Hell's Kitchen: Now That the Debacle is Over, You and Others Can Weigh In

A.E. wrote to ask me these questions regarding Hell's Kitchen. I shall answer them as best I can in my comment section, but please feel free to weigh in and give your opinions as well. Meanwhile, I have provided links to articles and other blogs that address A.E.'s concerns. The best summary of this show was written by Anthony Bourdain on Ruhlman's blog a few months back and there is very little I would change about his opinion.

After seeing your posts of Hell's Kitchen, which I could not stop watching despite my usual hate for reality shows, I did have some inquiries. I think shows along the lines of American Idol and Survivor need to be outlawed altogether, so it's rather odd how I along with many others managed to find HK as addicting as I did, but whatever.
Yeah, you and I weren't the only ones, A.E. This show was a hit, as this article in USA Today attests.

I was curious, what did you think of how the show was organized? Did you find Gordon to be really that over the top and excessive? I've heard he's quite tame compared to most other French and English top chefs, and a pacifist compared to his early restaurant days.

Here's one blogger's take on the show, and it isn't pretty.

I find that the Chowhound boards are the most insightful.

And Television Without Pity provides good recaps, however, I liked the premise of the show. I think most restaurants behind the scenes are pressure cookers and chefs have to work as teams, or else the cooking won't get done.

Also, what did you think of the casting job? I think the one major let down was that Fox apparently flat out can't cast worth shit. Hence we were left with so many ridiculously under qualified contestants that their only real value was clearly to be shot down by Gordon in a sadistic sort of experiment. In some cases in season 3, the contestants were put on and allowed to last as long as they did solely so that viewers can enjoy watching their failures: seeing someone eliminated mid-service (Josh) or in some cases even trying to push forward negative stereotypes of those like Asians and disabled people (Aaron and Eddie).


This article answered the question: Are Hell's Kitchen contestants hired actors? But, yeah, I felt that Fox's casting sucks. One really questioned how qualified these contestants were, whereas Top Chef actually casts good cooks.

The only contestants I imagine could ever genuinely see being able to get to the point where they can run a top level restaurant are:

Season 1: Ralph who from what i've heard actually did pretty well for himself on Iron Chef against Bobby Flay, though like virtually everyone else he did end up losing, and Michael.

Season 2: Heather, Virginia if she could learn not to crack like an egg, and Keith if he underwent a substantial attitude adjustment and REALLY understood his potential.

Season 3: Rock-NO, I don't believe all the crap about how he won solely cos he's black, Bonnie, Julia if she got more experience at places other than Waffle House and possibly Brad.

See the comment section for my answers.


Hear this audio clip of Rock on National Public Radio just after he won Season 3.

Read this local news article about Rock before he heads to Nevada

What would you say about that? And have you heard anything about what HK contestants like Michael, Ralph, Heather, Virginia and Keith have been doing since they left?

Click here for epilogues for Season 1 and Season 2 contestants. Scroll down to the bottom of the pages to find out what some are doing now.

Here's a review of the three winners of the three shows...

And an old link to Michael's (Season 1 winner) plans and a new link talking about what happened to Michael's and Heather's careers.

Hell's Kitchen Finale?

Update: Well, it was a foregone conclusion. Rock won. Except for his temper, he was the best of the lot. Any other decision for top chef was unacceptable. Congratulations, Maryland chef. Too bad you were preempted in your own cable region for some bogus preseason football competition.

No way I can watch tonight's finale. I'm stuck in Baltimore. A Ravens pre-season football skirmish has pre-empted the final show on the local FOX Channel. I won't find out until 1 a.m. who will win:

Cute Bonnie-who-should-not-be-in-the-finale-no-matter
how-hard-Ramsay-tries-to-defend-his-STUPID-decision (he claims she has a great palate),
or Rock, who should have competed against Jen.

My prediction? For the sake of the longevity of this show - Rock. I'll stay up late to find out who won. But Growwwllll. Football in August? Sacrilege.

Here are some video outtakes of tonight's show.

Hell's Kitchen Tables Turned: Bonnie Metamorphosis

Our Bonnie begins her stint as a Hell's Kitchen chef with optimism

That turns into tears
Then she strengthens
Girding her loins in the embroidered uniform of her trade

Eventually wielding her kitchen knives as deftly as a warrior princess.

Rock began strong and forceful.

Pitching in...

and leading by example...
But then he began to doubt himself

Leading a troupe of yokels, and regretfully choosing blue jeans for his waiters to wear.


While Bonnie confidently chooses traditional garb for her wait staff.


Then seven chefs choose which dish in the challenge cook off is better: Rock's or Bonnie's.

Sean griffin, Anthony Garron, Robin Leach vote for the beauteous Bonnie's shrimp and lobster pasta.

Gerald Chin, Michael Wray, Heather West vote solidly for Rock's fried chicken and crab cakes.

The votes are tied!

Then Chris Fearnon and Bob Finch of Green Valley Resort choose Bonnie's pasta.

But Rock will not be deterred. "I would rather win a service than a challenge," he declared in resounding tones!

So will win? Rock or Bonnie? Tune in next week and find out Fox has dragged this finale into two episodes. The last six chefs cut are chosen to help our chefs. It's an all male team against an all female team. From past experience, the females should win, except that Julia is all teary eyed and not happy to be there. This does not bode well for Bonnie. Then again, who'd have thunk she'd make it this far?

Hell's Kitchen Top Prize Questionable?

Reality Insiders posts an illuminating comment about the Hell's Kitchen top prize. Seems the winning chefs are not exactly getting what was promised. Here is the original New York Post article.

This commentator thinks that the Top Chef prize leads to a more rewarding career. Food for thought.

Hell's Kitchen: And the final two competing for the top prize are....

Rock and Bonnie.

Bonnie?

Sorry. All credibility for this show has flown out the window. Rock, the executive chef, had better win over Bonnie, the private chef, strike that, cook and nanny. (No, I was not for Jen. I was rooting for Julia, who is head above water ten thousand times more competent than Bonnie.)

I have no heart for recapping this piss poor episode. Here are some links if you are interested in reading about it:

Wild Bluff Media

Hell's Kitchen Lightening Up: I dunno, uh, I dunno

Chow Hound Board

Thank God I am able to wash down my disgust with a new episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. Right now he's in China. Ah, I feel cleansed. Except for the part of watching live fish being fried in hot oil. (The Chinese can be so casually cruel to their food. This is not the first time I have watched an example of a live fish being tortured to death for the sake of the Chinese concept of freshness.)

Interview with Julia from Hell's Kitchen

Fans of Reality TV interviewed Julia, my favorite Hell's Kitchen chef. It is titled "Too Many Chiefs, Not Enough Indians". Click here to read it.

Aw Hell, Julia's Gone from Hell's Kitchen

My prediction radar is way off scope. I thought Bonnie and Josh would be booted off Hell's Kitchen next. Well, I was half right. Josh was unceremoniously kicked out after failing to deliver a decent risotto or spaghetti dish, but after her sterling showing in the last couple of weeks Julia was given the heave ho for a performance that wasn't much more pathetic than Rock's.

OK, so Chef Ramsay had to keep a man around. I understood that. But why not give Julia the same consideration he gave Bonnie a few weeks back and save her for another week? I mean, Josh had already been shown the door so we were already down a contestant. Granted Ramsay was actually kind to Julia at the end, offering to pay her way through culinary school and telling her she had a bright future in the kitchen, but dammit I hate to see the Jen/Rock face off that I and others have predicted come about in such a piss poor way.

Bonnie is not - I repeat - not Top Chef material. She in no way can run a kitchen of a major restaurant. Her performance has been too uneven and she is prone to crying her eyes out when things don't go her way or when she gets in over her head, which is a lot.

Which leaves Jen and Rock.

Rock is not - I repeat - not Top Chef material. Although he is outstanding in many respects and on the surface should receive the top prize, his temper is nasty. His performance has been steady enough, but when things don't go his way he flies off the handle, which is a lot. That temper is not the trait of a good boss.

Which leaves Jen.

Saints preserve us from this choice. Jen has talent, there's no doubt, but she's been portrayed as being sneaky and underhanded, a quality I don't particularly like in someone who will be chosen to lead.

So this leaves three people with uncertain leadership skills vying for the top spot. Guess what folks: I don't really care who wins. I'll continue to watch the show but with none of the enthusiasm I had when Julia was competing. As far as I'm concerned the show ended when she walked out the door.
At least Chef Ramsay had the good grace to look sheepish when he cut her. Bye Julia and good luck. You were a true inspiration.

Hell's Kitchen: Waffle House Ain't So Awful Any More

Folks who have been reading my recaps of Hell's Kitchen know I've been a huge Julia fan. Huge. It's amazing how this young chef has kept a steady course, suffering humiliation from teammates who brushed her aside, like Tiffany, the first to go, and Bonnie and Melissa, who tried to get rid of her a few episodes back. Chef Ramsay has seen through all their machinations and kept this capable chef on.

Granted Julia is on a steep learning curve. She knows how to cook eggs and bacon, and had never heard of creme brulee before, but girlfriend has taste buds and common sense and nerves of steel and can direct people in a kitchen.

You go girl.

As for Bonnie, why is she still around? How did she survive on a night when she forgot to turn on the gas?

Jen is talented but sneaky and unlikeable. She might have the most experience as a chef, and she and Rock should probably be in the finals based on their experience, but I am rooting for Julia. I just adore Cinderella stories.


Lest you think I am totally Julia's bitch, here are some of the comments I found on the message boards:

At this point I would like to see Julia in the final and see her win it. On season one CR took the winner under his wing as an apprentice before giving him a restaurant and I hope he does the same for Julia. Of every person on the show she deserves it most. She has the drive, the perseverance, and the willingness to learn that is needed.


AWESOME JULIA!!! Go girl!!!!!

Gosh I love that short order cook! :) But what's going on with Bonnie and Jen now??? Why didn't they show it?

They are not being team players. Jen is too conniving and sneaky and Bonnie is a cry baby

She didn't have the gas on?? What is wrong with Bonnie!!???

Bonnie's an IDIOT.

Everyone puts Julia down, however she consistently proves herself against all these "fine-dining chefs." I love her and feel that with the correct training she could put all those chefs away and any others that stand in her way. You go, Julia!

Julia is getting it done she top dog right now. She just got to start acting like a Top Chef and not a Short order cook. She'll be fine."

As for the men:
After last week's dismal performance, Brad was on the chopping block but he didn't step up to the plate. Here's what someone on the Boards said:

First, this was Brad's menu and it didn't have the appeal of the red menu. Second, Brad failed several key components of the service. His food was not up to snuff and several of his dishes were sent back - the ravioli and the lamb. The sauce on the lamb was not right. Third, he failed to jump in and help Josh. He did a lot more than Rock, but still left Brad to fail.

Ramsay had no choice but to cut Brad, even though Bonnie was a complete airhead and shouldn't have been chosen to compete in the first place. C'mon. She's a nanny who cooks. I really felt it was a toss up tonight as to who should have been cut.

Rock's ego is bigger than Gibraltar. I had originally pegged him as a winner, but he's beginning to resemble a bully whiner and I'm having a hard time backing him. Right now, my money is on Josh for the men...barely, for I am having a tough time supporting him too.

Next week the two teams merge. Now we'll watch the true fireworks go off. My prediction for who will be the next to go? Bonnie.

Tonight in Hell’s Kitchen I was the Lobster Bitch

Giant Chef Eating Lobster

"Tonight in Hell's Kitchen I was the Lobster Bitch." Truer words were never spoken by Josh, who had been turned into a lobster tool for the Red Team by Chef Ramsay, and forced to fetch live lobsters from a tank whenever a customer ordered the dish.

Josh, the lobster tool

Our sweet Bonnie, not to be outdone by Josh's verbal acuity, exclaimed "Oh FU*K!" when she spied several dozen humongous crustaceans wriggling in a tank. She then screwed up her face, "I like to eat them, but I don't like to kill them," she exclaimed. Er, s'cuse me, cute Bonnie, but didn't you come to cook?

After five episodes I've given up trying to make sense of Hell's Kitchen, so tonight I shall simply spew out some quotable quotes, slap together a few pictures, and say, "To hell with it, I can no longer take this show seriously." It's gone to hell in a handbasket, and I for one no longer care.

Rock was the only person who made sense tonight. When Melissa and her giant zit came over to the men's side, he said, "Melissa's still going down." When Chef Ramsay told the losing Blue Team they would have to pick through rotting, stinking garbage to retrieve the recyclable material, Rock started throwing a tantrum, banging pots, slamming doors, pummeling his fists, and ranting and raving like a lunatic.

I'd have done the same if I had been in his situation. And then, Rock was called to the photo shoot the Red Team had won, where he saw Chef Ramsey posing with the women.

But it wasn't that pose that enraged him, it was this one. By this time, he'd had enough!

Rock felt he had a right to act like a baby. NONE OF THESE USELESS DEMEANING TASKS HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH COOKING! And neither had those photo shoots.

So the next thing we know the chefs were back in the kitchen, where they were cooking and making a mess of the simplest dishes, like mashed potatoes. Surprise of surprises, Chef Ramsey YELLED at them. Can you imagine? Poor Julia finally became undone, and said:

But her rhetorical statement had come too late. Chef Ramsey shut down the kitchen and FIRED the diners. "WTF!" said one. "Where's my dessert?" He wanted to be filmed eating creme brulee.

"WTF is creme brulee?" asked Julia.

And so before the fun had barely begun, Chef Ramsey FIRED Melissa. Big surprise. "Take your zit and your crazy hair and get out of my sight," he said.

Then he turned to Josh and Brad, who started tap dancing.


And Chef Ramsay pronounced, You're Out! You're In! You're Fools! You'll stay.

The three women in the Red Team began to giggle.

But Rock had the best line of all: "For me to win, I will have to see everyone walk out the door."


And so you shall.

Bourdain Pummels Hell's Kitchen

Oh, my. Ms. Place's lighthearted attempts at putting Hell's Kitchen in its place holds no candle to Anthony Bourdain's scathing review of the show on Ruhlman's blog. Had Anthony been as two-thumbed in the kitchen as me, he could have made his living as a critic. Or better yet, a reality t.v. writer.

Here's another take on the last episode, which sucked as far as cooking went but made for great t.v. And for those of you who just can't get enough of foodie reality t.v., here's another link.

If you want to review my recap of the last episode, just click on the Hell's Kitchen tag below.

And how did I miss this? According to a May article in Salon, Chef Ramsey is slated to be replaced by his nemesis Marco Pierre White in the New Hell's Kitchen. Oh, double my.