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Clebrity chef Gordon Ramsay continues to promise more than he can deliver.
This time, the legendary F-bomber says that the winning chef from the upcoming ninth season of “Hell’s Kitchen” will get the opportunity to be the “head chef” at BLT Steak, a high-end steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan, for a year.
Unfortunately for the eventual winner, the term “head chef” is almost meaningless in professional kitchens — and the position does not even exist at BLT Steak.
In most restaurants, the highest-ranking chef is called the “executive chef,” while his or her top lieutenant is called the “sous chef.” Normal line cooks rank below both of them.
It, therefore, comes as no surprise that the team at BLT Steak have had to create a nebulous new position for the eventual winner of “Hell’s Kitchen” — serving under the restaurant’s current executive chef, Clifford Crooks.
“The winner will be the chef de cuisine under Cliff [Crooks],” said Jimmy Haber, managing partner at ESquared Hospitality, which owns and operates BLT Steak.
What the eventual winner’s responsibilities will be is still up in the air, because Crooks’ role and that of his sous chef will remain unchanged.
But even though Ramsay and “Hell’s Kitchen” are misleading the show’s eventual winner, the news is not all doom and gloom, since he or she will get the opportunity to work with one of the most successful reality-TV chefs to date.
Crooks was a no-nonsense contestant on Season 2 of Bravo’s “Top Chef.”
Unlike many reality-TV chefs, Crooks did not seek the limelight after his “Top Chef” turn, instead working diligently to move up the restaurant world’s food chain.
After “Top Chef,” Crooks became the sous chef at the popular Blue Water Grill in Union Square, before moving on to the critically acclaimed Gramercy Tavern.
Crooks’ impressive résumé and general good nature are a stark contrast to Ramsay, who has a history of not being entirely forthcoming with “Hell’s Kitchen” winners.
Heather West, the winner of the show’s second season — and a longtime Long Island resident — was promised the “head chef” position at T-Bone, a fancy steakhouse in Las Vegas, but ended up working as a line cook instead.
Similarly, the winner of Season 7, Holli Ugalde, was supposed to be the “head chef” at Ramsay’s restaurant in the posh Savoy Hotel in London . But she never made it across the pond — because, according to Ugalde, Ramsay never applied to get her a work permit.