Hell’s Kitchen 2’s Heather West no longer works at Red Rock; Rock starts his job as head chef

Rock Harper, the winner of Hell’s Kitchen 3, started his job as head chef of a restaurant in Las Vegas last Monday, becoming the first winner in the show’s history to actually win the announced prize.

Previously, the show’s winners have been given different prizes; last year’s winner, Heather West, was working as senior chef under another chef at the Red Rock at Terra Rossa.

However, the restaurant’s web site no longer includes Heather’s name or picture because she no longer works there. A reservations agent told me this morning that she had a one-year contract, and left after that expired.

The agent mentioned that Rock is now at Green Valley Ranch Resort, where he’s the head chef of Terra Verde. The restaurant’s web site, which says it has an “authentic Italian” menu and a “collection of 1,500 bottles of premiere Italian and California wines,” identifies Rock as the “head chef.” And a press release said he started Sept. 10 “as head chef at Terra Verde Italian restaurant at Green Valley Ranch Resort.”