Entertainment, TV, Television - Navy Times

Sailor's recipe for prime time

In his first day in the kitchen of Bravo's "Chef Academy," Culinary Specialist 1st Class (SS) Kyle "Kup" Kupiszewski was more than a little out of his element: Instead of cooking for a crew of 150 sailors in a galley deep below the ocean's surface, he was preparing a meal for an internationally renowned chef in a culinary academy in Los Angeles.

The ordeal of the transition from the kettles and grills in the galleys of the attack submarine Scranton — and the failing grade chef Jean Christophe Novelli handed his portabella marsala to close the first episode of the series — was a wake-up call that the skills honed in his 11-year career as a cook aboard a submarine weren't going to cut it.

"I knew I was starting at the very bottom being there, not having any really big pan skills and skills that these other people have coming from restaurants," he explained.

The silver lining? His naval background provided a variety of skills his cast-mates hadn't learned in their culinary academies and restaurant gigs. Many of the other chefs-in-training's nerves got the better of them as they struggled to impress their instructor.

After the daily pace of a submarine galley, Kupiszewski knew how to perform under pressure.

"Chef actually kind of got mad at me, because he'd see everyone else flopping and twitching and me just standing there cooking," Kupiszewski said. "He'd always ask me, 'Why are you looking like this? Why don't you ever smile when you cook?' It's because I'm in the zone and nothing can really take me out of my zone."

The series centers on the inaugural class at the Novelli Academy, as Novelli prepares to open a culinary school in the U.S. Nine hopefuls learn their craft, culminating in a weekly challenge. Students who fail more than three challenges are dismissed.

With the pressure on, Kupiszewski said he quickly came up to speed on the skills he needed to compete. It was then that his military-based skills, particularly his leadership abilities and knack for delegation, became assets.

"The military really is my backbone," Kupiszewski said. "It's my building block for my success on the show, I guarantee it. I wouldn't have been as successful as I was if I wasn't a submarine cook."

"Chef Academy" airs on Bravo every Monday at 11 p.m. EST. Visit www.bravotv.com for information on repeat airings.

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Matt Schild is a Military Times feature writer.