So he made a point of watching the first episode of last season's edition, just to see what kind of human ingredients he would be working with.
His initial reaction was similar to Chef Gordon Ramsay's reaction when he's served overcooked risotto at the pass.
"I remember thinking, ‘Whoa,'" Walt said, sounding considerably more calm and collected than the famously flambe-tempered Ramsay.
"The next day, in talking to Jack [Evrensel], the owner, I remember saying, ‘Oookay. Are we sure about this?' I was a little bit freaked out, but it wasn't until we spoke with Gordon himself and he said, ‘I'll pick the best person myself, personally,' that we saw it could work out well for everyone."
Hell's Kitchen, executive-produced by Canadian Arthur Smith, a former president of CBC Sports, will name its winner Tuesday night (Oct. 13). The final four contenders will be at Whistler, in person, for the big reveal. Barring disaster or other unforeseen circumstance, the winning chef will work in Walt's kitchen through the 2010 Olympics and beyond.
Walt needn't have worried about Hell's Kitchen's human ingredients, as it turned out. He's met the finalists, and has been "very impressed" by what he's seen. They are not -- cue sigh of relief -- anything like the carnival acts and circus people of Hell's Kitchen's early episodes.
"You know right from the start that a lot of the people in that first group are not going to make it," Walt explained. "They're there to appeal to a certain demographic, and be colourful. Gordon actually called that first group driftwood. He said, ‘James, once I get rid of the driftwood, I can start focusing on the final three or four.'"
The finalists are Los Angeles sous chef Ariel Contreras-Fox, whose specialty dish is pan-seared black cod with shiitake ponzu and baby bok choy; Middletown, Conn., executive chef Kevin Cottle, whose signature dish is sugarcane skewered shrimp over local organic greens and Thai sesame-coconut vinaigrette; and San Diego executive chef Dave Levey, whose signature dish is grilled halibut cheeks over grilled romaine hearts and mixed roasted baby beets.
Walt, author of the just-published Douglas & McIntyre book Araxi: Seasonal Recipes from the Celebrated Whistler Restaurant, is quietly confident that he has inherited the cream of the crop, regardless of who emerges the winner of Hell's Kitchen Tuesday night.
"I look for people who aren't jaded, who aren't in it for the wrong reasons. I'm looking for passion. The bottom line is it's my kitchen, and I'm in charge. They're an employee, and they'll be treated as an employee, and that's been stated all along. We're not changing who we are for this person."
Walt, like Ramsay, holds his kitchen staff to an exacting standard when it comes to preparing and serving fine dining, but he's less inclined to peel paint off the ceiling if he doesn't get his way.
A working kitchen is a team effort, Walt says, and he expects the winner of Hell's Kitchen to be respectful and supportive of colleagues, and not boil over at the first sign of trouble. The biggest difference between a reality-TV competition and the actual job of working in the kitchen of a high-profile restaurant is that Hell's Kitchen is a contest between individuals, and working in a real kitchen is about working together toward a common goal.
Hell's Kitchen has averaged around 900,000 viewers in Canada, and has been pulling in an average seven million viewers for the Fox network in the U.S. It is one of the few summer reality programs to have successfully made the transition to a fall- and winter run, and is especially popular among younger viewers, aged 18-34.
The Olympics will bring added pressure to the kitchen staff, but it's a welcome pressure, Walt says. Araxi fielded several requests from groups for exclusive access throughout the Olympics, Walt says, but he was adamant that the restaurant be open for everyone, and not be the private playground of a select few.
"We're not going to change," Walt insisted. "When everything was first announced, we had a lot of people coming in, saying, ‘We want to book your restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner,' blah blah blah, and they were kind of dictating what they wanted. I remember we were sitting down, and we kind of looked at each other and said, ‘You know what? We don't want to shut out the people who are coming here out of loyalty.' I don't know the logistics exactly, but we'll probably end up meeting everyone half way."
Whoever wins Hell's Kitchen will find working in Araxi's kitchen a collegial and rewarding experience, Walt believes -- not like the TV show.
Araxi is a long way from hell. After all, Whistler is expected to freeze over during the Olympics.
Hell's Kitchen concludes tonight on Citytv and Fox at 8 ET/PT.
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