks to the national stage and sharing my city with them,” Harman said.

Amanda Mitchell is a friend of Hartman’s who was also at the watch party. She was in awe of seeing Hartman on the big screen and reflected on the bigger picture of the impact Hartman is having by participating in the competition show. She said, “It’s really important to support your community. I think that what s he’s doing is really special because it really has brought a lot of us together, and I didn’t really realize the impact of it until she started doing it.”

Only one cook will take it all and take home the cash prize of a quarter of a million dollars and the title of America’s MasterChef. Will it be Alaska Lizzie?

While she can’t say the final outcome, it has boosted her dreams of sharing her skills with Fairbanks.

“My goal is to eventually is to have a cooking school for kids where kids from all over Fairbanks can come and have the opportunity to learn and create and just another way to connect with other small businesses, connect with other chefs, and bring them together under one roof,” said Hartman.

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