Food Network's "Chef Boot Camp" Aims to Get Cooks Out of Hot Water

quotWhen I am speaking to a chef or a sous chef or a dishwasher the moment you start cursing everything you try to say is null and voidquot chef Cliff Crooks the show39s mentor and host tells MediaVillage in an exclusive interview quotI have definitely cursed the situation I am not infallible and cursing people is something I do not do That is a very outdated unfortunate habit of kitchens and restaurants in generalquotCrooks the culinary director of BLT Restaurant Group is the lifeline for three cooks whose jobs are on the line Restaurant owners disappointed for various reasons have dispatched their chefs for a threeday boot camp As a culinary director Crooks understands the many facets of the restaurant business and knows food only improves when chefs are knowledgeable and cooperative The three spotlighted each week are given assignments on deadline with Crooks as the arbiter It39s done without crazymaking pressure separating this from many food contest programsquotEveryone loves the competition formatquot Crooks says quotBut this show is not a competition It39s about taking people who have been identified by those who are paying them as being worthy of a chance and sending them to boot camp Everything is very very transparent Look you are here because the alternative is someone could have let you go But instead they are giving you the opportunity to change yourself or your techniques or your attitude specifically Some are good cooks but have horrible attitudes I remind them it is not about how fast you can do something And you are competing against yourself whether personal or culinaryquotHe39s one of those chefs who can walk by someone at the stove and instantly know the broth being added to the risotto is the wrong temperature Crooks39 stints on other such shows include Top Chef Worst Cooks in America and Hell39s Kitchen Chef Boot Camp however is the first show where he is the leadGiven the travel restrictions of the pandemic all the cooks in the pilot are from the New York City metro area where Crooks is also basedShakilah Mayo works with her mom Carolyn Thompson at Carolyn39s Cuisine in East Meadow New York Thompson wants Mayo to follow her established recipes Mayo wants to make her mom happy but it39s clear to all and especially to Crooks that she has other aspirationsThe second cook Frank Bernardo deepfries a lot of fish at Westville Seafood in New Haven Connecticut where his boss David Austin is a lifelong friend Initially Bernardo is less than receptive to criticism During one exercise in the first episode the cooks hustle in a busy restaurant during dinner Crooks trashes entramp233e after entramp233e that Bernardo prepares Incidentally Crooks stays true to his calm ways and does not trash talk he simply checks the food explains why it can39t be served and tosses it in the trashAndrew Seeley head chef at Tara Inn in Port Jefferson New York is the most eager to please He works for sisters who inherited the tavern and they mention fighting the reputation of being a dive bar for 44 years Seeley is tasked with invigorating the menuTo gauge their competence Crooks has contestants make their restaurants39 signature dishes then offers suggestions He finds himself coughing from the amount of pepper Mayo uses but she argues that her food is seasoned right Crooks also tells her that her mac and cheese quotis missing the creaminess and lusciousness that is mac and cheesequotCrooks approaches each person with a clarity of purpose intent on helping them but they must be willing to do the work Not all are His goal he explains is quotto touch as many chefs and owners as possible and to make people betterquotHaving worked his way up through the ranks Crooks is keenly aware of the relentless labor that goes on behindthescenes in restaurants He did not attend culinary school but instead learned the trade the oldfashioned wayquotYears ago when God was a boy I came up in the very oldschool regime where you went and worked for freequot Crooks shares quotI worked for free for very many years and kept my head down and mouth shut and asked a lot of questionsquotHe recalled offering his services in kitchens on days off from other jobs In doing so Crooks soaked up the knowledge of the many aspects of running restaurants Even before the pandemic a shocking 80 percent of restaurants failed within the first five years This series should help more establishments succeedAlthough he oversees a global brand of steak houses with tempting dishes available to him Crooks acknowledges what he39ll likely eat for dinner on the evening he39s chatting with MediaVillagequotI stop in the kitchen and I try not to eat late at nightquot Crooks says quotMy wife is a teacher so she gets up fairly early and inevitably I find myself eating peanut butter and jelly on 7grain bread as I stand in the kitchen over the sink and open the mail That is not the populist thinking of what chefs do but it is the reality of what happensquotChef Boot Camp will be premiere Thursday April 8 at 10 pm on Food NetworkClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Food Network's "Chef Boot Camp" Aims to Get Cooks Out of Hot Water

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Jacqueline Cutler

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Food Network's "Chef Boot Camp" Aims to Get Cooks Out of Hot Water

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