Hell’s Kitchen Winners: Where are they now?

THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED On the following Page (JULY 21, 2014) >> http://foodiegossip.blogspot.com/2014/07/hells-kitchen-winners-where-are-they-now.html

With the season 11 finale of Fox TV’s Hell’s Kitchen right around the corner, we want to take a moment look back at the HK winners from the past 10 seasons and share where the winners have been and where they are now.

Have they thrived since their glory? Or have they faded and dulled like an old table cloth? Let's take a look:

The first ever winner of Hell’s Kitchen, Season 1, was Michael Wray.  When he first won he chose to travel to London to train under Chef Gordon Ramsay, then later decided to focus on his family and stayed to be head-chef in some prominent Los Angeles restaurants, such as The Standard. Since then, not only has he started his own custom knives company called Skull and Cleavers, but he also tried to open his own restaurant in Arizona called HK1. Sadly however, it never materialized due to lack of funds. It is rumored that he is now in Arizona teaching cooking classes at an Arizona college.

Heather West was the winner for Hell’s Kitchen Season 2. For her prize, she was to become Executive Chef at Terra Rossa, an Italian restaurant at Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino in Las Vegas. However, Heather only became Senior Chef for one year. She then went on to become head chef in a restaurant called Monterey Restaurant in Long Beach, New York. Today she works as the executive chef at Ciao Baby in Commack and Massapequa Park, where she was executive chef for over a year. Today, Heather is now chef at Thatched Cottage, a catering venue in Centerport.

Rahaman “Rock” Harper won Hell’s Kitchen Season 3. His prize was to become the Head Chef at Terra Verde at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson. After his one-year contract was complete, he then went on to work in restaurants throughout Washington, DC. He then found the perfect job for him at the time, director of kitchen operations for D.C. Central Kitchen, a non-profit that feeds, educates and strives to save thousands from chronic homelessness, poverty and crime. He has also just opened a new restaurant called fatShorty’s, which strives to serve some of the best sausage, mussels and cold beer to its customers.

Christina Machamer won Hell’s Kitchen Season 4, and the prize was to become Executive Chef at the Gordon Ramsay restaurant in the London West Hollywood Hotel. Instead, she was given the position of Senior Chef under Executive Chef Andy Cook. She then took some time off to study wine and viticulture at The Culinary Institute at Greystone in Napa Valley. Today she works at B Cellars, helping to create wines that go well with food as well as helping around the winery and interacting with guests.

Danny Veltri won Season 5 of Hell's Kitchen. He became Sous Chef under Stephen Kalt at Fornelletto at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Originally, he was supposed to be the Head Chef at another restaurant built at the Casino. When he didn’t become Head Chef, Danny quit and began consulting. He then created a catering company called Back From Hell Catering, poking at his experience in "Hell's Kitchen.” He then joined with a group of investors that wanted to create a surf bar with food. He was Chef of the Gnarly Surf Bar & Grill near the Intracoastal Waterway in Central Florida for a period of time. Today, Chef Veltri is helping Chef Erik Amalfitano and management at Flip Flops establish a new menu.

Dave Levey won Hell's Kitchen Season 6, and the prize of Head Chef at Araxi Restaurant and Bar in Whistler, British Columbia. However, as we mentioned earlier, he was treated like a line-cook. He worked at Araxi Restaurant until the end of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Currently, he is in Nashville helping his sister with her music career.

Holli Ugalde won Hell's Kitchen Season 7, which was supposed to follow with the position as Executive Chef at The Savoy in London. However, she could not get a visa to work in the UK. Ugalde called that explanation an excuse, saying, "I don't know if they even applied for my visa." Ugalde accepted an undisclosed amount of cash instead. She had a job as the Signature Chef of a new restaurant in B Ocean Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida called B’stro on the beach. She now lives in southern California and has a signature line of cookware that she has been promoting on her website.

Nona Sivley won Hell's Kitchen Season 8, along with the prize position as Head Chef at LA Market at JW Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles as well as the opportunity to be a spokesperson for Rosemount Estate Wines. She is now working as Chef de Cuisine at LA Market with Celebrity chef Kerry Simon.

Paul Niedermann won Hell’s Kitchen Season 9, which was supposed to be a prize of head chef at BLT Steak in NYC. Instead he will now be working under chef Cliff Crooks, a season two contestant of Top Chef.

Christina Wilson won Hell’s Kitchen Season 10 and she is now the head chef of Las Vegas-based Gordon Ramsay’s Steak Restaurant at Paris, working under Kevin Hee. She also came back for a guest appearance on Hell’s Kitchen season 11.

It seems there is a serious trend that either HK winners do not get their prize, get the title of the prize, but not the responsibility, or the winner leaves their position as soon as their contract is fulfilled. It almost seems pointless to go through all the pain and suffering that we witness season after season. However, every winner seems to say the same thing about the show… it is the BEST experience of their lives!

Gordon Ramsay's Suit Collection is Ever Growing

Let's face it, even with the over abundance of celebrity chefs, all pale in the entertainment factor when Chef Gordon Ramsay takes stage. And even though it's clear that's he's taken strides to tone down his image quite a bit over the past couple of years, this British bugger can't seem to avoid legal catastrophe.

This time, according to Radar Online,Chef Ramsay is facing a class action law suit filed by his current and former employees of his Fat Cow restaurant. Their claiming "failure to pay minimum wage for hours worked, failure to provide meal periods, failure to pay overtime wages and more..."

Most people like to collect shot glasses, shoes, etc. In Ramsay's case, suits seem to be his fortay. So, in honor of Ramsay's latest suit, I'd like to dedicate this song just to him.

Five Foodie Resolutions to Make This Year

Maybe you made a New Year’s Resolution, but did you make a Foodie Resolution?  Make your foodie goals come true this year—I have 5 ideas to be a better foodie in 2013.

photo via Evie Says

1.    Take a New Cooking Class

      Whether you’re a kitchen newbie or if you already have impressive cooking skills, sign up for a new cooking class this year. Try creating a new cuisine that you normally don’t cook at home—perhaps Thai, Indian, or Scandinavian cooking. Taste of Home has a great database to find classes near you.

2.    Attend a Supper Club or Alternative Dining Experience

If you haven’t explored the word of alternative dining, now is a good time to start. Once an underground trend, supper clubs are popping up across the country. If you’re in NYC, check out Underground Eats for some one-of-a-kind foodie experiences.

3.    Start Your Own Supper Club

Are you a good cook? Have space in your home for some outside diners? Start your own supper club! Create your menu, invite some friends, and leave the invite open to meet some new people over your home-cooked meal. Cooking Light has some great tips to get it going.

4.    Try a New Food

Strive to find a food you’ve never tasted before—maybe it’s frogs legs, stinging nettles, quail meat, or something else you avoided in the grocery store or menu. For an extra challenge, cook it yourself!

5.    Read More Cook-lit

Of course, eating food is a good way to learn about food, but reading can be too! Invest in some cookbooks, chef bios, and food history, and cooking literature to get some other perspectives on the culinary world. I highly recommend The New Brooklyn Cookbook and Marcus Samuelsson’s biography, Yes Chef.

Have a delicious new year. 

Stanley Tucci's Cookbook is Worth Buying

Stanley Tucci's new cookbook titled “The Tucci Cookbook”, features nearly 200 recipes (with wine pairings) that have been passed down his family through generations.  But his fabulous recipes like “Concetta’s Stuffed Artichokes” and “Simple Ricotta Cake” aren’t the only reasons you should buy this titillating book.

Tucci will also be donating a portion of the proceeds from his cookbook to Food Bank for New York City. Try out one of his featured recipes now!

Stanley Tucci’s Steak Oreganato

Ingredients

• 1 top round beef steak (2 ½ to 3 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup dry red wine
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• Cooking Directions

The steak should be ½ inch thick. If necessary, pound it between two sheets of waxed paper to achieve this thickness. Warm the butter and olive oil in a large sauté pan set over medium-high heat. When the butter is foaming rapidly, add the steak and fry to brown on one side, about 3 minutes. (If the steak is larger than your sauté pan, cut it in half.) Turn, and season with salt and pepper. Brown the other side, about 3 minutes. Remove from the pan to a warm platter and set aside.

Add the wine and oregano to the pan, scraping up any meat that may have stuck to the bottom. Simmer to sweeten the wine, about 1 minute. Meanwhile, cut the meat into six equal portions. When the wine sauce is ready, pour it over the meat and serve immediately.

SERVES 6

Hell’s Kitchen Winners: Where Are They Now?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED (JULY 21, 2014). >> http://foodiegossip.blogspot.com/2014/07/hells-kitchen-winners-where-are-they-now.html


With the end of the 9th season of Hell’s Kitchen, it seems appropriate to follow the previous winners of Hell’s Kitchen and catch up with their successes… or lack thereof. How many chefs actually received the prizes they were promised? How many of them went on to become successful chefs in the culinary world? Do any of the winners still have a chip on their shoulder from their experiences at Fox TV's Hell's Kitchen?

With no further ado, the winners of the first 8 seasons of Hell’s Kitchen!

The winner of Hell’s KitchenSeason 1 was Michael Wray. Chef Gordon Ramsay offered Wray the choice  of opening a restaurant, or going to London and to learn under Chef Ramsay. Michael chose to learn under Chef Ramsay. Michael later changed his mind before going on the trip because he thought the experience would be too stressful for his family. Now he works as the Executive Head Chef at The Standard in Los Angeles, California. He also owns his own custom chef's knives company called, appropriately, Skull and Cleavers.

Heather West was the winner of Hell's Kitchen Season 2. For the prize, she was to become Executive Chef at an Italian restaurant called Terra Rossa at Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino in Las Vegas. However, Heather only became Senior Chef. She now works as head chef in a restaurant called Monterey Restaurant in Long Beach, New York. 

Rahman "Rock" Harper won Hell's Kitchen Season 3. His prize was to become the Head Chef at Terra Verde at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson. He fulfilled his contract as Head Chef for one year. Rahman later worked in restaurants throughout Washington, DC. Rahman joined the staff of a DC restaurant called Next Door in 2008. He supported and helped in the March of Dimes Signature Chef’s Auction in Louisville, Kentucky on November 11th, 2010.

Christina Machamer won Hell's Kitchen Season 4, and the prize to become Executive Chef at the Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood Hotel. Instead, she was given the position of Senior Chef under Executive Chef Andy Cook. She then took some time off to study wine and viticulture at The Culinary Institute at Greystone in Napa Valley. Currently, she is a member of the opening team at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bistro in Beverly Hills.

Danny Veltri won Season 5 of Hell's Kitchen. He became Sous Chef under Stephen Kalt at Fornelletto at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Originally, he was supposed to be the Head Chef at another restaurant built at the Casino. When he didn’t become Head Chef, Danny quit and began consulting. He then created a catering company called Back From Hell Catering, poking at his experience in "Hell's Kitchen.” He then joined with a group of investors that wanted to create a surf bar with food. He is now Chef of the Gnarly Surf Bar & Grill near the Intracoastal Waterway in Central Florida. 

Dave Levey won Hell's Kitchen Season 6, and the prize of Head Chef at Araxi Restaurant and Bar in Whistler, British Columbia. However, as we mentioned earlier, he was treated like a line-cook. He worked at Araxi Restaurant until the end of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Currently, he is in Nashville helping his sister with her music career.

Holli Ugalde won Hell's Kitchen Season 7, which was supposed to follow with the position as Executive Chef at The Savoy in London. However, she could not get a visa to work in the UK. Ugalde called that explanation an excuse, saying, "I don't know if they even applied for my visa." Ugalde accepted an undisclosed amount of cash instead. She now has a job as the Signature Chef of a new restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida called B Ocean.

Nona Sivley won Hell's Kitchen Season 8, along with the prize position as Head Chef at LA Market at JW Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles as well as the opportunity to be a spokesperson for Rosemount Estate Wines. She is now working as Chef de Cuisine at LA Market with Celebrity chef Kerry Simon.

It seems there is a serious trend that either HK winners do not get their prize, get the title of the prize, but not the responsibility, or they leave their position as soon as their contract is fulfilled. It almost seems pointless to go through all the pain and suffering that we witness season after season. However, every winner seems to say the same thing about the show… it is the BEST experience of their lives!

SNL Justin Timberlake Lady Gaga Liquorville sketch

The Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga Liquorville sketch on Saturday Night Live is one of the best I've seen in years. I was almost convinced that SNL had lost their funny until I caught this episode on Saturday night.

Liquorville had me rolling in laughter. But what should one expect with two great talents as Timberlake and Gaga.

Cheers and enjoy!

Ice Cream Truck Drug Bust in Staten Island, NY

The Lickety Split ice cream truck jingles no more.

The Lickety Split Ice Cream Truck in Staten Island, NY has been a cover for a drug ring that cleared $1MM a year selling oxycodone to their customers at $20 a pill, according to the Daily News.

Grownups would sit in their cars and wait while local children bought their ice cream pops and then would line up afterwards to fulfill their own pill popping habits.

It’s a sick, sick world we live in when the jingle of an ice cream truck denotes possible drug dealing. Parents, better to play it safe and just hit up your local Baskin Robins or Häagen-Dazs.

For more on this story, visit the Daily News.

Is Bravo TV's Top Chef the Next "Hell’s Kitchen"?

Last night’s episode of Top Chef All Stars just isn’t sitting right. In fact, the last 3 seasons have seemed to be losing the Top Chef magic. As a die-hard foodie, I am mesmerized by the culinary world and the abilities of great chefs. And the reason I fell in love with Top Chef was because it showcased the culinary arts in a way that no other reality show has ever done.

But the episode I watched last night made me think I was watching Hell’s Kitchen instead (a show that I dropped from my roster after the second season for its tacky drama and lack of focus on the culinary arts).

The Quick Fire Challenge:I was elated to see Tom Colicchio take the floor and show off his supreme cooking skills. He was absolutely remarkable. But there are a few questions that keep running through my mind:
- How much notice did Colicchio have about this specific task before he stepped up? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? If you look at this from the legal perspective, chances are that Bravo had to put a special agreement in place with Colicchio weeks or months before this episode was filmed. After all, he joined Top Chef to judge the competition – not to compete in it.
- But let’s say Tom had just an hour’s notice before heading into the kitchen and whipping up his dish. Did he already know what ingredients to use? How did he know those ingredients would be there?
- How can the chef’s dishes be compared fairly to Colicchio’s, when they had to fight with each other over ingredients and only had a couple of minutes planning time?

Regardless, much of the media has really slammed all of the chefs for their performance, but some have been asking the same questions I have:
- Is it fair to expect any chef to cook an amazing dish in less than ten minutes with only a couple of minutes to prepare?
- How does a challenge like this prove that someone is a top chef?

The Elimination Challenge:I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: There was nothing fair about expecting a bunch of Americanized chefs to take over a Dim Sum restaurant in Chinatown during the lunch rush and cook Chinese Dim Sum. Thai, Vietnamese, even Japanese food would have been more reasonable. At least the preparations of those cuisines have a little in common with American, Italian, etc. Chinese Dim Sum is one of the few cuisines that I honestly think stands alone - it requires a completely different skill set and very different kitchen tools.

Forget the Jamie Lauren drama (even though we’re all tired of seeing her just slip under the radar), but just looking at the quick fire and elimination challenges as a alone, I’m struggling to see how any chef could shine under those conditions unless they had previous experience in a Dim Sum kitchen (which is why Dale T. won – the only chef with Dim Sum kitchen experience).

And if the Top Chef producers are hiking up the drama, I hope they also make time to research their actions. There’s a reason FOX’s Hell’s Kitchen ratings have dropped so significantly over the past few seasons. Copying a dying show just seems a waste when you have such talented judges and chefs to play with.

But if they do continue moving the focus from cooking to drama, I guess we can always replace Top Chef with “The Next Iron Chef”…

More on Top Chef:

• New! Top Chef All Stars Episode 12 Preview: Give Me Your Huddled Masses
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 11: Southern Love, a Bromance Renewed and Dale Talde Packs His Knives
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 11 Recap: For the Gulf
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 11 Sneak Peek: Paired Up
• Top Chef All Stars' Angelo Sosa & Mike Isabella
• Top Chef All-Stars Episode 10 Recap: Lock Down
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 10 Sneak Peek: Lock Down
• Top Chef’s Fabio Viviani Cooks with Love for Valentine's Day
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 9 Recap: Falling for Fallon
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 9 Sneak Peek: Falling for Fallon
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 8 Recap: An Offer They Can't Refuse Refuse
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 8 Sneak Peak: An Offer They Can't Refuse
• Bravo TV's Top Chef NOW CASTING: Top Chef 9, Top Chef: Just Desserts 2, Love Calling
• Top Chef All Stars' Marcel Raps Like He Wants To Be Eminem
• Top Chef All Stars: Dale vs. Marcel. Marcel Please Pack Your Knives and Go

Top Chef All Stars: Jamie Lauren survives at the expense of Casey Thompson

I’m convinced: Either the Top Chef All Stars judges are all high on crack or Jamie Lauren is sleeping with one of the producers. How has that girl managed to escape elimination again? We all know she hasn’t made it this far based on talent. And to land at the bottom in both the Quickfire and elimination challenges, but still survive is beyond irritating. Even Jamie was convinced she’d be packing her knives this week.

Instead, they tell fan-favorite and Top Chef Season 3’s runner up, Casey Thompson, to pack her knives and go. The "Jennifer Aniston" of the food world was nixed over poor chicken feet that she didn't even have the chance to complete. Do they have any idea how difficult it is to cook decent chicken feet?

Between the sobbing drama king from Top Chef: Just Desserts and Jamie Lauren’s non-performance, I’m starting to believe that the Top Chef producers believe cheap drama will improve ratings over showcasing the skills of the most talented chefs in America . Every season seems to have a decreasing focus on food and the culinary arts. And all I can say is this:

If I want to watch trashy-cheap reality food TV, I’ll change the channel from Bravo to Fox and watch Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen.

More on Top Chef:

• New! Top Chef All Stars Episode 12 Preview: Give Me Your Huddled Masses
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 11: Southern Love, a Bromance Renewed and Dale Talde Packs His Knives
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 11 Recap: For the Gulf
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 11 Sneak Peek: Paired Up
• Top Chef All Stars' Angelo Sosa & Mike Isabella
• Top Chef All-Stars Episode 10 Recap: Lock Down
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 10 Sneak Peek: Lock Down
• Top Chef’s Fabio Viviani Cooks with Love for Valentine's Day
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 9 Recap: Falling for Fallon
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 9 Sneak Peek: Falling for Fallon
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 8 Recap: An Offer They Can't Refuse Refuse
• Top Chef All Stars Episode 8 Sneak Peak: An Offer They Can't Refuse
• Bravo TV's Top Chef NOW CASTING: Top Chef 9, Top Chef: Just Desserts 2, Love Calling
• Top Chef All Stars' Marcel Raps Like He Wants To Be Eminem
• Top Chef All Stars: Dale vs. Marcel. Marcel Please Pack Your Knives and Go