St. Louis-based pancake artist “Dr.” Dan Drake will be seen showing off his talents with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay on Hell’s Kitchen this Friday, February 1. Drake will appear toward the end of Friday’s episode with a surprise for the show’s contestants.
“I got a random email from the producer, and he said they had seen some of the viral videos we do, says Hank Gustafson, Drake’s friend and business partner. “I think he saw a Game of Thrones one we did, and he was impressed, so he reached out to see if we wanted to be a part of the show.”
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The episode was actually filmed two years ago; like many TV shows, Hell’s Kitchen works on long lead times from production to broadcast. Drake and Gustafson were in New York City in February 2017 when they received a call asking them to fly to California for filming.
“It was kind of poetic,” says Drake. “We had just worked an event in Hell’s Kitchen—the actual neighborhood in New York—earlier that day, and then we hopped on a plane.” Drake and Gustafson arrived, at the Hell’s Kitchen studio in Culver City, California, around midnight for a whirlwind shoot.
“It was very boom-boom-boom,” says Drake. “From the time we showed up at the set to the time we left, it was probably about two hours tops. We got in and mixed our batter. I couldn’t have been out there filming for more than 10 minutes. Then we packed up and headed to the hotel.”
Drake and Gustafson say Ramsay was far different in person than the abrasive, tough-guy persona that’s terrorized chefs onscreen for the past two decades. The Dancakes duo thought they’d missed their chance for a photo with Ramsay when he left the set immediately after filming concluded—but then they were taken backstage to meet him.
“He said ‘Hey, thank you so much,’” recalls Drake. “‘You guys are wonderful. We really appreciate you flying across the country at short notice.’”
“The sweetest guy,” Gustafson adds.
Dancakes has built quite a following in recent years—nearly 300,000 Instagram followers— creating everything from edible portraits and framed “permanent pancakes” to creating time-lapse videos and corporate logos. Drake, who got his start flipping pancakes in Courtesy Diner, and his team of five artists have had multiple viral video hits. Drake even appeared on the Today show in 2013.
The Hell’s Kitchen appearance, however, should be Dancakes’ biggest break to date, thanks to the show’s international reach and availability on demand through such streaming platforms as Hulu.
“I was nowhere near as good [when I was on Today] as I am now,” says Drake. “We’ve gone to seven different countries with this and been featured on the Kids’ Choice Awards. But it’s one thing to say we’ve made pancakes for Katy Perry and another to be able to say ‘Dancakes, as seen on Hell’s Kitchen.’”
The episode airs tonight on FOX at 8 p.m. If you’re heading to First Fridays at the St. Louis Science Center, you can join the Dancakes team to watch the Hell’s Kitchen appearance as it airs. They’ll be creating pancake art for guests from 6–8.30 p.m. at the Anime STL booth (they’re regularly featured at First Fridays). Then, from 8:30–9 p.m., tune in for Hell’s Kitchen.
