HELL"S KITCHEN The contestants are really from hell

Ya know, Ed, Friend Wife and I were discussing that. Even for Hells Kitchen there has never been such a bunch of losers.

I was wondering about Ramsey's sous chefs. Do you think, at the staff meeting before this run through, they said to him, "Gordy, Baby! 22 restaurants worldwide. Do we really have to go through this idiocy again."

I mean just think of those two, and the crap they have to go through trying to guide those idiots through basic kitchen work.

That said, I realize the group is carefully crafted to provide the maximum in tension and "drama." But, really. How much of Raj is too much? And Sabrina? She needs to come back in ten years, when she knows as much as she thinks she knows.

Hard to believe these are the best out of more than ten thousand who supposedly applied. Makes ya wonder what the criteria are. Cooking chops, apparently, are not part of the requirements.

What'll happen is that he'll keep as many of the real losers around as long as possible. Then, about halfway through, he'll start eliminating them in favor of those who can, maybe cook. But, from what I saw last night, they all need to be sent home, as there is a lot of ego, but little talent, on display so far.

I can't watch these reality cooking shows. They're not reality and they're not entertaining.

I don't bother either. The one I did catch involved Gordon pointedly doing the exact opposite of what was required when service turned to custard. He actually stopped them in their tracks called them to the pass to bawl them out for being too slow...thanks for helpin'.

Then took one girl off her station and into the privacy of the dining room for some crafted humiliation...WTF! I thought reality TV had to have some reality in it.

Finally, him and his sous walked...if I pulled any of these stunts I'd better just keep on walkin'.

I think maybe he chooses the people he does so he doesn't damage a potentially good chef or get what's coming from someone who knows he's crossed the line...that might just destroy the aura for the next season.

My kid asked "why does it beep so much when chef Ramsey talks?"

I gotta say though I hate how he expedites.  He just says it as fast as he can and only once.  Does he even say "order in" or "all day?"

In a real "reality show",  I wonder if Gordan would try those intimidation strategies on people who are wielding sharp knives? 

I don't like how Ramsay calls his orders either.  It seems to me that he calls every ticket individually instead of doing them in manageable groups.  If I called orders they way he does, I would be hoarse in no time and I'm sure I'd have a line behind me of p***ed of cooks who have easy access to knives and my unsuspecting back! 

I'm not planning on watching this season of HK.  I did watch last season and was less than impressed by it.  I'd never watched before and the guys at work were always talking about it so I checked it out.  I found it annoying more than entertaining but stuck it out to the end (and fast forwarded through most of the show and just watched the service clips) because I wanted to see who of them would win. 

Hey Abbot!

You guys have to remember, that it's not a restaurant.  It's television.  It's not television about a restaurant either, it's television about a contest.

If Ramsay's "producers" wanted to make a contest for very good cooks, they would, and they'd call it Top Chef.  Instead, they chose to make a show for Fox about a Ramsay like character putting not-that-good cooks under a lot of pressure.  For what it's worth, most of Ramasay's prodcuers with any say at all are named Gordon Ramsay.  He's not only an incredibly successful chef, restaurateur, international celebrity, and television personality, but a guy with several very successful shows running concurrently in the US and GB.  No one has more money in it, makes more money off it, or tells him what to do.  He da man.

As a restaurant, Hell's Kitchen is like no other.  The menu is of idiotic simplicity; they do four apps and five or six mains.  Their most difficult aspects seems to be hitting seasoning and doneness levels.  The work load is lower than low.  Even at the end of the show when they're down to four cooks for the final service (before the two finalists compete "in their own restaurants") they're only doing one turnover with about 20 covers per cooktestant -- and that doesn't count Ramsay at the pass, or Scott and Andi, the two sous, cracking the whip off camera.   At the beginning of the show, it's more like 3 covers per cooktestant.  Sufficient pressure to make the show interesting can only come from the Ramsay character -- and it does. 

Divide the orders into manageable groups?  You've got to be kidding.

If the orders came in columns of ants marching in Braille formation to a Sig Romberg tune, I could still handle the load.  In my sleep.  Maybe I'm supremely talented, or just maybe it's ridiculously easy -- without Ramsay in your face. 

QED.  It's not a show about cooking.

Considering what a jerk Ramsay's public character is like, he sure gets a lot of loyalty from his current and ex-employees.  Coincidence?  Maybe.  Or maybe he carries a gun in the kitchen like you-know-whom-chef.  More likely though, he's just not that big a jerk in real life. 

BDL

Quote:

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer 

 

Hard to believe these are the best out of more than ten thousand who supposedly applied. Makes ya wonder what the criteria are.

You know the answer to that, in fact, you just wrote it a couple of lines before:

Quote:

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer 

 

I realize the group is carefully crafted to provide the maximum in tension and "drama."

When casting a reality show, producers have to think of the group, not the individuals. It won't be a fun season if you cast 16 soft spoken, skilled, smart cooks. But cast 2 or 3 of those, one or two smart asses, one or two horrible cooks, one or two ready-to-break-down-and-cry types, one or two tough gangsters, one or two dictator-leader-types, etc.... and you'll have a great season!

On to watch the first episode now.
 

BDL I think you are correct in what you say about mr R.  I hate how he calls orders and always will.. because I work differently and it works for me.  Am I doing it 'right"  goodness no.. I'm doing it the best way I can for my kitchen and my menu.  Would I cook for him.. again.. heck no if he behaves like he does on HK.. if in fact he is reasonable then yes I would love to work under him.  When I get orders in (remember I'm at a breaky place) I look at the tickets and then organize in my head what needs to be done.. omelettes first then eggs and I go from there.  I'm a bit (well alot)  OCD so with me everything is organized and managable... that's just how I work.  Love me or hate me I am who I am 

BDL...nice post!

It's a personal foible that I like to connect the dots so I can see the irony that this particular visual fiction may also be driving the Culinary School bonanza that mystifies Foodpump in Pete's thread...everyone loves a challenge. Kinda the 'Off (or maybe not) Broadway' musical of Tony B's book and, as is so often the case, the book was much better but the film more accessible and the proceeds are divided accordingly...

Maybe next we'll see a chain of culinary schools....

Originally Posted by Titomike 

From Quotations from Chairman Boar, a new irregular feature of CookFoodGood

The Five Inevitable Stages of Television and Motion Picture Production

(Or Any Other Cooperative Human Endeavor For Which You Are Not The Boss)

1. Wild enthusiasm;
2. Complete chaos;
3. Search for the guilty;
4. Promotion of the incompetent;
5. Persecution of the innocent.

BDL

PS.  Like all my other stuff on CFG, rights reserved.

Maybe I'm the only one willing to admit it, but I would LOVE to be on the show.  I'd have no plan to actually WIN, but rather to make it as far along as I could.  Having the chance to be schooled by one of the most successful chef-personalities in the business would be awesome! 

The premise of the show is impossible in the beginning anyway.  You have a kitchen filled with 16 (?) people that, in the end, will be run by 4.  You have people of various skill levels who are randomly (methodically) assigned positions in which they are meant to fail.  You have a group of personalities meant to clash.  There is to be no harmony in the kitchen until the staff is pared down considerably. 

If you were opening a brand new restaurant, would you open the doors on the first night for a full crowd?  Most people would do a "soft opening" where there's no advertising at all, just the few people that mistakenly wander in at the sight of "open".  You work out the kinks, then have your grand opening. 

A kitchen is meant to work like a well-oiled machine, not a bunch of parts thrown in a vat of oil.  The misery of all of these people thrown into a situation where they are forced to fail, is why we watch the show. 

Some of you already mentioned Raj and Sabrina by name.  Congrats... those are the two people the camera followed the closest to make them look like expendable trash.  I sincerely hoped to see Sabrina sent home first, but it didn't happen -- and we all knew it wouldn't.  She will make it a few more weeks.  She's a great villain.  Raj has a shorter life expectancy on the show, simply because he's just plain horrible as a cook, but he's still got a couple of weeks left.  Boris should make it to the top 5 or 6 just for his personality.  He has a charm about him that's hard to ignore.  Of the rest, a few will actually shine, and the bulk are there as supporting cast members who will be killed off one by one in favor of the few GOOD ones and the ones with personality traits that make them valuable (to the show, not to the kitchen).   

The show is staged and it is entertainment after all, and aimed at those not in the business.  For me.. I found it annoying when I watched it and I watched the last season with Autum et al...  To be honest I thought that neither Holly or Jay was capable of running a kitchen but hey who am I.. just a viewer and I bet they gave it to Holly because Jay was so full of himself. 

For me if I want to watch cooks screw up.. I can do it for pay at work!  At home I want to relax and enjoy my tv time..

Originally Posted by leeniek 

It seems to me that everything else being equal, Ramsay's going to hold on to the women as long as possible if they're at all telegenic.  It's hard to make a judgment without tasting the food, but from what I saw, that seemed to be the difference in Holly's win.  But hey, life's unfair and it's nice to see a woman catch a break now and then.

Now Whitney winning Masterchef... that was a travesty.  It was obvious that other than a slight talent with cupcakes, she was not only no balabosta; she wasn't close to being a decent home cook.  I mean if you went to her house for dinner, would you be expecting a great meal? 

Many, if not most, Chef Talk members are more versatile and knowledgeable; and the process in which every one of her cook-offs was dessert not to mention the final meal in which she fried a chicken breast and made "refrigerator cheesecake" destroyed whatever credibility the show could have had. 

She was cute in the way so many young girls are, if you don't mind dim-witted.  But America's best amateur chef, my @$$.

BDL

The whole premise behind Master Chef the TV show was a complete travesty and insult to my chosen profession. The idea that the winner would be America's first master chef is a total joke. I have worked in restaurants for over 35 years and am much more of a chef than any of the contestants on that show, but I wouldn't begin to call myself a master chef. Damn good, yes. Master, no.

i think a show about 'bad customers and diners' would be more hilarious...people do some very strange things, for sure...much stranger than the people cooking your food!...could be fun eh?

joey

That would be really funny!  I've seen some horrible customers both in restaurants and in stores!

Hell's Kitchen is great comedy. They've ramped up the idiocy as of late but it always has been hilarious whether intentional or not. I've never watched the show for great cooking tips or to see how a group of people could be a great team.

I've watched to see some dumb chick wear high-heels to do line work.

They also edit it to make it dramatic. If someone were to cherry pick the most idiotic things I do in a given day, and put the right sound effects behind it, well I'd look like a clown too. Almost anyone would. I'd go on the show in heartbeat though. Free publicity.

Raj got screwed, if the men's team won, he should have been safe.

Gail should have been out for letting that meat catch fire and then just stand there.

So who went home on the second hour? Damn signal went out just as Ramsey made his decision.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phatch 

I can't watch these reality cooking shows. They're not reality and they're not entertaining.

I could not agree more it is insulting to me that they even put this junk on. I feel it really casts a bad light on the culinary profession. Top Chef is a bit better but I really miss the great cooking shows that used to be around.

I have to agree.. I like Kitchen Nightmares where Ramsay actually tries to help floundering restaurants but HK has become a disgrace.  I'm sure the contestants are selected for entertainment/drama  value and I must say that if Ramsay ever reamed me out the way he does those contestants, this girl would turn around and give it right back to him.  (and then likely get kicked out of the kitchen for being mouthy but whatever... no one deserves to be sworn and and degraded no matter how bad they effed up)  If a bitching out is required then it needs to be done in the privacy of the walk in where no one can hear what is said. 

This morning I decided to have my tea and watch some TV so I put on the food network and all of the cooking shows I loved have been replaced with Crap.  I watched Bitchin Kitchen for about five minutes then I said eff it and did something else.  Is that what we have sunk to??  Bad on the general public for not wanting something more educational on what is supposed to be a specialty channel.

 Raj scared me.  I have to agree, he does have some definite mental problems.