Jason Santos watches his performance on Hell's Kitchen at Gargoyle's in Davis Square. ~Photo by Andrew Firestone

By Tom Nash

Gargoyles on the Square chef Jason Santos’ stint on a prime-time reality TV show is furthering the city’s culinary reputation one pick-up line at a time.

Santos survived one more week on Hell’s Kitchen, the Fox reality show where cooks compete under pressure, and in front of millions of viewers, to prove their kitchen skills.

Santos, 34, has served as executive chef at Gargoyles since 2005, where he has cultivated a menu billed as “American cuisine with Asian inflections.”

“I like to make things that make people ask, “What the hell is this?’” Santos explained. “I’m a big texture guy – I like to change textures.”

While the Melrose-born chef has a reputation for innovation, Santos said the opportunity to appear on the show was a way to get exposure beyond anything he could cook up himself.

As he prepared on Tuesday for the airing of the season’s eighth episode, in which he was among the final four contestants, he explained auditioning to be on to notorious chef Gordon Ramsay’s show last year seemed like a good move for both him and the restaurant.

“A chef has to be somewhat charismatic,” Santos said of the decision to submit to two months of isolation from the outside world as he faced off against other chefs for the chance to work for Ramsay in London. “You can’t pay for this kind of exposure. The last episode had 7.7 million viewers.”

Santos has hosted weekly viewing parties of the show at Gargoyles on Tuesday nights, with a loyal following showing up to watch the contestants get berated by Ramsay and forced to turn on each other to survive.

While Gargoyles on the Square co-owner James Conforti says Santos’ new celebrity status has helped business, the customers remain mostly locals.

“We have a very loyal town base,” Conforti said. “[“Hell’s Kitchen”] is introducing us to a whole new crowd, from the suburbs.”

“The show came at the right time for us,” he added. “After 15 years, wee needed a shot in the arm.”

In a show whose high ratings seem built on Ramsay’s swear-laden tirades against his contestants as they complete various cooking challenges, Santos has managed to stand out both for his skills and his  flirting with fellow contestant Holli Ugalde.

“I have two goals on ‘Hell’s Kitchen,’” he tells viewers in episode seven. “One is to win. The other is to sleep with Holli.”

While not going into details, Santos said heavy editing was a factor in how he has come across on screen so far.

“Everybody believes what they see,” he said. “I’m getting emails asking, ‘Are you still together?’”

While Santos is bound by a non-disclosure agreement form revealing the results of either the romance or the final outcome, he has kept fans guessing on his Twitter account. Referring to last week’s episode, where he’s seen with Ugalde in a hot tub before cutting to a commercial, he asks, “Did I sleep with her? Yes or no?”

During a commercial break from Tuesday’s episode, in which Santos had just won the week’s challenge of teaching a novice how to prepare monkfish, Conforti said Santos knew exactly what the show’s producers were looking for.

“He knows what gets camera time,” Conforti said. “He’s playing the game.”

The game has lasted beyond the taping. Santos said he enjoys being stopped on the street for autographs and hosting friends at the restaurant each week. He has also stopped regretting the decision to compete, which in addition to putting up with Ramsay required contestants to be cut off  from the outside world, with even pens forbidden. He rarely got more than three hours of sleep each night.

“There were days (while filming) when I seriously considered cutting myself so I could go home,” he said. “They break you.”

Santos didn’t seem to be reliving that stress as he stood watching the show alongside Conforti and patrons on a big-screen television, as they cheered and groaned in response to Ramsay’s various compliments and criticisms – all delivered in the same indignant scream.

After building up to an elimination, Ramsay showed a rare moment of restraint and refused to force anyone out.

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and the best,” Santos says at the end of the episode. “I want to win and come home.”

Santos’ success means Gargoyles on the Square will be hosting another viewing party next Tuesday at 8 p.m. As the final commercial break for last night’s episode came on, Santos said the restaurant would be fully booked for that night within a half-hour.