If you’ve watched “Hell’s Kitchen” for any length of time, you know that Gordon Ramsay really is a nice guy and someone with a kind heart–not necessarily the yelling and screaming crazy man he plays on TV. I mean, he probably does have that side to him in the kitchen, but for the most part that tends to be an act. That was proven again last night.
The episode began with Ben and Jay talking about how they wanted to beat out Autumn and Holli and face off against one another in the finale. I am sure Jay wants this to be true so he doesn’t have to compete for the grand prize of a gig running Ramsay’s new London restaurant with Holli, who he is clearly falling for.
Then Ramsay cooked some monk fish for the contestants, but Holli knew to pay attention, because she knew a test was coming. Sure enough, Ramsay asked them to teach four dudes with no cooking skills to cook that same dish for him, with the trained chefs only guiding them verbally. Yikes. Autumn’s guy, Neal, failed when the fish fell apart. Jay and Rick did well both in taste and presentation. Ben’s guy Steve didn’t cook the peppers enough but burned the potatoes. And Holli’s guy Chris was cocky but backed it up with a good dish. However, Ramsay chose Jay and Rick as the winners. He told the four dudes to “bug off” and then told Jay he’d have a special treat today, riding in the Good Year blimp. Meanwhile, he was allowed to take one other chef, and of course he chose Holli. Autumn and Ben were left to do kitchen maintenance with JP watching over them.
Then at dinner service, Ramsay told them they would be choosing which station they’d be on for the night–Holli on fish, Ben on meat, Jay on appetizers and Autumn on garnish. Holli was up and down on her fish and Ben kept having the same problem he’s had all along–he won’t open his mouth in the kitchen. I’m not sure what his problem is….he is cocky as hell everywhere except in the kitchen, where he’s so focused that he is in his own world. I can’t see him lasting until the finale. He just can’t get past this problem he has.
But a funny thing happened last night…there was no food that came back to the kitchen, and aside from a few small glitches, it was maybe the smoothest dinner service ever in Hell’s Kitchen. But Ramsay said he needs one chef, not four, to run his restaurant. So he asked Jay to nominate two chefs for elimination. He chose Autumn and Ben. Ramsay asked them to step forward, and after telling Autumn to take off her jacket and…”get back in line!” he then did the same thing to Ben. He said he could not eliminate anyone based on how well the dinner service went.
Then, Ramsay introduced the families of each chef, who got to spend some times with those family members before going back to their dorms and getting ready for the next round. So nobody went home last night, but I’d say it’s safe to assume Autumn will be next and then probably Ben. And if it’s Holli vs. Jay, that should be real interesting, shouldn’t it? I mean, imagine falling for someone and then having to compete with them head to head for your dream job. Come to think of it, the producers are going to ensure that happens!
So that’s it, folks…we have just a few short weeks left of “Hell’s Kitchen.” But hey, Season 8 is just around the corner, literally. Thanks for reading and see you all back here next week….