I say “rush rush rush” because we are already at the season finale of “Hell’s Kitchen” on Fox. All those two-hour episodes caught up to them, probably on purpose. But seriously, this season began in early June with like 17 contestants! Anyway, here we are, as last night Gordon Ramsay cut his candidates for the London Savoy gig down from four to two.

The episode began with Ramsay having one of his sous chefs call up to the dorms to have the contestants come down first thing in the morning, but asked them to dress nicely. They all did except for Jay, who wore jeans and a black shirt. Ramsay said he looked like a sack of potatoes, especially next to Ben, who wore a jacket and tie. Anyway, Ramsay brought the Savoy to Hell’s Kitchen, serving them a dish that is served in London–but of course, there was a challenge attached. They had to re-create the dish in 45 minutes. Holli, Ben and Autumn made venison but Jay used flank steak. Holli, Ben and Autumn made it on apple puree but Jay made his on pear puree. Jay was correct on that but wrong on the protein, which was venison. So Ramsay ruled him out and declared that Holli and Ben had the two best dishes…and that Holli had the better dish. Ben of course thought his dish was better and wouldn’t shut up about it.

So Holli’s prize was to spend the day on a yacht, but to her surprise her son and baby daddy were there waiting for her! When she got back, Ben was even more pissed that he had lost and didn’t get to spend the say with his family. Also, Jay, Ben and Autumn had to do kitchen and dorm maintenance, including some heavy lifting. Ben wound up throwing out his back and needed to call on a chiropractor to come in and help him. Meanwhile, he said he couldn’t do any prep work and then said he was quitting the show. Say what??? He went into Ramsay’s office and Ramsay of course convinced Ben to stay. That infuriated the other three finalists, because A) Ben didn’t help with prep and B) he had told them he was quitting.

So the four chefs each took turns at the pass, and as always, Ramsay had a few quality control tests in place. Jay passed his with flying colors but Holli, Ben and Autumn were tricked for various things. They all did pretty good overall playing Ramsay though, and the dinner service turned out decent.

But now Ramsay had to make a decision…or, he said that the four finalists would have to come up with a consensus for who would be going home. Nah……he wouldn’t let them decide, would he? Of course not. He asked them to each step forward and state their case as to why they should reach the finale. Then he sent Autumn home first.

So it was down to Ben, Holli and Jay. The first one in the finale…..Jay!
The next one in…Holli! Ben was going home….and of course looked pissed. But it was the right call….as was Autumn. So now, it’s between Holli and Jay, just as the producers would like it to be. They have a little love affair going on, and now they will be going head to head against each other for that dream job in London. How fitting, eh? Seriously, this is going to be the most interesting HK finale that I can remember. As for who will win? I’m going with Holli….she is the most consistent and seems to be a slightly better chef than Jay.

What do you think? Either way, this season will be over really really soon. And Season 8 will begin next month. Seriously, Fox? Yep. Thanks for reading and see you all next week!

I’m not sure if the people who run Fox are just running out of shows, or if they are trying to speed up the season of “Hell’s Kitchen” so that its finale airs before the fall shows begin. But two hours of this show on a Tuesday night is just too much, or, should we say, two much. Still, I have committed to covering the show, so here is how it went down last night….

EPISODE 1

Last week ended with Scott and Autumn switching teams. Scott then declared that he would no longer try to “help” his teammates, but focus more on the actual “team” concept. Yeah, right. Scott looks to me like a duck that quacks like a duck.

The first challenge was a bit daunting…there were little pigs running around and Gordon Ramsay sharpening knives, with the perception he would make the chefs butcher these poor little things. But no, he just had them chase the pigs and grab a paper necklace off of them that would represent a cut of pork, as well as an ingredient that would complement it. They would then break into teams of two and face off, red team vs. blue team. Just as I said out loud to Mrs. Mike that there are no bad cuts of pork, Nilka wound up with blood sausage, and prunes for her other ingredient. Blech!!! Anyway, she was beat by the blue team’s pork loin with baby bok choy. Holli’s tenderloin with sweet and sour apples beat out the bacon with honey slaw; and the blue team’s pork loin chop with pinto beans beat Maria’s sweet potato soup with ham hock, a dish that failed to use the hock as the main ingredient. So the blue team won, again.

The red team had to give the pigs a bath, literally, dressed in farm clothes…and the blue team got to writhe in mud too…at a spa. Of course, the producers used the opportunity to show off Autumn in a bikini and the guys were all practically drooling. Then back at the dorms before dinner service, Salvatore was playing talk show host and got Holli to talk about her porn collection and Siobhan to talk about her escapades at fetish balls, where she sometimes dresses in only body paint. Um, I think I speak for everyone reading this right now…EWWWWWWWWW.

The dinner service would be the first ever barbecue in Hell’s Kitchen, but Nilka got her team off to a bad start when she began pre-frying chicken. Anyway, with the restaurant being over-booked, Ramsay decided to have two seatings….the red team would cook and the blue team would serve, and then vice versa. Menu items included smoked ribs, kobe beef burger and crab hushpuppies. Yum! Fran and Nilka were arguing and the red team just couldn’t get it together at all. Scot burned chicken, and Siobhan couldn’t cook burgers enough. Ramsay had seen enough, and shut down the kitchen.

The red team also failed in the front of the house, with Maria not being able to manage orders at all. Ramsay got in Jason’s face for burning chicken, and in the end he declared the night the worst service in this season’s short history. But the losing team by far was the red team. Fran was the best of the worst and got to nominate two teammates for elimination. She chose Maria and Nilka, prompting immediate rage from Nilka. I think her motive was to pick someone Ramsay wouldn’t eliminate so that he’d send Maria home, but Ramsay didn’t appreciate it and neither did Nilka. He asked Scott to also step forward and told Nilka to get back in line. But then he sent Maria home, and thankfully we don’t have to hear her babbling mouth anymore.

EPISODE 2

This episode began with Ramsay having the chefs name the five mother sauces in the culinary world–hollandaise, tomato, demi-glace, bechamel and veloute. They would then have to grab an ingredient from a table that also had 20 other ingredients, and use what they had to make a dish in 45 minutes, without using any ingredient twice. They would then face off as individuals to earn points as a team. The judges would be Ramsay’s mom and wife.

Fran beat Sal, who undercooked pasta; Siobhan and Jay both failed; Ed beat Holli; Nilka barely beat Jason, and Ben beat Scott. It was a draw, but Ramsay gave the blue team the nod because Jason’s dish was so good but not as good as Nilka’s. The red team got to clean the kitchen, and the blue team got to hang out at an English pub that Ramsay frequents when homesick. The blue team also all won a set of pots and pans. Meanwhile, while cleaning , Siobhan claimed to be allergic to cleaning supplies, and broke out in hives.

At dinner service, it was family night, which meant many kid-friendly items like fish sticks and fries. Sal was not listening well and Nilka forgot to put lobster in the lobster risotto. Fran overcooked scallops and Scott was not cooking beef wellingtons enough. Finally, Ramsay told the red team to get out of the kitchen, and sous chefs Scott and Andi finished along with Ramsay himself. The blue team, meanwhile, was once again a well-oiled machine. So Ramsay asked the red team to choose two consensus chefs for elimination. They went with Scott and Fran, but Fran clearly disagreed with her nomination. So did Ramsay, who also asked Siobhan to step forward. He then eliminated Scott, after hearing again how great he was and blah blah blah. None of us wanted to hear it either, so it was the right choice. More doing, less talking, Scott.

But Ramsay said he wasn’t done, and sent Ben to the red team to even things out. He asked Ben to fill a leadership role that had been missing from the red team so far.

So that’s it…we’re barreling along and we’re only a few weeks in. I’m liking Nilka, Ben, Jay and Ed as possible contenders. What do you think? Let me know, and we’ll see you back here next week…

In the early part of the season on reality shows such as “Hell’s Kitchen,” there are usually a few fringe contestants who really don’t belong there in the first place. And these are usually the first ones to go home. Last night two went home, one by choice and one by Gordon Ramsay. Here is how it all went down….

They began with a 5am wake up call, as chefs Scott and Andrea attached an amplifying device to a standard alarm clock. Yikes. Ramsay met them in the kitchen where he asked them to cook eggs for him four ways–soft boiled, poached, scrambled and sunny side up. They would work in groups of two except for Siobhan, who for some reason was singled out to work alone.

Sal messed up his eggs badly, but most of them cooked the eggs very well. Of course, Siobhan was helped by Autumn, who kind of forced her hand on Siobhan but was polite enough about it. Ramsay got pissed and screamed at Siobhan for this, saying she should have not accepted the help. Siobhan started crying uncontrollably, which pissed off everyone there as well as everyone watching. It was just too much! The sides were tied 10-10 but it came down to Ben’s soft boiled egg, and it was perfect, clinching victory for the blue team.

Their prize? A helicopter tour over Los Angeles and lunch with Ramsay. The ladies had to accept a shipment of gigantic tuna and clean and fillet them for that night’s dinner service. For that service, they would be serving tuna tartare table side. Ramsay chose Fran and Scott to do this.

He then asked who over-salted the pasta water and it was Autumn, but she wouldn’t own up to it. Then randomly, Ramsay asked Sal to name that evening’s desserts. Sal started mumbling and sputtering and could not even name one, prompting Ramsay to send him up to his dorm to study. At the dinner service, Mikey was under-cooking the risotto, and he did it twice! Jason, meanwhile, could not cook chicken all the way through.

The red team was hitting its collective stride but they were not communicating enough and eventually it caught up with them. Andrew was talking to himself and then when Ramsay asked him something about his saute pan, Andrew started talking back to Ramsay–the kiss of death on this show. Ramsay screamed back and kicked Andrew out of the kitchen. He started walking all the way out when JP confronted him and tried to get him to stay, saying that was Ramsay’s way of testing him. But stubborn Andrew kept on walking, essentially quitting.

At the dinner service, both teams finished their services. But not without sputtering along the way, so Ramsay declared both teams losers, and asked them to each nominate one person for elimination by consensus. Interestingly, the red team chose Autumn for not being a team player and because of the salty water. The blue team chose Jason not just because of the chicken, but because they also called him out for not being a team player.

Ramsay asked the group if these two were the worst cooks on their respective teams. The women said no, that Jamie was the worst cook. So he asked Jamie to then step forward. He asked Jamie and Jason to state their cases, but he didn’t feel that either of them should go home. So he said that the person going home “for all the right reasons” was Mikey. So much for consensus! But Ramsay is the boss and it’s his show. And, Mikey had screwed up last week and this week. I had pegged him as a possible winner, and that just flew out the window!

So with two gone last night, we’re down to 13…7 ladies, 6 men. It’s going to be a fun and interesting season for sure with this cast of characters. Keep it right here for the recaps each week and let me know what you thought of last night’s episode…..

Last night on the season premier of “Hell’s Kitchen” on Fox, the narrator promised that this season will push the envelope like no other–claiming that “this is the season you’ve been waiting for,” he mentioned that it will be more intense and have more sexual prowess and fighting than ever before. Of course, we know better. Shows like this always hype things way more than the actual plot delivers. Still, a program like this has to shake things up to stay fresh.

And right off the bat, Gordon Ramsay messed with the 16 contestants, and with me. He asked them all to make their signature dishes, as he does to start every season, and they would face off, blue team (men) vs. red team (women) for the initial challenge. But first, he singled out one of them, a “woman in glasses” as he called her. Her dish was veal scallopini and since she had claimed to be a mom and cookbook author, Ramsay was already skeptical. He tasted it and pretended to almost spit it out, then said it was delicious. He then gave the woman a hug…..and then started making out with her! Meanwhile, I had been looking at my press release that listed the contestants and was trying desperately to figure out who this was. But once the kissing commenced, I knew it was his wife. Heck, the British accent should have given it away!

Anyway, this season’s winner will be the head chef at Ramsay’s restaurant in the Savoy Hotel in London. And to kick things off, Ramsay also guaranteed that the first night’s dinner service would be completed, something that has never happened in Hell’s Kitchen.

So they began the signature dish competition with kitchen supervisor Maria facing off against pizzeria chef Salvatore, who had an Italian accent even though he’s 35 and has lived in the states for 21 years. Ha! Anyway, Sal’s pasta, which was not homemade, disappointed Ramsay and Maria won. Culinary instructor Benjamin went up against banquet chef Holli, and Holli was already talking smack, claiming that she would use her own good looks to her advantage. Well, she ain’t ugly, but that stuff always comes back to bite contestants in the ass. Ben won, tying the score. Executive chef went against sous chef Jamie and neither of them earned a point.

Pub executive chef Siobhan went up against line cook Mikey, and both of them received a point, keeping the score tied. Mikey showed off his Hell’s Kitchen tattoo as well, looking for brownie points, and Ramsay also poked fun at his waxed hair. Then private chef Stacey went up against executive chef Jay and Jay won. Catering chef Fran, the oldest contestant at 44, faced off with personal chef Jason and Jason won. High school cooking teacher Ed lost to personal chef Autumn, bringing the red team to within one. Finally, line cook Nilka went against farmer Andrew. Neither of them earned a point, so the guys won, 4-3.

They all went back to their dorm, but were summoned downstairs about ten times, each time with Ramsay showing them a video lesson in making recipes for the following night’s dinner service. Of course, that meant they kept being woken up and were all really tired the next morning. And at that point, the women were told they had to make the guys breakfast in bed for losing the challenge.

At the dinner service, Nilka and Jay were assigned to make table side Caesar salads, and things were going wrong in the kitchen consistently. Sal burned his scallop dish twice, and when Maria messed up, she started laughing, prompting rage from Ramsay. Meanwhile, Maria was screwing up too, but then Ramsay went crazy as Fran put crab instead of lobster in the lobster risotto. He singled out Maria, Fran and Jamie and sent them back to the dorm. I’m not sure what Jamie did wrong, but there you have it. Then Mikey kept under-cooking his halibut, and he was sent upstairs along with Benjamin, Salvatore and Stacey. Stacey’s mistake was not knowing how long to cook salmon for. Seriously? So with 7 of the 16 being sent home for the evening, Ramsay told the other nine contestants to join as one team so that the dinner service could still be completed.

They ultimately did finish, but Ramsay still felt he had to declare a losing team, which was the red team. He then told the ladies to go upstairs, and to nominate a consensus two for elimination. They went with Fran and Stacey, but naturally both of them were ready to fight, and Fran even said Autumn should be up for elimination since she was not a team player and didn’t pull her weight in the kitchen. But the consensus won out.

So Ramsay asked Stacey and Fran to step forward and asked for them to state their cases as to why they should stay. Ultimately, he felt that not knowing how long to cook fish was more of a mistake than confusing lobster with crab, so he sent Stacey packing.

We’re now down to fifteen contestants, and with some real characters, this season is sure to be interesting. I kind of felt like Mikey, the dude with the HK tattoo, was my early pick to win it all…skinny guys with punk rock hair or stoner tendencies always seem to rise to the top, and Ramsay loved his signature dish. But after Mikey showed that he couldn’t properly cook halibut, I’m not so sure. As for the others, Holli’s ego will get in her way, Autumn’s bossy ways will earn her some enemies, and Salvatore and Fran are an odd and untalented duo that the producers will likely keep around for ratings.

That’s it for this week….let me know what you all think of the first episode and this season, and we’ll be back next week with another recap!