Hell’s Kitchen’s Paulie Giganti Dead Due to Drug Overdose
Published on April 23, 2017
Philadelphia chef Paulie Giganti was found dead at his home from possible drug overdose. He was 36.
Police found Brooklyn-born Paulie Giganti at this home in Philadelphia unresponsive. The Medical Examiner told Radar Online that the Hell’s Kitchen chef died at around 8:55 AM on April 20. According to Philadelphia Medical Examiner spokesperson James Garrow, the chef died from “accidental death by drug intoxication. Garrow also told Philly.com that the “office does not release the type of drug involved or whether it was a prescription drug.”
Paulie Giganti was among the competitors of Hell’s Kitchen season 16. Before entering the world renowned cooking competition, he formerly worked as an executive chef for five years at Birra, a popular restaurant in Philadelphia. According to Gordon Dinerman, Giganti was “talented but sometimes troubled.”
“[Pauli Giganti] brought a consistency to our product which is why we are still around,” Dinerman said. “We did a little bit better than a lot of people because of him,” Dinerman told Philly.com. “[He] was definitely a personality, which is how he got on TV. I’ll miss him.” Dinerman also narrated that whenever the show aired, their people would go to Birra to see him on television.
Paul Giganti was not into cooking back then. “I never went to school for cooking. I was going to be an engineer. I just wanted to see how I stacked up against other guys, like ‘school-y’ guys and other people,” he said in an interview with My Take on TV.
“Honestly, the only reason I participated – my owner threw me into it. I didn’t want to do it, but he thought that I would be enough of a character that they would pick me. I went on the show because I’m a hard worker…. As a life experience, I figured when I’m 65 years old, and sitting on the bar stool, what stories am I going to have to tell?” he answered when asked why he joined the competition.
According to Fox, the late chef Paul Giganti’s signature dish was biscotti-encrusted scallops over a crispy polenta with a basil curry cream sauce.
