We owe chef Christina Wilson an apology.
In recent years, we’ve talked to many a talented chef competing on cooking shows like “Top Chef” and “Top Chef Masters” — all of them talking a good game, then washing out early. So when we talked to the out Philadelphia chef the week before she appeared on the premiere of “Hell’s Kitchen,” we wished for the best but prepared ourselves for a similar outcome.
Lo and behold, she won.
Anyone who has watched “Hell’s Kitchen” knows it is aptly named, being nowhere near as warm and fuzzy as other cooking competitions. Chef Gordon Ramsay, the show’s host, can be quite the taskmaster. Each episode features a challenge where the losing team has to endure some form of punishment that is usually labor-intensive. The team later competes in a dinner service, which usually finds contestants bickering among themselves and on the receiving end of Ramsay’s fiery wrath if they don’t meet his stringent standards.
Wilson, a 33-year-old Phillipsburg, N.J., native who has worked in Philly restaurants Gypsy Saloon, Lolita and Mercato, kicked a respectable amount of culinary butt throughout the entire season and out-cooked all of her competitors to win a position as head chef at Gordon Ramsay Steak at the Paris Las Vegas — and major bragging rights on her home turf.
When we first talked to Wilson, none of the episodes had aired, so she couldn’t discuss anything that had happened on the show, lest some juicy details or spoilers get out before it aired. Back then, all we could talk about was her background and ask some vague questions about the show. But in the days before the season finale, we were able to reconnect with Wilson and talk about anything except if she won. We had to wait until Monday to find out. like everybody else.
But Wilson did talk up what she went through on the road to winning the competition.
PGN: Considering that your team, the red team, won the majority of the dinner services, was it frustrating to lose the challenges to the blue team and have to do the punishments? CW: It was a little frustrating. The red team won the first three. We kind of just pushed past them. It was bittersweet for me. We weren’t able to work out or exercise while we were there. We didn’t have the time or the equipment for it. I lucked out in that most of our punishments were heavy-lifting days, so I was able to get my aggression out in a more positive way. As far as dinner service goes, we were kind of kicking the blue team’s butt for a while there. There’s a divider in the kitchen, so during service, we couldn’t see what the blue team was doing. So I saw it for the first time just like you at home. To see how disorganized they were, I don’t know. There was just no fluidness to their team. That was interesting to watch for the first time as a viewer. They couldn’t get it together. It’s no surprise that we won so many services. My team did not take punishment well. I might have been the only one that just shut up and carried stuff. But then we also got to do cool things like break down half a steer and braise a whole pig. There was a lot of learning happening. There’s a silver lining in all of it.
PGN: Of all the punishments you had to do, which one was the worst? CW: The trash sorting [removing recyclables from the restaurant’s trash], 100 percent. I don’t mind delivery day. The trash was bad. Justin [Antiorio] has a condition in his esophagus and his gag reflex is really bad. He was on the verge of throwing up the whole time. I was in the middle. Barbie was right at home because it smells like compost on the farm. That smell, it was in our nostrils, so we couldn’t shake it for the rest of the day. And I didn’t learn anything. I already know how to recycle. Garbage-sorting day was the absolute worst. Plus it was L.A. in June. So it’s 98 degrees and a dry heat. The smell just hung in the air.
PGN: Have your peers in the Philadelphia culinary scene been supportive of you competing on “Hell’s Kitchen”? CW: Some of them are and some of them are not. It’s a hard question to answer. There is definitely a little bit of resentment or jealousy. There’s this edge with my most current ex-employers. But the people that I’ve worked side by side with, executive chefs, the line cooks, salad guys, they’re 100-percent behind me. I definitely get a lot of support from them. There are some people that it leaves a bad taste in their mouth that I went for this opportunity, got it and I’m doing well in it.
PGN: Throughout the competition, you were never up for elimination, correct? CW: Never. I was never nominated for elimination. Service is my thing. The challenges were really tricky for me, but dinner service I always feel good in. In Philly I ran two really busy kitchens for a few years. That’s where I find my comfort, running the pass. It was fun.
PGN: Do you think “Hell’s Kitchen” gives an accurate depiction of what it’s like for chefs in a successful restaurant? CW: I think it does to some degree. The show itself is much different just because of the pressure of the cameras and the standards of chef Ramsay. You’re constantly moving. In a busy restaurant you don’t stop. You start at 5:15 and you don’t stop until 11:30. The show doesn’t pay too much attention to the time and how many people are getting fed. But you see it in how hard we are hustling. “Hell’s Kitchen” is so unique. You wouldn’t find that environment in a normal restaurant. I think anybody with any culinary experience can see that we’re hustling and dealing with a good volume of people.
PGN: Are you a better chef for having been on “Hell’s Kitchen”? CW: Absolutely. I have become a better chef. Chef Ramsay — and a lot of this wasn’t on camera — taught us so much about technique and flavor affinities. His team, chef Andy and chef Scott, if you wanted to learn, they were right there and they were so generous with their knowledge. And there were some people there who weren’t there to learn or take full advantage of the knowledge. I also got to cook amongst people with so many different backgrounds and styles. I think there were a few of us that took it as a learning opportunity as opposed to a job opportunity.
PGN: You and fellow contestant Dana Cohen seem to be buddies throughout the show. Were you disappointed that she didn’t make it to the finale with you? CW: First and foremost, I’m happy that I made it to the finale. It would have been fun to compete against Dana but, quite honestly, I think Dana and I are better teammates. Justin and I had a healthy and positive competitiveness between us through the show. I feel better having Dana on my team than going against her. We have very different cooking styles. I think we’re better together than against each other.
PGN: When you see contestants screwing something up during dinner service on the show, do you think it’s from the stress of being in front of the cameras or is it a lack of skill? CW: It’s definitely the stress and environment. None of us had experience with that kind of kitchen where someone else is doing all of your plating and someone is checking every single thing. You also have take into account editing to some degree as far as cooking ability. Attitude or personality is a different thing. If it came out of your mouth, you said it. Nothing is scripted. Nothing is set up.