What Hell's Kitchen Winner Nona Sivley Is Doing Now
Nona Sivley won Season 8 of "Hell's Kitchen" before she'd even reached her 30th birthday (she was just 29 at the time). The win was a hard-fought one, too, as she had to beat a number of other promising chefs in the process, although that could be said of every "Hell's Kitchen" episode as Gordon Ramsey isn't going to waste his time with anything less than the best of the best. After Sivley's win on "Hell's Kitchen," she was hired as the head chef at Los Angeles' LA Market. At the time, she said that she felt quite enthusiastic about switching things up a little. Her stated ambition was to bring a little taste of Southern-style cooking to the area and introduce Californians to classic regional foods such as grits.
Sivley spent three years at the Los Angeles restaurant but later moved to Pork & Beans in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, this move didn't work out too well for her, as she was let go from that position under dubious circumstances. According to the restaurant's owner, she just didn't fit in there, but Sivley herself revealed in a now-deleted social media post that she felt she had been targeted for her sexual orientation (she identifies as LGBTQ).
Nona Sivley (now Johnson) went into catering and now runs a restaurant
At some point after leaving Pork & Beans, Sivley seems to have changed her last name to her maiden name Johnson, as that is what she goes by now. She also launched a catering company known as Sizzling Peach, the name likely a reference to its Georgia location. The catering later expanded into a full-service restaurant in the Atlanta suburb of Norcross. Johnson's business, too, underwent a name change as it is called The Local Peach.
Johnson's partner in the business, Brianna Murray, is also her partner in life because the two of them are married. Murray was working as a teacher when they first met in 2012, but two years later they joined forces professionally. Both women are listed as chefs on the restaurant's website. Local Peach's cuisine could best be described as southern hipster, with both avocado toast and pimento cheese sandwiches on the menu along with specialties such as a grits bowl with braised short ribs. The restaurant itself serves as somewhat of a progressive community hub as it hosts not only Pride events but also Black history celebrations and readings from local authors.
The Local Peach is now a market, too
Johnson's latest venture, along with her wife, is to open a market where people can stock up on sustainable staples along with purchasing prepared food to go. As she told Parade back when the market was still in the planning stages, "We will focus on sustainability implementing a zero waste/less waste model, and procuring from local organic farmers and vendors who don't necessarily have the platform to expand and grow on their own."
The market appears to be up and running now and offers products including artisan ice cream from Rock House Farm and Creamery in Newborn, Georgia, and charcuterie from Atlanta boutique butcher The Spotted Trotter. Also available are wellness items such as all-natural lip balm, raw honey, scented beeswax candles, and sage sticks as well as a selection of both fiction and non-fiction books on social justice topics and Local Peach merch including tote bags and t-shirts.