How bad has Hell’s Kitchen gotten this season? Sitting down to recap last night’s train wreck I actually fell asleep from lack of caring. That’s despite the men’s team turning David’s flub in the challenge into a different and intriguing fish dish. Let’s just get down to the carnage.
Chef Ramsey had each team roll a 12 sided die that had letters on it, with the challenge being to come up with complementary ingredients for a dish based on the letters. The women started strong with very classic combinations: rabbit, haricot vert, potato, garlic and ham hock. No way they could lose on this one. The men stumbled through their rolls, eventually coming up with something that could have been a travesty. Haddock, figs, angel hair pasta, apples and tomatoes. When Dave rolled an “F” I immediately shouted out “fennel!” The guys were pissed about the fig choice, but I’ve used figs in a fish dish before. I’m not sure why they were so upset because when done properly figs go very well with fish.
The women ended up serving a rabbit tenderloin and leg with a garlic-rosemary puree, which Tennille mentioned might have needed some sugar to balance out the overpowering garlic flavor. The guys made braised haddock with a tomato and fig sauce. Ramsey thought both dishes were delicious, but gave the guys the victory because of the unctuous garlic puree. While the girls unloaded the delivery trucks and cleaned the two kitchens the guys spent the night partying in Vegas.
So far there has been no sign of Robert, and the men couldn’t be happier. They’ve found that they’re working better as a team with him gone. As the guys begin prepping for service Robert walks in and is essentially ignored. To be honest I think the guy needed to stay gone and get himself healthy. I’m surprised that after last season leaving because of health problems he did nothing to fix his problems.
Dinner service had a special twist with the inclusion of chef’s tables, which included chefs from Ramsey’s restaurants. Other than being seated in the kitchen, these weren’t really chef’s tables. A chef’s table is where you sit in the kitchen and the chef prepares a special meal for the guest based on their likes and dislikes. This was just the typical menu served up inside the kitchen. Dave started strong with an impressive risotto, while Ariel under seasoned and over seared her scallops.
Last night also started getting us ready for the end of the season as we now see that once the chaffe is completely gone there are only maybe two or three people with a chance to win. First up on the not quite not good enough block will be Van. Why? While he’s a decent cook he has no focus. Van sends out wax on his fish not once but twice. This is a multi-thousand dollar fine for a restaurant. It’s not an innocent oops or an overcooked meal. Van’s mistake is a huge issue. And it’s really lucky for Van that Ramsey wasn’t listening as he spoke with the chef’s table. Mumbling, fumbling, and unable to describe the dishes he had available it was an embarrassment.
The women spent most of the dinner service under the radar with very little problems. I’m fairly certain that Ramsey was yelling at Amanda, despite the wait for her food not being her fault in the least, just to have something to yell about in the Red kitchen during service. As service came close to the end Robert tried to send out raw food, which caused Ramsey to shut down the Blue kitchen.
Dave was chosen as the best of the worst and ended up nominating Robert and Van. But Ramsey tells Andy to come down as well, and immediately tells Van to get back in line. Robert gives an impassioned speech about how he’s glad Andy is there too. Ramsey tells Andy that he doesn’t see the executive chef at Whistler standing before him. He then turns to Robert and tells him to leave.
Ramsey says the decision came down to the raw food being put up despite Robert having so many services under his belt in Hell’s Kitchen. My thought is that Robert’s health was too big of an issue and either Ramsey decided to end it there.
