Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

6 Pennsylvania chefs competing this season on 'Hell's Kitchen'

On the premiere of Season 16 - 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23 - Ramsay sends the contenders to an Army boot camp.

Six men and women with ties to the Philadelphia area - that includes one guy from Lebanon and a woman from Easton - are among the 18 chef contenders this season on Hell's Kitchen, the culinary competition led by the ever-gentle Gordon Ramsay on Fox.

On the premiere of Season 16 - 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23 - Ramsay sends the contenders to an Army boot camp.

The season's winner gets a head chef's job at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar at the Venetian Las Vegas.

Here's the rundown:

Andrew Pearce, 29, is executive chef at Hugo's Frog Bar & Chop House at the SugarHouse Casino and a former executive chef at the Palm in Philadelphia. Though he lives in New Castle, Del., the graduate of Le Cordon Bleu considers himself a Philadelphian. "The show was a lot of fun to do, but the challenges were extremely hard," he said. "Actually, while the show itself was mentally and physically tough, it was a great learning experience."  Down the road, Pearce said he wants to become a culinary-arts teacher.

Self-taught chef Johnny McDevitt, 31, now running his own food truck as well as the kitchen at Harrigan's Pub on Street Road in Warminster (though it has a Hatboro mailing address), has ties to Montgomeryville and South Philadelphia. His career choice was music, "but musicians don't make any money," he said. "I needed to do something that pays the bills, so I started cooking." He's worked at PYT, Kings Oak, Devil's Alley, and Sketch Burger. "Hell's Kitchen was the craziest, most exciting experience," he said. "I learned more about myself as a chef in those six weeks - what I'm good at, what I'm not good at. It totally opened up a lot of ideas for me. It'll be a huge jumping-off point for me." With a 2-year-old son, he said, he is getting into the business end. He and a partner have a line on a sports bar in Southampton.

Heather Williams, a sous chef at Marblehead Chowder House in Easton, told mcall.com that her mother sent in the application without her knowledge.

Rounding out the Eastern Pennsylvania contingent are South Philadelphia's Paulie Giganti (left), chef at Birra on East Passyunk Avenue, and Genaro Delillo of Lebanon (right), neither of whom were made available for comment before the premiere.