A foodie with a gutsy attitude, Chef Rob Burmeister of Staten Island won the competition on a recent episode of CUTTHROAT KITCHEN on the Food Network when he made New England clam chowder with whipped cream and cognac. Not many chefs could stand up to the challenge, but Chef Robâ€s signature cooking style – “international fusion with a hint of American comfort” suggests his versatility as a chef and now with a taste of stardom on his lips, Chef Rob hungers for his own reality TV food show.

No side dish, Chef Rob has been featured on CHOPPED, RESTAURANT STAKEOUT, THE NEXT PORK PERSONALITY with GUY FIERI, and STATEN ISLAND CAKES. He also does the Tuesday night podcast CHEWING THE FAT WITH BIG AND BEEFY with co-host Clemenza Caserta, Jr. who was featured on Season 10 of HELLâ€S KITCHEN with Chef Gordon Ramsey. (Tuesday nights on Blogtalkradio.com/thewackonetwork, 7-9 pm.)

Chef Rob is also executive chef for Harvest Café in Staten Island, a training facility/restaurant for adults with mental disabilities to learn restaurant skills to obtain work in the community.

Letâ€s meet Chef Rob and ask him the Ten Ingredients to his success.

RVO: Chef Rob, where you were born & raised and who introduced you to cooking?

RB: I was born and raised in State Island, and I learned to cook sitting in front of the TV watching Channel 13 Chefs Martin Yan, Jeff Smith who is “The Frugal Gourmet,” and Julia Child. I remember my first dish, it was a recipe called Harvest Stew. Everyone loved it. My second big thing, someone gave me the Betty Crocker cookbook and I made Egg Drop soup with snow peas. Thatâ€s when I really got hooked. After high school, I wanted to go to culinary school, but I couldnâ€t pay for it myself, so I got a job washing dishes and being a prep cook at the Lake Café in Staten Island. It was a beautiful place. I started at 18 and grew up there. I wound up being a line cook, sous chef, and later the executive chef.

RVO: Can you describe your signature style?

RB: My personal style is international fusion with a hint of American comfort. Iâ€ve been doing it for years, like Mac & Cheese Eggrolls; Meatloaf and Mashed Potato Eggrolls. Different Calzones. I had a gourmet deli BURMEISTERâ€S CHOW in Staten Island for four years and weâ€d make gourmet take out. I used to deep fry Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches.

 RVO: What was it like being on CUTTHROAT KITCHEN?

RB: I was originally cast for a show on ABC, THE TASTE. Last year, my friend came in second place. She said you gotta try out for this. She mentioned my name to the directors so when the casting came up this year they called me and I went in for the audition, I had to cook something, and they told me Iâ€m on the show. They picked 60 people to fly out to California. An hour later I got a call and they told me I got cut because theyâ€re not going with 60 contestants. But the casting director said they were casting CUTTHROAT KITCHEN and flew me out to California. I filmed the end of October and they just aired it in February. The show is like an obstacle course – there are auctions and you can switch things around with your opponents. There are four chefs and three rounds and when we had to make New England clam chowder, I didnâ€t have water to steam the clams and all I had was whipped cream and cognac, so I steamed them with cognac which made a boozy clam broth and used a little whipped cream. I won after the third round when we had to make Chicken Fried Steak.

RVO: How did you get on THE NEXT PORK PERSONALITY?  

RB: THE NEXT PORK PERSONALITY was being held at the Food Networkâ€s food festival in Manhattan, so I sent in a tape of some of my appearances. They called me and said youâ€re in. Guy Fieri was the host. It was a big thing. I got there and I was up against two ladies from California. I came in second. Before I met Guy Fieri, I always loved his TV show DINERS, DRIVE-INS AND DIVES, and I hoped he was not full of himself and standoffish. After the first two minutes I met him, we were like brothers. We were out the night before the show until 5:30 in the morning.

RVO; Have reality TV shows helped your career?

RB: Yes, definitely. Itâ€s hard to get a job if you donâ€t have a diploma. If youâ€re going to get a loan to open a restaurant, theyâ€re looking for a diploma. I never had one, but being on TV they donâ€t care if I have a diploma.

RVO:  Would you do HELLâ€S KITCHEN?

RB:  I put in my application six or seven years back, but now they donâ€t want me because I have too much experience. Now I have different ideas for my own show. I put up videos on YouTube. Iâ€d love my own road show, like DINERS, DRIVE–INS AND DIVES. Thatâ€s what I want, a nice cool road show where Iâ€m hanging out with other cooks. I love being before the camera.

RVO: Whatâ€s your podcast CHEWING THE FAT WITH BIG AND BEEFY with Clemenza Caserta from HELLâ€S KITCHEN all about? 

RB: Clem and I were freshmen at St. Peterâ€s high school on Staten Island. I saw him on HELLâ€S KITCHEN and my jaw dropped; so I reached out to him. I was doing a little thing SLINGING THE HASH, a YouTube show I was trying to start. Weâ€d cook together. Clemenza reached out to the Wacko Network for advice and they said, why donâ€t you be on our network? We started CHEWING THE FAT WITH BIG AND BEEFY – Iâ€m ‘Big†and Clem is ‘Beefy† We talk about what we ate, food trends all over the world, one week we talked about our top five snack cakes. From the first show, weâ€ve had 1,000-1,500 listeners. We get calls from Australia, U.K. Canada, Texas, Virginia.

RVO: What is the work youâ€re doing at Harvest Cafe?

RB:  Itâ€s a non-profit restaurant where high-functioning adults are trained to wash dishes, do maintenance, prep food, cook food, wait tables and take drink orders. We teach them skills they need to work at neighboring restaurants. Iâ€m the executive chef and lead culinary trainer.

RVO: What is your favorite seasoning to cook with?

RB: I always have to have bacon fat. Bacon fat is universal. Iâ€ll add it if Iâ€m searing a piece of fish and I use it in my barbecue sauces, soups, and instead of butter or olive oil. Now Iâ€m making bacon soap and bacon candles.

RVO: At the end of the day, what is the food that you order at the diner?

RB: If I go to a diner, I have to get a side of corned beef hash with syrup and ketchup. Iâ€m always getting breakfast, a hungry man platter that comes with eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, toast and pancakes, with a chocolate milk, a root beer and a coffee. I never order Eggs Benedict because I know what a pain it is.

For more info on Chef Rob Burmeister, go to www.chefsroll.com/chefrob.

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The post TEN INGREDIENTS: Chef Rob Burmeister Fans the Flames of Reality TV first appeared on River View Observer.

BH:  He’s scarier in person than on TV. And he’s real sudden. All of a sudden, he’s right there behind you, yelling “The dish is wrong!” and all of a sudden the plate is flying somewhere.  He’s a physically intimidating guy, too. I’m 5’9″ and I’d put him at 6’1″ and. he looks like he lifts weights. You don’t get the gist of his physical size until you’re standing in front of him.

WL: Chef Ramsey is a pussycat. He’s real. I work with chefs who are the same way – yelling, throwing food at you – so I’m accustomed to that. My bosses have no problem telling me what’s on their minds. During my professional career, I’ve built up immunity to that.

 

RO:  WHAT DID YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT BEING ON THE SHOW?

BH:  This year, “Hell’s Kitchen” raised the game. When you see the show, the prizes are better and everything seems to be more epic. There’s one experience we had that I thought this is incredible. It was one of those life experiences where I thought I can’t believe this is my life.        I can’t believe this is happening.

WL:  The entire process was inspiring. To show you that anything is a possibility, no matter what you’re given in life. Being in the kitchen and being given the opportunity to cook your food; during challenges you have a hundred percent free will what to cook.

 

RO:  WHAT DID YOU LIKE LEAST ABOUT THE SHOW?

BH: You’re miked up 24/7 other than when you’re in the shower. If you get up at 4 am, you’re miked up. It’s rough. Think of things you say on a daily basis, inside jokes, somebody’s acting up, that’s going to come up. You can be the most politically correct person and through the course of the day you’re going to say something a little too personal.

WL: It’s going to sound cheesy, but the hardest part was not being able to talk to my wife, see my dog

or talk to my family. When you arrive in L.A., the second you get off the plane, they take your cell phone. You have no contact with the outside world. I got married in October so when I left to do the show, it was just six months of being married. That was the hardest thing, leaving my wife here, paying the bills, taking care of the dog and not being able to call her up.  There was no TV, no news. I’m a diehard Rangers fan and when we did it, it was during the Play Offs. I missed the opening of baseball season. I get why they do it. You’re supposed to focus on the competition. You’re in reality (TV) world.

 

RO:  DO YOU THINK BEING ON THE SHOW MADE YOU A BETTER COOK?

BH: I’ve worked for some famous chefs in the city and sometimes I saw sub-standard dishes. They didn’t check everything like Chef Ramsey checked everything. That’s why people should go to a Gordon Ramsey restaurant because you know every single dish is checked and perfect. It’s something you don’t see every day in a mass-production kitchen.

WL: I think it gave me a better outlook upon the industry. You’re seeing first-hand what other people are doing. It’s different when you’re actually seeing it face-to-face and you realize, wow I’m better or worse than I thought I was. It’s a reality check and it gives you the opportunity to improve yourself. I need to learn that; I need to do this. Chef Ramsey has no problem telling you what to improve on. You need to take that advice and roll with it.

 RO:  WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST THING YOU LEARNED FROM CHEF RAMSEY?

BH: All the little things you wouldn’t normally see on TV, things you wouldn’t notice are perfect. He’s spent years honing his craft. He’s solid in the fundamentals. He made a Risotto and a Squab Salad and the way he sets up the plate, how artistically everything was done. I learned from one of the best chefs of the world under the most brutal circumstances possible. That’s the kind of thing I won’t forget.  If you mess up slightly on the dish, just a little, like maybe one thing wasn’t seasoned right – seasoning’s big with him – he catches it immediately. It just raises the day. Everything has to be perfect. That’s what customers are paying for. When they come into a great chef’s restaurant, they’re paying for that perfection, that passion for every single dish. That’s what it’s all about.

WL: Chef Ramsey has a similar background to what I have. I played hockey my whole life and three surgeries later, I had to find something else to do. Chef Ramsey played professional soccer, he was 18 or 19, and he had to find something different after his injuries. I learning from him that you have to do what you have to do. Don’t have any regrets, if you think there’s something you want to do, just do it.
 
RO:  WOULD YOU HAVE CHEF RAMSEY OVER FOR DINNER?

BH: I would absolutely. There was one moment, where we had a personal conversation and I thought wow, this is a guy you find easy to talk to. Sure he’s intimidating, but you have no problems opening up. And off camera, he’s really funny. He’s hilarious. Waiting for the cameras to roll, he’d say something and crack you up. I wish they’d show that a little bit more on the show.

WL: I’d have him over for dinner in a heartbeat. For someone so hard on the exterior in the kitchen, he’s a human being, a man. He’s like you and me and everyone else in the world. He might be blunt. He might be brash. But he’s not doing it to make you feel bad about yourself. He’s doing it to make you better. Unless you realize what the problems are, you’re not going to fix them.

 The 9^th season of “Hell’s Kitchen” premieres Mon, July 18 at 8 pm on Fox TV.

Follow “Hell’s Kitchen” on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hellskitchen and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/hellskitchenonfox (@hellskitchenonfox)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Hell’s Kitchen-Cooking for the Chef of Wrath! first appeared on River View Observer.