Last night’s finale of “Hell’s Kitchen” might have lacked some fire because Christina and Petrozza both seem like nice people with more of an inward competitive bent. But the actual kitchen battle was pretty riveting. And the result, I have to say, was a little disappointing.
At the start, they finished picking their teams. When the show ended last week, Petrozza had chosen Bobby and Ben, and Christina took Corey and LouRoss. That left the two troublemakers–Jen and Matt. Petrozza chose Jen, and right off the bat she started mouthing off on camera about how she wanted to prove to Chef Ramsay that he made the wrong choice in kicking her off a few weeks ago. That left Christina with Matt, and he also started mouthing off. You have to wonder if the producers didn’t tell them both to act that way.
Christina and Petrozza had to present their menus to Ramsay, and show them their restaurant design. He thought Christina’s menu was a bit “safe,” and that her design was great. He said that Petrozza’s menu was more daring and that his design was also impressive.
The judging would be done by both customer surveys and Ramsay’s observations. Both of them had to deal with problems, i.e. Jen and Matt. But both were assertive and not putting up with crap. They both wanted to win this badly. Petrozza showed quality control skills by not letting cold food leave the pass, but had to deal with running out of ingredients and improvising his menu. Christina, meanwhile, had food coming back but was correcting it quickly.
In the end, they both did a great job, but in my mind Petrozza took more chances and seems to be–make that, is–a more seasoned cook. But when the doors to the results were in front of them, I knew what was coming. Christina walked through, and Petrozza was left sulking. Ramsay commented that it was one of the hardest decisions he ever made, but in the end this was about “potential.”
Read into that what you will, but to me that means this….Petrozza is 47, Christina is 25. So Christina can likely work 22 more years than Petrozza can, and she gives Ramsay a lot more flexibility and time to mold her into a master chef. But make no mistake, she earned this and will do a great job.
So that’s it. Folks, where is the time going? Before we know it, “Kitchen Nightmares” will begin and then soon after that, “American Idol.” See you all soon, and thanks for reading!
