The Truth About Kori Sutton From Hell's Kitchen Season 19

The latest season of Hell's Kitchen is sure to bring the heat with a new cast of 18 chefs competing in Las Vegas. Naturally, a contestant will be eliminated each week until only the winner remains. If the past 18 seasons are any indication of what's to come, season 19 contestants will have to bring their A-game to impress Mr. Ramsay. The chefs have been divided into two teams, and the impressive Kori Sutton has landed a spot on the Red Team (via Goldderby).

Sutton is from the Los Angeles area, and according to IMDb, her first experience in the kitchen started as a child, when she worked for her family's catering business. But much of her professional time in the kitchen has been spent further south, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. When she was 16 she landed an apprenticeship that took her to Café des Artistes, which Afar refers to as "perhaps Puerto Vallarta's most elegant restaurant." It's an upscale eatery featuring French-Mexican fusion fare in an old home on a hill overlooking the Malecon esplanade. Swoon.

She was also a sous chef at BocaDos STK, a steakhouse with views of Banderas Bay at Garza Blanca Preserve Resort. In 2012, her food was showcased at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic where dishes like Tomatillo Gazpacho with Mezcal and Lime Grilled Shrimp seasoned with Toasted Gaujillo Chili Sea Salt gave festival-goers a taste of Sutton's flair for Puerto Vallarta-inspired flavors (via RE/MAX).

Sutton appeared on an episode in the first season of Food Network's Cutthroat Kitchen. She wins the episode after declaring her motivation is to "prove to her son that mommy really is all that and a bag of potato chips," taking home $7,700. Her next TV stint wasn't as victorious. 

It turns out Bravo's cooking challenge series Top Chef isn't just a popular show here in the U.S. As of early 2020, there have been 24 versions of Top Chef around the world. One of those versions is Top Chef Mexico, which launched in 2016 and has aired two seasons (via IMDb). Sutton was on season one and didn't win it all, but made it through enough challenges to remain in the top five chefs, according to Broadway World.

But, if you can't take the heat, you should get out of the kitchen just long enough until you're ready to come back with even more gusto! Her extensive experience alone makes her a formidable contestant, but fellow competitors could also learn from her philosophy towards cooking: "Food should inspire all the senses and the environment should be warm and welcoming." Sutton may find some of what she's looking for on season 19 of Hell's Kitchen, in which the "environment" promises to be "warm," but "welcoming"? We're not so sure.