Hell's Kitchen, New Season

[Andrew B.]

Elise reminds me of Jen from a few seasons ago. Remember her, big ego and a mouth to match? Elise might even get the same delusion if she sticks around long enough.

[Eisa]

Actually, I eat scallops relatively often, and have even had an amazing scallop sashimi dish at my favorite sushi restaurant. But I feel sad for you that you only ever get them at Red Lobster. They're so much better than that.

Dude, at least I get them somewhere.

I've never even had a risotto or a beef wellington, but I always want them after watching Hell's Kitchen, too. It looks good, what can I say?

[Jester]

The weird thing about Christian on Master Chef is that he didn't start out this arrogant, unlike Elise on HK and Penny on NFNS. At least, he didn't seem that way to me. But it seems that the longer he's been in the competition, the more arrogant he's gotten, to the point where the judges seem to be making a point of taking him to task. They see it, they've pointed it out to him, and he's still in denial about it. And arrogant and rude. Jennifer's a force to be reckoned with, and he's dismissing her out of hand.

I'm sorry, but if someone had won 3 mystery box challenges, I might view them as a serious contender and dangerous threat. But Adrian can't see past his own ego and arrogance.

Damn shame, because, like Penny but unlike Elise, it seems he is a very talented cook.

[firecat88]

Yeah, it's been kinda weird this time 'round on Master Chef. A lot of the people I started out liking have turned into complete arrogant asshats.

Something I'll never understand about these people who are so damn arrogant and think they're God's gift to cooking is why they don't just open their own damn restaurants and leave everyone else alone.

[Aethian]

I still like Ben on MC and still hate Elise on HK.

As for the cravings while the show is on? Oh hells yes and I can be craving those silver dollar sized scallops when I'm eating a dish that has small scallops mixed in. I've even TRIED making a wellington and it sadly failed...

[fireheart]

Elise reminds me of Jen from a few seasons ago. Remember her, big ego and a mouth to match? Elise might even get the same delusion if she sticks around long enough.

I was thinking Tenille (Season 6), but she got likeable after a while.

By the way, anyone remember this?

I'd love to see a recreation of THAT occurring again. (short version: Dave broke his wrist during a punishment for Hell's Kitchen, meaning he had a cast on. Prior to the service shown, Andy sliced off all of his fingertips with a mandoline slicer, so aside from the crepes, that was why Dave was doing risotto for him)

or this?

(you sorta gotta watch the whole thing)

Ahh....Nona at her worst and Dave at his best.

[Eisa]

I'm watching season 6 over again, I ADORE Dave! He's amazing. I love that he freaking won with a broken wrist.

Oddly enough, I got to go to Red Lobster today because of my mom's birthday. Hello, small scallops. Those were good.

[fireheart]

I'm watching season 6 over again, I ADORE Dave! He's amazing. I love that he freaking won with a broken wrist.

He is amazing. And even better, all the other contestants actually respected him for going through all the services and challenges with a broken wrist. Nobody pitied him either and he wasn't seen as a liability, compared to Robert for example.

Highlights of that season:

-Van and JP's shouting match (not so much the match itself, but the comments prior to that-you can see Gordon trying not to laugh)
-The ENTIRE sausage-making challenge (I think I counted about 10 double-entendres prior to the actual challenge i.e. "The secret to a good sausage is what?" "YOu gotta hold it steady....and pump it slow and easy." )
-The dice challenge and Dave picking "Figs" (which actually resulted in a win)
-The French cuisine lunch....Andy actually ENJOYED the head cheese.
-Dave going at it single-handedly: literally.
-Dave being unable to come up with a name for his visually pleasing dish (which was anything but)
-Mini-Gordon: very cute and hilarious. He also had THE best line in that season: "if [Dave] was a horse, I would've shot [him] by now!"
-The punishment for the vegetarian kids challenge, where Dave kept picking up all the goodies.



That said, there were some damn good contestants in the other seasons:


Season 1: I really liked Elsie and Jimmy, mostly because Elsie was the underdog: no formal culinary training but she did an AMAZING job. Jimmy had some comic GOLD moments as well. I mean, seriously, who thinks that CHICKEN tastes like"meat tortellini with a bit of sweated onions in the background."

Season 2: No really likeable contestants that season, it just sorta fell flat.

Season 3: Julia, Jen and Bonnie hands down. Julia for similar reasons to Elsie (I loved the team building challenge where she pretty much took over, despite all the other contestants disparaging her background). Jen was at least honest when she admitted she made the mistake with the spaghetti in the bin. AS for Bonnie, the best moment was when she managed to swear at Gordon during the "dressing down" bit.

Season 4: One word: Petrozza. If age wasn't a factor, he would've won hands down. Gracious, learnt a LOT from Ramsay, very much a gentleman and seemed to have that flair. He went from a "Hen In A Pumpkin" to a very cute teddy bear. :P

Season 5: For some reason, Andrea. She had balls....that's about all I can say.

Season 7: Even though he was a crap cook, poor Salvatore was at least honest and managed to at least put in a bloody good effort. I loved the bit where he was honest with Ramsay about his illiteracy (in English anyway). The funniest moment in this particular season was when Ed got drunk and went into the hot tub, then went buck naked. It wasn't the fact that he went naked, but the fact that the Hell's Kitchen producers delibrately picked the shots where his genitalia was covered up by a leaf or a barrel or something that was already THERE, rather than putting something in or blurring/adding a black bar over it.

Season 8: Trev and Jillian. Trev managed to cope well under pressure (one point where he was the ONLY cook in the blue kitchen and managed to complete the service with the sous chefs help) and Jillian because of how well she sort of emerged throughout the competition. She just had issues with focusing, that was all.

[Sapphire Silk]

Random note, but am I the only one who starts REALLY craving scallops every time they watch Hell's Kitchen? The only time I get them is like once a year at Red Lobster. Om nom nom.

Man, just the fact you mentioned them has got my mouth watering. . . .

Of the guys, while Will sometimes gets into the realm of being dismissive, he at least has shown that he knows how to cook. He's pretty solid, and I definitely expect to see him in the top three.

My lady and I are waiting with bated breath for Elise to fall, and fall hard. Unfortunately, that type is all too common (see American Idol auditions) and most of them don't learn even when dressed down by established artists.

Agree: Will will make it to the Final Five.

Elise may make it that far too. Ramsey won't kick her to the curb until the really poor chefs are all gone.

My guess is Carrie will go next.

[fireheart]

Man, just the fact you mentioned them has got my mouth watering. . . .



Agree: Will will make it to the Final Five.

Elise may make it that far too. Ramsey won't kick her to the curb until the really poor chefs are all gone.

My guess is Carrie will go next.

It seems like he will...despite all the other teams being in pairs and he was solo, he was the only person to get a perfect score on the grilling meat challenge

[Eisa]

The beer challenge was rather...interesting this time.

I still hate Elise. Who the fuck starts crying just because you lose? Seriously?

Oh, and Paul's Swiss gaffe? Was hilarious.

[Jester]

I hate the cliffhanger they left us on. Something else big is going to happen, and while I hope it is the booting of Elise (or at least a serious reaming out of her), I know it could literally be anything.

As I'm typing this, I am watching last night's Master Chef episode On Demand. (For whatever reason, the On Demand version of this show has had the fast forward feature disabled, so I am forced to deal with the commercials....but that gives me the opportunity to type this up.) And it is making something crystal clear to me. While I am a good cook, and some people have told me I should try out for some of these cooking shows, I know that my speed (or lack thereof) in the kitchen would majorly hinder me in such a situation. But let's forget that for a moment. Let's say I suddenly was The Flash in the kitchen. Watching last night's Master Chef, where the home cooks had to take over the kitchen at Patina, brought it all home to me: there is no fucking way I could survive a challenge like that. More than one of the cooks felt lost and overwhelmed....and every single one of them did a boatload better than I ever could have done. I would not only have been toast, I would have been burnt toast. And by "burnt" I mean a smoldering piece of carbon that vaguely resembled a former piece of bread.

These shows like Chopped, Top Chef, Master Chef, Next Food Network Star, etc.: I love them. I would love to think I could compete on them. But there is just no way.

Don't get me wrong, I'll put my cooking up against anyone. It may not always be very refined, and it certainly won't always be fast, but the final product will almost always kick some serious tail. But put me on a timer? Straight into the side of the mountain!

Edited to Add: The pressure test from this episode was insane. As one of the cooks said, this was without question the most intense pressure test to date. I know without question that I could not possibly do what was asked of the cooks in the time they were given to do it. Hell, I might not have been able to do it in twice the time they were given! And I am very, very, very glad that I can just sit here and watch it, rather than having to do any of it!

[Eisa]

Eurgh, I know! I want to FIND OUT already, I hate cliffhangers! I would like if Elise got reamed out. That would be awesome.

I find myself thinking Jamie is rather cute lately.

Yeah, the speed's the important bit in competitions, unfortunately. I know that would fuck me over...if I could properly cook, that is. I'm not all that great. Although I haven't burned water yet.

[Giggle Goose]

I find myself thinking Jamie is rather cute lately.

I'm sorry, but Jamie looks and sounds like a man. Pretty good cook, though.

That Jennifer chick reminds of Rosie O'Donnell. And Elise is just...ugh. I can't believe she took full credit for the red team's dinner service win last episode, and that Gordon inflated her ego FURTHER by talking about what an outstanding job she did. Gag!

[firecat88]

I can't believe she took full credit for the red team's dinner service win last episode, and that Gordon inflated her ego FURTHER by talking about what an outstanding job she did. Gag!

Oh, that irritated the hell outta me. Girl does *not* need even more incentive to act like a stuck-up bitch.