The Hilarious Misunderstanding Alex Lenik Had About Hell's Kitchen: Young Guns

When learning about his duties as a "Hell's Kitchen: Young Guns" contestant, then 22-year-old chef Alex Lenik heard the word "Paris" and ran with it. Thinking that the show would be filming in the capital of France, he mentally prepared himself to apply for a French work permit and board an international flight. "I've never been to Paris," Lenik said in a promotional spot for the competition, excitedly rubbing his palms together (via Twitter). "I know that it takes a year or longer," to get a visa, he mused, plotting his application process.

Lenik was close, but not quite right. "Hell's Kitchen: Young Guns" takes place at the Gordon Ramsay Steak restaurant at Paris Las Vegas, a hotel in Nevada, per Caesars. While Lenik didn't get to see the real Arc de Triomphe or Notre-Dame cathedral while filming the cooking competition's Season 20, which aired May 31 on Fox, the prize for this season is a Head Chef position at Gordon Ramsay Steak, according to Gold Derby. From the restaurant on the Strip, he'd at least be close to the tall, twinkling, half-scale replica of the real Eiffel Tower.

"So, who's going to tell him?" "Hell's Kitchen" teasingly tweeted with the clip of Lenik daydreaming about going to Paris, France. Gordon Ramsay reposted the video with a series of face-palm emojis. Lenik joked about the misunderstanding on his Instagram stories, saying, "When they mentioned Paris in the room, I really thought about Paris for a second," with laughing emojis.

Based on Lenik's Instagram page, going to Paris really would have been a dream for the young chef. He has photos of his travels in Thailand, South Korea, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic and also shares his adventures foraging for ingredients and cooking multicultural cuisines. The Illinois-based chef studied at the Culinary Institute of America and has worked for restaurants in Chicago and New York (via LinkedIn). To see how he fares in the competition, composed entirely of chefs under the age of 24, keep up with the Ramsay-hosted show on Fox.