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« Hell's Kitchen
Episode Recap: Gourmet Pizza
So the chefs finally completed a full service for the first time on this season of Hell's Kitchen. But that didn’t mean there weren't plenty of embarrassments along the way and plenty of angry Gordon Ramsay.
Tonight's episode began with the gang learning how serious Vanessa's burn really was. Bobby seem dumbfounded (or is that just natural?) when she said she would have to have plastic surgery. The cast on her hand was obviously a concern going into the next day's challenge, and it showed immediately. No one was more vocal about the problem than Vanessa herself, who was angry at her own uselessness, but vowed to still wow Chef Ramsay in the first challenge.
Tonight's task was to create a gourmet pizza, along the lines of the $200 white truffle pizza Gordon serves in his restaurant in London. I loved the montage of the ingredients, especially Bobby's contribution (What the heck is a Sea Murchin, there four-star general Bobby?) Each team must submit one pizza to be judged by Gordon, so they each chef begins creating his or her own contender. The girls communicate well while the guys continue to struggle in that department (which upsets Matt of all people!) The girls like Vanessa's pizza (which thrills her) until they taste and decide to go with the dish created by Jen, who earned Gordon's praise last week.
On the boy's side, Ben (perhaps trying to redeem himself after being called a disappointment last week) is leading his team. Unfortunately, his leadership is also pissing everybody off. After tasting Matt's self-proclaimed "phenomenal" pizza, Ben looked at first as if he needed to find Gordon's waste basket from the first episode. He also told Louross his dish tasted like something from Pizza Shack while Petrozza couldn’t get his pizza out of the oven. In the end, Bobby decided to send Ben's pizza up for judgment against Jen's.
Although Ben's seemed more gourmet (he used duck), he also forgot to properly wash his mushrooms, leaving Gordon with a mouthful of "grit." Despite the oversight, Ben's pizza was tasty, as was Jen's. But I think the dirty mushroom made it an easy choice for Gordon to name the girls winners once again. The prize (a little better, this week) was a helicopter ride to Santa Barbara for a $90 burger, while the boy's prepped Jen's pizza which would be on the menu, and ate what looked like McDonald's rejects.
Louross and Ben have words while prepping, as Ben takes offense to Louross breaking down like a "whiny b--ch with a mohawk" In front of Chef Ramsay. They butt heads, but there really wasn't as much drama as the music would have you believe. It's basically setting the stage for events to come. One other memorable quote from prep time: "I want to taste their blood," said Matt. What a weirdo!
Once the ladies return and the teams learn they will also be delivering pizza in addition to dinner service, everyone gets to work prepping. Vanessa, having lots of trouble sits down with Gordon and ultimately decides to leave on her own terms. She said she was doing it for the team, though the team didn't seem to upset to see her go. Gordon, however, said it was a "shame."
As I said before, dinner service was pretty solid. But there were some snags. Shayna and Louross both suffered from poorly prepared beef. Luckily for Louross, Petrozza helped him shave off the charred edges of his steak to get the plate out to the customers. The real breakdown of the night was Rosann, who had loads of trouble with her potatoes. Gordon really let her have it, and despite being "not good enough," all the tickets were served. (Side note: How ridiculous was Ben in his delivery uniform? I also loved when he drove his Go Kart through the yard because he didn't know how to put it in reverse.
Since no team was declared the loser, each team had to nominate someone to go on the chopping block. Ben convinces the guys to nominate Louross, claiming he has the least skill. (Does he remember almost puking from Matt's pizza?) Somehow, Louross agrees that he had a bad service and take the nomination without a fight. While the girls at first clearly see that Rosann is the obvious choice, Jen convinces them to nominate Christina, who did get behind in desserts. The team reveals the double-cross, angering Christina…and Gordon.
Chef Ramsay was shocked by both nominations, in fact, and called out (via the nominated chefs) both Matt and Rosann who escaped nomination. My favorite moment was Jen's completely ill-advised, ego-stroking statement that probably cost her all the points she had earned in Gordon's mind. When Gordon asked if she was threatened by Christina, she replied, I determine my fate in Hell's Kitchen. To which Ramsay quickly replied, "that's my job." Classic.
Ultimately, because Vanessa had already quit and Gordon was happy that both teams completed their service (and probably because the wrong chefs were nominated) he spared everyone tonight, giving them a "gift." The most damage done here is to the girl's team as their cattiness in nominations will only continue to divide their team, which is currently working as a pretty good unit. Only time will tell, especially when a new chef joins the team next week!
So what did you think of tonight's episode? Were you let down that Vanessa left? DO you think Gordon should have eliminated another chef regardless of Vanessa's exit? What are you expecting from the new chef next week? Share your thoughts and come back next Tuesday for more!
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Apr 30, 2008 8:27 AM
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The gals really blew it by not nominating Rosann. She would have been gone.
I liked the sound of both pizzas, but Jen's seems more like something found at a better but not "fine dining" restaurant while Ben's did seem like a "fine dining" experience.
Vanessa did the right thing for her and the gals by leaving, and Ramsay did the right thing by not kicking anyone else to the curb.
Possible spoiler in the preview for next week that I won't specifically reveal, but I will point where to look. In the last or next to last shot, there are only 9 contestants, not 10.
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Apr 30, 2008 9:26 AM
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My favorite moment
> was Jen's completely ill-advised, ego-stroking
> statement that probably cost her all the points she
> had earned in Gordon's mind. When Gordon asked if she
> was threatened by Christina, she replied, I determine
> my fate in Hell's Kitchen. To which Ramsay
> quickly replied, "that's my job." Classic.
!
I really did not take Jen's comment as being ego stroking. In reality, her fate in HK is up to her - if she cooks well, continues to lead her team, she will stick around. It is the chefs who let GR or their teammates get in their heads, causing them to falter, that get sent home.
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Apr 30, 2008 9:31 AM
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Adam,
It was Shayna that screwed up the beef, not Corey. Corey was on fish and Shayna was on meat.
Corey did try to sabotage Christina by being unwilling to help her with the desserts.
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Apr 30, 2008 9:44 AM
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Poor Ben. Horse poop cleaner last week and delivery boy this week. I think that GR has a vendetta against him. Glad to see Venessa to go, all she did was claim how good she was and cried every time she to not perform to "her" expectations. I feel that Christina is one of the better ones. ***SPOILER ALERT***
I feel that it is possible that Venessa is back next week. The only reason is that in the previews you hear GR yell her name out. If you have a DVR then rewind and rewatch. Please correct me if I am wrong.
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Apr 30, 2008 9:57 AM
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Hey SweetOne,
Thanks for catching that. I have corrected it.
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Apr 30, 2008 9:59 AM
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I was not surprised by the women's team deciding to send Christina instead of Rosann. When she was demanding that someone help her with desserts she looked like she was throwing a tantrum. Plus, her teammates are not responding to her and I don't think it's because of her cooking 'skill'. I think it is because they don't like her as a person.
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Apr 30, 2008 10:18 AM
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Is it just me, or does Matt look like he sucked on a lemon all night - his face had this puckered, contorted look during the whole show. He is definately not one of my favorites.
My feeling about the "surprise" person coming back next week is Vanessa, or for a wild thought - the girl who was on last year that Chef Ramsay offered to send to culinary school. I can't think of her name, but I thought that Chef had told her last season that he wanted to see her back THIS season. If it is her, I can see a major conflict between her and Jen for leadership in the kitchen. Just a thought!
My thought was that Rosann should have been the one nominated to be sent off - she had a harder time of it than Christina did. The added drama should make for an interesting show next week.
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Apr 30, 2008 10:36 AM
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Great recap Adam.
I tell you I was actually shocked when Petrozza came over to Louross and shaved the char off those steaks. If they had been caught by Chef Ramsey doing that.....they got lucky in my opinion!
Rosann should have been the nominee for the girls...these girls...such a catty vindictive bunch! Not a one of them is likeable, imo.
I am really curious to know who the new chef is...you think it could be Vanessa? Maybe it is "i can't think of her name" either right now. That would be verrry interesting. She would kick butt! I would like that, but somehow, I doubt it. We'll see though! I'm sure looking forward to it. This show is just so much fun; I got so caught up in it, (Daryclyte,don't tell on me!) I completely forgot to vote for my faves on AI. So embarrassing!
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Apr 30, 2008 10:53 AM
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Poor Ben. Horse poop cleaner last week and delivery boy this week. I think that GR has a vendetta against him. Glad to see Venessa to go, all she did was claim how good she was and cried every time she to not perform to "her" expectations. I feel that Christina is one of the better ones. ***SPOILER ALERT***
I feel that it is possible that Venessa is back next week. The only reason is that in the previews you hear GR yell her name out. If you have a DVR then rewind and rewatch. Please correct me if I am wrong.
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Apr 30, 2008 10:58 AM
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JULIA is the name of the woman I was trying to remember a few posts earlier. She was in the top 4 last year, but just didn't have the experience to win, according to GR. I would love to see her back!
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Apr 30, 2008 11:53 AM
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If I ate red meat, I'd be all over Jen's pizza. Ben's sounded OK but too fancy-schmancy. Can I just have some pizza please? (Gordon's looked the worst! $200? I'd rather go local and donate the other $190 to charity)
Louross must go.
YolTV: I agree with your assessment of Jen's comment.
Ben is my current favorite. Jen and Corey are still a close second, but I wasn't enchanted with either of them this week.
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Apr 30, 2008 11:59 AM
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POSSIBLE SPOILER:
Looks like next week, Christina gets ousted but then comes back? That's what the preview made it look like. Anyone else get that same sense?
hgbt01: the reason I don't think it's Vanessa is the look on Corey's face.
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Apr 30, 2008 12:03 PM
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If they add a contestant next week, does that mean there will be a double elimination coming up?
I can't imagine the delivery area for the pizzas was very large (could you see that little cart on LA's freeways driven by a guy who didn't know where the heck he was going?), since Ben made it back in time for the completion of the dinner service. Poor guy. I agree with whomever said he probably would have won the pizza contest had he washed his mushrooms.
About that contest, I love truffles and have actually had them in some expensive dishes (that I didn't pay for), but the very idea of a $200 pizza! Yikes. Or a $90 burger. Seems a little like wearing white tie to a picnic.
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Apr 30, 2008 12:13 PM
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My hopes is that Julia is the one coming back. She is a force to be reckoned with and she was a favorite of Chef Ramsays. Plus, he did tell her to go to school and come back to win the competition. Unless that deal didn't go through, I would love for it to be her. I don't think they'd be surprised if Vanessa came back after only being gone one day. Would her hand heal that quickly? Of course, the promos could be leading us on. I'm hoping it's Julia. She was my favorite last year. I like Ben and I'm sad that Ramsay does seem to have something against him. Maybe he expects more from him, yet he makes stupid mistakes like not washing mushrooms properly. Matt does look like he has a sour puss on his face all the time. I also like Christina and I could understand her frustration since the girls work well as a team normally, but nobody stepped up to help her.
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Apr 30, 2008 12:47 PM
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