S19.E06: Metal & Marina

[jewel21]

The teams are challenged to put a twist on some classic Italian dishes, with a top reward for the winning group, and a punishment for the losers.

Airdate: 02/11/2021

[tinkerbell]

The number one rock cover band? Spandex nation?  And the chefs doing their rock screams and rock and roll devil horns hand sign was cringe-worthy. And then smashing guitars, of course.

The whole theme was stupid.

Was i supposed to know who John and Vinnie are?

[GHScorpiosRule]

My takeaway is: does Hell’s Kitchen not serve dessert? Pre-pandemic, whenever I would go out to eat, I had to have dessert!

I can’t remember from previous seasons, but I’ve noticed and timed that the previouslies take up 3 MINUTES ! And, I don’t know, but I’m not seeing much cooking from the crop of cooks.

I hate heavy metal. Always have. So I just 🙄🙄🙄that every single person looooooved seeing that cringey screaming “band”.

Edited February 12, 2021 by GHScorpiosRule

[mlp]

I know I'm out of the loop (deliberately) when it comes to rock music but I'd never even heard of Spandex whatever.  The noise they were making and the guitar smashing were both cringe-inducing.  

I liked Josh so I was sorry to see him go but he did seem a bit low energy.  I was hoping he'd get rid of Amber who is obnoxious and can't pat herself on the back often enough.  Even Marc doesn't annoy me as much as she does.  

What does Marino say when Gordon tells him to open HK?  It always sounds to me like "It shall be done" but I'm never sure if I'm hearing him right.

[Such A Flirt]

53 minutes ago, mlp said:

What does Marino say when Gordon tells him to open HK?  It always sounds to me like "It shall be done" but I'm never sure if I'm hearing him right.

Apparently it's "Subito", i.e. "Right away" in Italian.

This episode was indeed total Cringe City. I hate seeing guitars getting destroyed.

And Josh was clueless, so I was pretty sure he was next. Too bad it happened on his birthday.

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

6 hours ago, Such A Flirt said:

This episode was indeed total Cringe City. I hate seeing guitars getting destroyed.

FWIW, those weren't real guitars. Real guitars take multiple hard smashes to destroy and even then, the neck usually just breaks off the body. A "guitar" that flies apart after one weak smash is a fake made of thin plastic or balsa wood or whatever.

The band was awful. I love metal, but these clowns were every bad stereotype of the genre rolled up into one cringeworthy package.

I'm guessing that Penn & Teller were last-minute substitutes for someone else, given that their trick (lifted directly from their book How to Play With Your Food) was something that could be done with zero preparation using items a restaurant would have plenty of.

Still waiting for Marco to go home. His "Mr. Intense" act wore thin long ago.

[mertensia]

My goodness, can anyone be more in love with Amber than Amber?

That cover band was just sad with only the chefs there.

[seacliffsal]

It seemed like everyone liked Josh, but it was his time to go.  I also think this was a wake-up call to Amber who cannot self-compliment any more if she tried.  She has continually rebuffed comments/help/direction from her team, but if she had listened to them about the salmon she would not have been "called to the locker." What some of these contestants don't seem to understand is that GR needs to see that they are willing to listen/learn from his direction and critiques AND that they need to be able to supervise and direct others.  Whenever a contestants reveals that they cannot and will not work with others, it's a "no-go" to winning this competition whether or not they stay until the finale.

[SevenCostanza]

13 minutes ago, mertensia said:

That cover band was just sad with only the chefs there.

They were sad with or without the chefs.  I'm not a big fan of heavy metal but they were horrible.  That whole scene was cringe worthy and stupid. 

[seacliffsal]

It was bad enough (IMO) that we had to listen to London Bridge is Falling Down by the cover band, but then to have to listen to the name of each dish sung by them was just too much.

[AZChristian]

10 hours ago, tinkerbell said:

The number one rock cover band? Spandex nation?  And the chefs doing their rock screams and rock and roll devil horns hand sign was cringe-worthy. And then smashing guitars, of course.

The whole theme was stupid.

Was i supposed to know who John and Vinnie are?

I honestly thought the guy in the middle with the long curly wig was Marino in disguise.  Come to think of it, did we EVER see Marino and the rock band together????  Hmmmm.

The whole rock singers/Penn and Teller was really dumb.

My favorite scene was seeing Declan in the front seat of that speeding car while Marc was in the back, cringing in the corner and looking like he was peeing himself.

Oh, was it Josh's birthday?  I must have missed the 20 times that was mentioned during the show.  I thought that the frequent mentions were massive foreshadowing that he was going to go.  Kind of like when someone (like Amber) says, "I am very confident in my fish-cooking skills" right before she serves up raw fish (or dumps a scallop on the floor).

[Pepper the Cat]

Glad to see I was not the only one hating the band. The screaming out the dishes was particularly bad.

The only good part of the episode was when they flipped Josh’s age from 28 to 29.

[hurrrz]

13 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

My takeaway is: does Hell’s Kitchen not serve dessert? Pre-pandemic, whenever I would go out to eat, I had to have dessert!

 

I recall seeing desserts layed out in the kitchen when they close service. I suspect that the desserts are pre-made and not executed/finished by the contestants. 

[AZChristian]

13 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

My takeaway is: does Hell’s Kitchen not serve dessert? Pre-pandemic, whenever I would go out to eat, I had to have dessert!

Don't know about on the show, but the REAL Hell's Kitchen restaurant in Las Vegas has some stunning desserts.  This is what they brought my husband when they found out it was his birthday.  I think this was Sticky Toffee Pudding.  It had dry ice flowing out of the serving dish.  Quite the sight . . . and delicious!!!

[SweetSin]

Yes, I agree the band was just cringe and awful. The show did this before with opera and it's just unnecessary to be singing out what the dish is. 

Miss Feeling Herself Amber just continues to be annoying and think she's just the elite of the elite. She must hang out with Joe Bastianich.

One of the guest judges I seen before in an earlier season of HK, can't remember which season, I think it was S7 but not 100% sure.

Also a bit tired of the "guests" at the restaurant complaining about the food not being there. You pretty much expect to be waiting four hours for food at this point. So think of it as the Hell's Kitchen Diet. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

Don't know about on the show, but the REAL Hell's Kitchen restaurant in Las Vegas has some stunning desserts.  This is what they brought my husband when they found out it was his birthday.  I think this was Sticky Toffee Pudding.  It had dry ice flowing out of the serving dish.  Quite the sight . . . and delicious!!!

[Chyromaniac]

Ironically Hells Kitchen and Penn & Teller was my last Vegas trip, although we flipped the itinerary.  It was nice not having to worry about how long dinner would take (or having to rush to get to the theater) - but it also meant eating at basically midnight with a mostly empty dining room.  Also, The Rio and Caesars (where HK is at) aren’t exactly close - I hope they had a decent plan to get all those people over there.

 The cover band was terrible - I’ve seen better metal impersonators at my State Fair (IA).  I would have guessed they were made up for the show, but I looked them up and they are apparently real.

Good for Kori for getting Jordan out of her funk - I hope she continues to be healthy.

[xcrayon2215x]

I got the sense that the contestants were told to be over the top about enjoying the metal band. Based on tonight, I think Amber should have gone home but based on overall performance I can understand eliminating Josh. I don't like Marc, but he was less irritating by a lot compared to episodes 3, 4 and 5.

[Eolivet]

My husband compared the metal band to a personification of OTEV from Big Brother, and now I can't unsee it. (OTEV is a non-human character who sings/gives clues to contestants to go find things during a competition, much like the metal band sang Italian dishes.)

The restaurant the blue team ate at for the reward looked like they would be renowned for "doing so much for the community," and not so much for "their food being really good."

[Chyromaniac]

1 hour ago, Eolivet said:

The restaurant the blue team ate at for the reward looked like they would be renowned for "doing so much for the community," and not so much for "their food being really good."

Oh jeez - yeah, I almost forgot about that.  For anyone not familiar, Buca di Beppo is a chain restaurant that specializes in “family style” service.  In other words, huuuuuuge portions that are meant to be shared among several people.  So, if you have a group like the blue team, you order 3-5 dishes and everyone gets a little bit from a couple of them.  But, if you’re a family of three then I hope you all wanted spaghetti - because that’s the only thing that everyone is gonna get.

It’s always a bit of a shock whenever I see them, because the only location here closed 10-15 years ago, after iirc not being in business very long.  I don’t remember much about the food from the (I think) one time I went there.  However I live in Iowa where, presumably, giant plates of pasta should have been a sure fire hit - so take that as you will.  Maybe the concept works better in places like Vegas, which might have large touristy groups looking for a volume dining experience that isn’t strictly a buffet.

[tinkerbell]

12 hours ago, Chyromaniac said:

Oh jeez - yeah, I almost forgot about that.  For anyone not familiar, Buca di Beppo is a chain restaurant that specializes in “family style” service.  In other words, huuuuuuge portions that are meant to be shared among several people.  So, if you have a group like the blue team, you order 3-5 dishes and everyone gets a little bit from a couple of them.  But, if you’re a family of three then I hope you all wanted spaghetti - because that’s the only thing that everyone is gonna get.

It’s always a bit of a shock whenever I see them, because the only location here closed 10-15 years ago, after iirc not being in business very long.  I don’t remember much about the food from the (I think) one time I went there.  However I live in Iowa where, presumably, giant plates of pasta should have been a sure fire hit - so take that as you will.  Maybe the concept works better in places like Vegas, which might have large touristy groups looking for a volume dining experience that isn’t strictly a buffet.

ugh -   this bring up a pet peeve of mine.  it wasn't at that chain, but another italian restaurant.  The menu was all about "family style"  and "shared plates"  and that a family of 4 would order 2 entrees and that would be enough to share.  It said so right on the menu!    Great concept.   EXCEPT -  going there with 2 kids, clearly family style was perfect, but the servers would ALWAYS try to take individual orders.  ALWAYS!  I would be the one telling the servers - oh no, we wanted to SHARE these dishes, and they'd react like I was being cheap.  I guess they were hoping for larger tips, but it drive me crazy.  

[KHenry14]

14 hours ago, Eolivet said:

My husband compared the metal band to a personification of OTEV from Big Brother, and now I can't unsee it. (OTEV is a non-human character who sings/gives clues to contestants to go find things during a competition, much like the metal band sang Italian dishes.)

The restaurant the blue team ate at for the reward looked like they would be renowned for "doing so much for the community," and not so much for "their food being really good."

I'm almost positive that the Blue Team ate at Rao's, which is about the most famous italian restaurant in NYC. You may have seen their marinara sauce going for over $10 a jar in grocery stores. It is on my bucket list to go there

[Yeah No]

26 minutes ago, KHenry14 said:

I'm almost positive that the Blue Team ate at Rao's, which is about the most famous italian restaurant in NYC. You may have seen their marinara sauce going for over $10 a jar in grocery stores. It is on my bucket list to go there

I don't know about now but pre-pandemic it was not even possible to make a reservation there and you pretty much had to know someone to get in.

I wouldn't mind going to the one in Las Vegas, though.  I'm pretty sure it's much easier to get in there.

Costco sells their sauce much cheaper than supermarkets, BTW.

[Racj82]

On 2/12/2021 at 12:45 AM, mlp said:

I know I'm out of the loop (deliberately) when it comes to rock music but I'd never even heard of Spandex whatever.  The noise they were making and the guitar smashing were both cringe-inducing.  

Not knowing who a "famous" cover band is has nothing to do with being out of the loop. By and large, no one knows who they are.

[KHenry14]

5 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I don't know about now but pre-pandemic it was not even possible to make a reservation there and you pretty much had to know someone to get in.

I wouldn't mind going to the one in Las Vegas, though.  I'm pretty sure it's much easier to get in there.

Costco sells their sauce much cheaper than supermarkets, BTW.

They have a location in Hollywood, and since i'm in LA i'll be going to that one  😉

[funky-rat]

18 hours ago, KHenry14 said:

I'm almost positive that the Blue Team ate at Rao's, which is about the most famous italian restaurant in NYC. You may have seen their marinara sauce going for over $10 a jar in grocery stores. It is on my bucket list to go there

It was Bucca di Beppo.  Someone from the restaurant was at the chef's table later.  We tried to eat at one a few years ago.  It was SO LOUD we couldn't hear ourselves think.  We ultimately left without eating.

[seacliffsal]

I've eaten at Rao's in Las Vegas (Caesar's Palace) and it was quite lovely and wonderful.  Strong recommendation to anyone who is interested in going.  It's interesting that the owner was a VIP diner for Italian Night, yet the contestants were not treated to his restaurant for their reward.

[KHenry14]

Seems odd that they'd send the winners to Buca since its hardly fine dining like Rao's is.

And yes, it is way too dang loud there which is a big reason why we don't go there.

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

I have noticed, when I’m paying attention, that the awards for the winners are not as posh and luxurious as in seasons past. 

Have any of them gone to lunch with Gordon himself? I admit, I like those because he can be very charming and it’s revealed at those lunches. What can I say? I love the asshole because I know it’s an act.

[SweetSin]

IDK how much of an act it is. Even his own kids say that Ramsay is a finicky eater at home. Imagine trying to cook anything for him during the holidays or special event. Even on MasterChef when the home cooks screw up he starts to turn into HK Ramsay but not as aggressive as when he's on HK. Most of the competitors on the show say that he's great outside of the kitchen and you can talk to him but in the kitchen it's like Kitchen Bootcamp. 

[KHenry14]

If you know anything about Gordon is he simply sets standards and expects everyone (including his family I guess) to live up to them. That's how he won all those Michelin stars and why his kitchens are spotless.

[MajorWoody]

That band was awful. Are they really popular in Las Vegas, as GR claimed? If so, my opinion of musical tastes of the people there just took a nose dive. Every single thing they screeched sounded exactly the same. 
 

I was surprised the winners got to go to a chain restaurant for the reward. But I guess when said chain restaurant pays the bills, that’t where you end up. The food didn’t look that appetizing, to tell the truth, and this is coming from someone who loves Italian.

Penn and Teller kind of grossed me out with their magic trick. Is that really what you need to see when you are on a cooking show?
 

GR seems to have a soft spot for Amber, and that is very telling. When it came to her and Josh (the birthday boy), it was obvious who was getting the ax. 
 

Gotta love it when Gordon moans about his contestants not being able to function in a high end and high stress environment. What does he expect? He selects people with limited backgrounds  based on what drama they can bring, and then acts surprised they don’t have the chops for his level of cooking. 
 

Jordan, Lauren, and Mark can leave anytime now, please. 
 

 BTW, even though I have never been to Rao’s, their jar sauce is probably the best I have ever bought. It goes for around $8 for 32 oz at Sam’s Club, and was just on sale at my local supermarket this week for $5 for 24 oz. i usually buy their vodka, four cheese, or tomato basil sauce. 

Edited February 15, 2021 by MajorWoody

[tinkerbell]

5 hours ago, MajorWoody said:

That band was awful. Are they really popular in Las Vegas, as GR claimed? If so, my opinion of musical tastes of the people there just took a nose dive. Every single thing they screeched sounded exactly the same. 

Well, I think he said they were the most popular heavy metal tribute band in Vegas, which might not mean so much, depending on how many other bands are in that category. 

[Chyromaniac]

On 2/15/2021 at 7:07 AM, MajorWoody said:

 

That band was awful. Are they really popular in Las Vegas, as GR claimed?

 

From what I found online, it seemed like they’re mostly (possibly always) booked at The Fremont Street Experience, which I believe is a live outdoor (in other words, free) venue.  I assume that means they’re basically street entertainment for tourists.

[OoogleEyes]

Even the commercials were cringeworthy in this episode.