Philly chefs in a game of chicken on CNBC

Two chefs in their early 50s have an idea for a rotisserie chicken restaurant in the western suburbs.

They have savings and money from investors but need a few bucks more.

Tonight (Tuesday, Feb. 24), Steve Latona and Mark Bellini - instructors at the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College - appear on CNBC's Restaurant Startup to pitch their idea to restaurateurs/investors Joe Bastianich and Tim Love.

Their Smoke Kitchen - now scouting a location in Malvern - will go against Austin food truckers Ms. P's Electric Cock Fried Chicken. The contestants get 36 hours and $7,500 to create a business plan, come up with a branding campaign, and run a pop-up restaurant.

Latona calls the experience "a crazy whirlwind of crazy nuttiness."

"It was interesting," Belllini said, intimating that reality TV is not all it's cracked up to be.

"All around, the experience was tremendous. They made us feel relatively comfortable, but then we knew they were going to throw in plot twists."

Both, however, were put off by the ageism by Bastianich, who is 47, and Love, who is 43.

"They were harping on the fact that we are in our early 50s and are too old for this," Bellini said. " 'How are you going to build an empire?' That was one of the things that just because you're a little older doesn't mean you can't cook anymore."

Cook? Sure. Run a business for the first time is another.

They came in seeking $200,000 for 30 percent equity.

Having Bastianich and Love peppering them with questions was a plus. The experience, Bellini said, "made us better."

Also on the plus side: Bastianich and Love professed love for their oak-wood-roast chicken, brined for 12 hours in extra-virgin olive oil, preserved lemons and garlic.

This the second Philly-area team on this season's Restaurant Startup. An operation called The Rarest was on last month.