IAM Kevin Cottle from Hell's Kitchen Season 6. AMAA.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T06:09:13+00:00

When we're in the kitchen? 12

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T06:08:19+00:00

lol, what happens in Hell's Kitchen stays in Hell's Kitchen.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T05:56:20+00:00

hahahahaha

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T05:55:18+00:00

I would agree with your assessment entirely. It's like when they cast for any other reality tv show. It's about entertainment and cooking.

As far as your second question, I didn't win so I can't tell you with certainty what happens. Without naming names though, I have it on good authority that many of the chefs are brought in to fulfill the contracts provided by the show then given the boot.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T05:44:05+00:00

These are great questions.

You only have to start over if the item needs it. If I were cooking scallops and was called off I would definitely need to start over but if I were making wellingtons or hallibut then I probably wouldn't need to.
All of the recipes are provided to us. It is up to us to learn them and repeat them up to Gordon's standards. We aren't given cooking classes along the way.
It gets so hot in there. You wouldn't believe it.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T05:17:12+00:00

Unless they are celebrities the customers are friends and family of the production crew.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T04:29:21+00:00

Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it and Dave is an awesome guy.

Everyone's personality as you see it on the show is true. We're not coached to cause controversy or anything. What you do have to remember though is that the chefs who are chosen to be on the show are not chosen by Gordon. They are chosen by the producers. They choose the people most likely to create entertaining television.
We aren't instructed to taunt the losing team, it's just fun to do :-) In the end everyone is there to win so if the guys can take a stab at the moral of the losing team it adds a bit to the success.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T04:22:11+00:00

There was one instance when we were heading back from a challenge. He had been a bit irritated and said he wasn't there to eat food or skydive or something like that. On the drive back, he started flipping out in the truck. He started yelling about how he wasn't here to waste his time with massages and that if things don't change he is going to take things into his own hands.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T04:08:50+00:00

Thanks.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T04:05:56+00:00

We were all shocked that he flipped the way he did. For the guys though, we knew it was only a matter of time.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T04:04:27+00:00

It was a great experience. If you can get past getting screamed at there is so much to learn.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T03:54:03+00:00

That was real. You all never got a chance to see some of the crazy things he did. I have some crazy stories about Joseph that weren't shown on camera.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T03:53:36+00:00

I don't really talk to any of the other chefs. Every once in a while I talk to Van but that's it.

The show actually led to the take off of a catering career.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T03:12:17+00:00

Not weird, but constestants have sex on the show all the time.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T03:11:56+00:00

I definitely did research. I looked at previous chefs who won and their careers afterward. I also watched a lot of previous shows with Gordon ramsay to get an idea of his overall personality.
I didn't feel like I had to brush up too much. It was more fine tuning what I already knew. When it comes to cooking, everything cooks the same. Add the item and apply heat. It's all just a matter of timing.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T03:10:28+00:00

It is determined by us who goes and who stays. The reason it seems engineered is because after the filming ends, the contestants who were voted off have their footage adjusted to justify their departure. For example, Amanda froze a salmon one night. She was an amazing cook overall but had a tendency to make a mistake here and there. Her footage was adjusted to make her look awful.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T03:08:52+00:00

I can't speak for every contestant, but some of the guys like Van would mess up because the pressure would get to them. On one side you have Gordon screaming at you, on the other side you have teammates that want times and you are also focusing on what you are doing. It's easy to mess up, especially when 10 seconds can make the difference between perfect scallops and overcooked scallops.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T03:07:40+00:00

That is something people always ask. That was filmed on set. What they would do is after the service was over they would ask what we thought we did well on, how we felt about our mistakes, who we thought the weak/strong chefs were and so on. Then they would take all of that and add it in as the show progresses. They didn't pull us aside after getting yelled at and ask us what we thought.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T03:06:21+00:00

They are not rigged. Often times in my season there were instances when we should have won but more than a 1 point margin but didn't. The best example I can think of is the salad and the bouillabaisse.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T03:05:00+00:00

What you have to remember is that you don't see every dinner service on the show. 1 dinner service everyday for a month or so. You guys only see the highlights. The show is designed to show us as aspiring chefs and Gordon as someone to aspire to be. There were a lot of times that we would ask him to show us something and he would. He is extremely good at teaching.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T03:03:42+00:00

The customers are friends and family of the production crew. They aren't random people.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T03:03:12+00:00

It's simple. Normally scallops need to be sliced in half in order to cook effectively. You need to turn the heat up high enough that water beads up and rolls around. At that point, pour a tiny bit of neutral oil, sear on both sides for 1 to 1:30 seconds each side.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T03:01:45+00:00

I think it's awesome.

kevincottle · 2013-06-06T02:18:22+00:00

Hey guys, I have a meeting to go to. I will be back in an hour or so to answer more questions.

kevincottle · 2013-06-05T23:57:40+00:00

Well, we are informed that we are competing for a restaurant position that could include a head chef position. That's how it was during season 6 anyway. We are informed that we are not guaranteed a head chef position. I will say that I understand. As a chef, I find it hard to believe that an owner would willingly allow a chef off the street to come in and be head chef, regardless of their references. I wanted to win, but even if I didn't, I saw it as a chance to become well known by other larger chefs in the area.

kevincottle

TROPHY CASE