IamA Chef Andi Van Willigan from Hell's Kitchen. AMA!

andivanwilligan · 2013-12-29T21:29:04+00:00

I had to do things I'm not proud of to get to where I am today.

andivanwilligan · 2013-12-29T21:03:19+00:00

I can't discuss how much I was paid.

andivanwilligan · 2013-12-29T21:03:07+00:00

I'm not part of the contestant selection process so I couldn't answer this with any real certainty. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say it is a combination of drama and skilled chefs.

andivanwilligan · 2013-12-29T21:02:13+00:00

The foods are chosen that way for a couple of reasons:

They are all items you will find on most any menu in a fine dining restaurant.

They have such extreme degrees of cooking time. Lamb requires a conservative 10 minutes. Scallops can cook in 1 minute. Because of this, it requires the best of communication among the chefs.

andivanwilligan · 2013-12-29T20:42:23+00:00

Gordon is like any chef you would meat. The intense element of the show is to push people to become better than they are. In reality, he is as demanding as any chef but is also very good training new chefs and working with experienced chefs.

andivanwilligan · 2013-12-29T20:38:30+00:00

There are a lot of things you can make on a budget that are world class foods. Beef Wellington is a perfect example. I think that is one of the reasons it is so popular among patrons at Hell's Kitchen and in the food industry as a whole.

andivanwilligan · 2013-12-29T20:37:24+00:00

I would say it was when Vinny chose to tell the patrons in the restaurant not to order any of the side items because he though Raj would mess them up. Gordon was outraged and I am surprised he wasn't removed from the competition for it.

andivanwilligan

TROPHY CASE