Hell's Kitchen: 10.6.09

Are you as happy as I am to see Suzanne gone? 

Go One-Handed Dave!

Kevin is pretty sure that he knows everyone's weakness, but can't think of one in himself.  Dave woke up the next morning to give himself a Stuart Smalley pep talk.

In the kitchen, enter mini-Ramsey.  What a kid.  They've got the kid saying "bloody hell," which isn't really appropriate, I suppose, but he was adorable.  Good line about Dave - "Bloody Hell, you've got one arm.  If you were a horse, we would have shot you by now."  Funny stuff.  Enter real Ramsey, to tell them that they have to cook a stunning vegetarian dish for 80 "exacting, difficult, demanding customers" in one hour.  Yipes!

Kevin is making a mushroom crepe over beet carpachio.  Tennille is making a vegetable stuffed eggplant.  Ariel is making a grilled eggplant lasagne.  Dave is making a polenta tower with goat cheese and roasted peppers.

And peppers that he dropped on the ground because of his hand.  He actually retreated into the back room to deal with pain, and went back to do his chopping.

Here come the guests - 80 kids.  Who don't like vegetables.  Ouch.

The kids started chanting about wanting their food, because the cheftestants were not ready with their portions.  Dave called his polenta stacks "sandwiches" and called himself the One-Armed Bandit. 

Each chef had a different colored plate.  Lots of spitting out happened.  That makes me sad.  JP brought in  bags full of treats and sweets for the kids, who proceeded to make a horrendous mess of the dining room.  I smell punishment.

Kevin's dish was voted worst by 40% of the kids.  Dave and Tenille got the top two, with Tenille pulling in the win with 55%.  Dave said "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride."

As I predicted, the losers had to pick up the dining room.

Tenille was getting a day in Beverly Hills, sprucing up, and then to Nobu in LA for lunch with Ramsey, which is a famous sushi restaurant.  Tenille screamed at the camera about how much she loves sushi.  I am kind of sick of her yelling.

The other chefs downed Tenille and said that her dish was well suited to children, but not good enough for the Araxi.

Tenille got a 18 karat gold facial.  Wow.

The losers had to scrape gum off of the bottom of tables.  Ariel wisely said that those kids needed a lesson in table manners.  Dave was picking candies out of the mess he swept up.  Love it.

Tenille screamed about how delicious the sushi is.  And now I want sushi.  Great.  Chef Nobu presented her with a set of Henckel's Sushi knives.  Wow.  Kevin drooled over them a little.  I can't blame him.  I think I just wiped my chin.

Prep time, and Tenille had a lot of catching up to do.  She got a nice lunch, and some sweet knives, but missed some really important prep time.

Before dinner service, they got a Ramsey Pep talk, and he wants them to bring passion to the plate as a key ingredient.  Let's see if they do better without Suzanne.

Kevin started things off right with great risotto.  Tenille then brought up badly cooked scallops.  Her next try was perfect.  Dave went to bring up the lamb and had a fit with his hand and dropped it and retreated to the back. 

If he has to drop out in the final four, I think I am going to cry.  He thought he was going to faint.  Ramsey brought him to the medic.  He decided to go back and declared that he is not a quitter.

I swear, that man could give birth.

Tenille sent up hideous seabass, with black bits all over it.  Try again.  He called it "panic cooked."  The kitchen came to a stand still.  She then sent up completely raw halibut.  Come. On.  Ridiculous.  I could see it was raw.  How could she not see it?  The other chefs tried to get some communication from her and failed completely.  She told them 2 minutes, and they all went for it with their parts, and then she told Ramsey 6 minutes.  Dave had cut his lamb, so she completely screwed him, too.  She finally got it right and the dishes flew out of the kitchen for a complete service.

Ramsey told Dave that he is seriously concerned about his wrist, but Dave told him that he is fine, and he doesn't want Ramsey to take him out because of that, and only wants to leave if Ramsey doesn't think he is a good enough chef.  Without much ado, Ramsey told Tenille that she was gone.  It was the right decision. 

The final 3 were enjoying a beer together when they got called back down to the kitchen.  Ramsey told Dave that he was still thinking about whether he made the right decision keeping Dave... commercial break of doom ... and Ramsey said he was sure that he did make the right decision.

As a reward for being in the top 3, Dave's fiance and sister, Ariel's fiance and mother, and Kevin's wife and son entered.  Happiness and joy!!

I reiterate - I hope that Dave can pull this off and win it.  He's awesome.  I just hope that he hasn't done irreparable damage to his wrist during this ordeal.

Next week, each of them runs the pass.  This could be very good.