http://www.examiner.com/x-3122-Chicago-International-Travel-Examiner~y2009m7d9-Gordon-Ramsay-brings-Hells-Kitchen-to-Vancouver-to-heat-up-Winter-OlympicsSurviving Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen is not an Olympic sport, but the next winner of the popular reality TV show will be serving up gold-medal caliber meals to visitors at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The upcoming season is being produced in the host city for the next Olympics, Vancouver, British Columbia. The two-hour season premiere of Hell’s Kitchen will air on Tuesday, July 21 with 16 aspiring chefs competing for the grand prize – a head chef position at Araxi Restaurant in Whistler, B.C., where many of the Olympic skiing events will be held.
The Hell’s Kitchen winner will have the opportunity to work at Araxi with Executive Chef James Walt, recognized as “one of the top seven chefs in the country shaping the nation,” by the Toronto Globe and Mail. Walt’s culinary creations are influenced by the time he spent serving as the executive chef for the Canadian Embassy in Rome.
“The European market culture has inspired me to cook even more locally and seasonally,” he explains on the restaurant’s website. “There, if it’s not local and in season, it’s simply not served. Everything is sold at its prime, so you’re able to shop daily and be creative and spontaneous.”
Walt now makes regular visits to the farms of the Pemberton Valley to select fresh ingredients for his dishes.
This will be the sixth season for Hell’s Kitchen on Fox. The Scottish-born Ramsay’s fiery personality has helped make the show a hit. He honed his skills in London and France before becoming chef of the newly-opened Aubergine in 1993, where he garnered numerous honors, including two Michelin stars in the first three years the restaurant was open. He published his first cookbook in 1996, “Passion for Flavour.” Many more have followed and Ramsay now has sold more than 4 million cookbooks worldwide.
