See Our Own Noah Cryns on “Top Chef Jr.”

The Children’s School is very proud of our former student, Noah Cryns, who is a contestant on Top Chef Junior: Season Two. The competition premiers on the Universal Kids network on Saturday, September 8th, but you can see a preview here:

Noah, who attended TCS from 4th through 6th grade, is also the son of our fourth-grade teacher Ms. Chrissie Boehlen. While at TCS, Noah frequently brought in delicious layer cakes for teachers and staff, sharing his latest baking projects with everyone. It’s no surprise to TCS that he may be heading toward a career as a young celebrity chef!

Noah’s mom initially found out about open call auditions for the series through her friends who knew he liked to cook. She brought Noah to his first audition here in Chicago in December 2017.

More than 700 kids tried out for the show. Our of that number, only 23, including Noah, were called for “boot camp” in Los Angeles. Noah stayed at the California boot camp from early February through mid-April, and neither he nor his mom were allowed to say anything about the show until the final cast of 12 was announced.

During the upcoming series, the 12 contestants will be competing for $50,000. One contestant will be eliminated each episode. Of course, both Noah and Ms. Chrissie are sworn to secrecy on the outcome!

In addition to the season premier, the Chicago Tribune featured an article on Noah as well. Also, don’t miss Noah on Chicago’s WGN morning news.

In the meantime, Noah has great advice for other culinary-minded kids: "If you're a kid and you like to cook and you enjoy it, do it! And try to cook different cuisines. When you make something from a different culture, it opens your eyes to the difference of food that you eat and cook. Try new techniques, like knife skills or ways to cook meats, sous vide, reverse sear, etc. Watch different chefs to understand how they make the type of food you are trying to make. Never turn down help. Always be open to learn something new from somebody else. And most of all, have fun doing it, be creative and explore what other cultures have to offer in the culinary world."