Cliff Crooks helps chefs sharpen their skills in Food Network’s ‘Chef Boot Camp’

Cliff Crooks is helping his fellow chefs sharpen their skills in the kitchen in a new show on Food Network.

Like many chefs in the business, Chef Crooks started in the lower levels of the restaurant business. As he worked, he would often ask questions to the kitchen staff.

“It was watching the kitchen operation and when you’re young, the hi-speed adrenaline rush in the restaurant is drawing,” said Crooks. “I found myself etching back and asking questions and probably being really annoying to kitchen staff.”

Crooks rose through the ranks and now is the culinary director at BLT Restaurants, based in New York City. Through his work, he was given the opportunity to host “Chef Boot Camp,” which premiered on Food Network on April 8.

In each episode of “Chef Boot Camp,” three chefs head into a three-day boot camp led by Crooks, who starts off by assessing their skills. Next, the chefs must demonstrate fundamental cooking techniques of a classic dish which they must create on time and to Crooks’ satisfaction, showing their skills, knowledge, and ability in the kitchen.

“No two lawyers are the same, and no two chefs are the same. I need to see where deficiencies lie,” said Crooks. “I give them tests in order to test culinary skills. For example, we all do omelets at home, but to do it properly has quite a bit of depth. Watching them perform their version and teaching proper technique, I can say, you have difficulty chopping, cracking eggs, mixing egg before omelet shell, it’s overcooked — these little techniques can help you to have a close to perfect finished product.”

With the skills assessed, the chefs are then put to work in one of Crooks’ restaurants and they create a new dish for their restaurant owners to demonstrate their growth and progress from boot camp.

“I’m solely looking to help people be the best version of themselves that they want to be,” said Crooks. “It’s very straightforward and unscripted. If you are doing something wrong, I will tell you, and if you continue I will discuss where are you going. That’s real life.”

For Crooks, the key to running a successful restaurant is teamwork, and that’s it’s absolutely essential for the front, customer-facing part of the restaurant and the kitchen staff to communicate well.

“That is the great pie in the sky, teamwork and the level of communication in the restaurant as a whole,” said Crooks. “The front of house and back of the house, one cannot operate without the other. If it does, you’re in a bar that doesn’t serve food, or you’re having a great meal with subpar service. A lot of times subpar service is the result of poor communication, either in training or a lack of communication from the culinary side to the front-facing staff.”