Hells Kitchen Season 5 Week 3

February 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

After a great last week with both teams finishing their entire dinner service, Ramsay had high hopes for both teams, and rightfully so with that kind of performance.  The chef told them to get a good night’s rest because they would need it for their challenge in the morning.

At 3 A.M. the assistant chefs barged into the suite and woke up the two teams. They quickly got dressed and were taken to an undisclosed location. Upon arrival, they found themselves at a slaughter house/butchery.  The assistant chefs gave each of the groggy chefs a lesson on different cuts of meat on a cow and where they are located.  Most of them seemed like they didn’t care what they were saying, especially Lacy.

The teams arrived back at Hell’s Kitchen to see Gordon Ramsay with two plastic cows sitting in the dining room.  He gave each team two challenges for this exercise. They were first to identify the meats on plates by sticking signs in them corresponding to the cut, and secondly, they were to take those signs and place them on the plastic cow where you would find the cut.

Both teams quickly identified the cuts on the table, each only having one wrong. The men correctly identified each cut and made quick work on identifying the part of the cow the cut came from.  The ladies were not far behind.  Originally, the ladies had three wrong and the men had only one.  After Lacy got a hold of the cow, she managed to get six wrong because she really had no idea what she was doing.  The men went as far as getting seven incorrect.  It didn’t take them long to fix the mistakes making the men the winners of this week’s challenge.  Their prize was to fly a private jet to a vineyard for a wine tasting, then off to eat some of the best steak in the state.  The ladies had to stay behind and butcher a half of cow, then were forced to eat some of the worst leftover parts imaginable. 

Dinner service was also a challenge.  Ramsay turned the kitchen into a steak house for the night, while one team cooked and the other team served. The team that served the most dinner plates after two hours would win. The men went first, and the women had a hard time getting the orders into the kitchen. Eventually the women made a turn around. The men, however, had a disastrous night.  Charlie lit his towel on fire and could not get the shrimp cooked right. Giovanni, a steak house executive chef, completely destroyed the steaks he cooked, and Seth hacked a filet mignon so badly that he lost the most expensive part of the cut.  

It was now the women’s turn, and Ramsay reopened Hell’s Kitchen.  The men were off to a great start on the floor, but Charlie had another breakdown.  When the orders started to roll in, the women busted them out.  Honestly, I think eating that putrid food made them realize they didn’t want to lose anymore. They started to bring the food out in droves, but it kept coming back.  The men kept saying the food was over or under cooked. Ramsay then checked the meat only to agree with the women chefs… it was cooked right.  Ramsay actually asked the men’s team if they were trying to sabotage the women.

The night came to a close after the teams’ two hours expired.  Ramsay tallied up the comment cards, and the tally on the plates that left the kitchen.  The worst servers were Lacy and Charlie, and the women sent out the most plates making them the winners.  The men were sent back to figure out who was going home.  Seth felt he was the best chef on the line and stated that Giovanni should go. This, in turn, really angered the men and Giovanni.  They also didn’t believe that the women brought the tickets fast enough in order to give them a chance at victory.

Ramsay met the men after a few hours and asked for their nominees.  The men chose Seth and Charlie.  When he asked them why they should stay, Seth gave Ramsay a long and drawn out butt kissing, sob story.  In the end, he chose Charlie to leave Hell’s Kitchen and sent Seth back.  The men were surprised, as was I.  I truly believe Seth should have been the one to go.

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Hell’s Kitchen Week 2

February 7, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The up and coming chefs made it through a grueling first week and were able to move into a more comfortable week two.  There is always something comforting about knowing you are not the first one to go home, however, the stakes rise each and every week this contest goes on.  

This week both teams prepared to take the game a bit higher, but for one of the ladies, fate would rear its ugly face as a tragic incident would occur.  Ji ends up hurting her ankle, leaving her in immense pain.  Despite her distress, Ji would fight through it and perform her kitchen duties as if nothing ever happened.  She was so impressive, most of her teammates forgot she was injured. Ji’s cooking was top notch, and she never complained about her misfortune.

However, some of the women would fall short of that kind of heroism.  Colleen and Lacy proved again to be the weaker links for the ladies team.  Colleen, the culinary school teacher/owner, could not cook salmon correctly.  She kept burning the fish and somehow, it remained raw inside.  Lacy, who has twice given up, came back to complete the day, taking over on fish for Colleen.

The men also had some misfortune of their own.  The women were blowing out their entrees, yet the men were struggling to even get to theirs.  They looked like ants without a purpose in the kitchen.  Ramsay was completely disgusted with the men, but he remained hard on them which seemed to get them back on track.

Before the night was up, Ramsay would kick Colleen out of the kitchen. Not long after, the men started blowing out entrees with no returns, and it became a race to the finish.  Ramsay told both teams that the men had four entrees left to serve and the women had five.  Whoever finished all their entrees first, would win. In a heated race to the finish, the men got their entrees done first, making the ladies the losing team for the week. Amazingly, for the first time on Hell’s Kitchen, both teams got through the entire night, and on only the second week.

Before they left to their dorms, Ramsay gave Ji an amazing compliment. To sum it up, Ramsay said he has never seen such passion and courage in which Ji showed tonight.  He said she is a model for all the others to follow.  She never gave up and finished with pride.  Then Ramsay split everyone up to discuss who was going home.

The women came back to confront Ramsay, who had asked the ladies who their choice was and why.  The women chose Lacy and Colleen, for obvious reasons.  Both women stated their case, before Ji spoke up.  ”Chef, it’s a great honor to serve you in your kitchen, it’s a dream of mine.  However, I feel I am a burden to these women with my current injury. I want this team to win, but I will only be baggage, so I nominate myself.”  Without hesitation, Ramsay asked both Colleen and Lacy to get back in line, and he sent Ji home.  The women were shocked and begged for reconsideration.  Ramsay went up to the ailing Ji and told her he had never seen such courage on Hell’s Kitchen.  ”Ji, you are a model chef for all to mimic.  It’s a shame you will leave due to an injury.  Keep your coat as a reminder of your bravery and excellence.”  With that, Ji was wheeled out in her wheel chair by her teammates, to a standing ovation by both teams.  Never has a contestant ever left without giving up their coat.

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Hell’s Kitchen Season 5- Week 1

February 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Last night marked the fifth season of Hell’s Kitchen. This year the stakes are even higher than the previous ones because everyone knows Ramsay’s standards and how he wants things to run.  There should be NO EXCUSES.

Season five started off with the signature dish tasting by Ramsay from each one of the contestants.  Last year he threw up and spit out more of the food than he ever did before.  This year he only spit out two dishes, a vast improvement from last year. Ramsay raved this was the best signature dish tasting ever.  With that tasting, the stakes grew and  so did Ramsay’s expectations for season five.

This year in the mix of personalities, the egos are still pretty high.  There is a mix of gay and lesbian, Asian, African-American and even a good ol’ boy.  Each one has some experience in the field, but the one I expect to take a firm leadership role and set an example for their team is Colleen.  She is a teacher of her own culinary school so how bad can she be?  Amazingly, she had one of the two signature dishes that Ramsay spit out.  He actually said it was the worst he ever tasted.  Colleen got offended and actually mentioned to Ramsay that “she also teaches manners in her school.”  When he asked her to repeat the statement, she clammed up fast.  Ramsay also found out that Colleen never was a trained cook.  This could greatly damage her school’s credibility and accreditation.

The start of Hell’s Kitchen service went pretty smooth, despite a breakdown from Lacey who said she quit after only ten minutes into the prep for the night, but returned just before service started.  It was not looking good for the women’s team; even though they are the team to beat and last year’s winner was Cristina from the ladies team.

After about 30 minutes into the service a generator blew, then another and another, till Hell’s Kitchen went completely dark.  Giovaini and Carol were servers for the night because each team had too many people.  Carol, to avoid her customers leaving and getting upset at the blackout, served small amounts of wine them.  Giovaini froze and waited for things to resume.  It wasn’t long before the power was back and things were running smoothly… but not for the kitchen.

Lacy didn’t have her stove on, Colleen decided to revamp Ramsay’s recipe which was a possible death sentence.  The men were not any better, fighting like they did last year. Wil completely broke down the garnish station while the rest of the men were serving undercooked and burnt food, making Ramsay look like he was going to have a stroke.

The teams didn’t even get to half the entrees before guests started walking out.  Ramsay closed the kitchen and the dreams of one contestant.  Since both teams were atrocious, Ramsay let the patrons decide.  The vote was on how well the servers performed on the floor.  Carol got a 83% approval rating by her customers, while Giovaini received less exemplary marks with 91% saying he was horrible.  The ladies won the first night of Hell’s Kitchen.

In the end, the men nominated Seth and Wil.  Wil actually nominated himself.  Ramsay listened to both men plea their case, and finally sent Wil packing. Ramsay’s reasoning was that Wil didn’t have any faith in himself, or his ability.  That is the key to being a great chef.

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Hell’s Kitchen – The Winner

July 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment

We all knew it was going to be a crazy finale, you had two of the most unlikely candidates competing for the spot as Ramsay’s Executive Chef at his new London – LA Restaurant.  We all knew some of the horrible chefs who competed would be coming back to help these two candidates, but which ones?  What we saw in this finally would surprise us and, quite frankly, make this finale one for the books that we will talk about for years to come.

Week of June 28th

Christina – Set a record on Hell’s Kitchen because the women won almost all the challenges, but when they went to individual challenges, she won three consecutive giving her 9 total victories in the challenge department. Christina wasn’t the most qualified, as she was “just” a culinary student, everyone from Day One wanted her out, especially Jen; but she used that to her advantage and put her heart into every performance and made it to the Final 2.

After Corey was eliminated, she went to her room to create her “OWN” menu.  This menu was extremely important as it defines her as a chef.  Christina amazingly did it before the sunrise the next day.  She created her menu with simple yet tasteful dishes, and if you ever watched Kitchen Nightmares or know Ramsay at all, you will know she is doing exactly what he would do… keep it simple.

She then met with an interior designer to design her side of Hell’s Kitchen.  She chose earth tones to create a relaxing atmosphere: soft couches and chairs and windows that had murals of the city painted behind the frames.  It was going to be beautiful.  

Following the interior designer, she met with Jean-Phillipe to get maître d’ outfits.  She refused to choose any of the examples.  She said she wanted something someone would wear everyday, comfortable and down to earth.  Jean-Phillipe disagreed but made her wishes a reality.

Petrozza – Ramsay said he was by far the messiest cook on Hell’s Kitchen, but he rarely ever hit the bottom two, unlike Christina.  He maintained a level ego and even nominated himself for the cutting block one time gaining the respect of Ramsay and made him a candidate for the finals for sure. 

Petrozza had a hard time coming up with a menu, and even though he had all night to come up with one, Petrozza, unlike Christina, decided to go to bed.  In the morning, he was shocked to find out Christina had her menu complete.  He got some help with one of the sous chefs working on the show to pound out a very elaborate and risky menu, but (if successfully executed), would make him the candidate to win Hell’s Kitchen.

After making his menu, he met with the interior designer and came up with something right out of NYC for his dining room.  It has a brick veneer, flowers, and great padded booths… accented perfectly by a fireplace. It looked like a loft in the Soho district.

Ironically, when Petrozza met with Jean-Phillipe, he managed to choose the outfit Christina HATED. Showing how exactly opposite these competitors are.

The Challenge

After all the prep work was ready, Gordon Ramsay took them to his restaurant in New York for their final challenge.  They were to make their signature dishes that would be judged by the Executive Chefs from 6 of Ramsey’s restaurants from around the world.  The last few challenges have been a point or two difference from Petrozza and Christina.  This week would prove no different.  Tied at 2, the tie-break came from the boss of the London- LA restaurant where they will be the executive chef.  He chose Petrozza, ending Christina’s winning streak and giving Petrozza the first choice for his team.

Gearing Up For Next Week

After returning from New York, Christina and Petrozza met the former teammates that would be helping them win Hells Kitchen.  Returning was:  Ben, Jen, Matt, Corey, Louross, and Bobby.  The first choice for Petrozza was Bobby and Christina chose Corey.  Petrozza then chose Ben, Christina chose Louross, leaving Matt and Jen.  Neither Petrozza or Christina wanted anything to do with the remaining two, but we all had to wait for the Grande Finale to see who was chosen last.

July 8, 2008

Back to the teams, Petrozza opted for Jen for his last pick, and Christina was pleased to take Matt for her team rather than Jen.

Everything started off well, except for Christina who was not impressed with her kitchen layout.  She didn’t like the stripes.  The interior designer came up with a compromise and painted them chocolate which made her dining room breathtaking. Petrozza wasn’t free from stress, the designer was unable to contact the people padding Petrozza’s booths. Panicking, they arrived with 15 minutes to spare.

While prepping the food, and Petrozza out of the kitchen dealing with his designer, Jen got some of the biggest set of balls ever, and asked Gordon Ramsay for a letter of recommendation.  This not only floored her team, but the Red Team as well.  Ramsay just ignored her and went on dealing with the preparations of tonight’s service.  No contestant has EVER asked for a letter of recommendation, it just goes to show how petty she is, and how she again tried to take the spotlight away from her own team leader.

ChristinaThe dinner service went well, all tables were served, all patrons happy.  Some slight mishaps came with Matt’s undercooked fish, and Jen’s inability to work with the team, but both Petrozza and Christina bounced back and made it into a success.

In the end, Ramsay was very pleased, saying there were far more ups than downs.  He said it would be a very hard decision, and it was.  Christina and Petrozza said goodbye to their team and went upstairs to await their fate.

Ramsey summoned them to the famous doors.  Each contestant grabbed the handle and awaited the chance to turn it. Christina said, ”good luck,” to Petrozza and Petrozza looked so sick to his stomach, he simply nodded in the affirmative.  When Ramsay counted to three, each contestant turned their door handle…

Christina’s door opened and she won Season 4 of Hell’s Kitchen!  Her parents were in tears, her team elated that she won. Ramsay made the absolute right choice to win Hell’s Kitchen based on pure potential for the long-term success of his new London restaurant.

CONGRATULATIONS CHRISTINA!

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Hell’s Kitchen – the Final Two

June 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Tonight’s episode was especially entertaining, as Chef Ramsay softened up a tad and becomes more of a coach rather than a beast. As he has in previous seasons, he wanted to see how the contestants handle the pressure of running the show from the hot plate “at the pass.”

First up was the competition to mix things up. Everyone’s family was there for a Ramsay-catered lunch. Christina was the only contestant who had the presence of mind to know that something was up and started tasting her food and picking it apart as they ate. Corey and Petrozza were oblivious to the impending doom and the challenge came down on them hard: figure out how Chef made the dish and fix it for him in 45 minutes.

Christina had everything correct except for the puree that she chose rather than cream. Corey had everything right except she chose buffalo over venison. Poor Petrozza had the whole thing right, but plain old forgot to make the puree altogether. With that, Christina won and went on a lame tour of L.A. and a couple of restaurants with Chef and her parents. Corey and Petrozza had to clean the glasses and break blocks of ice by hand.

Prior to dinner service, Chef Ramsay did his usual pep talk to test the contestants’ fire and authority by having them yell at him. Petrozza and Christina pretty much sucked. Then Corey didn’t do too hot for her first attempt and Ramsay threw the plate he was holding as he showed her what authority is all about. Best line of the night: laughing, Petrozza didn’t realize that Ramsay threw it and said, “I didn’t get to break any plates.”

Petrozza manned the hot plate first and missed the sabotage by the sous chef, Scott, who left the peas out of the risotto. Meanwhile, Christina burnt her first attempt at a salmon and then proceded to pass on the replacement raw. Ramsay started getting really mad at her and, of course, asked her if she wanted to go home. Other than those little things, Petrozza did fine.

Corey was next and also missed Scott’s intentional meat sauce swap until she had already poured it on the Wellingtons. Fail! Right from the start, she couldn’t read the food tickets and was very hesitant. After that, she pretty much stayed on top of the game and the kitchen ran smoothly under her watch.

Then it was all eyes on Christina, including all 42 of Ramsay’s eyes. Just to make things difficult, she caught the basil in the mashed potatos rather than the mint. While the kitchen kept turning out food with her direction, the mistakes of earlier were just below the surface, waiting to boil over.

Ramsay refused to pick a winner of the service and told them to each nominate one person.

Corey nominated Christina, Christina nominated Corey, and Petrozza nominated Christina. After a commercial break and a very long sentence, Ramsay revealed that the first finalist is…

Petrozza

After another unbearably long, pausing sentence and some flashback clips, he chose for his second finalist…

Christina

With that, Corey left on good terms and with a British farewell kiss from Ramsay and a couple of compliments.

Final TwoThat’s it, Petrozza and Christina face off next week for the grand prize. If it was anything like last year’s showdown, it is going to be riveting. I’m looking for some celebrities and at least two ridiculously hard contests to decide the winner.
The Expressionist Magazine

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Hell’s Kitchen- Then There Were 3

June 17, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Last week, Bobby a surprise for the chopping block despite a bad night was sent home and Jen who also sat on the mercy of master chef Gordon Ramsey was able to remain another week; and just like that there were 4.

This week, the chefs: Jen, Corey, Petrozza and Christina were asked for their challenge to create their own dish, and it was going to be the “Mother” of all challenges, because they were feeding 86 people!  Each chef prepared their dish, and when Ramsey let in the group of 86, everyone was shocked to see 162 people, there were 86 pregnant women they had to feed. Each chef had their own colored plate and the women would have to judge the food and vote for the plate they liked the best. After all the dishes were served and the women ate, they voted. Their vote would surprise the chefs and the audience. The person coming in 4th place was Corey, who understandingly was last because her dish was not ready when they started serving. 3rd place was Jen, who said she had this in the “bag.” 1st and 2nd place were neck and neck decided by only 2 votes, and Christina won beating Petrozza. Christina’s reward was a shopping spree on Rodeo Drive in beautiful L.A.

The other chefs were sent to clean the kitchen and dining room spotless, then jump on prep work for the nights service. Jen was the only one that got real bent out of shape at Christina and made her emotions well known, proving once again she is a soar loser.

Christina came back from her shopping spree, went up stairs to change and returned to the kitchen to help her teammates prep for the night’s service, and when she did, she returned to a wall of silence as everyone ignored her.

Finally, the doors were opened and the service started, the quarterfinal round was on.  All the chefs performed at their best, Jen ran into some trouble showing her inconsistency.  Corey too was one of the weaker of the top 4. Christina had a great service but managed to burn Chef Ramsey two consecutive times. Finally service was through and Ramsey said it was the best service of Hells Kitchen to date.  He asked all the chefs to collaborate and choose two for the cutting block.

The chefs decided to write two names down on pieces of paper, put them all together and see who’s name shows up the most.  Those two would then be chosen for the cutting block.  Corey took the sheets of paper and totaled up results.  Jen had 3, and Christina had 4.  Corey asked Christina if she voted for herself and she said no, so the chefs knew someone was out to get her and tried to be deceptive and they all knew it was Jen.

Christina, Corey and Petrozza got together and said Jen would be up tonight, but one of them had to go and they were not going to just put up Christina because of the deceptive trick Jen pulled.  They thought together who has the best chance against Jen, and Corey volunteered.

Chef Ramsey asked who was going up, and Christina announced Jen and Corey.  Each one stated their case why they should stay.  Ramsey thought for a moment, and said “Corey”…”Please say goodbye to Jen.” The rest of the chefs were standing there jaw dropped as they expected Corey to go home, but Ramsey wasn’t done. “Jen you are leaving Hells Kitchen.”

Finally, the most egotistical, deceptive and inconsistent chef was going home.  Personally I think she was there way too long, and should have gone last week.  Hell’s Kitchen has the semi-finalists: Christina, Corey and Petrozza.  Next week, they vie for a seat in the finals and the title of Head Chef at Gordon Ramsey’s new restaurant.

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Hells Kitchen – Top 5

June 10, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Last week, Matt was sent home leaving the top 5 chefs:  Jen, Petrozza, Christina, Corey, and Bobby are left to compete for the lead chef position in Gordon Ramsey’s new restaurant in L.A.

This week, the top 5 had a new challenge.  Ramsey made them tutors and each chef had a pupil.  The chefs were to tutor the pupils (5 middle aged women who never step foot in a kitchen) on how to make a lobster pasta dish.  The catch was, none of the chefs could lend a hand, only guide them.  In the end, Christina’s pupil and Corey’s Pupil made the best dishes.  Ramsey decided that Christina would win the challenge.

Her prize was to learn from some of the top restauranters in Los Angeles.  They would cook together and eat the food they prepped.

For the evening, the chefs had a tough dinner.  Hell’s Kitchen had booked a 12 top, of Banana Boat Bikini models and with only 5 chefs cooking, plus the other guests this would prove to be a huge challenge.  Corey and Christina teamed up and sent out flawless appetizers.  When the main course came around, Bobby had a poor night, the first of his stint on Hells Kitchen.  Jen also had a terrible night, showing her attitude and becoming a total baby in the kitchen.  When the dinner service was over Gordon Ramsey was very disappointed in the chefs.  He chose Christina as the best, and had her choose two to put up for elimination.

Christina chose Jen, because under fire she completely freezes up, does not communicate, and was a disaster in the kitchen on the nights service.  She also put up Bobby, because of his performance in the kitchen that night.

Ramsey, looked over the two, sized up what they had to say, and in the end chose to send Bobby home on his first trip up for elimination.  He said his reasoning was that, he expected more from a long career chef, he never took the leadership role, instead he just sailed the safe route when the kitchen was in trouble.  

Personally, I would have chosen Jen to go home.  Her “Better than the rest” attitude has caused her team to lose, she is not a team player and that will be a hinderance to not only her but the rest of the kitchen.  If she keeps this up, I hope her time on the show is short lived.

Currently, for next week there are 3 girls:  Christina, Jen and Corey and 1 man left, Petrozza. 

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