CheekyChicago

Ben Walanka, Chef at the Club at Symphony Center and Sous Chef at Rhapsody Restaurant in Chicago, is a force to be reckoned with. Just ask notorious mean man, Gordon Ramsey. Cheeky sat down with Ben and dished (ha, pun intended) about his favorite Chi-town restaurant, his fellow Hell’s Kitchen contestants, drama drama drama and if Gordon Ramsey really is as mean as he seems.

Cheeky: After watching the show for multiple seasons, what made you want to audition? Are you crazy?

Ben Walanka: I am so busy with everything I do here, but my friend, Barry, emailed me and said I would be perfect. I knew of Gordon Ramsey and that he is a top caliber chef, but I only saw one or two episodes. I knew it was a show that was based primarily on drama and less on cooking ability.

Cheeky: Do you read the blogs about yourself?

BW: Oh yeah, I’m addicted. It doesn’t really matter how you do on the show, as long as you were on for a long time and America sees you as someone they like. After that, the opportunities are endless for you.

Cheeky: Tell us about taping the show.

BW: Taping takes a long time and it’s seven days a week. We slept in a dorm directly above the studio, so we never leave. It’s a 100% controlled environment. No newspapers, no cell phones, no books and only pre-approved photos of your family.

Cheeky: What is the point of that?

BW: So we stay completely focused on the fact that there’s drama on the show. Everything is pretty awkward. All in all, it was a good experience. I didn’t learn much about cooking because I went out there with some of the most experience, but learning how to eat that piece of humble pie was important. You can’t be a chef until you learn how to eat that humble pie.

Cheeky: Is Gordon Ramsey really as mean as he acts on the show?

BW: Instead of coming at you with what you’re doing is wrong, he comes at you with ‘what are you, an idiot? How could you not have known?’ It’s so overdramatic and everything’s blown out of proportion, but done so for that priceless reaction of the contestants.

There really isn’t a whole lot of off-camera time with Gordon. Except when you win challenges, you have the opportunity to spend some quality time with him. When you win a challenge and you’re not in the kitchen, he’s a great guy. He’s always very intense, even out of the kitchen, but in the kitchen, he can be the devil. Outside the kitchen, he’s still the same intensity as the devil, but is quick-witted and king of the one-liner. He likes his drink and loves a good time. Women melt over him, and the things he says, and gets away with blow my mind, but I guess I understand it because he’s the man!

Cheeky: What is your opinion on all of these cooking reality shows?

BW: Hell’s Kitchen originated in England in 2001/2002 with Marco Pierre White. Gordon openly admits to being a cook for Marco and Marco would just make him cry in the kitchen. Marco Pierre White is more straight-forward, but Gordon brings the animation, this flamboyance.

I don’t like cooking shows in general because part of my ego tells me that things I see on TV, I don’t necessarily agree with. I turned on Rachael Ray doing something the other day – there’s a huge market for that – but for me, it’s like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ She has a pretty smile and says E.V.O.O. and suddenly she’s the greatest thing since sliced bread! There is opportunity for anyone with a nice and some crazy luck and Rachael Ray has proven it to the world.

I like competition and I like the kitchen. I don’t watch Top Chef because the first few episodes I watched, I didn’t find entertaining. Hell’s Kitchen offers that dynamic entertainment. Top Chef is about who the best chef is, whereas Hell’s Kitchen brings a much more dramatic aspect to the game. Who’s going to do well in Hell’s Kitchen has as much to do with building character as it does with cooking ability.

Cheeky: Tell us more about your fellow contestants and how Gordon might view them.

BW: Gordon Ramsey is constantly searching for that green apple that fell from the tree and is looking to become ripe. That’s what he wants. He’s not really interested in the seasoned veteran for the most part. There are always exceptions, but he has made it clear in many interviews that he prefers to mold raw talent.

If he’s going to have someone working for him, he’s going to need someone he can continually build, which is easy to do with someone young lacking experience, but who is hungry to learn. The will to never give up is the key to the show. If you have a solid cooking foundation and a will to not give up, you find yourself to be more successful than others on the show. He wants a soldier…he doesn’t want anyone who succumbs to his ‘you stupid donkey’ pressure.

He’s specific with each individual. If he knows I’m a soldier, he’ll take me to the extreme, further than other people…because he gauges people’s reactions. If he looks at someone and says something mean and he sees that they’ve reacted to it, he’ll go right in their face. With me, I’m always, ‘Yes, Chef’ or ‘No, Chef’, so he didn’t do that with me.

Cheeky: What was the most challenging aspect of HK?

BW: The most challenging thing up until this point in Hell’s Kitchen is understanding how important it is to let go of ego. Letting go of ego is key. I was so mad two weeks ago [at fellow contestant, Danny] and it was because of ego. Ego became the hump for me. I learned how important it is to be able to let it go and, perhaps, accept the fact that the flaws in your game make who you are a bit more penetrable. The holes in my game were different than, say, in Danny’s game.

Cheeky: How did it feel to have your every move videotaped?

BW: I’m not a person who gets nervous in situations – you could put me in front of a thousand people and I’d be fine. What’d ya got to lose? Take me for what I am. As far as the camera thing, my whole life I’ve considered myself to be the storyteller or the guy who likes to get people together and entertain the group by telling a funny joke. I always wanted the entertainment value – then I got into cooking and this was a perfect opportunity. Hell’s Kitchen opened the door to culinary entertainment. I’m not looking to be the next Mario Batali, but being in front of the camera and doing demonstrations and interacting with people, now that’s interesting to me.

Cheeky: You kind of kicked ass at the naming-parts-of-the-cow challenge.

BW: I start off by saying that, as a young chef, it was made clear to me that – to be a good chef one day, it’s not just about cooking good food, it’s about understanding the whole package of being a chef, working with people and product identification. When you hold the fish, hold it so it doesn’t bend. It’s this whole respect for food. Product identification is key – if you don’t know your product, how can you be cost efficient in putting together a menu?

Cheeky: It must have felt good to win challenges.

BW: We won a helicopter ride to Catalina, a private jet to Santa Barbara, a submarine ride. All things considered, the girls haven’t done things quite as dramatic as we have. They’ve sat at the pool after winning a challenge and sumo wrestled each other.

Cheeky: Tell us a little bit about your background and culinary experience.

BW: I started off at Indiana University as a Communications Major. I started looking for a server job for cash. My first job was as a dishwasher because that’s the position they had available. Dishwashing became peeling carrots; peeling carrots became peeling potatoes; peeling potatoes became making chicken salad. The summer after freshman year, I was at Treasure Island and I look across the produce section and it looked like my kindergarten teacher. I walk up to her and I asked if it was her. She said ‘Oh my God’ and she remembered me. She asked what I did for fun. I said that I worked part-time as a prep cook and dishwasher and that I love cooking more than anything. ‘What a coincidence,’ she said, ‘my husband is the dean of Kendall College.’ She invited me to the Bastille Day Festival at Kendall in 2000 and the rest was history. I gave Indiana my notice, brought my gen eds to Kendall and I did two and a half years there. I did an extended internship at Le Francais in Wheeling and also won a Chicago young chef competition. I did some private catering and in-home dining because I felt like it was a challenge to create my own menu, and then did some time at Marche and Everest.

Cheeky: So, what is your favorite Chicago restaurant?

BW: R.J. Grunts. Hands down. I’m there once a week. If someone says to me, ‘Where do you like to go that’s high end,’ I choose Alinea or Nomi. If someone says anything that’s not high-end, there’s a 100% chance I’ll be sitting at the bar at R.J. Grunts.

Cheeky: What do you think will come of your time at Hell’s Kitchen?

BW: This Hell’s Kitchen thing was crazy. My friends ask, ‘What’s going to come of this?’ I honestly planned for nothing to happen except a great piece of memorabilia when I buy the DVD. I just hope to god that some door opens for me.

Well, Ben, it already has. At this point in time, you’ve stood up to Gordon Ramsey, taken a dead-weight contestant under your wing, jetted off to Catalina and obtained fans all over the world. Chicago’s proud of you. Now get back in the kitchen!

Be sure to tune in to Fox Thursday nights at 9/8c to see Ben kicking some Hell’s Kitchen rump (roast)!