Quick Take: Hell's Kitchen, "4 Chefs Compete Again"
And the semi-finalists are...
Review: Hell's Kitchen, "4 Chefs Compete Again"
(S0714) The episode begins with a message to the chefs on behalf of Ramsay to get dressed up. Everyone does except for Jay, who puts on jeans and a nice shirt. Ramsay offers him a bit of fashion advice. Since the Savoy is under renovation, Ramsay brings it to the chefs and makes dishes from the lunch menu. After the meal, they get 45 minutes to recreate one of the dishes in the Taste-It-Now-Make-It Challenge.
Everyone but Jay picks venison, but since he's unsure what the protein is he cooks three types of meat to see which one looks right. He decides on flank steak. Everyone makes apple puree except Jay who makes pear. Everyone uses pancetta as the puree base except for Autumn, who uses bacon. Jay gets the pear puree right but the steak wrong, so he's out of the running. Autumn gets the bacon wrong. Ramsay asks to retaste them and Holli wins. In his interview, Benjamin is convinced he's still the best chef. He and Jay are very bitter and really come off like jackasses as they sit around talking about it.
Holli wins an afternoon on a luxury yacht. Since she didn't get to bring anyone, it's no surprise that her son and the kid's dad join her on the boat. The boy is charming and his parents seem to get along. Surely, there's an interesting story there.
The losers get to clean the dorms and pack away all the furniture no longer being used now that they have shrunk from 16 to 4. Benjamin claims he hurt himself moving and skips the prep. He sleeps and spends time in the hot tub, but eventually goes to see the medic. Later, a chiropractor is called in, but with no relief, Benjamin calls it quits and tells the other chefs, who aren't too disappointed to see a competitor leave.
Benjamin meets Ramsay in his office to inform him. Ramsay tells him to reconsider because he has talent or he wouldn't have made it so far. Benjamin decides to stay and cook, which annoys the chefs because they had to do extra work all day.
During dinner service, everyone gets a chance to work the hot plate. Jay does well, catching Scott twice mixing crab and lobster in dishes. Holli misses the number of entrees not matching the number of appetizers on an order from Jean-Philippe, but she catches Scott only cooking scallops on one side. During Holli's turn, Jay spills some risotto on Ramsay. Benjamin misses the type of meat in a Beef Wellington, but catches an undercooked steak. Autumn catches a missed entrée on a ticket but misses an incorrect vegetable garnish.
During these sessions, I love when Scott acts meek and questions the food sent back. When lobster and crab are alternated, he asks if the head chef is sure because they look right. With the scallops, he said he thought they only cooked them on one side.
Ramsay sends the chefs to pick two and a few comment on how healthy Benjamin's back appeared. However, when they meet with Ramsay, he asks them to state why they should be in the final. Ramsay excuses Autumn and then shows Jay as one of the finalists. Between Benjamin and Holli, Benjamin appeared stronger at the hot plate, so I was expecting him to be chosen after the commercial break. Ramsay selected Holli, however. I'd be curious if Benjamin's quitting so close to the end affected Ramsay's decision.
On to the finals to see who wins Hell's Kitchen.
