Replete with pitchforks, shooting digital flames and cocktails fuming with dry ice, there is nothing subtle about Hell’s Kitchen.
There’s even a video of a life-sized, suitably annoyed Chef Gordon Ramsay at the entrance, barely welcoming guests. And of course, a flurry of merchandise. But then, this is Las Vegas: Theme park restaurants are part of the package. Helmed by the famously irate celebrity chef, this restaurant — attached to the ostentatious Caesars Palace — Hell’s Kitchen, is based on the popular American TV reality programme by the same name.
Starring Ramsay and his colourful vocabulary, Hell’s Kitchen pits two teams of aspiring chefs against each other.With a kitchen divided into red and blue, just like the show, the restaurant, launched this year, is a magnet for Instagrammers, selfie-hunters and those who live for Facebook Check-Ins.
I bump into Michelle Tribble minutes after entering. A contestant on Seasons 14 and 17 of Hell’s Kitchen, she won the position of head chef at this restaurant (along with a salary of $250,000). She’s with cheery Christina Wilson, who won Season 10 and is now executive chef for the US Division of the Gordon Ramsay Group, which has a total of 35 restaurants globally, out of which five are right here in Vegas.
“I’ve been with the group for about six years now,” says Wilson, discussing how they put the restaurant together. “We began working on this project when filming Michelle’s season, so we were immersed in Hell’s Kitchen: 16 hours on set, 6 days a week.”
She describes the food as “American continental... Heavily inspired by the show.” She adds, “We are a chef-driven restaurant.” As for the kitchen? “Well, there’s a little less shouting,” she smiles, looking at Tribble. “Michelle already has her job, so she’s not fighting. She’s in a better mood...” In contrast to her tough on-screen persona, Tribble seems shy in real life, letting Wilson do most of the talking. “She was this little 22-year-old when we first met her on the set,” chuckles Wilson, adding with a wink, “A young gun. A little too big for her britches.”
At the restaurant, Tribble calls the shots. “It’s the busiest kitchen I have ever worked in,” she says, so softly I have to lean in to hear her over the music and hum of diners. “I am grateful to be here.” The location means she’s cooking for visitors from all over the world, many of whom are celebrities. “So many people come in really excited,” she says, adding, “This is the only restaurant in America based on a TV show.”
A chatty waiter in suspenders leads us to our table across the 8,000 sq ft restaurant, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lively Vegas Strip. The cooks are in red and blue jackets, accessorised with bandanas, just like in the show. A glance at the menu reveals that Ramsay has played to his strengths. Instead of falling into the celebrity chef trap, the food is simple without unnecessary bells and whistles. Or in culinary terms: spheres, foams and dehydrated powders.
A taste of the best
I begin with a golden beet salad, creamy with Greek yoghurt and topped with crunchy pistachio granola. For the main course, I’m torn between the legendary beef Wellington and Ramsay’s classic crispy skin salmon, which the waiter tells me is on the menu of his three Michelin-star restaurants. I settle on salmon, flaky with a deliciously crisp seared crust. It is served on a bed of robust Beluga lentils and a tangle of shaved fennel. Dessert is the universally popular sticky toffee pudding: warm, spongy and familiar, it’s served with creamy speculoos ice cream.
As for the question weighing on all your minds: does Ramsay yell in the kitchen? Both Tribble and Wilson burst into laughter. “Yes, he does sometimes. But for the most part no,” says Wilson, “He’s actually soft-hearted. Also really funny. Really sharp, witty and super engaged.”
Assuming this is just good PR, I ask my chauffeur from Bell Limousine later what she thinks of Ramsay, as she drives him around Vegas occasionally. She unreservedly answers, “He’s the nicest man. He likes to sit in the front seat and play with the radio.” She adds, “I was worried the first time I heard I was driving him: I’ve seen the show. I turned 60 this year and even my children don’t talk to me like that. I thought I may get into an argument with him... But he was so nice.”
The writer was in Las Vegas on the invitation of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority