Author: Mike Farley (Page 97 of 117)

The season finale of “Hell’s Kitchen” is now six days away, but before that they did something really cruel last night in the next-to-last episode: they bored the crap out of all of us.

First, after getting to spend a few minutes with their families, finalists Rock and Bonnie were told that the restaurant would be divided and they would each get to decorate it how they like, and plan their own menus for the final dinner service.

They showed Rock and Bonnie chilling in the dorm, and Rock trying to play mind games with Bonnie to psyche her out (um, dude, it ain’t happening).

Then Ramsey flew them both to Vegas, where they got to see their possible future employer, the Green Valley Ranch and Resort. But a curveball was thrown as Ramsey made them each cook their signature dish for a panel of judges in the final challenge of the season. Rock made his fried chicken and crab, and Bonnie made a pasta with seafood. The judges included various Vegas chefs, Robin Leach (that was mildly entertaining) and the winners of the last two “Hell’s Kitchen” seasons, Michael and Heather. Bonnie won the challenge but we still don’t know what that means yet. Maybe she’ll get to kick off from the 40-yard line.

Finally, the last six chefs that were eliminated came back to form teams for Bonnie and Rock. Julia started crying in the dorm, still bummed out that she didn’t win. Um, that chick made out pretty good, with Ramsey sending her to cooking school. Anyway, it was anti-climactic, as Bonnie chose all women and Rock chose all men. Back to red against blue. But that was it. Nothing more to last night’s episode at all. Geez, throw me a freaking bone.

But that does set things up for a grand finale that will include a dinner service and a final elimination.
I’d say my money is on Rock, but Bonnie has this really strange way of hanging in there, and she could hang in there all the way to the very end. We’ll see. But meanwhile, thank you Fox for boring me last night.

It’s hard to believe the summer is almost over, and Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen” is barreling toward the season finale. But it’s true. Last night the final three became the final two, and the show got a little better-looking. Let me ‘splain……

First of all, Rock and Jen had a bad dinner service the previous week, and the show began with them apologizing to each other and hugging. Awww. Also, Rock, Bonnie and Jen were all upset to see their pal Julia off the show. But on to business. Ramsay brought the three aspiring chefs into the kitchen for their challenge, which was to take an American classic and turn it into a gourmet dish. But they had to pick those dishes at random. Ramsay’s mom was on hand to help out too. Then, the contestants were thrown for a loop when their own moms came out to be the judges for the challenge.
Jen started crying in a way that made me want to throw things at the TV, and I’m not exaggerating.

Bonnie chose franks & beans, and oddly, since she is a nanny, had no idea what franks & beans were. Are you kidding me? Rock chose spaghetti & meatballs, and Jen chose fried chicken. Jen’s dish won hands down as she foo-ed up her chicken with goat cheese and herbs. Blech, but that’s just me. I want the real thing. Anyway, Jen won and got to spend the day with her mom, as well as Ramsay and his mom, then also got $1000 to spend in some cooking equipment store. She cried more, and I cried more because I had to watch her crying.

Meanwhile, Bonnie and Rock had to clean the dorms and while they both didn’t want to, made the best of things. Then at the dinner service, each contestant was given the chance to play the role of Chef Ramsay, calling out orders at the pass. Ramsay tested each of them individually beforehand, seeing how assertive they could be….then had the sous chefs throw them each for a loop by omitting key ingredients in certain dishes. Jen failed that part, and Bonnie and Rock didn’t. But each of them had their glitches too..Rock was a little slow and Bonnie was a bit scatterbrained calling in the orders.

Still, dinner went off pretty much flawlessly, and Ramsay admitted it was the best dinner service in Hell’s Kitchen, ever. But someone had to go home. In the morning he invited them all in, and uneventfully sent Jen home. I admit I had no idea who was going home, but leaned toward Bonnie just because of her lack of experience in a fine dining restaurant. Still, Ramsay did us all a favor by sending Jen home because she did tend to ugly up our TV screen….there, I said it!

Anyway, now that it’s down to the cute Nanny and the “Rock,” I’m totally expecting Rock to run away with this…if he keeps his cool there really is no good reason that he can’t take Bonnie down. Oh, but first, there was a surprise at the end…Bonnie’s parents and Rock’s wife showed up to congratulate the two….and Rock asked his wife he she thought they’d give them a “conjugal.” Funny stuff.

Next week is the final square-off, then I’m guessing there will be a finale the following week announcing the winner. See you next week!

Last night’s “Hell’s Kitchen” gave Chef Ramsey a chance to catch up on eliminations. A few weeks ago, he eliminated no one, and kept on giving certain chefs a second chance. But last night was a first, as he outright fired one chef and eliminated another, getting this thing down to the final three. That can only mean summer’s almost over.

The first part of the show featured a challenge among the remaining five, where they were told they’d each be creating a dish for “trendsetters” but that they wouldn’t know who those trendsetters would be….so, while they all thought they’d be cooking for Hollywood celebs, they were blindfolded and thrown for a loop when they found out it was instead a bunch of high school kids. Surprisingly, some of them made dishes that just can’t possibly appeal to teenagers unless those teenagers were aspiring chefs themselves. Josh made some kind of foo-foo salmon with pineapple sauce and Bonnie made fried goat cheese on greens. Are you kidding me? Julia, meanwhile, made a grilled chicken and cheese sandwich with onion rings and won the challenge with 51% of the vote. Well, duh.

For winning the challenge, Julia got to go to Vegas to check out the Green Valley Resort, where the winner of this thing will be taking over the restaurant. But she was able to choose another contestant to go with her, and chose Jen. That meant Rock, Josh and Bonnie had to clean the restaurant AND prep for the next night’s dinner service.

In Vegas, Julia and Jen were enamored with the “booty-washing” toilet in their hotel room and they also were thrilled to meet Heather, last season’s champ who is now running another of Chef Ramsey’s restaurants in Vegas.

Back at the ranch, Bonnie was reprimanded by the sous chefs for throwing out fish that she thought was going bad but really wasn’t. And at the dinner service, Rock was starting to crack under pressure, over-cooking scallops and bickering with Jen. Josh was just being stupid….he was starting to prepare dishes before they were ordered, which irked Ramsey to no end. After being yelled at, however, Josh made the same mistake twice and Ramsey did something he’s never done on this show before: he fired Josh. Not only that, but he kept yelling at Josh as he was walking out, and threw a pen at him. How dramatic.

Throughout the rest of the dinner service, Ramsey was yelling at Julia who was falling behind a bit, and Rock and Jen continued bickering. Bonnie, meanwhile, did a nice job of holding things together.
The dinner service was completed, but someone had to be eliminated. So Bonnie was selected to nominate two chefs, and she chose Rock and Julia.

Rock has shown he knows how to cook, but can’t control his temper. Julia is a great cook who just doesn’t have a ton of real restaurant experience. So Ramsey sent her home, but before doing so, he did something else he’s never done on this show: he told Julia he was sending her to culinary school, and that after graduating she was welcome back on another season of the show. He has that much confidence in her that with some learned skills, she can absolutely run her own restaurant.

So we’re left now with Bonnie, Rock and Jen. I thought Rock was a lock to win but if he and Jen can’t get along, this could get uglier. At this point, I really have no idea who is going to win. Hell, I didn’t think Heather would win last season. So I guess we’ll all just have to watch and see what happens.
You’re all watching, right?

Someone must have told Chef Ramsey to shake things up in “Hell’s Kitchen” — you know, to keep everyone guessing what he might do next. So one week he eliminates no one, then he eliminates Melissa and keeps Josh, then last night he eliminates Brad and keeps Bonnie.

But first, let’s see how it went down last night. The teams’ initial challenge was making a meal out of leftovers that Ramsey had provided. Bonnie vs. Brad was a draw, as was Jen vs. Josh.
Then it came down to Rock, the executive chef, and Julia, Miss Waffle House. Not surprisingly, Rock’s dish won and the blue team won the challenge. The guys got to go paintballing with Ramsey, and just like last week, it’s almost like Ramsey gave the guys the nod just because he knew they’d appreciate the prize more. The red team, meanwhile, had to spring clean Hell’s Kitchen and unload deliveries. And they screwed up badly (in particular Bonnie), not checking the orders in and being short on fish. Clearly, they were not working together as a team and lacked a dominant personality.

The teams were then told they would be making up their own menus for the dinner service. The red team had the advantage of knowing everything that was on hand from the deliveries, so Bonnie’s bright idea was bacon wrapped rabbit leg. Blech. On the blue team, it was all Brad, who seemed to have some good ideas. Ramsey then asked Julia why she didn’t have an idea, and she said she wanted a steak and shrimp dish but that the other two women shot her down. So he vetoed and said that the steak and shrimp dish would indeed fly.

All throughout the dinner service, there were ups and downs….the red team was moving quickly, then started bickering and slowed down. Josh messed up the lamb chops, and received no help from Brad and Rock. Dishes came back. Someone commented that the rabbit leg was the best thing he’s ever eaten….again, blech. Meanwhile, Julia’s steak and shrimp was a hit, and Ramsey commended her (it helped that she cooked them all perfectly). The funniest moment of the show, however, was when Ramsey called Josh over and whispered loudly in his ear, “YOU CAN’T COOK.” Ouch.

So in the end, there was no winning team, because Ramsey was pissed off at the overall lack of teamwork on both sides. So he asked Julia to nominate either Jen or Bonnie for elimination, and asked the blue team to nominate one person as a consensus. Not surprisingly, Julia chose Bonnie, who had some “dumb blonde” (Ramsey’s words, not mine!) moments like not checking in the orders properly and forgetting to turn on the stove. The guys surprisingly chose Brad, and I say that because Josh was horrible again. But since Brad made up the entire menu, they felt he should be on the chopping block.

You would then think Ramsey should send Bonnie packing, but of course he made a twist of it, saying, “Bonnie, get back in line…..Brad, give me your jacket and get out of Hell’s Kitchen.” Well, we all know Brad doesn’t have what it takes anyway. Clearly, this is going to come down to Rock, Julia, and possibly Jen. And clearly this show is dragging on just a bit longer than it should….hence, the twists and turns. It’s hot outside and it’s even hotter in Hell’s Kitchen. Stay tuned and see you next week…

Last week on “Hell’s Kitchen,” we saw red team chef Melissa try to sabotage her team, and after getting a reprieve and a chance with the blue team, she started the show by saying “I will never sabotage you guys.” Meanwhile, Bonnie was trying to rally her team, saying it was the girls’ time to shine now that Melissa was on the other side.

So the challenge was pulling live lobsters out of a tank, and then cooking a dish in 30 minutes for chef Ramsey. Josh had to sit out to make the teams even. The red team prepared simple dishes, but they were effective. The blue team was a bit more adventurous, but Melissa choked and Brad’s bisque wasn’t as good as Jen’s, so the red team won. And what they won was a photo shoot with In Touch Magazine…..yeah, tell me Ramsey didn’t purposely let the red team win that one! The blue team, meanwhile, had to pull plastic and glass bottles out of the trash and put them in recycling bins. Yuck.

Rock was pissed, and rightly so….but it got worse when Ramsey made Rock come down to the photo shoot and take the trash out there too. Side note….Jen is not pretty, and this photo shoot did her no favors….and Bonnie is cute enough to have a career in TV after this…if she bows out, the Food Network should look at her…seriously.

At the dinner service, there were flashes of brilliance from the red team, as they were slowly getting most of their dishes out. But the blue team was struggling as usual. Melissa was a mess and it became clear she would be the first to go tonight. But Josh seems to have problems every week as well…and last night he messed up mashed potatoes….I mean, almost any amateur cook can make mashed potatoes!

Eventually, dishes started to be sent back to the kitchen and Ramsey had to shut the kitchen down.
The blue team was the losing team, and Ramsey asked all four of them to go and nominate two for elimination. Before that, though, he made a comment to Josh that he has never done well in a dinner service.

So the team nominated Melissa (duh) and Josh. But even before Ramsey asked for the nominations, he threw a curveball by telling Melissa to get out of Hell’s Kitchen….that she had another chance and blew it. Thankfully, that annoying chick is gone, because I couldn’t stand her stupid New York accent or that Scott Spiezio thing on her chin anymore.

Then, not surprisingly, Ramsey said he wasn’t done. (Come on, I said…I’m missing the home run derby!)……he asked Josh and Brad to step forward. Then, after the commercial break, told both Brad and Josh to get back in line. Hmm….is he ever going to eliminate two at once? Or is the show going to go one extra week? Either way, it’s heating up. Keep an eye on Rock….that dude, if he keeps his composure, is the best cook there and knows his way around a kitchen. We’ll see what happens I guess…..for now, I’m off to pull bottles out of my trash.