Chef Wanted: Ola Update by Joseph Erdos in Shows, March 14th, 2013
Ola restaurant is located at Turtle Bay Resort on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Chef/owner Fred DeAngelo opened the restaurant eight years ago with his wife, Cheryl. Fred was looking for an executive chef who could relieve some of the pressure from his workload, as he has a new restaurant to run. His hope was to find a chef who could expertly work with the local island ingredients and who shares his philosophy for the restaurant, which is reflected in the name Ola, meaning “life.” Anne Burrell and the Chef Wanted team were called in to help with the search. After two tests and two dinner services, an offer was extended to Chef Casey Barnes.
Casey is an unemployed chef from Los Angeles — he actually quit his job with a Michelin-rated chef just to interview at Ola. He recently got engaged to his girlfriend and is ready to move to Hawaii to start fresh with this new job.
For the first test, the chefs were told to create an upscale version of the Hawaiian comfort food loco moco, a rich dish with a beef patty, gravy and a fried egg. Chef Barnes reinterpreted the dish with fish. Cheryl called his dish of seared opah with a crispy rice cake and tomato jam a good departure from tradition, and Fred thought the fish worked really well with the jam. The second test, however, proved to be much more difficult for some — it required the chefs to make an entree using disjointed ingredients. They had to choose a fish (ono, kampachi or onaga) and then pair it with at least one of the following ingredients: sea asparagus, Kona coffee or breadfruit. Chef Barnes decided to take on all three of the ingredients to create a coffee-crusted grilled ono with breadfruit curry and sea asparagus. Fred really appreciated the butchering and cooking of the fish, as well as Chef Barnes’ use of all the ingredients.
When it came to service, Chef Barnes showcased his creativity with the local ingredients — only one dish made with a charred taro leaf pesto needed revising. Unfortunately by the time service had started, Chef Barnes was so preoccupied with fixing his pesto that he let a bunch of tickets pile up. Throughout service, Casey remained strangely calm, which alarmed the owners. At one point he even gave up control of the tickets to the expeditor. After Anne straightened him out, he improved his focus and took back control of the kitchen. Ultimately, Fred and Cheryl were very impressed with how Chef Barnes’ dishes embraced Hawaiian ingredients, so they offered him the position of executive chef.
FN Dish caught up with Chef Barnes after the show taped. Watch the video above to find out how he’s been doing since taking the executive chef position at Ola restaurant. In the video Casey says that the fact he got the job — and in a place like Hawaii — is still sinking in. His philosophy is to make the experience of eating, which is a necessity for life, amazing and wonderful. Fred couldn’t be more excited to see where Casey takes the restaurant.
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Tags: Anne Burrell, chef wanted
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Casey looked like he was stoned. Funny cause, he says that he was "weeded" was not user if pun was intended.
Yes,,.. I thought the same thing!! Funny. Maybe we are both from the 70's, but that was how either stoners reacted to stress.. or aspbergers folks. Zone out and do not acknowledge. I think the order machine is totally screwed up there. Maybe they need fix that and not blame the chef.
NO No No. NOT HIGH! No problems with ticket machine. It's just a highly unrealistic situation because you almost never would seat a hundred or so people all at once and start taking orders. If you have ever seen other episodes, you would realize this is a common theme where ALL the chefs get swamped once the tickets start coming in. It happens in every show. The show producers do this to make for more dramatic TV, which it does. Yet he will probably never be that swamped in the future. If anything, that's the real test in this show. How do the chefs handle what is undoubtedly the worst it will ever be in such kitchen.
I thought he was stoned or medicated too. Even though I know he meant "in the weeds". In the final camera confession, he could barely keep his eyes open.
I'm willing to believe he took something to calm down because he wanted it so much.
Did you notice where the sun was? In his face. His eyes weren't open because he was squinting from the sun. The camera would have similar problems if it was facing the sun thus making for a bad shot/image and would never have made it to TV. It was the only way that shot would work.
I kept clicking clicking clicking and never got further…what was I missing? Help?!
You kept clicking clicking clicking and never got further? Any further than what? WHAT the heck are you talking about?
Not fair to say he was "weeded". He's just a cool, low-keyed guy that wants to have a family and provide for them. You have to admire that.
So glad he won- I was cheering for him the whole way!
Good grief to all you numskulls that think being "in the weeds" in a restaurant means that you're stoned.
And I guess you have to admire the other several billion people that "want to have a family and provide for them" as well.
The guys said he was weeded(my wife had it playing on the dvr, we rewound it just to clarify what he said). Which is exactly how he acted during his service. He acted completely clueless at first. "I didn't even know we had begun seating". I can't believe he got the job. I won't ever watch this show again.
HE NEVER SAID HE WAS WEEDED!!!!!!!
He said "We're IN THE WEEDS"!
In a restaurant that means "we are backed up" – "we are falling behind"….
NOT HIGH! SMH!
I wanted him to win. I thought he was the best qualified. His food looked amazing. He was very calm, not a typical chef personality. I thought that was a plus.
I liked them both but thought Casey was a good choice. They always show all diners coming in at once. That past doesn't seem realistic to me.
In the "weeds" is typical restaurant jargon and has nothing to do with being stoned. He also said at the pre-shift that sometimes he gets so focused on what he's doing that he can appear to zone out. I think this is what happened the night of his service. It's like when you read a book that takes you far off somewhere and then someone (Ann in this case) interrupts you. It takes a minute to get back into the reality of things. Once he did, he was fine. Yes, the service was purposefully busier than it ever might be. But you need to know how your Executive Chef will perform under the most stressful situation. Obviously any of night of service will seem easier for Casey.
Kevin didn't watch the show again and no one noticed :)
So disgusting! He was so high it was frustrating to watch! I'm so tired of people complaining how hard they have it, they can't find a job…this is what we've come too, getting high and going to your interview…sickening!
I guess it always takes one to know one?
HE NEVER SAID HE WAS WEEDED!!!!!!!
He said "We're IN THE WEEDS"!
In a restaurant that means "we are backed up" – "we are falling behind"….
NOT HIGH! SMH!