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Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Kyle Timpson may live in Philadelphia now, but he hasn’t forgotten his roots in Cape May County. If you ask the chef where to find a good place to eat, he may point you toward Nino’s, an Italian restaurant in Cape May Court House. If you want seafood, there’s a spot in Lower Township where he used to work.
Timpson, with his newfound fame as a reality TV star, hopes to add a few more spots to any foodie’s to-dine list. In February, Timpson won Season 23 of “Hell’s Kitchen,” becoming the first openly gay man to win the reality cooking show hosted by Gordon Ramsay. He won $150,000 and an opportunity to head one of Ramsay’s restaurants.
On Thursday, he announced via Instagram that he accepted the position of executive chef at Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. Ocean Casino Resort plans $50M in renovations this year, including 559 rooms and suites Attorneys for Atlantic City mayor, superintendent say they were just trying to protect their daughter 198-unit affordable housing project breaks ground in Galloway Township Vote for this week's Press High School Athlete of the Week Casino panel: Trump tariff turmoil could hurt gambling business — but also might help it expand Jim Allen rose from dog-walking kid to global gambling titan atop the Hard Rock empire Vineland forest fire up to 1,000 acres, 50% contained, Forest Fire Service says What is next for the former B.L.
England power plant site? Atlantic City police find body while investigating rooming house fire Cape May police call out false missing person post Atlantic City man charged with attempted murder following shooting at party Planned music festival was never going to take place near condos, Atlantic City mayor says Man's bid to cash in $59,000 in chips from long-gone Playboy casino is rejected Alleged drunk driver who killed Mays Landing newlyweds in crash released from jail Person rescued after car goes into Maurice River Last month, Timpson was one of the highlights of the 42nd annual Restaurant Gala, a high-end cooking experience that raised more than $305,000 toward scholarships at Atlantic Cape Community College’s Academy of Culinary Arts. Timpson is making appearances in the wake of his “Hell’s Kitchen” win before his next gig at Foxwoods. On April 26, Timpson will host a dinner at The Pier House at La Mer Beachfront Resort in Cape May, offering a multicourse menu he crafted as well as a meet-and-greet with guests.
“It’s fun, it’s something new every day,” Timpson said while at the gala. “It’s nice because you know what you’re making.” The 42nd annual Restaurant Gala, presented by Atlantic Cape Community College's Academy of Culinary Arts, was held Thursday night at Harrah's Waterfront Conference Center.
‘Everybody likes cupcakes’ Timpson vividly remembers smashing his thumb in a wooden microwave playset while in kindergarten. That’s how long he’s wanted to be a chef. But it really started to manifest over a simple batch of cupcakes.
“When I was in middle school and elementary school, I didn’t have a lot of friends,” said Timpson, who has an identical twin brother, Austin, which he said could sometimes make things difficult. “We’re kind of competing (at the time), so you can’t have the same friends, you know?” So how did Kyle stand out? He baked a batch of Betty Crocker cupcakes straight from the recipe off the box. “Because chocolate cake from the box is delicious!” he said.
“The frosting is horrendous now, but that cake is still great. So I’d bake cupcakes and bring them in to share with my classmates, you know, make friends that way. Everybody likes cupcakes.
” The smiles and happiness his baking generated was the spark. By high school, it became his thing, especially within his family. His mother, Susan, can cook, but didn’t do a lot of it at home.
His sister, Julie, and brother Matt joined the baking craze in 2020. Timpson has early memories learning how to make ravioli with his great-aunt Iala, who is now 101. Kyle Timpson, a 2013 Cape May County Technical High School graduate, won the finale of Gordon Ramsay’s “Hell’s Kitchen: Head Chefs Only," earning $250,000 and a job in a Ramsay restaurant.
“We wouldn’t make normal raviolis ...
the bigger the better,” he said. “Just giant raviolis.” Timpson grew up in Dennis Township and graduated from Middle Township High School in 2013.
While at Middle, he took culinary classes at Cape May County Technical High School. He graduated from the Academy of Culinary Arts in 2016 and worked as an executive chef at Cold Spring Grange in Lower Township for nearly three years. “I’m incredibly proud of Kyle because he’s also a student I had in class,” Academy of Culinary Arts Director Joseph Sheridan said.
Timpson continued working for various seasonal restaurants along the Jersey Shore before moving to Philadelphia in 2021. He’s worked as chef de cuisine aboard Moshulu, a floating restaurant in Philadelphia, as well as senior sous chef at Four Seasons and as the executive chef at an Italian steakhouse. Sheridan saw that love to please others when he taught Timpson.
“Kyle was always polite and respectful toward his chefs,” Sheridan said. “He was a serious student, but he did like to have fun. Socially with his friends, he was like any other young college kid.
He really started to mature as a culinarian when he started working in the industry afterwards.” Fabulous, dramatic, respectful Timpson’s Instagram presence can only be described as fabulous. From photo shoots in brightly colored suits to cooking a “sexy” A5 wagyu steak, he’s amassed more than 60,000 followers.
Even before his “Hell’s Kitchen” fame, his seafood dishes created working in Cape May County and Philadelphia were the stars of his social media. He kept it strictly food — free of youthful drama — and someone at Fox took notice in January 2024. CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – Atlantic Cape Community College awarded about $170,000 in scholarship.
.. “(The talent recruiter) said, ‘I went down a deep rabbit hole of food-related content and I found you,’” said Timpson, adding he was a bit suspicious at first that the message on Instagram could have been a scam.
Season 23 of “Hell’s Kitchen” filmed in May. His mom and Aunt Julie were there to support him in the finale. It was hard and stressful, Timpson said, but he thrived.
“I think the reason I did so well in the challenges and cooking on the fly is because at Moshulu I would run five, six, seven, eight specials a day,” he said, adding others on the show weren’t used to that kind of system. “It wasn’t that they weren’t good chefs, it’s just a lot of people can’t think on the fly like that.” Timpson loves that aspect of cooking at a high level, not just on the show but as a chef, because cooking the same food every day can get boring, he said.
At no point in the season did he think he could win it, not because he didn’t have confidence in his cooking but because he didn’t want to get ahead of himself, especially on a season where each competitor was a head chef. It wasn’t until he made it into the top three that he felt he had an advantage, especially when he formed his team for the finale of the people he felt he’d work the best with. Then there was the drama, which Timpson said is what draws people to the show.
“It was chaos. So dramatic,” he said. “There’s so much they didn’t show that I can’t talk about.
And had I lost, I would have been canceled! Oh man, the things I said about some people in the confession (taping), I would have been canceled on day one. The internet would have had a field day!” MAYS LANDING — The quince is not a food normally found in tacos. As for Ramsay, Timpson said his biggest takeaway was showing respect to the chef, especially when he was delivering his patented constructive criticism.
“You’re not working with him, you’re working for him,” Timpson said. “When he walks in, you (clench up) and stand up taller. .
.. And you have to be.
When he says something is wrong, it’s wrong, even if you know it isn’t. That’s respect.” But he also learned a sense of humility toward fans, because Ramsay always says “yes” to every photo request.
“I don’t think it’s fully set in yet,” he said of his win. Contact John Russo: 609-272-7184 [email protected] Twitter: @ACPress_Russo When: April 26 Where: La Mer Beachfront Resort (1317 Beach Ave.
, Cape May) Price: $175 per person (including tax, gratuity) The menu: multi-course menu by Timpson, featuring : Bluefin tuna crudo with avocado, chili oil, fennel and blood orange Duck breast with dashi, heirloom tomatoes, radish and gooseberry Cape May Scallops with green curry, caramelized pineapple and pickled carrots Halibut with gouda, spinach, nduja, parsnip and sunchokes Cheesecake with lemon, lavender, passion fruit and meringue Satisfy your cravings With our weekly newsletter packed with the latest in everything food. Digital producer Author twitter Author email {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items..
