A Rochester restaurant is keeping people entertained virtually and highlighting businesses through a nightly cooking competition during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mark Tichenor of Rochester added "My girlfriend and I were cooking out of boredom on Facebook Live, we just on a on a whim decided to flip the camera on and got about 30 viewers including Joe Frocchi from The Vesper."

The Vesper owner thought it would be neat to add a twist to their cooking segment for the next Facebook live.

Joe Frocchi, Owner of The Vesper said "I went over and dropped off 4 mystery ingredients and it kind of just blew up from there, we had a lot of people asking how do I participate? Can I do this too? and it just kind of took off from there."

Four ingredients are dropped off hours before the show, and contestants must wait until that night to open the mystery box.

"We try to customize it as much as we can based on the person and their level of experience," said Frocchi.

Joe Frocchi tells Spectrum News the initial goal was to promote The Vesper, but that goal evolved to include friends and businesses still open in the Rochester area.

"You know we have a really fantastic community of chefs, bartenders, breweries, wine makers in Rochester and we hope that they're all here when this is over, I guess it's just one of the things that makes Rochester a great place to live,” said Frocchi.

Contestants involved in the quarantine cooking show say it helps connect people.

“We’ve had a lot taken away from us in the past few weeks, especially when it comes down to entertainment options and time with family and friends,” said Frocchi.

Mark Tichenor hopes the “quarantine cooking” competitions will help people in the kitchen.

"It lets you have a glimpse into the lives and the worlds of people who are now separated from you and that's kind of nice and it brings back a feeling of familiarity and comfort,” said Tichenor.

So far, the most unique ingredients in one show has been starfruit, bloody mary mix, and shrimp.

Contestants say it usually takes a few minutes to figure things before coming up with a dish.

Mark Tichenor added "I'd like to take the stuff I've learned and show it to other people who aren't as good in the kitchen and maybe they can learn a technique or two to jazz up their home meals since they're going to be cooking a lot more of them."

The quarantine cooking Facebook live happens every weeknight at 7.

People interested in participating can reaching out to The Vesper on their website or Facebook page.