Vena said, “The ultimate goal for me is to watch students walk in the program and to watch them bloom and walk across the stage with all this knowledge they've learned and then go out there and be successful. Everything worked out perfectly to get to this point, and I couldn’t be any prouder to represent Chicago and CLC.” “I grew up watching the show, and now I get to cook for legends. “I saw a new door open and a new challenge,” he said. After what he described as a vigorous interviewing process, he was excited to be selected as a participant and showcase to the world what he’s learned during his career. He continued to experience new opportunities earlier this year when he filmed for the upcoming season of “Hell’s Kitchen.”īriantsev received a direct message on Instagram for a contestant search.

“I expanded my horizons and learned a lot about the restaurant industry,” he said. Open, Kentucky Derby and New York Auto Show, giving him opportunities to cook for people from around the country. While he was left wondering where his career might take him next, he found a great opportunity as a travel chef with Levy Restaurants, a company that specializes in fine dining at sports stadiums and events.īriantsev worked events including the U.S. Once the pandemic started, like many in the culinary industry, Briantsev was furloughed. “I had everything I wanted at that point.” “I was operating at a high level and making amazing food in those kitchens,” Briantsev said. After a few years, and a stop working at Roister, a restaurant in Chicago’s West Loop, he came back to GT Prime with his dream position as a sous chef. “He always wanted to push the envelope and veer off the recipe, do something different.”īriantsev graduated from CLC in 2016 and got his first job as a line cook at GT Prime Steakhouse in Chicago. “You can tell by the early stages in the program through when he finished, he was hungry to keep learning every day at the college,” Hospitality and Culinary Management Department Instructor William Vena said. “Serving students and getting feedback gave me the confidence that I knew what I was doing.”īriantsev’s work ethic and drive to be great was evident to his instructors. “Working at Prairie took me over the top and gave me proper muscle memory and experience about what it's like to run a restaurant,” he said. The hands-on experiences he had, including working for CLC’s student-run Prairie Restaurant, helped prepare him to work in a restaurant before he even graduated. “The instructors I had in high school were the same ones I had in college, and I formed great connections with them.”Įverything Briantsev was taught at CLC is what he said he wanted to learn for his career. This helped with his decision to attend CLC after graduation.

After taking home economics classes in middle school, he enrolled in dual credit courses at CLC while in high school. It wasn’t long before he started making culinary classes a focus in his education. A self-proclaimed “watchaholic” of the Food Network, he enjoyed watching shows during which the chefs explained their process. National television is one of the best places to showcase your talent, and College of Lake County (CLC) culinary alum Vlad Briantsev will show off his cooking skills on the upcoming season of “Hell’s Kitchen.”Īs a teenager, Briantsev fell in love with food.

Souschef in yiddish