Other Great Reality Shows > Other Reality TV Shows & News

Hell's Kitchen Season 7

<< < (10/12) > >>

TexasLady:
We don't know what the reason is that Ben might leave. (Probably won't.) I agree, Jay and Holli or Jay/Ben, final 2.

I have to give a lot of credit to Autumn, she's been up every week for awhile and she hasn't been the weakest in the kitchen. Ben can not communicate when he is stressed and this is a huge problem. Autumn can lead, we've seen her do it early on but she must lack social skills because of the constant choice of being chosen to leave the kitchen.

I also don't like Ben being so arrogant about his abilities and diverting his kitchen blunders to put the focus on Autumn but that said, it was nice to see his family and how much he cares about them.

Pedaler:
Unlike other seasons, no chef really stands out for me.

But that's OK.  For some unknown reason I still enjoy the show a whole bunch.

apskip:
HK7, ep. 13

We now have only Jay, Benjamin, Holli and Autumn remaining.  The summary of the prior episode was:
1. Final 5 challenged to make a fine dining dish on $10; Holli won
2. Holli chose to bring with her to the reward, which was like a date chaperoned by Jean Phillippe
3. Dinner Service had them switch sections to force communications
4. Jay had problems on fish, Ben had serious communications issues, Holli was on a hot streak and Autumn had her best dinner service yet
5. Ben and Jason were nominated by Holli and Jason was eliminated

Ramsay demonstrated how the monkfish should be done:
1.   hot pan and good sear
2.   2. take off ends carefully and let the knife do the work
3.   3. let it rest on top with capers and peppers

Ramsay stated that to be a great chef it is essential to be a great teacher. This individual challenge was to discover who could teach one of 4 bachelors who had no prior culinary skills how to demonstrate good cook skills. Verbal instructions only by the chefs are permitted; there must be no hands-on instruction. Ben was full of questions about what would happen. All student/teacher pairs had 30 minutes to prepare and cook monkfish, a fairly difficult fish to get right. Here are the results:
Autumn and her student Neil, who made monkfish salted/peppered with capers, potatoes, salad – Ramsay asked where is the monkfish?; it was shredded, potatoes salty
Jay and his student Rick, who made pan-seared monkfish with pancetta, olives, capers – perfectly cooked and presentation superb
Benjamin and his student Steve, pan-roasted monkfish with pancetta, olive oil, coriander, Nicoise olives, microbasil –  peppers raw and pancetta burned
Holli and her student Chris, who made monkfish with potatoes and peppers with LOVE – tastes delicious, potato perfect but monkfish a bit hashed
Based on Ramsay’s comments it would be either Jay or Holli who wins this challenge. The winner was Jay because that dish was cooked perfectly and presented perfectly. The bachelors got a copy of Ramsay’s latest book. Jay’s victory gave him 30 seconds to choose which chef he would like to accompany him on the reward trip. That was a no-brainer as he chose Holli. That reward was a ride for just the two of them on the Goodyear Blimp. I did this once as part of a group of 8 in New Orleans and it was a thrill I will remember to my dying day. Benjamin predicted they will make it into the half-mile high club. Benjamin said he was being given double punishment because being with Autumn was punishment enough, but their task was maintenance day plus cleaning the parking lot. They flew over Hell’s Kitchen and Jean Phillippe forced Autumn and Benjamin to see the blimp and its sign. Holli told Ramsay she wanted to look for a house in London (for her new job, which at this point she had only a 25% statistical chance of winning). She was really flirty on the reward trip.

The chefs got to pick where they will be assigned for that evening’s dinner service. Holli chose Fish, Autumn Garnish, Benjamin Meat and Jay Appetizers. He had never done that before in any season of Hell’s Kitchen and each chef chose the station at which they felt they were best. Ramsay wanted to know where the energy from the group was.  As dinner service began, Ramsay commented that Holli’s first fish dish, a John Dory, was late and then one raw due to Autumn taking it out early. Jay’s risotto was bland due to his underseasoning it and his second one was too salty, but after that Jay’s appetizers just flowed out from the kitchen. Holli’s second Dory was cooked perfectly but the next was undercooked. Ramsay told Holli “You may be down but you are not out.” Jay sent potatoes to the pass that were not ordered. Benjamin was criticized severely by Ramsay for his silence and inability to communicate with his teammates. Why this happens despite Benjamin’s stated desire to communicate with them is anyone’s guess. Ramsay told him “You have got to do it (talk to your team)! Time is running out for you.” Autumn sent cold and greasy spinach to the pass and then cold a second time. Ramsay told Holli she was scorching the Dory. Autumn was next unable to acknowledge and then successfully repeat an order Ramsay had just called out. Benjamin had Wellingtons fall apart on him and then sent a raw one to the pass. Jay took leadership for coordination among the chefs and got things settled down into a steady fast rhythm of quality output. The best indication of superb performance was no dishes returned from the dining room. As Holli stated, “That’s pretty amazing.”

Ramsay acknowledged that this was the most successful service of HK7 and told them “Well done.” After a rocky start for some, all excelled under the high pressure environment. He named Jay the best of that dinner service and asked him to nominate two of his colleagues. Autumn was an obvious first choice, but then his relationship with Holli conflicted with his long-standing friendship with Benjamin. He ended up nominating Benjamin for the second spot, which Benjamin referred to as “the lesser of two evils.” Autumn acknowledged that she had earned the right to be there despite starting with less experience than the other 3. Ramsay called on Autumn and Benjamin to step forward. He told Autumn to get back in line, then he told Benjamin to get back in line. He was not going to eliminate anybody tonight with the special performance shown by all, but he stated that he would have to eliminate 2 at the end of the next episode. He then had a surprise for each chef:

Autumn – her boyfriend and best friend
Jay – his parents
Holli – her 4 year old son and husband
Benjamin – his wife and 1 year old daughter

So there are occasional happy endings in Hell’s Kitchen, but this was only a temporary reprieve. In order to start the finale in the episode after next, Ramsay must halve the remaining chef group to 2. Who will they be?

apskip:
There will definitely be no recap from me for weeks for episode 14, when 2 of Jay, Holli, Benjamin and Autumn (probably the last two) will be eliminated. Also, do not expect any recap from me for episode 15 showing  August 10. I should be back around August 17 for the finale part 2 episode 16 recap and to do the delayed ones for ep. 14 and 15.

TexasLady:
We'll miss you apskip!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page