Cary native takes heat in Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen

Christine Kocol had little doubt that her son Wil would grow up to be a chef. When, years ago, the Cary mother of three purchased a toy kitchen set for her daughter, it was Wil who played with it.

Christine said her eldest as a preschooler would watch WTTW's Sesame Street, then shut off the television to head out and play before tuning into his favorite, Julia Child.

"Call me when the cooking lady comes on, Mommy," Christine remembers him saying.

As Wil grew, so did his knowledge of the kitchen. When Wil was 14, Christine went back to earn a college degree. So he took over cooking for the family.

"We sat down and made grocery lists together, and he was responsible for making dinner. He was in a Greek phase at the time," she said.

At 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, Wil's penchant for dishing it up will be on display on WFLD Channel 32's "Hell's Kitchen" program.

"Hell's Kitchen" is a fast-paced reality TV show that pairs aspiring chefs with renowned chef and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay. Ramsay, well-known for his short fuse, puts contestants through their wringer as they vie to be the last man standing in his kitchen.

Wil, now 27, is a 2006 graduate of Elgin Community College's Culinary Arts and Hospitality Institute.

For the past two years, he climbed the food chain at Red Star Tavern restaurants in Geneva and Algonquin, working his way from line cook to sous chef to chef to general manager. Due to the economic slump, both restaurants closed recently.

During the summer of 2007, he decided to attend tryouts for the fifth season of "Hell's Kitchen" at the Art Institute of Chicago.

"It was six hours of standing in line, waiting, not really being able to go to the washroom," he said.

After taking part in a group interview with the show's casting agents, Wil was asked to come back for a callback.

Over the next weeks and months, they kept calling, "asking questions about this and that," Kocol said.

In the middle of a new menu rollout at Red Star Tavern, he got a phone call from a California number, inviting him to fly out and meet the show's producers.

Taping of the show took place last winter.

According to IMDB movie database, filming took place in Los Angeles.

Despite his foul-mouthed, hot-tempered reputation, Kocol says Gordon Ramsay "Is really not that bad. I mean, it's not where he's going to physically beat you down. He'll give you a good verbal lashing. But the guy knows his business."

While he won't reveal how he did on the show, Kocol said the experience certainly "refined my skills. It made me able to do something in a completely different light."

The day of the premiere, Kocol and his boyfriend, Jason, will host a viewing party with dozens of old friends.