So this is it. The dessert to our entree of weeks of screaming, crying, and general merriment and a tad bit of cooking. We are greeted with 10 minutes (yeah, I timed it) of season recap. A gentle, yet loud, reminder of all the Don’s fallen brothers. I don’t mind so much because in the first minute of the recap I get to see footage of my beloved Dewberry :wub: and his dissent into “Hell”. That big bully Chef Ramsay really pushed him to the edge.

Back to the dining room and it’s minutes after Jess and her family leave through the front door and Chef Ramsay stands before our two finalists. He slaps his hands together and tells them “NOW the real work begins because in the end one of you will have your very own restaurant.” Because up until this point Chef Ramsay believes it’s been a day at the beach complete with picnics and rainbows. He gives them another three seconds with their families. This is more because he’s sure The Don would take his beautiful, but tacky fiancé right there in the front of the restaurant and this is NOT that type of show. :laugh

7:45 a.m.

The boys are lounging in the backyard where Inky can smoke freely and they can feel protected under the watchful gaze Chef Ramsay on the billboard looming above them. They are reminiscing over the past contestants and soaking up the awe that they are the final two. Inky tells us in confessional that he will fight tooth and nail. The Don has a real desire to win. As they are walking out of the backyard Inky ponders “I wonder what the devil has in store for us today”.

Chef calls them and tells them to be in the dining room in two minutes.

9:30 a.m.

DVM tells us surprises are part of Chef Ramsay’s master plan so I think we’re in for a surprise. :oooo

Chef Ramsay, Inky and The Don sit around a table and Chef Ramsay assures the boys they are the best of the best and their biggest test ever is in front of them. He tells Inky that he needs to be more assertive. Inky tells Chef he will “release the beast”. Whoa buddy, this is a family show, let’s keep it zipped up.

The Don is told he’s always going 1000 miles an hour and as much as Chef Ramsay loves the energy he goes too quickly sometimes.

He asks the boys to stand up and I’m sure somebody in production is screaming in his ear to tell the boys to hit their marks or this could get ugly. He very grandly proclaims “this is your final test” and a giant curtain drops between them separating the restaurant in half.

We get the scenario about the dining room divided, the kitchen divided and each get a side. With the use of a designer, they will create their own restaurant, Jeeves will help them choose their wait staff and the ever-present sous chefs will help them come up with their own menus. They have 56 hours to come up with all of this and Chef Ramsay assures them he will be watching every step of the way.

Both guys get to meet with designer, JP and sous chefs to outline their plans. The Don wants more of a party atmosphere and Inky is a “less is more” kind of guy. One of the best moments of the night for me is when The Don was meeting with JP and they were discussing what the wait staff would be wearing. The Don tells him boys dressed like boys, girls like girls. Boys in slacks, shirt and tie and girls…JP asks him “Do you want the ladies in black panties?” **crickets The Don figures out he’s talking about pantyhose, but for a second I thought The Don was going burlesque. :lol:

Inky, on the other hand, wants a more modern approach to his wait staff. More of a unisex look for their attire.

On to the kitchen for menu preparation. Inky is thinking halibut, pheasant, duck, short ribs and The Don is more of a sirloin streak, filet and butter poached lobster kind of guy.

After conferring with sous chefs one last time, they call it a night and head to bed. We get obligatory scenes of union carpenters working through the night. Can you say triple time and a half?

First thing the next morning, the boys run down to see the progress of their rooms. The Don is met by John, the designer, who gives him first snafu of the day. Apparently, they could only get ½ of the wallpaper The Don needs, but they are having some flown in from Philadelphia and they will pick it up at the airport at midnight if necessary.

The Chef does a walk through of both sides of the restaurant. He tells us that he was expecting more creativity from The Don and Inky’s side feels about sparse and cold at this point.

Signature Dishes

Chef Ramsay tells the boys how all restaurants are known by their signature dish. He asks them what their signature dishes are.

The Don is creating a Porterhouse steak for two Italian style. He actually said something far more fancy, but I couldn’t decipher it. Chef Ramsay asks him if it could be done for one person? Does this meal have flexibility? Stammering from The Don.

Inky is making short ribs blah, blah-dibidy-blah. I don’t know. It sounds good though. :D

Chef Ramsay tells the boys to prepare these dishes now. He wants to see them.

Chef’s review:
Don: Porterhouse steak is very masculine.
Inky: Short ribs beautifully brazed, delicate nimble dish.

But wait, Chef Ramsay tells them Chefs shouldn’t cook for themselves, they should cook for customers. He wants to take these dishes to the street and do a taste test. :O Is he kidding? Apparently not because next we see Chef Ramsay, The Don and Inky get out of a van toting their dishes on a silver platter. They will leave it up to the customers whose is better and the winner will get an advantage.

After the majority of the first six or so customers are choosing Inky’s dish over the Don’s, the Don suddenly becomes a car salesman. He likens his steak to a Cadillac even throws in “power steering, windows, locks and doors. What a putz! His strategy is starting to work because the tides are turning and he’s pulling ahead. Chef Ramsay explains to us that when the Don starts to fall behind he tends to get nervous and becomes a salesman.

In the end, Inky pulls out a huge win beating the Don 12-6.

When they return to the restaurant the boys immediately go to check on the progress of their dining rooms. The Don thinks they are in too big of a hurry and he won’t get what he wants in the end. Inky is appreciating everything that has been done and gently caresses the wood walls that were installed while he was gone. I have to admit it was coming out better than I imagined.

Chef Ramsay calls the boys to the kitchen for a meeting. He tells them as head chefs they will be working the pass (or hot plate). They are there to maintain quality control. To practice, Chef Ramsay has decided to feed all of the construction workers who are present.

Inky is on the hot plate first. The Don tells us that Inky doesn’t have a booming voice and won’t be heard by his kitchen staff. Chef Ramsay tells Inky to be more vibrant. Inky tells us his politeness is his only shortcoming in the kitchen. At one point, Inky decides he needs the Don and Sous Chefs working to get the meals out for the construction workers to speed it up a notch. He yells over his shoulders “you guys cook like old people @(#(*@#&(8”. They all laugh and respond “yes, Chef”. Chef Ramsay is pleased that Inky has it in him.

The Don’s turn starts out really well. He’s obviously been paying very close attention to Chef Ramsay during his stay because he’s doing a fabulous job of emulating him at the hot plate. Chef Ramsay tells us that the Don takes to the task quite easily. Inky knows that he needs to find a weakness in The Don and expose it in order to place them on an even keel. He decides he’s going to sabotage the crab risotto he is in charge with on the line. He places two plates on the hot plate to go out to customers without the crab. Now Ramsay has asked the Don if he’s tasted the stuff that’s going out of the kitchen to customers. The Don says yes and pushes it towards the servers. Moments later, we see one of the construction workers telling Jeeves that there is no crab in the crab risotto. Jeeves runs it back to the hotplate. The Don tastes it and figures out just who is behind the screw-up and confronts Inky about it. Trying hard not to giggle he says oops and promises the Don that it won’t happen again. Chef Ramsay tells us that Don's biggest problem is he is more interested in getting the food to the customers than maintaining standards.

Before the commercial and the end of our first half we have footage of Inky in the dorm trying to impersonate Chef Ramsay. I honestly don’t think Inky is butch enough to pull it off, but it was funny to watch. The Don sure got a kick out of it. Inky knows that he’s going to have to be more like Chef Ramsay to pull this off.

Off to lunch...going to Lola Pop's B)