They come for the sun, the sand, the drama and romance, to grapple with life and grab hold of it against the backdrop of beachfront idyll. Such are the lives of twenty-somethings in the fleeting days of a Vineyard summer.

At least, that’s what a new reality show may have you believe.

Next Level Chef contestant Ryan Scanlon made his homecoming on Thursday at Alchemy in Edgartown, where he first discovered his passion for cooking as a teenager.