S23.E1: Hell Heads East

[Yeah No]

Signature dish challenge - Airdate 9/26/24

Eighteen contestants set out to impress Chef Ramsay in the Signature Dish Challenge before embarking on their first dinner service.

For the next two seasons, "Hell's Kitchen" heads East to Connecticut in a competition between head chefs.

This was filmed this past Summer in Gordon's new Hell's Kitchen restaurant at Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket, CT.

Edited September 27 by Yeah No

[Yeah No]

I have to say it was weird but fun for me to see so many familiar sights on this episode as this season is being filmed in my neck of the woods and I already ate at the HK restaurant at Foxwoods last year.

They're making a big deal out of this season in the CT media too. I've seen many TV news spots and articles about it.

I am surprised that this season is airing so soon because it and season 24 were only just filmed this past Summer. I got used to knowing that the past few seasons were all in the can at least a year or more before airing. I wonder why that is. Maybe Gordon's schedule is busier now that he has even more shows on TV than he used to.

This should be interesting. The head chef angle has already produced some pretty attractive dishes. I'm side-eyeing all the 4's and 5's he handed out, though, especially the woman from Alaska who had to remake her pasta with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Speaking of the egos, wow, they're already showing themselves. This seems like a quirky group but they always do so I guess that's just this show's pattern.

One thing that will always bother me is that I didn't get chosen for tickets to the filming dinners, which were posted on Facebook right before they happened. Unfortunately they announced it on the news right beforehand so probably a million people requested them and I got there too late. Oh well. 

I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with posting episode threads every week. It seems like the person that was doing it left so if anyone else wants to take it over I'm good with that!

[mojoween]

Brittany didn’t take off her hat at the table when they ate with Gordon.  Irksome.  There’s also something about her that is off, she doesn’t seem like she’s going to be around for long.

[KeithJ]

No Christina or Jason this season. I wonder if it’s because it’s being filmed on the East coast.

I was surprised at the number of 4s and 5s Gordon handed out.  Was there only one 3?  Maybe these contestants actually have talent.

One thing I noticed, this has to be the “largest” Hell’s Kitchen cast I’ve seen.  These people must really like their food.

[cameron]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

Brittany didn’t take off her hat at the table when they ate with Gordon.  Irksome.  There’s also something about her that is off, she doesn’t seem like she’s going to be around for long.

She also doesn't know how to correctly wear a hat.  Allison Victoria does the same stupid thing  wearing the hat perched on the back of her head look.  Really irks me. I want to push the hat forward whenever I see people wearing their hats that way.  

Edited September 27 by cameron

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, KeithJ said:

I was surprised at the number of 4s and 5s Gordon handed out.  Was there only one 3?  Maybe these contestants actually have talent.

Well, they're all supposed to be head chefs, so one would hope....😉

Although I am a little skeptical of that given what I said above about that one woman's pasta having been made with only 10 minutes left in the competition.

Edited September 27 by Yeah No

[nitrofishblue]

4 hours ago, KeithJ said:

No Christina or Jason this season. I wonder if it’s because it’s being filmed on the East coast.

I was surprised at the number of 4s and 5s Gordon handed out.  Was there only one 3?  Maybe these contestants actually have talent.

One thing I noticed, this has to be the “largest” Hell’s Kitchen cast I’ve seen.  These people must really like their food.

I noticed right off how out of shape most of these chefs were. They must taste test their food at a great rate. Gordon will have to pick some punishments that don't require any body quality.

[KLovestoShop]

I know I’m an old relic, but I have to say that I’m turned off by chefs who are sloppy looking and in need of a good, long shower. There are a few of those in this group.  I’m beginning to wonder if the Ramsay producers go out of their way to find contestants with a certain look?  And while I know that the food prep part is high pressure, I wonder if in their real jobs these chefs are as messy in their kitchens as they are in the HK facility?

[seacliffsal]

I really enjoyed this episode.  I think this will be a good season.  Disappointed that Christina and Jason aren't there, but I'm sure the two replacements will be good.  I thought many of the dishes looked really good.  Am very surprised that this was filmed on the east coast, but it may bring a 'freshness' that I felt the last few seasons lacked.

[Msample]

8 hours ago, KeithJ said:

No Christina or Jason this season. I wonder if it’s because it’s being filmed on the East coast.

I was surprised at the number of 4s and 5s Gordon handed out.  Was there only one 3?  Maybe these contestants actually have talent.

One thing I noticed, this has to be the “largest” Hell’s Kitchen cast I’ve seen.  These people must really like their food.

Don’t know about Christine, but seeing as how Jason is based in Boston I can’t imagine geography was an issue. He did just open a new place in Watertown MA at the end of June that may have been a conflict with the filming schedule .

[mlp]

I was dismayed to see Michelle in charge of the red team.  I didn't like her on either of her previous seasons and I don't imagine being "promoted" by Gordon has moderated her high opinion of herself.  I don't remember the guy heading up the blue team.

There are some, um, unappealing looking people on both teams.  I wonder if we'll be subjected to sob stories and lectures.

Wasn't it interesting that the outcome of the first competition came down to the last presentations?  Some things never change.

[Yeah No]

32 minutes ago, mlp said:

There are some, um, unappealing looking people on both teams.  I wonder if we'll be subjected to sob stories and lectures.

Thanks, I was thinking similar thoughts but at the time couldn't think of a kind way to put it but "unappealing" isn't as unkind as what I might have been thinking so I'm down with that!

One thing I did think was that this was an especially motley looking crew.

[AZChristian]

I just remember back to some cooking competition show where the contestant said he was a "head chef."  I think he worked at something equivalent to a Domino's or Pizza Hut.  In his vernacular, I think "longest-term employee" made him feel qualified to identify himself as the head chef.

I looked at some of those folks and thought, "Yeah, sure.  Ramsey is going to put you in charge of a multi-million-dollar restaurant."  

[Red Bridey]

So many sob stories, so many "unappealing" competitors. But it seems these people can cook, so maybe the drama will come from too many cooks in the kitchen...everyone struggling to be the BOSS. Ugh 

[Yeah No]

FYI, I just posted a behind the scenes video on this Season in the media thread. It includes a short interview with Gordon.

[mlp]

5 hours ago, AZChristian said:

I just remember back to some cooking competition show where the contestant said he was a "head chef."  I think he worked at something equivalent to a Domino's or Pizza Hut.  In his vernacular, I think "longest-term employee" made him feel qualified to identify himself as the head chef.

Yep.  I often think that when I see cooks on Chopped introduce themselves that way.  It reminds me of one chef who introduced herself as a head chef but was from a town near me and I happened to know she cooked at a truck stop.  Judging from the dishes we saw in the first episode, I think this crew is at least a couple steps above that.

[preeya]

19 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

 

 

Edited September 28 by preeya
Chnged my mind

[preeya]

17 hours ago, mlp said:

Wasn't it interesting that the outcome of the first competition came down to the last presentations?  Some things never change.

I thought it would wind up in a tie and then the dreaded tiebreaker.

[NJRadioGuy]

Obviously GR can see who's cooking what, and knows what will likely work (or won't) and arranges the presentations to bring the drama at the end. It is primetime network television, after all.

Over the summer I watched a Ramsay show where he traveled to offbeat places and was introduced to local delicacies that he prepared against local award-winning chefs in a friendly competition. His knowledge of food is breathtaking, and frankly I often wish the show's cheftestants who claim to be a "head chef" would be even 1/10th as talented as the local experts in terms of ingredients, preparation, and plating as those. We may see that this year, and frankly that would be refreshing.

This lot appears to be all pretty talented, but they're also used to being the Big Cheese in the kitchen, and now they're just cogs in GR's machine, so that's going to be the premise of this season.

[Colorado David]

5 hours ago, preeya said:

I thought it would wind up in a tie and then the dreaded tiebreaker.

bit early in the season for that, that's more like towards the end.

ya not a lot of eye candy in this selection imo. that's ok tho to me, a good character/person of drahma more than makes up for a pretty face. shame on uri not helping on the truck, i would have called him out right up front to establish hey there's no faves here. i love tackling people who out of the box wanna be the team boss. 

i dont mind brittany and her weird hat, she might be the comic relief for this season. 

 

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

On 9/27/2024 at 1:41 PM, Msample said:

Don’t know about Christine, but seeing as how Jason is based in Boston I can’t imagine geography was an issue. He did just open a new place in Watertown MA at the end of June that may have been a conflict with the filming schedule .

Christina Wilson is (I believe) currently the Executive VP of Ramsay's entire US restaurant operation. With a bunch of GR's restaurants located in Vegas, she may not have had time to jet back east to do the show.

It's a bit odd seeing Michelle Tribble as a sous chef. A couple of years ago, she was a contestant on Food Network's Chopped where (continuing Ramsay and Food Network's longstanding practice of each pretending the other does not exist) her HK run and subsequent position with a Ramsay restaurant were not mentioned in any way. She stated her reason for competing on Chopped was to use the $10,000 prize money for Dietitian school to become a Registered Dietitian, leaving her cooking career behind. She didn't win her episode.

As for two seasons being filmed back-to-back: I understand the two Vegas seasons were done the same way. Moving the HK production facilities to a remote location ("remote" meaning someplace not normally used for filming, not "remote" meaning the wilderness or anything) is probably spendy, but amortizing the expense across two seasons would help.

As for the chefs: No strong feelings about any of them, save for being disgusted by the Alaska chef's septum piercing (which looked totally unhygienic and inappropriate for a fine dining restaurant). If you want to sport such a piercing when you're off the clock, whatevs. It's your body and your choice. But try to look professional when you're on the clock, please.

As soon as the Blue Team chef mocked the idea of chocolate sauce on duck and said "We've got this" or whatever, it was obviously the Red Team was going to win.

Finally: The show made a big deal of some of the chefs cramming the recipe books while others were goofing around. I assume there will be a payoff in the next ep.

[Yeah No]

22 minutes ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

As for two seasons being filmed back-to-back: I understand the two Vegas seasons were done the same way. Moving the HK production facilities to a remote location ("remote" meaning someplace not normally used for filming, not "remote" meaning the wilderness or anything) is probably spendy, but amortizing the expense across two seasons would help.

The filming location this season is on the site of the Foxwoods Resort and Casino which is on a large piece of land that is part of the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation (and is actually kind of in the wilderness, lol). Given that he opened the HK restaurant in the casino last year I'm wondering if construction for both took place simultaneously and the HK set was part of the plan all along. It might not have been all that expensive to construct in that case and the sets may have been fabricated to be easily dismantled for other uses either in the restaurant or the casino afterward.

I don't know why but I wonder if GR has intentions of coming back to this CT location at some point for future seasons. Just a hunch.

[Colorado David]

i am totally wondering what duck with chocolate tastes like. i have had chocolate, but not duck. i cant imagine chocolate with any fowl. maybe on beef, if it had a spicy element, like a mole. 

i wonder how many offbeat things we will get - firefighters, army, farm challenges!!! catch the pigs etc. some of the antics are quite funny if not really valid for picking out best chefs. still entertaining. 

echo raiderduck: yeah me too on the piercings. i am sure they have nothing to do with hygeine just like earrings dont, but it adds (for me just my opinion) a nasty unclean kind of perception. this is likely just my age showing. i have zero probs with people with tats, myself included. piercings for some reason seem more "open". feel free to flame me :) 

[GHScorpiosRule]

The only thing I’m interested in seeing is Gordon showing how to cut and slice salmon or whatever and cooking demos. I don’t give a fuck about anything else.

[oliviabenson]

The tall one with the ridiculously large beach hat has got to go. 

[sparkling-whine]

Almost every comment is criticizing their looks. I think this group may be a bit too boomery for me. I used to like it here but maybe not anymore. 

[Zero7]

3 hours ago, sparkling-whine said:

Almost every comment is criticizing their looks. I think this group may be a bit too boomery for me. I used to like it here but maybe not anymore. 

But coming in here and insulting an entire generation without even knowing if that's the case is OK, though?

[Colorado David]

let's all just get along and see where it goes. i am quite sure we will move on from first impressions to ragging on the dishes soon enough. the first epi is always first impressions, so you have to forgive visual impressions first as thats all we have to go on mostly.  (believe me my looks would frighten everyone here, so i know of what i speak. many interviews i have had, i can tell in 30 seconds what people are thinking of off the bat.) mods if i am out of bounds, feel free to delete. 

[Yeah No]

We usually don't criticize people's looks around here. Only when it's pretty bad, lol. And even when we do it's not about what they can't change but what they can, such as wardrobe, posture, facial hair, etc.

AND we were spoiled last season by the wonderful male eye candy that was Ryan O'Sullivan (the winner). So you have to forgive us, LOL. 😉