Quick Take: Hell's Kitchen, "15 Chefs Compete"
"Nobody told me there'd be days like these" - John Lennon
Review: Hell's Kitchen, "15 Chefs Compete"
(S0702) In the aftermath of the first elimination, Autumn of Team Red tries to rally the team, but some ladies resent it. The Blue Team talks and appears to accurately assess their weaknesses.
At 5:00 a.m. the contestants are awoken and have to race down to kitchen. Ramsay pairs them into teams of two, with Siobahn going solo since Red Team is down one, to create four egg dishes (poached, soft boiled, sunnyside up, and scrambled) in five minutes. Salvatore does the poorest job on the Blue Team with his two dishes. Ramsay asks Siobahn how long it took her to soft boil and she didn't know because Autumn helped her. Ramsay calls them both out for not listening to his instructions, and Siobahn breaks down. I don't see her lasting if she's this emotionally fragile on Day Two.
The Blue Team wins by one point and win the prize of a helicopter ride along beaches of Los Angeles and lunch with Ramsay. The prize segments have always been a bore, but I was impressed that Ramsay told the fellas that outside of the kitchen they should call him Gordon and not Chef.
Meanwhile, Siobahn has another cry. Autumn tries to apologize and patch things up, but Siobahn is cold to her. A shipment of tuna arrives that has to be cleaned, gutted, and filleted. The fish are massive as it takes six of the ladies to carry it from the truck into kitchen.
During the prep, Siobahn has trouble with making mashed potatoes and her teammates try and get her to hustle. Salvatore can't name any of the deserts and gets sent away 10 minutes before service even begins. In her interview, Autumn says her team had "three hard loses" so they need to win. Back in the kitchen, the cameras catch Autmun over-salting the water for pasta. Ramsay catches the error. She claims someone must have added salt after her, but no footage is shown confirming her assumption.
In the interview Mikey is sure he aces the risotto so naturally Ramsay finds it too crunchy and sends it back. It takes Mikey 43 minutes before he creates an acceptable risotto yet customer finds it undercooked and sends it back. Siobhan is making risotto yet Autumn adds more salt, undermining her. Fran has trouble finding the right table in the dining room as she makes the tuna tartar appetizer.
Moving on to entrées, Ramsay is ready to send them out for Red Team but Nilka stumbles on garnish and doesn't talk to anyone. Salvatore finally redeems himself with a well-cooked Beef Wellington, but Jason isn't ready with chicken. Andrew messes up the mashed potatoes. They are very runny, almost like a potato soup. He quarrels with Ramsay about how to rectify the situation and Ramsay takes him into the restaurant and calls him out in front of the customers. Andrew walks out. Maître d' J.P. tries to stop Andrew, informing him Ramsay is testing him and many would like to be in his shoes. In reaction, Andrew steps out of his shoes and becomes the second contestant to ever quit.
Both teams finish service but no team won. Andrew's leaving gives no one a pass and each team is ordered to pick a nominee to go home. The Red Team selects Autumn because her pushiness is creating enemies. The Blue Team selects Jason. While, having trouble with the chicken is a good reason, it didn't seem more egregious than anyone else, so there must be something going on with team viewers haven't seen yet. Autumn says her nomination is personal. When Ramsay asks if Autumn is worst cook, a few ladies say "No" and Maria says Jamie is. However, Ramsay calls an audible and sends home Mikey because he screwed up two services.
Video: Hell's Kitchen, "15 Chefs Compete"
Check out all of the kitchen hell fiery in full from Hulu, while available:
Recap: Hell's Kitchen, "15 Chefs Compete"
The chefs get back to basics.
From Around the Web: Hell's Kitchen, "15 Chefs Compete"
