http://www.straight.com/article-237283/another-preolympic-reality-tv-tourism-booster-chef-gordon-ramsay-brings-hell%3F%3Fs-kitchen-brouhaha-whistler

Whistler restaurant Araxi will be “gifted” with a new head chef for the Olympic year: the winner of Hell’s Kitchen Season 6. Born-for-reality-TV chef superstar Gordon Ramsay brought his flying circus of an elimination show to Whistler this spring. The show kicks off with a two-hour premiere July 21 on Fox.

It’s the first time in the show’s history that the winner has joined an established restaurant (Araxi has been around since 1981)—and a long-established team. So, uh, how does executive chef James Walt, and the other award-winning professionals, feel about getting a new boss? And one who earned his or her stripes on reality TV?

“Araxi won’t change, and the staff we’ve made our name with won’t change,” Walt told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview from Whistler on June 24. “Initially when they first approached us, we thought, how is this going to work out? But Gordon Ramsay made it clear: this person will be working with us. He said, ‘I’ll pick you the best person’.

“They’ll learn from us. And, they’ll be coming from a different region [all contestants are from the U.S.], so hopefully we’ll learn from them. It’s a win-win.”

Walt earned his way into the Lower Mainland’s fine dining scene by slaving in kitchens—sometimes with raging bosses like Ramsay—since he was a teenager. Two years of chef’s school near London, Ont. as well as years of cooking in Vancouver and Vancouver Island kitchens finally landed him a job at Sooke Harbour House.

Even now, he said, at 42, his days are 12 to 14 hours long. Being a chef means constantly striving to be better, craft better, and ultimately, you’re only as good as your last dish, he said.

“You see this with him [Ramsey],” Walt said. “He doesn’t suffer fools. And that’s the hardest thing for someone like him, is when you see someone doing a job that you’re so passionate about, and they’re not, you think, why bother? Why not do something else? So there’s that lead up when someone is bumbling around. I can feel it in myself. It’s gotta be frustrating, and sometimes you can see it coming.”

While Araxi is already full just about every night, Walt said, the publicity from the show will help promote B.C. as a foodie destination.

The fifth season premiere of Hell’s Kitchen attracted just under 11 million viewers, according to Nielsen. That’s almost double the Vancouver-based episodes of The Bachelorette—another reality TV-based pre-Olympic tourism booster.