Hell's Kitchen: 8.25.09

After last week's debacle and surprise elimination of Jim, will things get better?

Sabrina's feeling really lucky and apologetic. She vows not to undercook anything again. The men are plotting to get rid of Robert, even if he can return.

Challenge time, and they are presented with a ginormous craps table, with 12 letters on each of two dice (one for each team). Each will roll once and choose ingredients beginning with their letter. He warned them to choose ingredients that go together. They will have 30 minutes to cook their entree.

The women start with R and Suzanne chose Rabbit. Sabrina got the quote of the evening with "They're so cute and cuddly, they've gotta be good to eat." I like her a little better now. Hope she doesn't undercook Bugs. That could be the end of her. Amanda rolled an H and chose Haricot Verts. Good job - green beans. Yummy. Tenille rolled a P and chose Potatoes. Sabrina got a G and picked Garlic. The last roll was H, for Ham Hock. Very good ingredients.

The men are up. Andy got H and could only think of Henrietta, and Hippo, but finally went with Haddock. Dave rolled an F and chose Figs, ignoring Kevin's silent pleas for Fennel. Van rolled A and picked Angelhair Pasta. Kevin got another A and picked apples. The last roll is a T and Tomatoes are picked. Their ingredient list is kind of a mess. It sounds like a basket from Chopped. (If you don't watch that, you should. It's on The Food Network) It'll take a lot more effort to fix that into a good dish.

Cooking time! The men are stymied. The women have their plan and get going, though Suzanne can't stop herself from sticking her fingers in everyone's pies. There was some question about a garlic puree that was used (Tenille thought it should be evened out a bit with something else), but both teams got something cooked in the time allotted.

The Women served up a pan roasted tenderloin and leg of garlic with a roasted garlic and rosemary puree with hamhock stock and haricot verts. The rabbit got good marks, but the garlic puree was called "very strong."

The Men have a braised haddock with a tomato and fig sauce over angelhair pasta. Where are the apples? Anyhow, Ramsey really liked the dish and the men won it, because of the overpowering garlic puree. Tenille put on her best "I told her so," in interview.

The men are off to Vegas. The women are unpacking deliveries and cleaning and prepping kitchens. Miserable.

It would have been less miserable if Tenille hadn't dropped the first box, full of lemons. That does not bode well. As the men partied it up in Vegas, the women worked a neverending day of torturous punishment, including a late night delivery of wine that they had to bring in.

And the men? VIPs in Vegas with a pool table and jacuzzi in their room.

Those poor women got woken at 1:15 AM by more deliveries. Tenille was the grumpiest of the bunch. The next morning, the women were not happy, and then the men rolled in, and Robert was still missing.

Suzanne was still getting on everyone's nerves during prep time. The men were feeling like a complete team without Robert. Then, righ before service, in walked Robert. No one was really excited to see him. Apparently, the docs told him he has a small heart for his body. Maybe that's because his body is grossly oversized. Seriously, I worry for him. Robert blathered on about being a coyote on his own and not caring if he was liked. He then was filmed chowing down on a hamburger. Good choice, Robert.

For the first time in Hell's Kitchen, they are having Chef's Tables in the kitchens. One table for each kitchen, with VIP guests from some of Ramsey's restaurants.

The Men (Dave) start out rough by not giving the chefs any choice of menu, but just announcing that they are getting rissoto. And Ariel? She was completely ignoring the VIPs until Ramsey gave her a verbal smackdown. She was friendly with them once she remembered she was there. The chefs eating in the Men's kitchen appreciated Dave's gumption for cooking with his injured arm, and he produced very good risotto. Ariel's appetizers were not as good. They wanted more salt. Eh.

The main dining room was getting served seemingly well. Van was up for cooking seafood, and bragged that he does fish in his restaurant all the time. He sent them out, but ending up getting one plate with wax paper or freezer paper or plastic or something sent back. Not good. And then it happened again. Ramsey gave them a good yelling at. Suzanne was what Sabrina called "fake busy," basically bossing everyone around and making people call back orders again and again... Sabrina then got slapped for putting new garnish in a dirty pan. That's not nearly as bad as the Men's team forgetting about their Chef's table. Van was sent to chat with them, and did a bad job explaining what everything was. I mean, a disasterous job explaining.

The women were pushing dishes out, but Robert was having terrible trouble with his station. He was putting out awfully butchered meat and got a spanking. The Chef's table in the Women's kitchen was happy, but Ariel was having a terrible time getting pasta out for the final two tables. Kevin didn't listen when Ramsey told him to stop and listen, and that didn't go over well. Ramsey shut down their kitchen, as the women finished their service.

Comment cards were read from the Chef's table. Unsurprisingly, the women's chef's table diners would be happy to return, whereas the men's chef's table diners said "Thanks, but no thanks." Dave's one-armed appetizers got him the dubious title of best of the worst, and it's his job to decide who is going up for elimination. Robert did a lot of cursing at others, and Dave was in a quandry. In the end, he put Robert and Van up for elimination. I think those are wise choices. Ramsey also pulled Andy up. Yeah, that's about right. Ramsey scolded Van for the plastic in the fish, but put him back in line. Robert did a lot of yelling and defending of himself and downing Andy. Andy accused Robert of saving all his energy for service. There was more cursing from Robert, but in the end, he was gone. Ramsey told him he was gone because he has more services in Hell's Kitchen than anyone else on his team, and his last dish was sent up raw, and that's just not acceptable. Ramsey seems to genuinely like Robert, and seemed sad to give him the heave ho, but in the end, it was the right decision. Now, I hope he can get himself healthy.

Do you think the right person went home?