Hell's Kitchen: 2.19.09

It was a good start - and I am still sad that Ji had to quit. Lacey and Colleen need to go. Soon. Andrea is peaved to have lost her, and Lacey accused her of "turning on her bitch switch." Andrea wished that Lacey had been the one to fall and twist her ankle. I can't help but agree.

The chefs didn't get to bed until 3, and then were awoken with banging pans at 6 AM, and brought to an undisclosed location.

Before they went inside, Chef Scott asked if anyone had a heart condition or was afraid of heights. No one opted out. They had to get into protective clothing and grab barf bags.

Enter the meat processing plant.

They got a tour of the anatomy of a cow. Colleen's grandmother was a butcher so felt confident.

Their challenge involved big plastic cows, and had to identify cuts of beef. First, one person had to identify the cuts of meat, and then had to locate the cuts on the cow.

Ben went first and got one wrong. Giovanni had to figure out what to switch. Andrea got two wrong and had to replace two. The men were correct on the cuts first. Paula got the cuts of meat right for the women. The men's first chance at the cow was 3 wrong, and so was Colleen's attempt. Seth rearranged the cuts with confidence and the men ended up with 7 wrong after his go. Lacey and Robert went head to head, and Robert still ended up with 6 wrong. Lacey upped the women's mistakes to 6. Ben and Paula went against each other on the next round, and Ben was quicker and won it for the men.

The women have to butcher sides of beef.

The men get to go wine tasting and have a steakhouse dinner. They are going to be taking a private jet. Robert got all spiffed up, and turns out that he was supposed to be getting married on that very day, but they decided to put the wedding on hold for his chance on the show.

The women had to move the sides of beef off the truck, and Lacey was useless. No one liked it much. It was about 1200 lbs of beef per trip, and then they had to butcher it (hope they are doing a good job with it).

The men happily chow down on their steak after their vineyard tour.

The women have tastings of the less popular parts of the cow - tongue, hearts, liver, served with a side of barf bags. Andrea used the barf bag liberally, and gave the team a tearful "I hate losing" speach.

I don't know how those cuts were prepared, but I've had tongue, heart, and liver, and it's not bad prepared well. Ramsey must have had them prepared in the worst possible way.

The men returned to gloat while the women finished their butchering. It was annoying.

Because of their experience with meat during the day, and the huge amounts of beef in the kitchen, Hell's Kitchen is going to be a Steakhouse, with one team cooking and the other one serving, switching on and off.

Andrea gave a (better, less pukey) pep talk, and the women vowed to win.

The men cook first, and dedicate the night to Robert and his fiancee. Each team will have two hours to feed as many diners as they can.

The women had troubles writing out their tickets. Giovanni thought they were being slow on purpose to sabotage the men. Ben decided to make dessert and it was ready before the appetizers. With ice cream. What?

Lacey delivered a caesar salad with anchovies and the diner didn't want anchovies, and almost cried when she had to return it and Ramsey got mad at her.

Meanwhile, Giovanni, who is an executive chef at a steakhouse, couldn't cook steak properly. He sent some out practically mooing, and others were too well done. Lacey forgot to bring a ticket up, and they only had one fillet left. Seth was told to cut some more fillet, and failed entirely, bringing the wrong meaning to the word butcher. Ramsey was pissed at the waste, and Giovanni said that he molested the fillet - "People have gone to jail for less than that!"

The kitchens switch off, and it's the women's turn to cook. Andrea started out by hollering at the men that she wanted some orders, and very nearly swore at the dining room. Charlie couldn't remember if he had taken orders for tables, and asked Ben to find out for him. Colleen couldn't get orders right in the kitchen, and then men were entertaining the diners in the meantime. Ramsey had Colleen repeat the orders over and over again. 45 minutes into service, and salads are leaving the kitchen, but coming back, because Koi's shrimp was raw.

Charlie was busy dropping bacon all over diners and their table, and Jean-Phillippe was really upset with him.

Andrea was cooking the steak, and it was going out. A lot came back, but Ramsey said that most of it was actually cooked as it was ordered, and accused the men of trying to sabotage. Carol heard an order wrong and the last one messed up, losing a NY Strip thinking it was supposed to be a ribeye.

The worst waiter on the men's team is deemed to be Charlie. The worst waitress is unsuprisingly Lacey. The winner, serving more food, was the women. As much as I want to see Lacey and Colleen gone, I think the women did a better job.

The men had to decide who to send up for elimination. Seth, Charlie, and Giovanni were brought up. Hard choice. Charlie because he was inept in the dining room? Giovanni because the steak chef couldn't cook steak? Seth because he couldn't butcher or cook?

The men nominated Seth for lack of "kitchen ettiquette" and Charlie for being so horrible in the dining room. Seth asked for a person by person vote, and J said that Ramsey asked him who was nominated, so Seth should shut his mouth. Ramsey denied Seth's request.

Charlie said that he could cook, and needs to learn Ramsey's way. Seth says he has a lot to learn, and loves being yelled at, and then absolutely absolutely talked too much in his defense. Ramsey asked where the off button was for Seth, and eliminated Charlie, saying he didn't feel Charlie's committment and talent after three services.