S13.E07: 12 Chefs Compete

[cooksdelight]

The teams compete to create the best Italian opera-inspired dishes, with the winning team getting a shopping trip and a VIP dinner; the teams provide dinner service for guests, including members of the Italian Consulate.

[ElleryAnne]

I wonder if the Italian Consulate knew what they were getting into by agreeing to dine in Hell's Kitchen.  I hope we haven't lost an ally.

[leighdear]

The best part of this show for me was seeing Tony Dennison, aka Andy Flynn from the TV show "Major Crimes"!  *LOL*

 

The tableside clams with onions looked really good.  It was nice to see something new on the menu. 

 

Sterling really gets on everybody's last nerve. Maybe next week is his well-deserved ouster. 

[cooksdelight]

Sterling brings the cray-cray, as long as he's a strong cook, they'll keep him around for entertainment value.

I'm recovering from food poisoning so I won't be watching this until tomorrow. :) But looking forward to reading everyone's take on tonight's episode.

[Brattinella]

Well, cooksdelight, no hurry:  they did another "To Be Continued" again.

 

I still feel nothing for anyone on this show, they all are equally loathsome.

[Surrealist]

Are all of this season's episodes going to end in "To Be Continued"?

I'm not rooting for anyone. I won't miss Ashley. Every time she had a TH, I damn near fell asleep.

Then again, that's how I feel each season, which makes me question why I continue watching it.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Surrealist

[ElleryAnne]

The "To Be Continued" drives me crazy, especially in an episode like this one.  He already eliminated the contestant, and all he was going to do was tell the rest of them something.  Why does that have to be turned into a TBC?  So he's telling them following an elimination instead of the next morning.  Either way, he was going to tell them.  And either way, it was going to be featured in the next episode.  But it's presented as a TBC as if it's a big deal.  In reality, every episode is a TBC until he chooses a winner.  The fake build-up is just so much nonsense.

[Such A Flirt]

Hey, wasn't that Edgar from "24"?

 

And was Sterling seriously hitting on Andi? Wow. Loved how she and the other Reds handled that.

[LakeGal]

The only interesting part of this show is spotting the diners and trying to figure out who they are.  I always wonder why some of them show up at Hell's Kitchen.  What kind of deal are they promised to show up?

 

This show was once interesting.  They really have run out of good chefs.  They are more interested in drama than cooking. 

[aliya]

When "to be continued' came up on the screen, I yelled,"Jezus effing Christ" so loud, my son asked me if I were alright.

I'm trying not to curse. It isn't working. 

Just finish the darned episode, already. None of this is worth waiting another week for.

Stirling hugging Ramsay, good grief. 

[mlp]

Sterling is highly annoying but he seems to know his way around a kitchen and I think he sincerely means well and wants to do well.  I think he could be managed if someone on his team had the maturity to sit him down and talk to him kindly.  I wouldn't want to work around him when he's carrying on but I just can't dislike him.

 

I was hoping GR would send Steve home.  He sat at dinner in a fine dining restaurant without having the sense to remove his hat.  No class at all.

 

Maybe there's something I don't understand but...................... Doesn't GR inspect every dish before it's sent out to diners?  How is it that, every other episode, a dish is sent back because it was prepared badly?  How did it get by Gordon and a sous chef in the first place?  Seems like contrived drama to me.

[Donny Ketchum]

So just as I thought.  Sterling moves to the women's team and annoys them now.  But he makes no major screwups during service, showing that he really is one of the more competent chefs this season.

 

I don't get Ramsay tonight.  The women and Sterling messed up on one order at one table and get kicked out of the kitchen when everything else was going so smoothly.  Meanwhile, the men fuck up left and right and are still allowed to finish their service?  I just . . . don't get it.

 

Why does Ramsay keep ousting the women?  I thought he typically likes to keep the gender balance close to even.  Ashley, while clearly the new weak link on the women's team, messed up on one dish.  Not like she was Steve or Aaron, both of whom messed up repeatedly.  Then again, she wasn't interesting TV, so it makes sense to toss her now.

 

But Ramsay?  LET'S TOSS SOME GUYS OUT NEXT, OKAY?!  The women are down to a good, core group.  So it's time for the men to lose some weak links, already!

[Surrealist]

I vacillate between whether Sterling is simply off-kilter or if he's suffered some sort of brain trauma.

As much as he upsets the other contestants, he's probably the most capable chef out of all of them. I'm not sure that's saying much though.

I'm waiting patiently for Jennifer, Roe, and Santos to get tossed. Even Steve annoys the hell out of me.

[xcrayon2215x]

I was surprised to see Ashley go, thought it would be one of the other nominees but since they make better TV than Ashley they got to stay. Right now, I think the Final 6 will be Jennifer, La Tasha, Sterling, Bryant, Sade and either Frank or Fernando.

[ProfCrash]

Eh, I think Grrrrrr is tossing the women to create some sense of drama. I think that the strong women are going to crush the mediocre men. Ramsey is simply tossing the weakest of the women, keeping the mediocre men who are more dramatic and annoying.

 

Sterling is annoying and I don't think any amount of talking to him would cause him to change especially in this environment. He seems to be a good cook who is a nce enough guy but with an over sized personality. I wonder if he works in a smaller kitchen with fewer people to annoy so he is fine because he does not strike me as someone who would work well on the line.

 

Aaron and Santos are arrogant asshats and I want to see the women stomp all over them. Steve needs to go sooner rather then later.

[Lovecat]

Ashley's from my hometown, so I guess I can stop watching now :)

 

She works at a restaurant that's attached to a cultural arts center and music venue; I've eaten there several times before concerts, and the food is pretty hit-and-miss.  Sometimes it's very tasty, but there was one memorable night where my soup came out cold--twice.

 

ETA:

 

From the recap, "Ashley -- who previously did not seem to realize that people ate game animals and other exotic meats -- says she can't even pronounce "saltimbocca," let alone prepare it. Good Lord, woman, what TGIMcAppleFriendly's do you bus tables at that you are flummoxed at anything more complex than a burger and fries?"

 

This one:

http://www.artsquest.org/pdfs/2014-MFC-Cabaret-Menu-starting-January.pdf

Edited October 16, 2014 by Lovecat

[Primetimer]

Gordon Ramsay asks his would-be chefs to pull an Italian job, but the end result is a meal you probably should refuse.

Read the story

[QuelleC]

Gordon Ramsay asks his would-be chefs to pull an Italian job, but the end result is a meal you probably should refuse.

http://previously.tv/hells-kitchen/roman-hell-iday/"> Read the story

Holy snark!

 

Please stay with us the rest of the season, Mr. Michaels. 

[Charlesman]

I'm recovering from food poisoning so I won't be watching this until tomorrow. :) But looking forward to reading everyone's take on tonight's episode.

 

 

Did you get to meet Gordon while you were there, cooksdelight? ;)

[cooksdelight]

HAHA!! Good one, Charlesman!

[Jersey Guy 87]

Sterling appears able to cook (or at least not screw up as much as the others) but he is tiresome to be around.  He'll be here for black jackets, in other words.

 

Ashley was pretty weak throughout, no loss to the red team.  Although Roe has decided to just tank, she is the epitome of the red team - fast start (completed their first service) followed by continued disappointment.  Jennifer might be okay, she could at least produce risotto.

 

No one on the men impresses me much, certainly no one impresses me as much as Frank impresses himself.

[QuelleC]

I sort of love Frank.  Even though he's the kind of guy Roe wanted to get away from.  He reminds me of Nick Stellino.  In love with himself, and in love with food too.

[Brattinella]

I kind of do, too, QuelleC.  He reminds me of a boyfriend from way back when.

[Donny Ketchum]

Aaron and Santos are arrogant asshats and I want to see the women stomp all over them. Steve needs to go sooner rather then later.

You know what the big irony of this is?  For all of their bluster of the three of them being the strongest and best chefs on their team, they're actually proving to be the weakest and the worst of the men, what with all of their fuck-ups.  For all they've thought about Bryant, Frank, Fernando, and even Sterling, they're all gradually proving to be a lot better and stronger than they showed at the outset.

 

And that tickles me greatly. :)

Edited October 18, 2014 by Donny Ketchum

[mlp]

 

For all they've thought about Bryant, Frank, Fernando, and even Sterling, they're all gradually proving to be a lot better and stronger than they showed at the outset.

 

I picked Fernando to end up in the final two during the very first episode but I can't remember what prompted that thought.  I haven't seen anything from anyone else to change my mind though.  I can't even come up with another person for the finale at this point.

[cooksdelight]

Does Brian have tape holding his eyeglasses together?

[BogoGog24]

I picked Fernando to end up in the final two during the very first episode but I can't remember what prompted that thought.  I haven't seen anything from anyone else to change my mind though.  I can't even come up with another person for the finale at this point.

 

I thought the same about Fernando and I think it's because he did really well on the signature dish challenge, much better than most of the others.

[Drogo]

Brian strikes me as the one who's going to come to work with a gun and "eliminate" them all.

Frank... I like him, but every time I look at him I think Boardwalk Empire Richard Harrow without half his face missing.

I root for no one.

[Drogo]

 

But he makes no major screwups during service, showing that he really is one of the more competent chefs this season.

 

Shocked that he wasn't nominated, though. 

[Donny Ketchum]

Shocked that he wasn't nominated, though. 

I'm not.  Unlike the men, the women actually do judge on performance, not on personal vendettas or witch hunts.  They knew Sterling didn't tank their service and that Ashley did.  Roe, as well, though to a far lesser extent.  So they went based on the service.  It's why I like the women this season far more than I like the men.

[EAG46]

" We will still have risotto, though; we will never be free of the goddamn risotto." ---- THIS should be the motto of Hell's Kitchen. Welcome to the party, Phillip. [Though I still want to call you "Mr. Sobell."]

[QuelleC]

Can I just say I think risotto is nasty?  Add lots of yummy extras but gluey, sticky rice is gluey, sticky rice.  I'm not a rice fan anyway, but I do what Ming says and rinse the long grained so they are separate. 

[backformore]

Rice is fine with a main course. I just never think of rice as "fine dining". Risotto is ok. I would never think of ordering risotto as an appetizer.

HK always has risotto with scallops and spaghetti with lobster as appetizers. I have never seen anything similar as a n appetizer, and I would never order either one.

[aussieinsydney]

Haha, I wanted to comment that I can't pick a clear winner or even two finalists out of this uninspiring lot! Glad to know it's not just me :)

[Snarklepuss]

I also picked Fernando for a finalist and actually he's the closest anyone's come so far to being root-worthy for me in this race.  Which isn't saying much.

 

I think Gordon is picking on the women this season to "even the score" because historically it's the men that usually fail more of the first challenges.

 

I almost want to think Sterling is only still there for entertainment.  Although he does still seem to know more than appearances would tend to indicate.

 

I am bored with the show.  I fell asleep during the entire last half of this episode and had to catch up on it on  "on demand".  And yet, I'll still tune in.

[cooksdelight]

We all get a reprieve from our boredom since the World Series starts this week. No new episode scheduled until Nov. 5.