S13.E01: Top 18 Compete/S13.E02: Top 17 Compete

[cooksdelight]

One would think that Ramsay would change up the menu often, so that incoming chefs couldn't practice risotto, scallops, Wellington. Then again, I've not seen much evidence of anyone studying ahead of time.

[Brattinella]

Didn't one guy say he had never cooked risotto before?  Where did you think you were COMING?

[MrHufflepuff]

No HK dancers?  That was the best part of last season.  Of any season, really.

 

If the show is going to be repetitive, they could at least repeat the good stuff.

[Totale]

Who knew Crazy Eyes from OITNB had a little brother?  I have the feeling he'll be around for a while for snark value, as will Denine for her impressive rack and stated intent to stir the shit, but they won't win.  The Boston guy who couldn't cook fish to save his life and touchy-feely girl were no loss to their respective teams.  We've seen the tough guy on the men's team too many times before, but he'll last a while. Can't pick anyone from the men showing any particular competence yet.  I think Roe among the women is in for the long haul.

[gingerchick]

My favorite post of the first episode was when one guy said to another guy "If you have time to lean, you have time to clean."

[Mama No Life]

Why did the risotto look so different? I always thought the creamy risotto from last season looked yummy.  This stuff looks like it should have chicken tenders and a Bojangles sweet tea with it.

 

Agree on not getting why JR wasn't nominated instead of Aaron, but it didn't matter since JP was clearly going home. 

 

I don't know the name of the girl with the short black bob, but she seems like the real deal. 

[jonesingjay]

Why did the risotto look so different? I always thought the creamy risotto from last season looked yummy.  This stuff looks like it should have chicken tenders and a Bojangles sweet tea with it.

 

Agree on not getting why JR wasn't nominated instead of Aaron, but it didn't matter since JP was clearly going home. 

 

I don't know the name of the girl with the short black bob, but she seems like the real deal. 

 

Yeah, this year's risotto looks...very orange in comparison to previous years whiter looking color. I think you're talking about Roe. One of the few people who stood out to me. She really did appear to look like she knew what she was doing. I can never tell how these things will go though.

[ShadowSixx]

I seen the risottos look different colors during the seasons, one was green, one was brown, and the standard white. IDK what they do to make it different colors and I don't see what the big deal about risotto is anyway.

 

It really kills me that these people who audition to be on this show don't do any learning. If you know you're going to audition to be on the show, you might want to IDK study how to make risotto, wellingtons, scallops, salmon, & lamb. You have to do it GR's way which I know he has a website and cook books on how to cook it his way and plus these contestants are given manuals to study as well, so I really don't understand how by this season, these people don't get it.

 

I really only got to watch the last 20 minutes of the show so couldn't get a good feel for everyone as I forgot the new season started tonight. During the beginning when they had to cook their signature dishes, was it another tie and the last dish had to break the tie? If so, I just don't understand how year after year it can keep being a tie.

[Kromm]

Wait.  Didn't the previous season of this show end like five minutes ago?

 

But seriously, it was the end of July.  So five weeks, not minutes.  It's too soon.  The horror has hardly faded from last time.

 

A few observations:

1.) Men vs. Women again.  Every time I pray they try something new.  Dashed again.
2.) Once again they push the line in somehow, each season, making the credits more and more irrelevant to cooking or food.
3.) 18 people is down from last season, but it's STILL so many it means this season is (again) going to be/seem endless.

 

 

Too much new for me- new narrator, new maitre d' (where's JP????), new restaurant design…. with all the changes he could have tried to make a new menu or change up the teams besides men vs women but nope.

Hah. So you mean "too much new, but nothing that actually MATTERS."

Edited September 12, 2014 by Kromm

[Drogo]

 

I seen the risottos look different colors during the seasons, one was green, one was brown, and the standard white. IDK what they do to make it different colors and I don't see what the big deal about risotto is anyway.

 

I want to say last season was pea or fava bean risotto and this season is lobster risotto.  The color comes from the broth they use to cook the rice (last year's was clear-ish, this year's is orangey red.)  They threw some kind of poached lobster tail on top both seasons.

 

Been to Philly a ton, and while Italian restaurants and Chicken Parm are everywhere, I've never seen one turned inside out.  Cheesesteak is popular there, but an elevated sausage-and-peppers dish might have really gotten Ramsay going.  

 

I think Denine just wanted to put as many breasts in Ramsay's face as possible, so she went with the chicken breast. 

Edited September 12, 2014 by Drogo

[Julia]

There's a legendary italian restaurant called F&J Pine in the Bronx who sell stuffed chicken parm with ricotta and mozz inside it (we think of it privately as a chicken calzone). It's insanely good.

[Drogo]

 

Wait.  Didn't the previous season of this show end like five minutes ago?

 

That's what I find so incredibly flustrating.

[Totale]

Why did the risotto look so different? I always thought the creamy risotto from last season looked yummy.  This stuff looks like it should have chicken tenders and a Bojangles sweet tea with it.

 

 

When Gone Girl was having so much trouble making it one of her teammates quickly ran down the new ingredients, maybe it had wine or something in it? I've already deleted it so can't say.  Last year's had lobster, too - it's something in the liquid that's changed.

[6 MeowMeowBeenz]

Where did you think you were COMING?

 

Judge Judy would say " to a tea dance?

[Kromm]

Mods: Have you guys noticed the mistake in the episode title? (the episode number)

[cooksdelight]

Fixed. Thanks! I cannot do E01, E02 in the one box, so next week's thread will reflect that.

[Donny Ketchum]

It really kills me that these people who audition to be on this show don't do any learning. If you know you're going to audition to be on the show, you might want to IDK study how to make risotto, wellingtons, scallops, salmon, & lamb.

There may not have been any learning before coming to the show, but I did appreciate the women actually learning the menu the night before the first service and seemingly getting a hands-on lesson from Andi the next day.  That was smart, and it was probably the big thing that led to them winning the first service.

[Fostersmom]

I knew this show was coming back for a fall season instead of a spring/summer one and yet, it still seems too soon. I can't even remember who won and it only was like 6 weeks ago. 

 

None of the women seem like they just escaped a women's prison this year, so there's that. And some of  the guys are cute, another plus there. Not liking the new JP or voice over guy. I like my predictable shows to be 100% predictable. 

[cooksdelight]

The conversation veered into past seasons and various contestants, so I moved the posts to the Past Seasons thread. If you want to talk about previous seasons, that's the place to do that. If you want to discuss previous contestants, there's a thread for that too.

Thanks in advance for sticking to the topic of the two opening episodes.

[zillabreeze]

I wonder where they are going with JR? First day he's loafing while the other guys are moving furniture. The kicker was in dinner service when he was on meat and everyone was pestering him about "when"? He muttered something about "I'll show you" then knowingly sent it up RAW.

I can't figure out if he's a genuine asshole or a scripted asshole.

[Brattinella]

I vote genuine.  He also showed himself to be a bully.

[Julia]

I vote genuine too. Deliberately putting your own team on the bottom by being the guy who pissed Ramsay off isn't a strategy that would let you stay around long enough to be a good villain.

[whack-a-mole]

Team genuine. If he was aiming to be the villain he'd sabotage others instead of himself and ticking off Ramsay out of spite.

[walnutqueen]

 

Sterling is a plant, right?

 

 

Aren't they all?  ;-)

[Surrealist]

I wish that Gordon would switch up the menu more often. I know that some restaurants stick to the same items, but as a HK viewer, I'd be more interested in seeing switch ups.

 

It's not like most of the donkeys can make much of anything.

 

I will give the ladies props for studying the menu in advance. You'd think all the contestants would do that. I mean, it would be smart to learn the menu ahead of time. Like Brattinella said, "Where did you think you were COMING?"

Edited September 15, 2014 by Surrealist