S12.E14: 8 Chefs Compete

[Kromm]

I breathed a sigh of relief when Anton was eliminated last night. I was thinking they might keep him around for high drama purposes but, thankfully, that didn't happen.

 

I have to agree with some other posters who have mentioned that this group of contestants doesn't really seem to have one that could lead a kitchen. Rochelle seems to be getting stronger. And forgetting the preview for next week, Joy is usually pretty strong.

 

Putting Scott up for elimination last night though was ridiculous. I agree that he's not a strong chef but in no way should he have been next to Anton.

The big problem is that Rochelle is proving that she'll be a good line cook, maybe even a good sous chef eventually.  Not a good Head Chef/Exec Chef.  

 

The rest of them might work in higher level positions than her in other places, but based on the real standards of fine restaurants, clearly they're crap.  She has the most potential because she's the one that trainable.  Nothing more.  But trainable still makes the prize at the end (which they never really get anyway) even more of a joke.  She's not Christina Wilson, where she broke them down into giving her some real responsibility in the Ramsay Group after a relatively short time. If Rochelle wins, the prize will simply be to work in a far better kitchen that she would have otherwise, and then after that year have a decent chance to leverage that for her own business (or run a smaller kitchen somewhere else).

[Donny Ketchum]

Putting Scott up for elimination last night though was ridiculous. I agree that he's not a strong chef but in no way should he have been next to Anton.

Problem is, who else could there have been?  Joy was the only one on the team who hadn't made any errors during service, and Kashia only made the mistake with braising the salmon.  Scott and Anton were the two who'd messed up the most.

[Julia]

I didn't see it that way. Scott's big sin was to serve Anton's chicken, while Kashia racked up not being able to count to fifteen scallops, basically boiling the salmon (and to my eye burning the skin side), and then being insubordinate to Ramsay when he told her she'd done the salmon wrong to the point of saying she did it right. I really felt like the only reason she didn't go up was because Joy wanted someone less talented to compete with.

[cooksdelight]

 

Scott's big sin was to serve Anton's chicken, while Kashia racked up not being able to count to fifteen scallops, basically boiling the salmon (and to my eye burning the skin side), and then being insubordinate to Ramsay when he told her she'd done the salmon wrong to the point of saying she did it right. I really felt like the only reason she didn't go up was because Joy wanted someone less talented to compete with.

 

 

Totally agree with this. Joy is keeping Kaisha around so she can beat her later.

[Donny Ketchum]

Even so, I guess Ramsay didn't see her bungles as major since he certainly didn't call her up himself and allowed Scott's nomination to stand.

[Fostersmom]

 

Honestly if I wanted to be a contestant on HK, I would practice the taste test challenge a lot at home before I came to the show. There are so many basics that have been a staple of the show since Season 1 and it's really dumb that the cheftestants never seem to practice them before coming to the show (wellingtons, scallops, blind taste test)

 

 

See, that would make sense if half of them even knew what show they were going to be on. After what we've seen, I'm pretty sure most of them were found in line for bowling alley nachos and asked if they wanted to be on TV. 

 

 

I didn't mind the ass-man comment from Anton

 

I was bothered that Anton was almost old enough to be Rachel's father and kept talking about her like she was an object. 

[Rapunzel]

I agree that the blind taste test can be pretty difficult, especially since , as has been mentioned above, the food is cold and they do chop up many of the items in such a way that they deviate from their natural and/or typical form and texture. That being said, I still for the life of me cannot understand how Melanie could have possibly mistaken red bell pepper for honeydew melon. This girl is close to getting on my last nerve, particularly as she seems to see herself as this great leader/chef and was taking a lot of the credit for the blue team winning the service that night. I would love to see either her or Keisha go next.

 

Gabriel is weak as well and he shouldn't make it to the final 4. I would love to see Rochelle end up in the finale along with either Joy or Scott. I know that there has been some criticism about Scott , but I don't think he has screwed up or has been viewed quite as poorly by his peers as others still in the competition have. Ideally I would like to see a Rochelle vs. Scott finale. I would be okay with either of them winning but am definitely more partial to Rochelle. She's been pretty consistent and all of the other contestants seem to like her and no one has really had a major issue with her cooking (or her personality/teamwork for that matter). The biggest issue anyone had was when her own team criticized her by saying they were concerned about her drive/dedication since she mentioned that she wanted to get married and have a family at some point. I know she may not be experienced enough yet to run a professional kitchen in a higher-end, Ramsay type restaurant, but since no one this show seems to end up with a head/executive chef position anyway I think she could succeed in whatever position she was ultimately placed in and learn and advance from there. She definitely has potential (and a good amount of technique/skill) which is more than I can say for the majority of the remaining contestants.

Edited June 14, 2014 by Rapunzel

[Rambler]

I like Rochelle and I'm rooting for her to win this. That said, I’m going to go against the conventional wisdom here and say that I think Melanie is the front runner at this point. Sure she suffers from swelled head syndrome, but that just means that when she messes up in the kitchen, she has been able to bounce back without any loss of confidence, and also she has consistently been doing well in the cooking challenges.

 

I also think she knows how to play this game. So far this season, there have only been three chefs who have shown that they are at least marginally competent: Rochelle, Joy and Melanie. If you’re Melanie the last thing you want is to have Rochelle and Joy on the same team going against you. So she was smart enough to volunteer to join Rochelle and isolate Joy. 2 competent chefs vs. 1 puts Joy under pressure until they get down to the final five.

 

Looking at it from Ramsay’s perspective, I think he sees Melanie as someone who was confident enough in her own abilities that she volunteered to transfer from a winning team to a losing team. And then right after she joined, that team was suddenly transformed from a dysfunctional mess into a well-oiled machine, while the team she left fell apart. Now whether that transformation was due to her abilities or Gabriel finally deciding to show up is open to debate, but I think both she and Rochelle are in a good position for final two right now.

Edited June 14, 2014 by Rambler

[Drogo]

Still not sure why they didn't stalemate - wouldn't the guys band together to vote Kashia/Joy and the girls band together to vote Anton/Scott?  

 

Then a compromise nom of Kashia/Anton would have been possible.  Couldn't believe the guys allowed themselves to be the nominees.

Edited June 14, 2014 by Drogo

[BogoGog24]

I don't think so. I doubt anyone voted for Joy because from what I remember, she did nothing worthy of being put up.

 

So I'm assuming:

 

Kaisha voted for Anton/Scott

Joy voted Anton/Scott

Anton for Kaisha/Scott

And Scott for Anton/Kaisha

 

That leaves 3 votes each for Anton and Scott, only 2 for Kaisha, and none for Joy.

[cooksdelight]

 

Ideally I would like to see a Rochelle vs. Scott finale.

 

 

I'm totally down with this. I'd love to see the two of them battling it out in the finale.

[Donny Ketchum]

Rochelle would totally crush him based on the sheer fact that Ramsay sees something from her and absolutely nothing in Scott.

Edited June 14, 2014 by Donny Ketchum

[SourK]

I think Jason has a little crush on Rochelle, but maybe that's just me.

 

I think Jason is happy that someone on his team is good at service. :)

 

I read an article some months back, can't recall where, that said, among other things, that the sous chefs often tamper with the ovens and do other things to trip up the chefs for the sake of drama.  If that's true, Anton may have been right about the oven.  In fact, Andi was suddenly so visible and so obnoxious that I'm inclined to think that the oven and her act were part of tonight's "plot." 

 

I like Chef Andi about a million times more than I like Anton, but I call shennanigans on that argument. From what we were shown in the kitchen, the worst he did was not seem very contrite when she told him off about the ovens -- it really seemed to be like the producers told her to be more of a hard-ass to create tension. Plus, the talking head we saw of Anton calling her "some little girl" I'm 99% sure came from an earlier episode where he was either talking about Melanie or one of the other female contestants. It doesn't make him look good, no matter who he's talking about, but I don't think that particular soundbite was even about Andi.

 

The rest of them might work in higher level positions than her in other places, but based on the real standards of fine restaurants, clearly they're crap. 

 

I see the point you're making -- no one stands out as being a great chef -- but I withhold judgement about their abilities in real life. The show pushes them pretty hard so that their performance will be more dramatic -- you make a lot more mistakes when you're constantly sleep-deprived and isolated from your social support network.

 

I like Rochelle and I'm rooting for her to win this. That said, I’m going to go against the conventional wisdom here and say that I think Melanie is the front runner at this point....

 

I also think she knows how to play this game. So far this season, there have only been three chefs who have shown that they are at least marginally competent: Rochelle, Joy and Melanie. If you’re Melanie the last thing you want is to have Rochelle and Joy on the same team going against you. So she was smart enough to volunteer to join Rochelle and isolate Joy. 2 competent chefs vs. 1 puts Joy under pressure until they get down to the final five.

 

I think that's a good way of looking at her decision. It didn't occur to me to do the math that way, but, yeah -- either you're going to be on the team with two good chefs, or you're going to be alone, so you choose the team with two good chefs, no matter which team it is.

 

I think Melanie is probably somewhere in the middle as a chef, but she looks really good compared to the worse competitors. Also, I do think she and Joy were the leaders on the red team -- if leadership is defined by convincing people to follow you, then Melanie lead a lot, because we watched her make decisions and, even if not everyone agreed, they seemed to back down and do what she wanted. Joy is a more populist leader -- she's the one who's always giving people pep-talks and saying, "We can do this! Let's bounce back!" I think, among this group, they're two of the strongest chefs, and two of the strongest leaders, so I would be okay with a Joy/Melanie final two.

[Kromm]

I like Chef Andi about a million times more than I like Anton, but I call shennanigans on that argument. From what we were shown in the kitchen, the worst he did was not seem very contrite when she told him off about the ovens -- it really seemed to be like the producers told her to be more of a hard-ass to create tension. Plus, the talking head we saw of Anton calling her "some little girl" I'm 99% sure came from an earlier episode where he was either talking about Melanie or one of the other female contestants. It doesn't make him look good, no matter who he's talking about, but I don't think that particular soundbite was even about Andi.

The key there is "From what we were shown".  To me, the shennanigans lean the other way, because what we saw didn't seem complete (and doesn't fit with what we know about Andi otherwise).  As for Anton's quote, while it's certainly not beyond a show like this to migrate words about one person to another, in this case I have to wonder why they'd risk it.  True Anton signed an NDA, but this is the kind of thing where if they got someone mad enough they'd squeal to the press anyway, and they'd be in a pickle, because it would just look even worse if they sued him.  I suppose they could hold his appearance fee hostage if he hasn't been paid until after the show finishes airing though.

 

I may rewatch that bit.  There may be other cues if he's talking about Andi or not.

[JayCutler]

Based on the past few seasons, the contestants who do the best on the blind taste tests go the furthest in the competition. Ramsay often compliments their palettes in his pep talks when the competition gets this far, i.e. Nona, Mary, and Ja'nel. So I wouldn't be surprised to see Rochelle and Scott in the final 2. 

[cooksdelight]

 

Based on the past few seasons, the contestants who do the best on the blind taste tests go the furthest in the competition. Ramsay often compliments their palettes in his pep talks when the competition gets this far, i.e. Nona, Mary, and Ja'nel. So I wouldn't be surprised to see Rochelle and Scott in the final 2.

 

 

I'd love that. And I agree, if you cannot taste because you smoke like a fiend, you won't get far in any restaurant.

[Donny Ketchum]

Based on the past few seasons, the contestants who do the best on the blind taste tests go the furthest in the competition. Ramsay often compliments their palettes in his pep talks when the competition gets this far, i.e. Nona, Mary, and Ja'nel. So I wouldn't be surprised to see Rochelle and Scott in the final 2.

And I remain positive that that's not gonna happen.  Ramsay only complimented Rochelle on her palate.  He didn't say a word about Scott's.  Or if he did, we certainly weren't shown it.

[DropTheSoap]

 

I was bothered that Anton was almost old enough to be Rachel's father and kept talking about her like she was an object.

I totally agree with that statement. With what we've seen of Anton's attitude about women for this whole season, it's not unexpected or out of character for him. 

 

Glad to hear Anton leave. The out-of-control ego with flailing and failing skills was reason enough to say good-bye.

 

Rochelle is rising, but how far can she go? 

 

Melanie may be more than a less-annoying version of Anton, but that remains to be seen.

 

Joy is the other strong candidate. I'm surprised Jason hasn't burst a blood vessel in anger, but I can't see him being in at the end. Gabriel is a joke, as is Keisha. Scott's skills seem to be in skating, in the kitchen and out.

[Sonja]

I read an article some months back, can't recall where, that said, among other things, that the sous chefs often tamper with the ovens and do other things to trip up the chefs for the sake of drama.  If that's true, Anton may have been right about the oven.  In fact, Andi was suddenly so visible and so obnoxious that I'm inclined to think that the oven and her act were part of tonight's "plot." 

He was clearly told 14 min at 400 degrees and then he argued to Andi that it always were 18 min in the blue kitchen. Doesn't sound like tampering to me, but rather him not knowing how to say 'sorry, my fault'.

 

Anton was being a bit of an ass but I didn't think he was that bad when he was talking to Andi. He was a bit lippy but her response seemed to be over the top for what he said. Kashia was far worse with her wandering and under the breath crap when Ramsay told her not to baste the salmon and he did not light into her the way Andi did Anton. It could very well be that Anton has been acting like the mysoginistic ass that I think he is for a while and Andi decided enough is enough and she was going to set the power structure straight but we really didn't see a ton of that in the kitchen. Anton made some eye roll inducing statements but he has never appeared disrespectful to only women in the kitchen. He has always seemed like an arrogant ass.

Considering he called her a 'little girl', I agree. I think this wasn't the first time he behaved direspectfully towards her.

 

I don't think it is all that strange for him, I think it is strange for how he has been portrayed in the US. Big difference. His UK shows are an interesting combination of mentor/pep talk/swearing pissed off dude. Normally he is pissed off because peopleare refusing his attempts to mentor or are ignoring really glaring obvious problems and blaming other people/events/cosmic beings for their bad fortune.

 

Ramsay has done a ton of nurturing on his UK shows. He has worked hard on UK Kitchen Nightmares to nuture Chefs that he really believed in, even hiring a few at his restaurants. He likes the quirky folks but tries to help them see how they can be quirky and make some money. Normally he is dealing with peopel with real control issues who need to learn to trust their staff, really good staff with crap owners, and the occassional really good chef with serious problem. He is portrayed very differently in the UK. He swears and rants and raves and people are on edge with him but he is also a mentor and a teacher.

 

So his take on Gabriel and Rochelle is not too much of a surprise. Remember Julia from an early season, the Waffle House cook who made it to Black Jackets, he loved her and her willingness to work and learn. I believe he paid for her to go to culinary school because he was so impressed with her. Rochelle has worked her butt off and has not made too many mistakes. She learns from her mistakes and has spotted others mistakes and corrected them. Ramsay sees that. Gabriel apparently has seen something in him that we have not and shame on the Producers for not showing that. They have taken the time to show Rochelle in that light, they could have done something similar for him.

The difference really is considerable. He is a completely different person in the UK shows and they only let this side of him be seen in the US versions very rarely. I remember him inviting a young cook who was made chef without experience or education but clearly talented to come to London and work in one of his kitchens when he realised the restaurant he was trying to save in Kitchen Nightmares UK was never going to make it thanks to the owner and he kept his word and empolyed him.

 

I didn't mind the ass-man comment from Anton but the comment about Andi being a woman was too much for me, I can't believe he thought that he had won Hell's Kitchen when he was eliminated.

If he had just said he was an ass-man, it would have been fine. But he should have refrained from adding that 'girl' had quite an ass. 'That girl' is a world-class athlete and has already had sucess that he - and his ass- can only dream about. Calling Andi a little girl later on just showed that he has no respect for women and considers them 'just girls', achievements be damned.

 

Maybe it's a cultural difference thing, but where I come from, you don't call grown women girls unless you want to belittle them.

[BogoGog24]

What doesn't make sense to me is that Anton has been in the red kitchen for several episodes by now. Unless this was the first time they were making wellington in weeks, I don't see why he needed to be told how to cook them in the red oven. Shouldn't he have known by now how their ovens worked?

[ProfCrash]

It might have been his first service on the meat station in the red kitchen

[BogoGog24]

It might have been his first service on the meat station in the red kitchen

That would make sense.

[TattleTeeny]

Oops--wrong thread.

Edited June 20, 2014 by TattleTeeny

[WickedTuna]

I was super glad to see Anton go. I just wish it had been sooner. I saw him awhile back on Chopped and thought he was a total loser. I googled him and he calls himself a world-renowned chef! I choked when i read that.  Then he says his episode of Chopped was the most controversial because everyone thinks he shouldn't have been chopped.  By everyone I think that means mom and dad.  Who, by the way, he works for. It's a small Italian "bistro".  

 

So, Anton ~pats you on the behind~ nice try.

[Kromm]

I was super glad to see Anton go. I just wish it had been sooner. I saw him awhile back on Chopped and thought he was a total loser. I googled him and he calls himself a world-renowned chef! I choked when i read that.  Then he says his episode of Chopped was the most controversial because everyone thinks he shouldn't have been chopped.  By everyone I think that means mom and dad.  Who, by the way, he works for. It's a small Italian "bistro".  

So... a Pizza Place?

[Julia]

Yeah, pretty much a pizza place, from what they've got online.

 

I was wondering why all his promotional material talks about how controversial his super-rapid elimination from Chopped was. I thought about buying the episode, but I can't quite bring myself to see what Anton would do with octopus (which he apparently boiled), guava and endive.

 

I'm still wondering about why he thinks it was the most popular episode ever when pretty much the only mentions of it online were mentions he posted himself.