It is only week three in Hell’s Kitchen but for most of the hopeful contestants it probably feels like an eternity. The women wiped the floor with the men last week. Can they do it again or will the men come back and prove they can cook?
As we look back on last week Josh is still angry Rock nominated him to go home. He said he felt safe going into the nominations and now he knows someone has it out for him. Rock said it was because Josh tried to be a leader but he isn’t ready yet. Rock also said that right now they are all just cooks and Josh took exception to being classified as a cook rather than as a chef.
The women on the other hand are patting each other on the back at the wonderful job they did. They all decided to turn in but Julia who stayed up to study.
For those who like to sleep late or wake to soft music, 5:58 AM came too soon, and their sleep was sabotaged by service men waking them to the jarring sound of a bugle playing reveille and ordered to hustle, hustle, hustle. Bonnie was caught in the shower with conditioner in her hair and looked like a drowned rat. Poor Aaron was so exhausted two of the other men had to dress him…how embarrassing and yet so like Aaron he took it in stride.
Chef Ramsay greeted them with words of disappointment. He told them the most important thing in running a restaurant is consistency but last night nothing was consistent. IF they can’t run a kitchen then they are not ready to run a restaurant.
The teams were soon told their challenge for today was serving breakfast. This was the first time ever Hell’s Kitchen had a breakfast service. But it wasn’t just any breakfast service. The women (Red team) would be serving the Army and the men (Blue team) would be serving the Navy. They were all excited about the opportunity to serve America’s finest. Julia, in tears said she felt so honored and Joanna, being typical Joanna, said that she thought the men in uniforms were sexy.
The women decided to make Julia the leader for the breakfast service. Finally they were going to give her a chance to show what she can do. You’d expect this would be considered an honor but it was just another backhanded attempt at telling her she was good for nothing but serving breakfast. If it had been me I would have told them to pick somebody else. All she could possibly prove to them is what they already believed … she was only good as a short order cook.
In the blue kitchen the men put Aaron on omelets. What a horrible mistake. When one of the major parts of breakfast is the eggs why would they do something so stupid? Well they are men after all. :laugh
It became apparent quite early the women were ready to serve with Julia at the helm and the men were just starting basic training. The women were working together, communicating and actually paying attention when Julia told them what to do. After only 20 minutes they had sent out 50 plates of food.
Oh poor Aaron. How does he survive even cooking at a retirement home? Try after try resulted in burned omelets. Finally with none of the Navy receiving any food Chef Ramsay kicked Aaron off of the egg preparation and replaced him with Josh and Brad. Finally the poor Navy began to get some food.
Speed almost became the women’s downfall, at least for Joanna. Suddenly all the meals they served were being sent back with raw potatoes. Even those lined up to be sent out were discovered to have undercooked potatoes on them too. Chef Ramsay called all of the women over and made them touch the potatoes. He got disgusted with Joanna and told her to shut up. She was serving undercooked and overly salty potatoes. So after 30 minutes of service the women hit a roadblock. Ramsay told Julia to take control and ignite the women.
Guess what, back at the Blue kitchen it was the same problem. The men were also sending out cold potatoes. Chef Ramsay came down on them and told them they couldn’t work as a unit. :wacko
When the women completed their service, much to the dismay of the men, Ramsay sent Julia over to the Blue kitchen to take charge. He told her she had done an exceptional job and that she was in her element. It makes one wonder if maybe even the great Chef Ramsay was unintentionally showing everyone where he believes Julia’s talents are also. Okay maybe I am making too much of this but all Julia was really able to do is prove she can do breakfast. He did however thank her after she helped them men get all their service men served.
The troops said they really enjoyed the breakfast.
A real compliment emerged from the actual mouth of Chef Ramsay: “Well done ladies!”
The men on the other hand … well they got what normally comes out of Ramsay’s mouth. They were a complete mess! And that was the nicest thing he said to them.
As the losing team the men were put on KP duty. They had to peel over 1000 pounds of potatoes (their worst nightmare) and onions. The women on the other hand received a helicopter ride to the USS Midway. It is the longest serving aircraft carrier in Naval history. They received a tour and lunch with Chef Ramsay who told them once again, consistency every day is the most important thing they have to do.
Let’s run back to Hell’s Kitchen where drama is once again unfolding. Aaron, fell asleep on his feet or fainted and landed on his not so talented behind. Sadly it was a little more serious then first expected. The medics were called and Aaron was rushed to the hospital.
The women arrive back at their quarters and decide to grab some wine and hot tub time. The men, having finally completed their punishment meet to choose a leader. Or at least three of the did. Rock, Josh and Brad all threw their hats into the ring. After considering what may happen, Josh withdrew his ‘hat’ and threw his support to Brad, leaving Rock with only his own vote. Of course in is aside to the camera we hear that Rock was going to out think them. Personally I don’t think, under the previously seen circumstances, that won’t be too hard.
As it comes time to prepare for the evening service the men begin with confidence under their new leadership, Brad. The women on the other hand are feeling the pressure to continue winning.
Right away the other women start asking Julia if she knows anything about the food they will be serving for the evening. Much to the unmasked delight of some of the women Julia had never heard of crème brule. I know it is a pretty great creamer for my coffee, but don’t think that is the Crème Brule they were talking about.
{Crème brûlée (French for "burnt cream"; IPA: [ˌkɹɛm bɹuː ˈleɪ] in English, [kʁɛm bʁy le] in French) is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hard caramel, created by burning sugar under a grill or other intense heat source. It is usually served cold in individual ramekins. The custard base is normally flavoured with just vanilla, but it can be flavoured in a number of ways: with chocolate, a liqueur, fruit, etc.
It is first attested in France, in Massialot's cookbook, in 1691. The French name was used in the English translation of this book, but in the early 18th century, it was called "burnt cream" in English.[1]
In Britain, it is associated with Trinity College, Cambridge, where the college arms were "impressed on top of the cream with a branding iron"[2]. It was introduced to Trinity College in 1879,[3] though some cookbooks claim a much older origin. [4]
Sometimes the hardened sugar on top will be given a Maillard reaction, or caramelization, by igniting a thin layer of liqueur sprinkled over the top.
In Catalonia (Spain), it is called crema catalana, and has a custard base flavoured with lemon and cinnamon. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr%C3%A8me_br%C3%BBl%C3%A9e)}
Before the service started Chef Ramsay called Aaron at the hospital. Aaron was telling him he wants to come back, but unfortunately that is not to be. Chef Ramsay told him that he has a serious illness and per doctors orders he cannot return to the restaurant. Aaron thanked him for the opportunity. (I am a little sad now that I ever made fun of Aaron and I hope whatever is wrong with him will be corrected and that he lives a long healthy life … just not as a chef)
Chef Ramsay’s response to the Blue team finally picking a leader, was “thank goodness.”
I doubt that sentiment will last long, but then maybe I am a little pessimistic.
Right away the Chef was on Rock. It seems when Rock sweats he closes his eyes to clear them. Whether Ramsay didn’t understand that or just wanted someone to yell at, he belittled him and called for a hankie so Rock could wipe his eyes.
On appetizers, in the Red kitchen, Joanna said it was now time to shine and lead. {How can you take something back when just a few minutes later you make a major mistake?}
Ramsay was livid when Joanna’s risotto was soft and salty. Of course he made her taste it.
One the object of his ridicule Ramsay was now praising Rock for his nice risotto. I suppose he is one of those guys who yells, gets things off his chest and then forgets about it … sure he is!
Josh was sent for water when Jean Phillpe advised Ramsay that they were out of water. Of course Josh complained because the bags of potatoes he had to carry earlier were so heavy and he was worn out.
While the men were beginning to work together, Bonnie once again sent out raw scallops. This along with Joanna’s risotto disaster set the women’s kitchen back.
Poor Joanna …. tonight was just not her night. Here the poor girl is busting her butt to get the spaghetti out only to be blasted by Ramsay for cooking with rancid crab meat. The smell was ghastly and everyone could smell it but the dear girl who was cooking with it. The thought of customers getting sick on the rancid crab meat, had Ramsay even more belligerent than before. Joanna was kicked off of her station and Julia took it over.
One hour into service and the Red kitchen had not served a single table. The Blue kitchen however had served appetizers to approximately half of their tables.
Just one little mistake however and all the praise become curses. Ramsay smashed a raw egg on the front of Vinnie’s jacket. The anger in Vinnie’s eyes was enough to prompt Rock to take his arm and pull him away from Ramsay. It really is mind blowing that someone hasn’t knocked Ramsay on his behind yet … but the season is still early.
Thanks to Julia and Jen the women were getting their appetizers out to the diners. Suddenly though, Ramsay called for more spaghetti and Jen had already thrown it away. Because she didn’t want to be yelled at Jen went and pulled spaghetti out of the trash. When she brought it back Julia asked where she got it from. Jen told her and thank goodness Julia didn’t let her serve it. Also thanks to Julia, Chef Ramsay didn’t know about it either.
Switch back to the Blue kitchen and Ramsay is ranting at Josh, accusing him of trying to sabotage his kitchen. Josh assures him that he isn’t but Ramsay of course isn’t listening. Ramsay calls him a bastard and said he deserves a kick in the ‘ass.’ This all because his station wasn’t going to be ready when the Wellington was done.
The Blue kitchen was still working on getting out their first entrée. Brad showed Ramsay, Wellington, which looked okay the way they were sitting but when Ramsay picked them up they were all burned. I honestly can’t believe Brad thought he’d get them by Ramsay.
Wellington’s were the downfall in the Red kitchen also. Jen was able to come up with only 3 out of 17 that could be served. The rest were all overcooked.
Finally the diners get tired of waiting for their food and start leaving. Ramsay yells at the kitchen to ‘get out’ but we go to commercial break and this line of thought is not picked up when we return. It was not clear if he was yelling at the diners, which I doubt, or the cooks, which is probable.
Ramsay expressed to the wannabe chefs that he is exhausted and shattered by tonight’s service. He said that 95% of the Red teams diners were not served entrees. He would never trust Bonnie again after serving raw scallops. They all had made embarrassing mistakes.
Once again there was no winner. The Red team, however were chosen as the losers. They were instructed, as a team to select two for nomination.
Back in their quarters Joanna was the first to speak. She felt the nominations should be her and Jen. She felt they did the worst tonight. I must admit I was surprised that Joanna stepped up and admitted she failed them.
Melissa wasn’t buying getting rid of Jen. She felt Julia should be the other nominee. She said as a line cook she doesn’t know the product like those of them who had worked in fine dining establishments. She said there is no way Julia could run her own restaurant. It took her (Melissa) 10 years to learn her craft and she doesn’t think Julia can learn it. So on what appeared to be Melissa and Bonnie’s say so, the nominations are Joanna and Julia.
Back in front of Chef Ramsay Joanna tells him that she is the first nominee. When asked who the second is he said that the others chose Julia. Before the words were out of her mouth, Jen spoke up and said that she was the other nominee.
Ramsay asked Julia why she was nominated. To paraphrase she said they didn’t think she fit in in a fine dining restaurant. When asked Jen recounted for Ramsay the incident with the spaghetti. He did not ask Joanna.
He asked Julia why she should stay and she said she was not out of her league here. She was here for a reason. Ramsay agreed and told her to get back in line.
Jen said that she loves her job and taking charge of situations.
Joanna said she knows her performance tonight was weak but she would never give him trash. He said no, you’d just cook with rancid crab meat.
We bid adieu to Joanna. Her jacket was removed and her photo burned. As she left she said that this was not going to get her down. She still plans to follow her dream and someday have her own restaurant. This experience has made her stronger.
Ramsay told the rest he hopes they have listened and learned. Jen he told to stay away from trash bins. Of Joanna he said she gave up and screwed her team. If she can’t run a station she can’t run a restaurant.
I really didn’t care all that much for Joanna, but I would much rather have seen Melissa leave. She stayed under the radar tonight, crawling into focus for the sole purpose of once again ridiculing Julia. I wonder if she has ever heard of reaching for the unreachable star, or if she knows what it is like to have a dream and strive for fulfilling it? Whether Julia is or is not capable of running a restaurant, I applaud her for trying and wish Melissa would let it rest once and for all. She is only making herself sound like an arrogant self serving, egotistical witch. I would much rather dine with Julia than Melissa. Someone, once up on a time, gave her a chance, why is she so unwilling to give someone else a chance to rise above their current position?
Who will the fires of Hell’s Kitchen, or rather Chef Ramsay claim next week?
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