Foxwoods Resort Casino brought in Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen restaurant and TV show. That means building the contestants’ living areas and cooking space.
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has made an entrance at Foxwoods Resort Casino in a big way, opening a Hell’s Kitchen restaurant and announced that the “Hell’s Kitchen” cooking competition show will be filming there.
One firm, ZDS Architecture and Interiors, has been working with the Mashantucket Pequot tribal nation to plan the flow around new businesses, as well as what they look like.
In some parts of the casino, that meant creating patterns based on tribal designs and incorporating them into carpets and millwork, Zuena said, but the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant was a little bit different.
“It is a lot about the branding, the DNA and the specific products that (Ramsay) insists are in every location,” Zuena said. “We had to incorporate many of the pieces and the finishes that they use that other locations. And then and then we got creative with lighting. We got created with some applications of the artwork.”
These design elements had to be balanced with the casino’s needs. Hell’s Kitchen is operated by the casino, so Foxwoods kitchen staff had been trained on how to make dishes like Ramsay’s signature beef Wellington.
The set for the TV show — it’s not filmed in the restaurant — is also a study in logistics.
“They have a set being built right now,” Zuena said. “They have like the housing areas and the living areas for all the contestants and they have this, temporary arrival experience that they’re building right now. I just walked it last week. Really, really cool stuff.”
An earlier news release from Foxwoods stated that the set was due to be finished by the end of April, according to previous reporting by CT Insider. No date has been set yet for filming to begin.
The contestants’ living areas, Zuena said, have a lot of windows and one-way mirrors to hide cameras. But the show requires a lot more people than just the contestants.
“Believe it or not, they have like, over 200 people on property for the filming,” Zuena said. “They do the whole filming in just a few weeks for the whole season. And so it’s a really, really aggressive schedule. They all come in, and Jason (Guyot, Foxwoods’ president and CEO) is responsible; the casino’s responsible for feeding these 200-plus people three meals a day and housing them.”
ZDS has been working with Foxwoods Resort Casino on a slew of new additions recently. These include the new Woodlands Casino, as well as Zac Young’s Sprinkletown Donuts & Ice Cream and Grace by Nia restaurant and lounge.
“We’ve been working closely with the tribe and their leaders for about six years now,” Zuena said. “We started to do some massive planning for them…We had always envisioned multiple restaurants, sports betting and entertainment opportunities that the casino did not have at the time.”
