All those who had been avid viewers of the “Hell’s Kitchen” reality show would be shocked and saddened by this news. Paulie Giganti, the 36-year-old chef from Brooklyn, who was a contestant on the popular cooking show, was found dead in his apartment. Giganti was found dead in his Philadelphia home, on Thursday, April 20. He was a former chef at Birra in South Philadelphia and participated in season 16 of the famous FOX series, but had never attended any cooking classes before being on the show.
What happened to Giganti?
According to James Garrow, the spokesperson for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Paulie died due to drug intoxication.
However, no information revolving around the type of drug used by Paulie has been revealed. It is also unknown whether it was a prescription drug or not.
Though the spokesperson has not identified the death as a homicide, investigators are eagerly waiting for the autopsy report to come before reaching any further conclusion. Being a notable celebrity, nothing can be presumed beforehand, revealed the investigators. It was also revealed that Paulie had a neat and clean record, which is why his sudden death has come as a shock to friends and colleagues.
The passionate self-taught chef
Paulie had been a part of the restaurant Birra for around five years before he quit in November 2016. The restaurant owner, Gordon Dinerman said that he was that one person in the kitchen who was able to bring consistency to the items that he cooked, and that business flourished because of him.
It was due to this quality that Paulie garnered so much popularity on TV.
When the show featuring Paulie was aired, people used to come to Birra to see the episodes. On one occasion, Paulie was seen arguing with Gordon Ramsay, one of the most celebrated chefs. They had an argument over the quality of food on “Hell’s Kitchen.” The dish which earned Paulie a huge name was “biscotti-encrusted scallops." The dish was listed on Fox as the signature dish of the late chef.
Celebrity chef Giganti
Paulie had confided in an interview previously that “Hell’s Kitchen” earned him plenty of accolades and also made him more confident about cooking. Many of the world-renowned chefs, critics rated his food, which gave him more affirmation that he was on the right track. He shared that he took part in the reality TV show just to see how his skills fared against other contestants who had received some kind of training for cooking.