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The Food Network’s latest show, Chef Boot Camp, puts underperforming cooks through a three day bootcamp with professional chef, Cliff Crooks.

In a press release, Food Network stated that Chef Boot Camp “takes a deep dive into one of the most critical and essential elements of restaurants everywhere – the chefs running the kitchen.”

Courtney White, the Food Network President, said that Cliff Crooks “brings his tremendous experience and a commitment to excellence to struggling restaurateurs and their kitchen staffs.”

Who is Cliff Crooks from Chef Boot Camp?

You may recognise Cliff Crooks from his 2006 role as a contestant on Top Chef and his appearances as a judge on Hell’s Kitchen, Chopped Junior, and Worst Cooks in America.

Cliff also works as the current Culinary Director at BLT Restaurant Group, and has trained and worked in some of New York’s best restaurants, including Windows on the World, Salute!, Blue Water Grill, and Gramercy Tavern.

Courtney White, the Food Network President, said: “Cliff Crooks knows what it takes for a restaurant to be successful and in Chef Boot Camp, he brings his tremendous experience and a commitment to excellence to struggling restaurateurs and their kitchen staffs.”

In an interview with Foodsided, Cliff Crooks stated that the key to being a successful chef is “not accepting mediocrity, remembering you are in hospitality,” and “good plates.” He listed the characteristics which he feels are vital to being a good chef:

“Ability to stay calm, wanting to know facts before judgement, willing to do the dirty work, ability to take criticism about their food, open to corrections and opinion and keeping in the back of your head that it is most certainly a business.”

According to Cliff, chefs are “orchestrators, business people, mentors, therapists, mediators and finally cooks.”

When is Chef Boot Camp on?

Chef Boot Camp will be airing on the Food Network every Thursday at 10 pm.

In each episode of Chef Boot Camp, three struggling chefs set off on a three-day boot camp with Cliff Crooks, who will assess their skills in the kitchen and work on which of their areas need improvement.

Speaking about Chef Boot Camp, Cliff Crooks told Foodsided:

“I would hope viewers can glean that there are many different levels of raw talent, expertise and ambition among these chefs. While they go through the boot camp journey, they can pick up tips, do’s and don’ts and get a firsthand look at what it takes to become better at their craft.”

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