Yay for a New Season - Hell's Kitchen: 1.29.09

Gordon Ramsey's back!

300 Semi-finalists were invited to meet Ramsey, and from that, 16 were chosen.

The contestants (and their signature dishes):

Danny, 23, Executive Chef from Florida: Maji Gone Bananas. Ramsey called it hideous, and when Danny said he pulled the idea out of his ass, Ramsey said he should put it back there, because it sucks. *snort*

Ben, 26, Executive Sous Chef, Chicago: Pan seared pecan duck breast. Ramsey said it was the best dish on the men's team by far.

Colleen, 41, Culinary instructor from Nebraska. Chicken Enchiladas with Poblano Cream Sauce. Ramsey thought they looked like diapers. She's a culinary instructor, but she's not a trained chef. What? Well, I would hate to be in her class. Ramsey spit it out, and said that he felt like he should have plastic wrap on his ass. She piped up then and said she also teaches manners. Say what now? Everyone cringed, and Ramsey sent her back to the line.

Carol, 30, Sous Chef: Roulade of Veal with caramelized onions. Ramsey called it delicious.

J, 32, Food Court Chef: Nothing except for calling his dish "An F"

Giovanni, 37, Executive Chef: Not worth mentioning except that Ramsey didn't think his rice was cooked properly.

Ji, 33, Private Caterer: Miso sake marinated chilean sea bass. Ramsey loved it.

Wil, 26, Quality Control Chef:Rabbit two ways. Ramsey said it looked like the plate had been dropped. He appreciated the flavor, though.

Paula, 28, Executive Sous Chef: Delicious.

Lacey, 24, Corporate Buffet Cook: Chicken in blackberry sauce. Ramsey hated it.

Coi, 22, Cafe cook: Ramsey called her dish delicious

Charlie, Prep Chef: Ramsey called the plate a joke, and said it looked like a Ferris Wheel of lamb chops? Pork chops?

Andrea, 30, Line Cook: No mention of what the dish was, but Ramsey called it spot on.

Seth, 27, Private Party Chef: Cinnamon Crusted lamb chops, with aubergine ratatouille. Wish honey. Ramsey spit it out, and called it the worst dish he'd ever tasted. Seth's assumption that he and Ramsey have the same cooking style is completely debunked.

LA, 22, line cook: Screwed up Fish and Chips, according to Ramsey. Boo!

Robert, 29, Line Cook: A giant hunk of potato and white truffle wrapped chilean sea bass. He looks like he should have been a contestant on The Biggest Loser instead of this show. Just saying. His bass was good, but the sauce was clumsy.

Immediately after they were chosen, they were set right to work (in a men's team, and a women's team) to make their signature dishes for Ramsey (see above). Not all of the dishes were well described.

The winner will win $250,000 and a spot at a new restaurant in a high end Casino in Atlantic City.

They have to come up with Dynamic Team names. Some of the suggestions are really idiotic.

It's time for prep, and I instantly hate Lacey, who proves to be utterly incompetent on the line, and walked out of the kitchen, to go up and have a hot pocket or something in the apartment. What?

Over in the men's kitchen, Ramsey Wannabe Seth has no idea how to do anything in a busy kitchen, and gets on everyone's nerves.

The women's team calls themselves Saffron (though Spice Rack was a runner up)

The men's team calls themselves Blues Brothers.

Giovanni and Carol are going to be waitstaff tonight.

Ramsey made Charlie shave off his ridiculously long beard, saying "I don't want a 12" ginger pubic hair in their souffle."

Coi asked Lacey to help her make a souffle, and Lacey said that she is sick of working with stupid bitches in a kitchen with women. I wonder when she will realize she is the top offender.

With that tension in the air, Hell's Kitchen is open.

Giovanni can't answer a diner's question about what Polenta is. What? What kind of chef doesn't know what polenta is?

Carol brought the first order to the Saffron kitchen pretty quickly. Lacey proved incapable of cooking a scallop, and blamed the equipment.

Ben and Robert can't cook spaghetti, and Colleen put marscapone cheese in spaghetti with lobster, which is not in the recipe. Ramsey called her on it.

Then the power went out, but the ovens are still working. I wonder if it's a set up, though Dramatic Announcer Guy said it was a faulty generator.

Problems arise in the kitchens, but Carol just kept giving customers wine to keep them happy. That's a method.

The power was out for 20 minutes, then the kitchen reopened to Colleen's ineptitude, starting a new spaghetti in a dirty pan.

Ben and Robert were getting appetizers out, but Giovanni had no idea who ordered what, and that was embarassing.

Colleen tried to cook all the spaghetti in the kitchen in one fell swoop. Not a good idea.

Seth (who Ramsey calls Forrest), is also incompetent.

Colleen made a sweet risotto using sugar instead of salt. Ramsey called it the worst he's ever had ever. Over in the men's kitchen, Wil couldn't get anything cooked properly.

3 hours into service, customers started leaving instead of waiting any longer for their food, and Ramsey shut the kitchen down.

He said in cooking performance, both teams were very weak. Carol's tables rated her above average 88% of the time. Giovanni's performance was rated below average 90% of the time. That puts the men in the bottom this week, and they have to nominate two people to go.

They nominate Wil (he actually nominated himself, owning up to his problems), and Seth and Giovanni were mentioned as well. Wil and Seth are the final nominations, and a lot of people spoke up for Wil, with Robert actually offering to take Wil's place on the chopping block, but didn't, since Wil nominated himself. Seth is an arrogant ass, and I hope he leaves. Wil says that he wants to undo the damage that he did in the kitchen, and show him how much better he can do.

Ramsey sent Wil home, which I disagree with. As my husband said, Wil didn't try to send something bad, whereas Seth tried to pass over bad stuff.

And Lacey thinks she did "pretty damned good." I beg to differ. She was an embarassment.

A good start, though. It's going to be an expletive filled season!