ROCKLAND, Maine — Rockland chef Max Miller is passionate about food.
He will show off his passion, culinary talents and wiles to a broader audience when an episode of “Cutthroat Kitchen” airs Feb. 22 on the Food Network.
Miller said he enjoyed the experience of traveling to the West Coast and filming the episode in late summer in Los Angeles, but he cannot discuss specifics about it until after it is broadcast.
His name was referred to a friend of a friend on Facebook who is a scout for the network and he was approached to apply. He did and soon was on his way.
“When you are a kid from sleepy Rockland, Maine, and get flown out to L.A. and put up at a swanky hotel, it’s cool,” the 27-year-old Miller said.
“Cutthroat Kitchen” states on its website that it is not a typical cooking competition.
“A player, in addition to being a good chef, must be able to outwit and, at times, sabotage opponents in order to win,” according to the Food Network.
Each episode features four people vying in three rounds to win up to $25,000 cash. At the beginning, $100,000 is split evenly among the players to spend however they wish during the game. The chefs spend the money at auctions to get things that could help them — such as the exclusive use of salt — or hinder their opponents by, for example, prohibiting them from tasting a recipe in progress. Each round eliminates one chef, until there is a winner, according to the Food Network.
Miller comes from a family of cooks. His parents — Kate Grinnell-Miller and Mike Miller — own The Landings Restaurant in Rockland and have operated other restaurants in the city, including Grapes and Bricks. They both have more than 30 years of experience in running restaurants.
Max Miller, who is the executive chef at the Landings, worked at the family’s restaurants when he was in high school and did everything from washing dishes to cooking.
But upon graduation from Rockland District High School in 2005, Miller said he had no interest in a career in the restaurant business.
“The last thing I ever wanted to do was be a cook,” he said.
He attended Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor where he was planning on focusing on welding. However, he was not enamored by the lack of hands-on training during the first semester. His days were filled with courses such as English, psychology and computers. He eventually stopped going to classes and later dropped out of the school.
After a brief hiatus, his mother convinced him to go to the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont, where he completed the two-year program by 2009.
His final internship with the school was at the Samoset Resort in Rockport.
Miller’s first restaurant job after school was at Lily Bistro in Rockland.
Lily Bistro has a very different market than his family’s restaurants, he said, explaining why he did not feel he was competing against the then family-run Bricks restaurant.
“I couldn’t fit all I wanted to do on a pizza,” he said.
Miller then sent out resumes to restaurants in Boston and said he was speechless when he received a telephone call from chef Ken Oringer of Clio restaurant, a modern French restaurant in Boston that serves late-night ramen on weekends and is known for its emphasis on artful presentations and exotic ingredients.
“He is the chef I have considered almost a god,” Miller said.
The Rockland chef spent six months working at Clio and then at other restaurants in Boston, including The Salty Pig, a bistro with an emphasis on pork-based dishes using both house-made meats and hand-selected cheeses. Another restaurant Miller worked at was Aquitaine, which refers to itself as an elegant Parisian-style bistro offering traditional French cuisine.
Miller said while he enjoyed and gained a lot of knowledge and experiences from working in those restaurants, he realized that city living was not for him. He returned to Rockland and now works as the executive chef for his parents’ restaurant located on Rockland Harbor.
The Rockland man said his philosophy on cooking is to use his artistic ability to paint emotion on a plate.
Miller said that he is known locally for his unique take on the classic BLT sandwich. On lettuce and tomato are paired with slices from a large slab of slow-roasted bacon that he makes himself, giving it a barbecue flavor and texture.
“It’s where art and craft come together,” he said.
“Cutthroat Kitchen” with host Alton Brown airs at 9 p.m. Sunday nights on Food Network.