Hell's Kitchen on ICE

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Rick Smilow, head of the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), sent out a message that of the 12 contestants on Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen, three are ICE graduates -- 25% of the participants! One of the sous chefs (Mary Ann Salcedo) is an ICE grad, too. Rick wrote: What is remarkable is that I.C.E. had nothing to do with the casting. Fox did a nationwide talent search and considered 1000's of applicants. It is happy coincidence, good karma (or training) that these four all made it on the show! Chris North, ICE '94, Executive Chef at The Restaurant at Rowayton Seafood (Rowayton, CT) James Casey, ICE '05, Manager in I.C.E.'s purchasing department (New York) Wendy Liu, ICE '00 Mary Ann Salcedo, ICE '99, Executive Chef at Merchant's (New York) Then I watched the show... Well, at least none of his alums have gotten the boot (yet) -– one contestant gets booted every episode -– but I wouldn't brag about any training on this show, as I will explain. After watching episodes 1 and 2, I am not sure how well the contestants are learning to cook. Viewers definitely don't learn much about food -- or running a restaurant for that matter. Gordon is quoted in the press as saying, "It's the first time ever that audiences are getting to see the reality of what it's like to run a restaurant at this level": I disagree. "I'm not saying that to be detrimental to Rocco DiSpirito and The Restaurant, but this has nothing to do with television; this is about running a restaurant and pushing the individuals to absolute extremes." I disagree again: Hell's Kitchen is clearly an attempt to better The Restaurant, tempered with The Apprentice -- which is not about learning how to cook, if memory serves. What is the point of Hell's Kitchen, then? It's about taking the adrenalin that surges through contestants and communicating that rush to viewers, like other successful Reality TV shows. And it's about how Gordon dares to take on cooks and hopes to find and help create a chef, in the manner of a drill sergeant -- or soccer coach. Well, sorry to say, but big f---ing deal! Hell's Kitchen should have skipped over all this and focused on the winner, working one-on-one with Gordon over a period of weeks, to see how fast he or she could learn. That way, we might all have learned something about cooking and become more intimately acquainted with the people and the process -- and that's a Food Reality TV show that I'd really, truly like to watch. (Food Network & Co., are you listening?) Of course, Gordon is getting great publicity out of all this, and if the show can last for one to two seasons, don't be surprised if we see some Gordon Ramsay restaurants springing up in America. For my money, though, I think Gordon would do better as a swearting stand-up comedian, along the lines of Billy Connolly (click here for some great quotations; click here to hear Billy Connolly curse at Algebra philosophically). However, we're only two episodes in, so the vote is not out on Hell's Kitchen yet. Look for an ICE grad to make the grade. Previous articles: Sneak Peak: Hell's Kitchen, with Gordon Ramsay Iron Chef America Meets Survivor Gordon Ramsay Joins Richard Branson in Fox's Reality TV Hell Technorati Tags: chefs food restaurants cooking branding reality TV Television --> back to superchefblog