Reality TV Chefs

Dallas-Fort Worth chefs will lock knives on Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen

Food TV show watchers have plenty of local talent to root for in season 13 of Gordon Ramsay's competition show Hell's Kitchen: At least three contestants are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The show, which premieres September 10, features local chefs Roe DiLeo, Katie McKeown and Kalen Morgenstern.

The show describes Morgenstern as a sous chef and Fort Worth native who "knows she needs to rise above the chaos and let her passion shine through to win the competition." Her signature dish is seared sea scallops with corn purée, pickled onions and tomato sauce.

DiLeo is a "head chef from Dallas, TX who's in the competition because she wants to prove her worth in the kitchen without having to go to school or be reviewed by critics." Her dish is Kobe beef filet with bacon-braised Brussels, whipped sweet potatoes and Cippolini onion jus.

McKeown is described as having a strategy to "put her head down, chop, chop, whisk, whisk." Her signature dish is a pan-seared halibut with jicama-mango slaw.

DiLeo made a name for herself locally as chef at the Libertine Bar; these days, she's working at Boulevardier in Bishop Arts. McKeown, one of the youngest contestants, is a native of Louisiana who works at Belly & Trumpet. Morgenstern is chef de cuisine at Tillman's Roadhouse in Fort Worth.

In the two-hour the premiere, the contestants arrive in Hollywood for a brief silver screen experience before Ramsay splits them into two teams and asks them to present their signature dishes in front of a live audience. Later, the chefs are forced to dig geoduck clams out of intricate sand sculptures and re-create Ramsay's geoduck sashimi.

The team that creates 15 perfect dishes will soak up the sun on a luxury yacht with Ramsay. The losing team will clean up the sand and prepare the geoduck nigiri and chowder for dinner service.

Celebrity guest stars will include Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, talk show host Wendy Williams, NBA champion Chris Bosh, Olympic gold medalist sprinter Allyson Felix, comedian Penn Jillette, actor Lou Diamond-Phillips, and So You Think You Can Dance judges Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe.

Hell's Kitchen season 13 contestant Roe DiLeo

Photo courtesy of Fox

Hell's Kitchen season 13 contestant Roe DiLeo

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This week's hot headlines

Michelin Guide awards shine in 5 most-read Dallas stories of the week

dallas.culturemap.com

Tatsu Dallas

Editor's note: Restaurants that received Michelin Guide honors were the hottest topic of the week in Dallas and all across Texas. Also of note: The death of a beloved Dallas restaurateur, a new wing joint, and more. Here are the most-read stories of the week. Looking for things to do this weekend? That list is here.

1. More than a dozen Dallas restaurants earn Michelin Guide awards. The winners of the first Michelin Guide awards in Texas have been revealed, with 117 restaurants earning some kind of nod, including 15 one-star establishments. More than two dozen restaurants across Dallas-Fort Worth earned some kind of nod or another, but only one won a star. Then, oops, there was a goof on Michelin's list.

2. Reducetarian Summit had to be unlikeliest convention in Dallas ever. Dallas likes to promote itself as a great place to host conventions, but one of the most unpredictable would have to be the Reducetarian Summit, which took place at the end of October at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Dallas, where 500 people from around the world met to brainstorm on ways to reduce consumption of animal products.

3. Where to eat in Dallas right now: 10 hot new restaurants for November. This month's installment of Where to Eat is bursting at the seams with newcomers and spinoffs. For November, we've got a vast range of cuisines, from Asian to seafood to the beloved Dallas staple, the Irish pub. To find many cuisines in one spot, there's also a new food-hall near downtown Dallas.

Dallas restaurateur Al Biernat, RIP. Facebook

4. Beloved Dallas restaurateur Al Biernat dies at 69 after ALS battle. Beloved Dallas restaurateur Al Biernat, founder of the acclaimed local steakhouse Al Biernat's, passed away on November 13, following a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease; he was 69.

5. Pluckers Wing Bar opens first Dallas location in a decade in Mesquite. A Texas wing staple is bringing the wings to Mesquite: Pluckers, famous for its wings in many flavors, is opening at 1340 N. Peachtree Rd., in the old Joe’s Crab Shack space. According a marketing spokesperson, it's opening in mid-December.