We hinted at this back in February, but it’s now been made official. The winner of the upcoming season of Gordon Ramsay’s TV cheffing schadenfreude extravaganza (aka Hells Kitchen) will be rewarded with the Head Chef position at Whistler’s venerable Araxi restaurant, working alongside the masterful James Walt (keeper of the mountain awesome). From the soon to be distributed press release:

In each episode, Ramsay will eliminate one chef while the rest remain to fillet their way toward the grand prize of a Head Chef position at Araxi Restaurant in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1981, Araxi continues to raise the culinary bar in Whistler. The winning contestant will have the added privilege of joining executive chef James Walt in welcoming the world during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Not a bad gig at all, and quite the PR coup for Top Table. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, et cetera…

The full Fox Network release after the leap, yankee hyperbole and all. The first line is Tuesday nights will sizzle this summer when Chef Gordon Ramsay blah blah blah. I’m really sorry about that.

Sixteen aspiring chefs head into “Hell’s Kitchen To Endure The Wrath Of Chef Gordon Ramsay”

Tuesday nights will sizzle this summer when Chef Gordon Ramsay welcomes the nation’s most talented and trained chefs yet to a sixth course of his unscripted series HELL’S KITCHEN. The cutthroat competition begins with a two-hour season premiere Tuesday, July 21 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX and makes its time period premiere the following week Tuesday, July 28 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT).

Each week Ramsay grills the ambitious hopefuls, putting them through rigorous culinary challenges and testing them to see who can handle the pressure of a fast-paced kitchen where only the skilled survive. In each episode, Ramsay will eliminate one chef while the rest remain to fillet their way toward the grand prize of a Head Chef position at Araxi Restaurant in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1981, Araxi continues to raise the culinary bar in Whistler. The winning contestant will have the added privilege of joining executive chef James Walt in welcoming the world during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

On the two-hour season premiere, Chef Ramsay wastes no time and sends the 16 chefs to the kitchen to create their signature dishes. Unlike past seasons, the signature dish challenge becomes a team challenge, pitting the men against the women. After the signature dishes of each team are presented to Gordon, one team will receive a coveted special prize, while the others will experience the agony of losing in Gordon’s kitchen. Don’t miss when an aspiring chef goes head-to-head with Chef Ramsay for the first time ever in the most explosive, most outrageous and most intense elimination round ever seen on HELL’S KITCHEN.–

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