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Instead, he opted to toil in a summer heat that will eventually give way to the winter frost — inside an 8-by-20-foot kitchen trailer that’s across the street from the construction site that will someday house the steakhouse he’ll run.

Maybe this is the definition of purgatory.

“That’s a good analogy,� says Benton, a 2008 Lincoln Southwest High School graduate who had been the executive chef at Champions Run since 2019.

Before Phil Ruhlman and his brothers broke ground on Oxbow Crossing — the 6-acre development that upon completion will consist of a Bryan Health Physician’s Network clinic, a Runza location, a meat shop, a 48-unit apartment complex and the Ruhlman’s Steakhouse Phil has always dreamed of owning — they hired their executive chef.

And Benton didn’t hesitate with the opportunity to jump-start the project — from choosing the cooking equipment, flatware, dishes and glasses to developing the menu to the meat that will be cut to his specs — even if the first meal from the Ruhlman’s Steakhouse kitchen remains more of a dream than anything.

“The opportunity to get in on the ground floor of starting a restaurant was exciting to me,� Benton said. “Being a part of the design phase and choosing equipment — that kind of thing.�

Ruhlman had no problem hiring the executive chef he wanted — even eight months before opening night.

However, there was a caveat.

“I said, ‘I’ll hire you but we’ve got to do something for eight months,’� Ruhlman said. “I went to buy a food truck right after that conversation.�

The plan is for the food truck to be open Wednesday through Sunday, serving burgers and brats — typical lunch fare — with a few specialty items, while also being open for breakfast on the weekends.

“We’re going to do this until we get the steakhouse open,� Ruhlman said.

The bright yellow trailer, camped in a parking lot for a bank and gas station on U.S. 6 — overlooks the construction site, while offering Ashland residents another dining option.

On Tuesday, hours before ground was ceremoniously broken to begin the Oxbow Crossing construction project, Benton was busy inside the tiny trailer.

It was 85 degrees outside and much warmer inside with the flat top grill, deep fryers and ovens, not to mention the sun reflecting off its metal walls.

“It’s tight and it’s hot in here,� he said, as he marinated a batch of Korean ribs without an ounce of complaint in his voice. “It’s a close-knit team and we have a great family, so we are loving this.�

His food truck fare will provide Ashland with a small indicator of what’s to come.

“That excites me,� he says.

For the boyish-looking 33-year-old, making food has always been his calling.

Benton was 15 when he told his parents — both of whom work in the finance sector — that he wanted to become a chef.

“It took them a couple of days to digest that, but they’ve been very supportive,� he said.

A week later, he was working at Wilderness Ridge Country Club, bussing tables before eventually moving into the kitchen.

Before graduating from Lincoln Southwest and moving on to the culinary program at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, he had several years of restaurant experience on his resume.

He graduated in 2013 and moved back to Lincoln, where he was hired as the culinary director and executive chef for the Pillar Restaurant Group, where he oversaw the kitchens for Venue Restaurant & Lounge, Piedmont Bistro and the now-closed Cactus Modern Mexican and Cantina.

He went to Champions Run in 2019, but the allure of starting something new in Ashland — brand new and yet in the mold of Misty’s, the iconic Lincoln steakhouse where Ruhlman tended bar during his college days at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln — was too great for Benton to turn down.

“Misty’s is a great restaurant with a good reputation and I’ve got big shoes to fill,� Benton said. “But what excites me is that I really have an owner that is giving me the reins, someone who is giving me the ability to control what I want to control.�