Hell's Kitchen Season 3, Episode 1
Sunday, July 27 2008 | Comments (0)
Reality Bug will be covering Hell's Kitchen Season Three over the summer, so if you missed out last year, we've got you covered! This season's cast of characters is really something.
Season Three of Hell's Kitchen begins with some "Quiet Time with Chef Gordon Ramsay."
Gordon Ramsay is sitting in the dining room of Hell's Kitchen, looking very dapper and calm, saying that he'll be different this time, because the chefs will know what they are doing, and he won't have to scream or swear. Yeah Right!
Then the season really kicks off with an introduction of the chefs as they walk into Hell's Kitchen to meet Maitre'D, Jean Philipe. Then Chef Ramsay comes out and tells Jean Philipe to cut the crap, and orders the chefs to get into the kitchen and cook their signature dishes - their first timed challenge. .
These dishes tell Chef a lot about them. First is Vinnie, with his dish, a Curried Pink Snapper. Gordon thinks it's too spicy, and Vinnie introduces us to his personality, contesting Gordon's opinion. Gordon, in turn, boots Vinnie back to the line calling him an "f-ing jerk."
Joanna is next and has made Parmesan Crusted chicken and a raspberry belinni drink. She walks forward and flashes her smile at Gordon. He doesn't flinch. She says that she can flirt and get her way, but Gordon seems impervious to her "powers" and could care less about her smile. He questions why she included a drink. She doesn't have a good answer, and it doesn't even seem to compliment the dish. Gordon coldly tells her that the chicken is too salty and dry, and to take her drink back to the line. So much for winning over the worlds most critical chef with a girly drink. Nice try.
Rock is next, and at first he impresses Chef with his gnochi dish. "I'm excited that you found the time to make the gnochi," says Ramsay. Rock reveals that although he made the sauce from scratch, he used frozen gnochi. Ramsay is immediately offended that he was just served frozen food; this is a cardinal sin to Ramsay. Serving him something store-bought and frozen is like serving the Pope a steak on Good Friday. He doesn't even taste it, and sends Rock back to the line with his tail between his legs.
Next comes Josh, with his "sexy" food, as he calls it. But, Gordon is not turned on by it at all. Bonnie is next and presents a "Contemporary Cheese Dish," She nearly cries, she is so nervous. She explains the precises order in which he should taste it, as it will effect his experience. He tastes the dish and has no comments, except that it is "different," and he can tell that she is new to cooking.
Next are Eddie and Brad, called up together as they both have attempted to cook scallops. Eddie, is quite small and young-looking for a 28 year old, and he reveals that this is due to a life-long kidney condition. Gordon has Brad taste Eddie's. Brad says the dish is good; the scallops are cooked well. Gordon calls him out because Brad neglected to be honest with Gordon and tell him that the scallops were undercooked. Or, is it possible he coudn't tell? Gordon could tell just by looking at it. When Eddie tastes Brad's dish, he is honest, and tells him that, although it is cooked well, it doesn't taste good. "That's the most sensible thing I've heard all day," says Gordon also commenting that Eddie has quite a palate. But, it's not enough; he's not impressed with either dish. Neither of them were able to execute the scallops correctly; they are both under par.
Gordon calls on the chef of the next dish several times (Bueller...? Bueller...? Anybody...? Bueller...?) We see Jen doubling over, ill with fear. Finally she comes forward. Her peach crepes are under scrutiny; they are too thick and taste of alcohol. She says that she only used a little bit of peach schnapps, but Gordon is not convinced. Away she goes, with the rest of the rejects.
Melissa then struts forward, seemingly unaffected by the results so far. She is petite, cute, and dressed nicely, but as she tells the journal camera, once she does her thing in the kitchen, there isn't a question that she knows what she is doing. Chef looks to her with promise. Her dish is a simple steak with roasted asparagus. The dish seems to speak Gordon's language with it's simplicity and basic ingredients. He tastes her dish and says that finally he has tasted something "delicious."
After Melissa trots back to the line, he pulls the covers off of Tiffany's and Julia's at the same time. He lifts Julia's plate up for everyone to see, as it lacks the "pizazz" on the plate. Her dish is chicken-fried chicken penne. She and Tiffany taste it with Gordon, and Tiffany weighs in that it is too peppery. He tells her that the chicken is cooked well, but it is spoiled by the pepper. "What a shame," he comments. "What a shame," Julia echoes with a defeated sigh. Tiffany's dish is a seafood tostada. Julia likes her dish, and says she would order it in a restaurant, and Gordon agrees. Is there hope for this chef, at least?
Next up is the "Asian Cowboy," Aaron, or "chunky monkey" as Gordon calls him. He has made "finger food". Gordon tells him that he doesn't know when to stop. Some of it is good, but there is too much on the plate. To the video journal, Aaron later says that he would have eaten everything on the plate. By the looks of him, no one would probably contest this.
Chef is, of course, disappointed with what he tasted. He tells them that they really have to step up their game, because the winner will have the opportunity to open their own restaurant, including a $250,000 salary, and a share in the profits of the restaurant which will be located at the Green Valley Ranch resort in Las Vegas. They are split into two teams, the Red Team, which includes all the girls, and the Blue Team, made up of all the boys.
At 7am the next morning, both teams hit the ground running. They must each prep a menu for that evening's dinner service, consisting of 15 items, and over 300 ingredients, and they must meet Chef Ramsay's exact specifications. Their preparations are crucial to their success that evening.
The Blue Team starts to work together, but the Red Team starts right off by butting heads, as they have all day. Maryanne, the Red Team Sous Chef, tells them that they need to talk to each other. When he goes the Blue Team, hoping that the guys will have some more strength, Aaron loses it and starts crying. He finally pulls it together, and they open Hell's Kitchen.
As the dinner service begins, the girls continue to have communication problems, and their appetizers take almost an hour to get out. The girls repeatedly have trouble with their quail eggs. Julia, a line cook by occupation, offers several times to do the simple fried eggs, but she is pushed aside, as she has been all day, and is put on small duties like cutting apples. As Tiffany and then Bonnie each try and fail at the eggs, Julia stays at her station, cutting apples, and letting the other girls burn. She tried to offer her help, and was given the cold shoulder. Eventually, one of these culinary chefs should either learn to fry an egg, or let the line cook do her job.
On the Blue Team, Vinnie is having trouble with the risotto. Gordon notices that he is adding water to the Risotto. When he questions him about this, Vinnie tells him that it's because they do not have any stock. Gordon sends Vinnie to wash dishes, and pulls Brad over to the risotto, where he recreates the seasonings missing in the water for the risotto.
On the Girls' side, Tiffany is still having trouble with the eggs! Julia offers one last time, and is again pushed away. Julia starts to cry, so Gordon calls the girls into a huddle. He reassigns them, and tells that they must put this arguing away and move on. His customers are waiting for their food. Of course, once Julia is put on the eggs, they are immediately and quickly cooked to perfection, and they start to gain some traction, and work their way out of the mess they got themselves into. But they are far behind. While the girls were bickering, the blue team has prepared 29 of their 50 appetizers. But, just when things are looking good for the Blue Team, Aaron causes a major set back with some overcooked chicken.
On the Red side, Julia is still successfully cooking the eggs, and Melissa has taken over. Maybe she is good at being in charged, or maybe she's just a control freak. Or, maybe just a freak? But Melissa starts letting the power go to her head, and starts offering some possibly unnecessary comments on every dish that goes by her. She feels that this is her new place, and that the team needs her to be in charge. But this only creates another huge squabble.
Back on the blue side, Aaron starts to lose it again, and walks out to take a five minute break. Gordon goes back to find him crying again. Back in their kitchen, Josh has taken over Aaron's station, but it's in a horrible state. There are only four chicken left, and no wellingtons. Apparently, more was lost in Aaron's disorganized loss of control than the team realized. The girls can't stop arguing on the red side, and Gordon sees the entire service falling apart. As the temperature rises, Gordon finally shuts down the whole thing - they are too far behind to ever make it up.
The teams line up to hear the final verdict from Chef Ramsay. How could he possibly pick a winning team based on that first night's performance?
He coins the Red Team as "Hell's Bitches", and when he questions Vinnie on the Blue Team, he is met with talk back. But even though Aaron lost his mind and couldn't complete the shift, and Vinnie is a know-it-all-smart-ass, he decided that it is the Red Team that loses tonight. The Blue Team tried to support each other throughout the night. But the Red Team girls each seemed so caught up in their own personal gain, that they lost the importance of teamwork in a kitchen.
Gordon asks Melissa, as the best of the worst, to chose two of her teammates for elimination.
When they go back to the dorms, she talks with her teammates to get a feel for what everyone else wants. Julia may be the least experienced, but she wanted to work as part of a team, and might have skills that are being overlooked. When she speaks with Julia first, she agrees with her that there was a lack of communication and teamwork in the kitchen. Even though she is from the "waffle house", she knows that there needs to be more communication in the kitchen. When Melissa then talks to Tiffany, she cries that she doesn't want to go home. Melissa reassures her that she wouldn't be going home. "You're not going home, no way," she says.
When Gordon asks her who she choses, she first nominates Joanna, because of her poor communication skills. Then she nominates Tiffany, because it was Tiffany's appetizer station that got them off track that evening. It was Tiffany that cracked the first yolk, that night, literally.
When Gordon asks for their defenses, Tiffany tells them that she can do better. Joanna's defense is that she is more of a team player.
Gordon chooses Tiffany. He says that to be a good chef, you need great attention to detail, passion, and a good work ethic. Tiffany didn't have what it takes. He sends the rest of them off to bed, with the advice that everyone needs to get some sleep and toughen up, because it is not going to get any easier.
Reality Bug will continue covering Hell's Kitchen Season 3. You can also catch special reruns of this series on the Fox Reality Network, as part of the Reality Revealed Series. In each episode, we'll hear behind the scenes comments from the cast, never before revealed.
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