Pastry chef Teddy Heidt will be on The Food Network's Cutthroat Kitchen Sunday, Dec. 28. Heidt is a co-owner of RP Catering & Events alongside his partner, Ryan Arndt.
The two met at Chicago's Le Cordon Bleu; Arndt the culinary chef and Heidt the pastry chef with a history in business and communications, the two thought they'd make the perfect business team. Both Heidt and Arndt were sought out by a producer from the show who found them through their catering company's Instagram. Both submitted applications to compete on the show, both went through Skype interviews during which the interviewer asked personality based questions.
The two shared the sentiment that, "You know whatwhoever gets to go, you're representing our brand," expressed Heidt.
"I'm a huge fan of Alton Brown, the host. He's a culinary geniussmartest chef on the entire network," voiced Heidt. "So to have the opportunity to be able to 'feed' away from him, he knows who I am, he knows about my companythat it pretty powerful."
Ultimately, it was Heidt that received a call notifying him that he'd been selected for season six.
"I like to think of us as a modern day power couple," said Heidt. The two formed RP Catering & Events just two years agoand Heidt is enthused about the company's relative success in a "food powerhouse" like Chicago. Especially in relevance to the show, Heidt said, "I have his culinary mind to borrow from."
Weary of the manner in which the editors of the show will make his personality out to be, Heidt said, "I want our brand to be presented in the best way possible and knowing I have very little control over that…"
"[The audition] process took about three weeks. Then they said 'You're going to come out in two weeks to film over a three-day period,'" explained Heidt. "It was [incredibly] fast."
Arndt has remained supportive throughout Heidt's preparation for the show. "We've done drills where he pretends to be Alton Brown and he's yelling in my ear and that sort of stuff," recalled Heidt, in addition to him re-watching episodes and reviewing notes from culinary school.
Expressing a slight hesitation going into the show as a pastry chef, Heidt said, "I just stand in front of a kitchen-aid mixer making batters and dough… so having to do two rounds of culinary before even potentially getting to dessert." The structure of the show ( typically ) is as follows: The first two rounds are culinary and the last round pastry, with a chef eliminated after each round.
Heidt went on to say: "But you never know how [the show] is going to go because it's so ridiculous and over the top that I [thought] as long as [I] know the basics I'm just going to run with it and see where my intuition takes me."
Recognizing the pattern that many episodes follow, Heidt highlighted the ease of the dishes in light of all of the "sabotage" competitors bid for to ruin others' chances. Alton Brown has auctioned off sabotages such as taking away vital utensils, ingredients, and even making the other chefs prepare their entire dish over a pool of water. But the one constant Heidt identified is the relative simplicity of each dish. He believes that as long as he can pull from basic recipes and food science that he has a good chance of making it to the last roundwhich will be his territory.
Heidt's primary territory are cakes, especially cupcakeshis favorite. He also expressed his passion for making wedding cakes for his catering business.
"It's more than just about the food," said Heidt. "It's kind of the style and the look of it, capturing the essence of the bride and the groom in one dessert."
One of Heidt's sentiments as a chef personally and professionally involved with another chef is, "I will say that when you're a chef there's no greater feeling than when someone else cooks for you."
For more on RP Catering & Events, visit www.rpcateringevents.com/ .