S12.E13: 9 Chefs

[cooksdelight]

In "9 Chefs Compete," each team creates its own menu, from which guests can order during dinner service; the team that impresses diners with its food and service wins the challenge on an all-new episode of "Hell's Kitchen" airing Thursday, June 5, 2014 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.

Big Boy Richard is gone. Big Boy Gabriel should follow. Or Kaisha. I really don't care at this point. I want Rochelle to hang in there and win this thing. She cooked her ass off.

[BogoGog24]

I felt like Gabriel should have gone instead. I don't know HOW he has made it this far. He's so annoying. Guess Ramsay keeps him around for that reason.

And Rochelle gets thrown under the bus yet again when her teammates want to put her up for elimination for no decent reason. I'm rooting for her to win this thing. Everyone's entitled to a crying jag once in awhile. They are under so much pressure all the time, you can't blame her because she got upset once the whole time she has been there. Every other person there had an emotional outburst at one point or another. That includes you Jason when you screamed at Sandra.

As usual, previews overhype everything. No romantic connection between Anton and Melanie as we were led to believe. Although it was quite telling when Melanie sabotaged him. I get that she's "playing the game" but I don't think you should be sabotaging your own teammates during a dinner service. That stage of the competition is for teamwork.

Previews for next week look interesting. Anton screaming at Andi? Can't wait to see her rip him a new one.

[leighdear]

thanks @cooksdelight for making the thread.  When I got up this morning & saw there wasn't one, I didn't really care that much....*LOL*

 

Agree about Rochelle.  Her emotional stuff did NOT happen during service, so there was no way they should have brought it up as a reason to eliminte her.  I think Richard finally got that, so he said Gabriel.  

 

Why does Ramsay pronounce Gabriel like Gabrielle?  It's clear he's not a girl.  He doesn't seem to have a problem with anybody else's name. 

 

When Richard kept harping on the "I have more experience than anybody here", I had to yell at my TV "Then you have NO excuse for screwing up!"

 

I am also really looking forward to Anton getting his ass handed to him by Chef Andi.  Good times....

[Brattinella]

Gabriel definitely should have been eliminated, and obviously it was gonna be Melanie who volunteered.  What a transparent show this is beginning to be.

[BogoGog24]

Why does Ramsay pronounce Gabriel like Gabrielle?  It's clear he's not a girl.  He doesn't seem to have a problem with anybody else's name. 

 

 

 

 

Hahah I noticed that too. Maybe it's his British accent.

[ProfCrash]

I think that Rochelle would be a good line cook/Sous Chef but not a Head Chef. She is great with detail and cooking what she needs to cook. She completly fell apart when she had to help develop a menu and prep. Some time on the line would help her develop real confidence in her cooking and creativity. I think that is all that she is lacking right now. She needs the confidence so she can be more assertive in the kitchen. So I think she will go far in the competition but probably will go out at three or four.

 

Gabriel so needs to go. He has demonstrated he cannot pay attention to detail (last weeks challenge he grabbed only 4 ingredients instead of 5, couldn't count the number of tunas and couldn't count something else) and he is serving raw meat. It seems every week has a something huge that he screws up. I am reasonably certain that he is continuing on only because he is cannon fodder and the other folks going home bring less drama then Gabriel.

 

Anton drives me nuts but he did do the right thing and go and get the scallops. There was an oppertunity for some serious sabatoge but he didn't follow through. I am so excited to watch him get his ass chewed off last week. Did he really call Andi a girl? Seriously, the Sous Chef in charge of the kitchen for Ramsay is a little girl? Wow. Combine that with his comments about women being more sensitive and harder to work with and we have a winner.

[cooksdelight]

I think that Rochelle would be a good line cook/Sous Chef but not a Head Chef.

Most of the "winners" of this competition end up getting that job anyway, so Rochelle would be fine.

Anton is getting on my nerves almost as much as Gabriel and Kaisha. I hope the previews are correct and Andi puts what little balls he has in a blender.

[Writing Wrongs]

I hate the way Kaisha talks. And she always looks high.

[ElleryAnne]

Anton drives me nuts but he did do the right thing and go and get the scallops. There was an oppertunity for some serious sabatoge but he didn't follow through. I am so excited to watch him get his ass chewed off last week. Did he really call Andi a girl? Seriously, the Sous Chef in charge of the kitchen for Ramsay is a little girl? Wow. Combine that with his comments about women being more sensitive and harder to work with and we have a winner.

 

 

A couple of weeks ago he was angry at the rest of the men's team so referred to them as being like a bunch of females.  Methinks there's a bit of ingrained misogyny in the man.  

[fishcakes]

Also, Anton tried to turn Ramsay's criticism of too much garlic in the scallops into some kind of alleged male bonding moment. He said something in his talking head like, "good point! If my girlfriend eats that I'm not gonna want to smell that funk." Which, (a) not Ramsay's point and (b) if some poor and obviously deaf woman is willing to be with Anton, maybe he should be a little less critical of how she smells after eating something he's cooked.

 

I love how deadpan and no-BS Joy is. I was cringing during that sad rap about the menu challenge, and Joy was the only one who refused to smile and clap along as if Tupac had come back to life.

[BogoGog24]

Really interesting interview with Richard: 

 

Apparently he appeared on some other show called Most Wanted Chef and won. He also has catered for rock bands such as The Rolling Stones, INXS, and U2 as well as catered for movie sets. He has also owned his own restaurant before. Pretty impressive resume.

[xcrayon2215x]

Gabriel is gone next for sure, unless the blue team wins next week. Richard should have stayed over him. If it wasn't for Richard having more years of experience then Gabriel would be out instead, the showdown between Anton and Andi should be interesting. I think the final four are Joy, Melanie, Rochelle and either Jason or Anton(probably Anton for the drama).

[Mama No Life]

Richard was stupid. When Ramsey asked him to name the first chef up for elimination, he should have said Gabriel.   Then Rochelle probably would have been offered up as number two.  I mean, I'm not crying....Richard is the oldest 48 year old I've ever seen and woefully unskilled, but he was still stupid.

 

I need Joy or Rochelle to win. I'm okay with those two. I loathe all the rest, though Mush Mouth was at least nice to Rochelle tonight and her steaks were good. She needs to work in a steak house. That's all she can do.

 

Poor Scott wanted Joy's chicken to fail so badly. I hate that passive aggressive twat.

[Kromm]

I felt like Gabriel should have gone instead. I don't know HOW he has made it this far. He's so annoying. Guess Ramsay keeps him around for that reason.

And Rochelle gets thrown under the bus yet again when her teammates want to put her up for elimination for no decent reason. I'm rooting for her to win this thing. Everyone's entitled to a crying jag once in awhile. They are under so much pressure all the time, you can't blame her because she got upset once the whole time she has been there. Every other person there had an emotional outburst at one point or another. That includes you Jason when you screamed at Sandra.

She wasn't actually nominated.  So "thrown under the bus" may be a bit of an overstatement.  The person saying it was also trying to get out of being nominated, so there was a vested interest in smearing her.

 

It was obvious why she didn't actually get nominated, if you think about it.  They all knew that Ramsay wasn't going to send someone home on the back of a service where she carried the team, earlier crying jag or not.  If she'd been one of the two picks it would have automatically meant the other person leaving.  Ergo, the only person with a real motive to put her in the final 2 was the person who'd go up instead of her.

[Kromm]

Did he really call Andi a girl? Seriously, the Sous Chef in charge of the kitchen for Ramsay is a little girl? Wow. Combine that with his comments about women being more sensitive and harder to work with and we have a winner.

And if Anton is more than 4 or 5 years older than Andi, I'd be surprised.

 

This is what Ramsay said about Andi two years ago in an interview (and it helps establish her age, as well as her abilities):

 

 

 

Contestants aside, you also have a fantastic staff on Hell's Kitchen. Can you talk about working with them?

Sure. Andi Van Willigan, that girl’s amazing. Andi worked for eight years alongside Michael Mina, one of the most prominent chefs in California. Scott Leibfried, that guy’s been there since day one. In any business, any structure it’s not about a sous chef being number two or executive chef or executive sous chef, there’s no such thing. We have a team and we’re bloody good as a team. I’m not saying they make me look good, but they give me untold support.

 

And when I’m not there during the day my standards are implemented on a daily basis; they’re like two head chefs so there’s three of us running it. The foundation behind me is quite extraordinary because of the teaching that goes on. And that’s where my [sous chefs] come in. You see 42 minutes or 43 minutes and that’s edited and all that stuff, and that’s television, but there’s 150 hours of footage for 42 minutes and the training is extraordinary, and that’s what you don’t get to see behind the scenes.

[Monty]

They all knew that Ramsay wasn't going to send someone home on the back of a service where she carried the team, earlier crying jag or not.

Yeah, Gordon has never shown any interest in eliminating based on anything that isn't the dinner service. So many times someone gets sent up for being "lazy during prep" or something, and he never bites.

[BogoGog24]

I hope Gabriel goes next week followed by Kashia so black jackets would be Anton, Jason, Scott, Rochelle, Joy, and Melanie. If the finale ends up being 2 men I'd say it would be Anton and Jason, 2 females would be Joy and Rochelle, and male vs. female would be probably Anton vs. Rochelle.

[Eolivet]

I enjoyed this episode so much more than the last few. Reward challenges are so scripted at this point: guest judge chooses a winner by one point, and the non-chosen dish is always proclaimed better than what was presented. Losing team (who just lost by one point) gets over-the-top punishment, including gross lunch rivaling "Fear Factor." Winning team rubs their outing in losing team's faces. Rinse and repeat.

 

Menu challenges, on the other hand, at least show the team's personalities -- and I feel like production doesn't mess with the contestants as much when it's their menu. The fact that the much-feared chicken never turned out RAWWWW is proof enough of that.

 

Just when I thought Anton might be getting a slightly nicer edit, we get next week's preview. I still see him making the finals -- Jason's soundbytes are mostly to prop Rochelle, and complain about the other men on the blue team.

 

I still feel like those who switch teams tend to be winners, so I'm holding with my prediction of Anton vs. Melanie as the final 2.

[Rapunzel]

Apparently he appeared on some other show called Most Wanted Chef and won.

The show is Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell. Each episode, she brings in 4 Chefs to try out for a head/executive Chef position at a specific restaurant. There have been a lot of comments made about the show, especially by past winners and contestants, that the positions aren't even real and most never end up with the actual job they were "applying" for. Sounds a bit like the "Head Chef" prize on Hell's Kitchen...

Edited June 7, 2014 by Rapunzel

[Brattinella]

 

the positions aren't even real and most never end up with the actual job they were "applying" for

Oh jeez this is infuriating!  Why even watch?  Why try out for these jobs?  Just for the "fifteen minutes"?  Harumph.

 

 

[BogoGog24]

At least if they don't get the exact position they applied for, they must get a position of some kind and it's a paying job. It also gives them recognition and this can be helpful if they have a business of their own or want to get to the next level in the industry. They can show off their skills and get their name out there.

[beesknees]

I also noticed that Ramsay's continually mispronouncing Gabriel's name but I'm starting to think its kind of sexy.  Of course it won't matter at any rate.  Gabrielle will be gone next week.  I am so sick of Gabriel throwing everyone ELSE under the bus.  I would rather they kept Richard.  I hope that the previews next week of an Andi - Anton shout down are real.  I was mad that Melanie's psycho-stalking toward Anton was a complete bunch of BS and never materialized.  I waited all week for that!

[Canada]

Richard is only 48?!!?!  I thought he was about 60.  Dude, you really need to work on yourself!

[beesknees]

I KNOW !!!  I thought it was a typo when the showed Richard's age.

[cooksdelight]

That crazy lady that had the hots for Richard in the beginning, I guess she saw something in him that I missed.

[Julia]

The show is Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell. Each episode, she brings in 4 Chefs to try out for a head/executive Chef position at a specific restaurant. There have been a lot of comments made about the show, especially by past winners and contestants, that the positions aren't even real and most never end up with the actual job they were "applying" for. Sounds a bit like the "Head Chef" prize on Hell's Kitchen...

It got a lot of press when the guy who won a slot in a Todd English kitchen quit his job and then Todd English told him there was no position for him and threatened to blacklist him for talking about it.

I can see why the other folks on the red team are piling on Rochelle. She's not an editors' favorite, but she gets the job done. I wouldn't want Ramsay to have to choose between me and Rochelle if we both ended up at the bottom, and I seriously wouldn't want her there if there were jackets in play.

If I was slightly more cynical than I am, I'd say that the narrative they've chosen for her is skilled chef who's being underestimated because she's a woman and wants some work-life balance (which is to say, a sympathetic figure in a season that's kind of short on them). Ramsay, whatever his issues are, is better than average in the restaurant world for having women in executive positions. I wouldn't bet against her.

[oceanchild3]

I know this is in the minority of opinions, but Rochelle kind of drives me crazy. I mean I get so tired of the "I just want to validated! I know I'm a good cook! I'm not used to this environment." I think she is actually a really good cook. But it seems to me if she is a caterer, she might be used to developing menus? And her crab cake was WAY over cooked. I know most people have major meltdowns and she didn't have hers during dinner service, so I know a lot of it was editing, but still didn't make me happy to see her on the screen. That said, she did awesome in the dinner service. Do the chefs change what they are in charge of before dinner service? Wondering why Richard was on crab cakes?

 

I can't deal with Kashia. I feel like she is a bully.

 

Loved the shots of Melanie's cleavage in the opening bits with Anton. Like something MIGHT happen. Geez, talk about editing and camera positioning.

 

Don't like Anton at all. I think he is super sexist, but I wish I liked scallops because his looked good.

[BogoGog24]

Haha yeah I couldn't help but notice Melanie's boobs sticking out when she was talking to Anton.

 

I do agree that Rochelle was whining a bit. She may not be used to that type of environment but neither is anyone else. They are all experiencing the same thing, it's just that some are better at adapting and dealing with it and performing under pressure than others. That is the point. It's supposed to test who can handle it and who can't. 

[BusyOctober]

Finally caught up and watched this one.  I guess I"m backing Rochelle at this point.  I kinda like Scott b/c he isn't Anton, but he hasn't impressed anyone with his abilities yet has he?

 

I thought Joy's "crispy-ass chicken" looked freaking delicious.  However, for the one order they showed going out, someone dumped gravy or au jus all over it.  How is that gonna be crispy when it gets to the table?

 

As for the Ann Burrell show, from what I understand it was almost all fake.  They did episodes in two restaurants near me and the "winners" for each never got the jobs.  In fact, one of the restaurants CLOSED shortly after the episode aired.  The winner was from the West coast, had a family etc.  He was ready to move across country and when he couldn't get in touch with the owners he finally got the news the place was shut down for numerous repeated health code violations.  I think there were back taxes issues too. After seeing all the bad press for this stupid show I couldn't figure out the point of making it in the first place.

[leighdear]

I think this & the AB show are the only seriously fake cooking competitions these days.

Masterchef is on the level, because you do get a trophy, some cash and your own cookbook. The Taste is fine, you get cash. Chopped, you get cash.

Next Iron Chef actually chooses a new IC. Symon, Garces, Forgione, Zakarian & Guarnaschelli are the proof.

Top Chef is maximum cool though, because they don't make any grandiose promises. If you're a chef when you get there and you act like a chef while you're there, you'll probably still be a chef when you leave....*LOL*

Edited June 9, 2014 by leighdear

[Tabasco Cat]

I think this & the AB show are the only seriously fake cooking competitions these days.

Masterchef is on the level, because you do get a trophy, some cash and your own cookbook.

 

You might want to re-think Masterchef. Several people who have been on the show, http://benstarr.com/tag/mc3michael/ like this guy, say otherwise. I've harped on it enough and will only add that if you do a little research you may change your mind.

[Kromm]

You might want to re-think Masterchef. Several people who have been on the show, http://benstarr.com/tag/mc3michael/ like this guy, say otherwise. I've harped on it enough and will only add that if you do a little research you may change your mind.

No Gordon Ramsey American produced reality show, be it candid or competition, is real.  They're all manipulative lying sacks of shit.

[Julia]

It's funny - I assume the Masterchef winner is chosen by whoever packages their cookbook deals, and I would argue that Alex Guarnaschelli's win makes the point that NIC isn't necessarily on the level, not that they're likely to ever do it again now that they've tanked the franchise.

With this show, I get the idea that the producer manipulation is more about who stays past their sell-by date because they give good drama rather than who wins.

[Bella]

I rank this among the last of the cooking shows in terms of credibility. The big difference I see with MasterChef is that there's a cookbook deal, and it's a real cookbook. I have Christine Ma's, and it's good. So for all the actors and other unreal contestants, there must be a handful of real contenders that the judges know about from the beginning.

 

I would imagine that Hell's Kitchen has the occasional competent cook slip in now and then, since some of them are known to hold jobs in the industry after the show airs. However, this is a drama-fest first and foremost. YMMV.

[leighdear]

 

You might want to re-think Masterchef. Several people who have been on the show, http://benstarr.com/tag/mc3michael/ like this guy, say otherwise. I've harped on it enough and will only add that if you do a little research you may change your mind.

So none of the Masterchef winners got their trophy, their cash and their cookbook?  

 

My only point was to indicate the shows that say they award something and actually award it.  

 

I'm not saying it's deserved.  I'm not saying it's unplanned.  I'm not even saying it's fair.  I'm simply saying they award what is advertised, unlike Hell's Kitchen and Chef Wanted.

[Bella]

 

So none of the Masterchef winners got their trophy, their cash and their cookbook?

 

They do get the cookbook. I own Christine's, and I saw a review of Luca's.

 

Parts of the show are fake, but parts aren't.

 

I think this show is faker, however, and to a great extent.

[Brattinella]

I just got Luca's cookbook, My Italian Kitchen, and it is very good so far.

[Tabasco Cat]

I just got Luca's cookbook, My Italian Kitchen, and it is very good so far.

 

Is there a turkey recipe in there? :)

[Kromm]

I rank this among the last of the cooking shows in terms of credibility. The big difference I see with MasterChef is that there's a cookbook deal, and it's a real cookbook. I have Christine Ma's, and it's good. 

Cookbooks where they definitely have a backup plan in place (aka a ghostwriter) if things don't fall into place with the winner's actual knowledge/backlog of recipes.

[Brattinella]

Yes, at least two turkey recipes, would you like them?

[mlp]

 

Is there a turkey recipe in there? :)

 

That made me laugh.  I would pay for a video of Luca trying to catch that turkey.  It was hilarious and oddly endearing.

[Brattinella]

Oh, DUH.  I'd forgotten ALL ABOUT the turkey episode!  I was so glad when he won, charming person.