Hell's Kitchen (US) Season 3

[jmolinari]

ah, i must have fast forwarded through that part:)

[kristin_71]

I couldn't decide which show I disliked more, Next Food Network Star or Hell's Kitchen. Hell's Kitchen has been much better in past years. If any of them have ANY fine dinning experience they sure don't show it. I guess if I had to pick which I like better it would have to be Hell's Kitchen. Ramsey is , to say the least, entertaining. Flay is just down right smug.

[Claudia Greco]

I couldn't  decide which show I disliked more, Next Food Network Star or Hell's Kitchen. Hell's Kitchen has been much better in past years. If any of them have ANY fine dinning experience they sure don't show it. I guess if I had to pick which I like better it would have to be Hell's Kitchen. Ramsey is , to say the least, entertaining. Flay is just down right smug.

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You know, I think the nanny might just skate past Brad and Josh. Rock has it in for Josh, but Ramsay has it in for both of them, so I think one of the guys will go next - and I'm thinking Brad.

I think it'll get down to Julia (if she can hold it together), Jen (if she can stay away from the garbage cans), and Rock. Jen says she's just a pastry chef, but she obviously knows a lot more about cooking than just pate choux. I'd love to see Julia win, but I think the nanny might be right - as the herd thins, Julia will come up against her own lack of fine food experience. She won't have a team helping hr figure out the intricacies of creme brulee or correctly steamed lobster.

TNFNS is infinitely worse than HK - I kind of respect Top Chef more, although the freaking product placement and Padma's molasses-slow Let's. Pause. After. Every. Word. kinda gets on my nerve endings. But at least Padma's a foodie.

What is it with Top Chef? They only hire female hosts who are the 22+ year-old juniors of their more famous husbands? Billy Joel and . . . Katie Lee Joel? (!!) Salman Rushdie and . . . Padma Lakshmi? Thast's pretty narrow hiring window . . . who's next as host? Catherine Zeta-Jones?

[BryanZ]

Bonnie: "Chef, I hate killing lobsters. I cry everytime."

Rock: "So do the lobsters."

Classic.

[kristin_71]

What is it with Top Chef? They only hire female hosts who are the 22+ year-old juniors of their more famous husbands? Billy Joel and . . . Katie Lee Joel? (!!) Salman Rushdie and . . . Padma Lakshmi? Thast's pretty narrow hiring window . . . who's next as host? Catherine Zeta-Jones?

And it seems Padma and Rushdie are in the middle of becoming unmarried. I watch Top Chef when my hellish life allows which is not often. Bravo runs a marathon right before the finale anyways so I can always peak in then from time to time.

[Claudia Greco]

What is it with Top Chef? They only hire female hosts who are the 22+ year-old juniors of their more famous husbands? Billy Joel and . . . Katie Lee Joel? (!!) Salman Rushdie and . . . Padma Lakshmi? Thast's pretty narrow hiring window . . . who's next as host? Catherine Zeta-Jones?

And it seems Padma and Rushdie are in the middle of becoming unmarried. I watch Top Chef when my hellish life allows which is not often. Bravo runs a marathon right before the finale anyways so I can always peak in then from time to time.

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Yep, Padma has been reported hanging out with one or two members of the TC crew (not the cooks or judges, as erroneously reported). But the split with Rushdie seems to have actually begun a while ago.

Oh, update on Melissa's . . . grwth: in today's NY Daily News, she says she was splashed with hot oil - so I guess that was a nasty blister there. But it looks much worse than a burn/blister . . . much worse . . .

[LittleLea]

Oh, update on Melissa's . . . grwth:  in today's NY Daily News, she says she was splashed with hot oil - so I guess that was a nasty blister there.  But it looks much worse than a burn/blister . . . much worse . . . 

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Blast! Now why didnt they leave that little nugget of footage in? At least then we'd get to see them, I dunno... COOKING something.. and then also have a little backstory of the chinpimple to follow! ;-)

Also.. didnt Gordon say that Julia cooked her lobster perfectly?

Edited July 12, 2007 by LittleLea (log)

[*Deborah*]

Oh, update on Melissa's . . . growth:  in today's NY Daily News, she says she was splashed with hot oil - so I guess that was a nasty blister there.  But it looks much worse than a burn/blister . . . much worse . . . 

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Oh, that kind of thing is v hard to heal if you have to keep it covered up with makeup. She should have gone with some Ozonol and a bandaid instead.

[rockandroller]

My husband and I thought the thing on her chin was a cold sore/herpes simplex this whole time. I don't know that I buy the hot oil story. But it doesn't matter since she's finally gone. I thought she was a horrible person and a really bad cook.

Why was Rock so upset about the trash? I mean, it's like the producers suggest to certain people that they completely overreact if there's something they don't like; first Melissa with her weird personality change and now Rock flipping out because they had to sort through what looked like some REALLY CLEAN trash, if you ask me. It was just bottles and cans, I didn't even see food in there at all. And even if there was, so what. Frankly, I'd rather sort through trash than do all that fish cleaning/gutting, but I'm not a chef so what do I know.

[Claudia Greco]

My husband and I thought the thing on her chin was a cold sore/herpes simplex this whole time.  I don't know that I buy the hot oil story.  But it doesn't matter since she's finally gone.  I thought she was a horrible person and a really bad cook.

Why was Rock so upset about the trash?  I mean, it's like the producers suggest to certain people that they completely overreact if there's something they don't like; first Melissa with her weird personality change and now Rock flipping out because they had to sort through what looked like some REALLY CLEAN trash, if you ask me.  It was just bottles and cans, I didn't even see food in there at all.  And even if there was, so what.  Frankly, I'd rather sort through trash than do all that fish cleaning/gutting, but I'm not a chef so what do I know.

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I don't think he was so much upset about the trash, as he was that the blue team lost on the bisque. GR said the bisques were equally good, but he gave the win to Jen's standard version rather than the blue team's more original version with the creme fraiche and serrano. GR had specifically stated he was looking for creativity and originality and, on that basis, I agree with Rock - the blue bisque should have won. Both bisques had equally good flavor, execution, presentation, etc. - it got down to creativity and originality then.

Once the loss set Rock off, the garbage detail just fueled his indignation. Me? I personally wouldn't care - gutting fish is pretty awful, I agree, and prepping two kitchens is back-breaking, but at least they're both chefly duties. I just think that the ADDED twist of summoning him to the photo shoot and making him pick up the garbage there was (a) unnecessary and uncalled for, and (b) just tacked on to add more dramatic tension to a scenario in which a good man was already seething from being wronged, as he saw it, competitively - and then thrown into the garbage heap. I felt the blue team, including Rock, was wronged and Rock, a good, proud cook, felt that keenly. Although outraged and venting, Rock DID work the garbage detail, and to therefore then be singled out for additional punishment - well, I felt it was really picking on him and designed to humiliate him - for drama's sake. If the idea was to try to humble him and shush him, I don't see how further beating down an already outraged cook was going to either (a) calm him down or (b) humble him. Jesus. After all the freaking hand-holding GR did with Aaron and all the crap he took from Melissa? So what? They should've just let Rock seethe as he worked until he got back to his own little happy place. Rubbing salt into an open wound with the extra punishment was just a vicious little dramatic jack-off, courtesy of the producers.

[rockandroller]

I agree; that was clearly a move by the producers and a completely unnecessary one. That was just sh*tty and served no purpose.

[FistFullaRoux]

It falls back to "dealing with adversity". Rock got pissed because digging through the garbage was not something most chefs do. Take it out, maybe. Change the liners, okay. But to go through last night's trash seemed just weird.

Rock got mad, he vented, he was singled out for more humiliation, but he did what he was told to do. Not something that would be a normal part of his day as a chef, but he did it. And at least he didn't flip off the limo like whatshisface did last year.

[bigcat39]

Didn't GR say something about "Be on the lookout for something special in the trash"? I think it was a prize mucho better than the dumbass photoshoot, and they blew it & missed it....

[Terrasanct]

I was expecting something like that, but if there had been something there, you'd think they would have shown it.

[BuzzDraft]

I'm glad Gordo dispatched Melissa without a vote, but I'd rather have seen the punishment be something more cheffy - like having to prep both kitchens, first; second, I thought the extra punishment - by dragging a member of losing team in to empty garbage at the shoot - was totally unnecessary, and rubbed salt into a open wound.  And third, why did Gordon single out Rock, a proud cook, a good cook, whom he had, up to that point, admired?  I thought it was specifically humiliating to Rock.  Gordo said he thought he needed to do HK to boost his profile so he could open his restaurant in NYC (ridiculous), but demeaning a good, professional man and cook, a man of color, on national TV is a new low for Gordo - as a chef AND as a human being.  He should not have agreed to participate in that extra little bit of debasement.

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Oh good, someone throws the race card.

Rock was selected ONLY because he was the one bitching the loudest about it. He exposed his Achilles heel by telling Ramsey he has a problem with going through the garbage, and the producers pounced. The other losers accepted their punishment, with resignation. I wouldn't be surprised if the producers came up with that twist after Rock went over the top with his temper tantrum.

[mrbigjas]

my favorite bit from tonight's show was when rock was recommending a mac & cheese with something fancy in it. and then brad was all, yeah we could call it cassoulet! rock was like, uh, why not call it what it is?

next thing you know, it's on the menu as 'truffled cassoulet'.

next thing you know after that, dude's booted off.

i mean, it was hilarious -- that doesn't even make sense. you can't just call one dish by another's name.

tonight's menu: we take zucchini, deep-fry it with sardines and sharp cheddar, wrap it in a vietnamese rice paper wrapper and serve with a extra bacony dipping sauce. it's called 'spaghetti and meatballs.'

hahaha this show is hilarious.

[Jamie Lee]

my favorite bit from tonight's show was when rock was recommending a mac & cheese with something fancy in it.  and then brad was all, yeah we could call it cassoulet! 

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Don't you think he was just an idiot who meant "gratin" and just didn't know what cassoulet was? I mean nothing could be further from mac 'n cheese than a french "stew" made with pork, chicken, duck confit, beans, etc.

I have to say that was one moment I was yelling loudly at the screen ...

I can't believe it took the girls so long to plan their challenge meal... it made me miss the older FNTV shows that used a "mystery ingredient" box format ala CIA and other culinary schools... I used to love to quickly think what I'd do with unexpected ingredients.

[jende]

Does anyone else find it ludicrous that GR spends 10 weeks (or whatever) berating these people, telling them they can't cook for shit, making them look like the biggest losers that ever set foot in a kitchen....then bestows one with the golden apple of running his "prized" restaurant in Vegas?!

This show is so stupid it makes my brain hurt.

[Claudia Greco]

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[Reignking]

Don't you think he was just an idiot who meant "gratin" and just didn't know what cassoulet was?  I mean nothing could be further from mac 'n cheese than a french "stew" made with pork, chicken, duck confit, beans, etc.

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Maybe he thought "cassoulet" meant "little casserole"...

[jmolinari]

I'm with Reignking, i bet Brad thought cassoulet = casserole in French. What a buffoon.

[rockandroller]

We were laughing like hell at the "cassoulet" thing. I too think he thought it was French for casserole. HAHAHAHAHA. Why is this better than Julia not knowing what ahi tuna is or how to make creme brulee. Every time Julia doesn't know something, the other girls make it this HUGE DEAL like she said "what's an onion" or something. I mean, just TELL HER THE ANSWER or SHOW HER HOW TO DO IT and move on! Mr. Sous Chef doesn't know what a cassoulet is? I'm nothing but an amateur home cook and my husband was a line cook in chain restaurants for several years and we both knew what it was. Come ON.

[MarkIsCooking]

This show is like a car crash to me. I don't want to watch, but I still do. My biggest problem is the basic premise. Is there really any chance they're going to have a Waffle House short order cook with no training get put in charge of an expensive Vegas restaurant?? Or a junior sous chef for that matter? Top Chef is giving away money and they only care about the product they taste. I get that. NFNS cares really about whether or not people will 'play' well on the air. This thing just seems to be all about GR cussing people out, watching people cry and look stupid and little more. Too bad, yet I still watch.

I might be out of my mind, but I entered to be a contestant on the NFNS. If you can find 3 minutes to watch my video, give me a positive vote and positive comment on the MySpace page, that would be so awesome and appreciated.

Mark's MySpace NFNS Page

-Mark-

[rockandroller]

Well, "put in charge of" seems to be relative. That Heather that won last year's contest, as I understand it, isn't exactly an exec chef at the place she's working. She sounds more of a "specialty" chef.

[David Cyrelson]

Most American restaurants are managed by chefs and cooks who have never worked in a 3 star place and never will. But all, with rare exception, view themselves as culinary stars and GR's equal. Therefore, they see his behavior as reinforcement of their own bad management techniques and even a source of new forms of abuse. On behalf of my fellow servers, I cringe at what this show is teaching our bosses.