WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (WFLX) – A chef from Lake Worth who grew up watching “Hell’s Kitchen” is now competing on the show and said the experience has been nothing short of validating.
Gabriel Cerease is one of 18 Gen-Z chefs, nine men on the blue team and nine women on the red team, vying to become America’s next culinary star on the milestone 25th season of Gordon Ramsay’s long-running FOX cooking competition.
“A surreal moment. I grew up watching the show, so I didn’t think it was possible, and then I got the call,” Cerease said. “I was stuck for a while processing, and then once I got there, it was just another day in the office, in my opinion.”
HELL’S KITCHEN: CONTESTANTS in the “Tale of Two Kitchens” episode of HELL’S KITCHEN airing Thursday, October. 1 (8:00- 9:01PM ET/PT) on FOX. CR: Jeff Neira / FOX. ©2026 FOX Media LLC.(Jeffrey_Neira | Jeff Neira / FOX)
Cerease said being on the show has improved his cooking skills.
“Everyone is 25 years and under, 21 to 25, so it was good just to compete with people my age. Growing up I was always the youngest in every kitchen I worked in, so now I have the opportunity to share some of the youth spotlight, with a lot of the chefs that are competing all the way from Argentina to Romania to Ohio,” he said. “Everyone brought their own talents to compete, but we were obviously watching and seeing some techniques that we might have liked.”
Cerease graduated from Lake Worth’s culinary program and describes himself as a chef, a title that carries specific meaning in professional kitchens.
“It’s just different ranks in the kitchen. You can start off as a dishwasher, prep cook, you work your way up to a line cook,” he said. “Chef de partie, which is like you’re like the lead of that station, and then you go sous chef, executive sous chef, and executive chef sous chef is pretty high up.”
HELL’S KITCHEN: CONTESTANTS in the “Tale of Two Kitchens” episode of HELL’S KITCHEN airing Thursday, October. 1 (8:00- 9:01PM ET/PT) on FOX. CR: Jeff Neira / FOX. ©2026 FOX Media LLC.(Jeffrey_Neira | Jeff Neira / FOX)
Cerease said working with Chef Gordon Ramsay was not what some might expect.
“He’s not super scary. I’m very respectful, so I feel like he was just kind of matching my respect level, but obviously he’s about business,” he said. “When we’re in the middle of service, he’s Chef Ramsay, but outside of services, he’s Gordon Ramsay. He always asks how we’re doing, if we ate last night, how well did we sleep last night, so he’s very polite and personal for sure.”
The competition has also been personally meaningful for Cerease, who said it helped him rebuild confidence after an injury almost a year ago sidelined him from the kitchen.
HELL’S KITCHEN: CONTESTANTS in the “Tale of Two Kitchens” episode of HELL’S KITCHEN airing Thursday, October. 1 (8:00- 9:01PM ET/PT) on FOX. CR: Jeff Neira / FOX. ©2026 FOX Media LLC.(Jeffrey_Neira | Jeff Neira / FOX)
“I recently had a little bit of an injury almost a year ago and it put me out of the kitchen and I was in my head constantly wondering if I lost my talent and I lost my skills, and then I had the opportunity to be in that kitchen. I can’t tell you how I did, but you won’t be disappointed,” he said. “It was just very validating on its own to know that I can still compete with some of the best talent that’s in America. ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ is very thorough on who they pick and who they bring on to compete, so just being picked and competing was very validating for me.”
Season 25 was filmed at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, home to one of Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen restaurants. The winning chef will receive a Head Chef position at that restaurant and a $250,000 cash prize.
Off the competition, Cerease is gearing up to open a restaurant called 1123 in Wynwood Miami, with a ribbon cutting set for Nov. 23.
“1123, we’re projected to open that last week of November. It’s in this old building, super spacious. We’re in the midst of remodeling right now,” he said. “We’re decorating the inside, new booths, the whole nine. So we’re projected to open that last week of November, ribbon cutting on Nov. 23, 1123.”
HELL’S KITCHEN: CONTESTANTS in the “Tale of Two Kitchens” episode of HELL’S KITCHEN airing Thursday, October. 1 (8:00- 9:01PM ET/PT) on FOX. CR: Jeff Neira / FOX. ©2026 FOX Media LLC.(Jeffrey_Neira | Jeff Neira / FOX)
Cerease said his accomplishments carry deep meaning for his family. He is a first-generation American whose parents are from the islands.
“I’m first generation American. My parents are both from the islands, and that’s what they strive for, to give their kids a better life, and I took the opportunity and I ran with it,” he said. “To say they’re proud is an understatement. I don’t know, maybe I finally won the rank as favorite child, but we’ll see.”
At home, Cerease takes a more relaxed culinary approach.
“At the house, it’s a different style of cooking. I love comfort food, so I’ll just throw stew together or something, but I normally like to cook, and it kind of keeps me,” he said. “I experiment a lot, so I have cookbooks. I’ll go to the store, see what recipes I want to try, and but I do the majority of the cooking.”
Because he handles most of the cooking, his mother hasn’t needed to cook in some time — something Cerease sees as a fair exchange.
“She hasn’t cooked in a really long time. I try to be very methodical with my mom, have the food ready before she gets home,” he said. “I feel like that’s a fair trade, she paid for me to go to culinary school so I could return the favor like that.”
“Hell’s Kitchen” Season 25 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on FOX and streams the next day on Hulu.