# Hell's Kitchen!!!!!! \[Summer 2009\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818 "2009-07-22T03:04:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/41 "2009-07-23T23:24:53Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > My question is this far into Hell’s Kitchen’s run who the hell would go on without learning Gordon’s staples first? You know you are going to have to cook Wellingtons, Risotto and pasta every damn day. Why would you not get these things down pat so that you can get it right without having to think about it? That way you only have to worry about the new shit he will throw at you. > > and a side note to Joseph: If you have to tell people that you ‘ain’t no bitch’, guess what Jarhead, you _are_ a little bitch. If any of you had to guess, do you think that Joseph had planned all along to confront/challange Ramsay (either for bragging rights or 15 min. of fame) or was it a spontanious reaction? I ask because it seemed like Joseph was looking for an excuse to try and start a fight, and he leaped at the first chance----of course, maybe it was just my perception, but it seemed thought out on his part, not a “heat of the moment” flameout… ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/42 "2009-07-24T01:14:52Z")
> [@BrandonR](#): > > I’ve seen the show (you can watch the entire thing on Youtube in parts) and while he was typical Ramsay, you’re right in that it’s not like he just went off on people for no reason. There was always a reason (and the reason was the staff screwing up). This is a man who has a 5-year-wait to be an unpaid apprentice at his restaurants. If you can’t take the heat, then, well, you know… There’s always a reason, but the reason never justifies the abuse he hands out. > [@](#): > > And beyond that, I believe Ramsay has somewhere of a 80+% retention rate for his employees, which is pretty astonishing in the restaurant world. The reason is that he’s fair, even if he is hot-tempered if you bring that side of him out. Didn’t they say he was firing an employee a week at that first restaurant of his? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/43 "2009-07-24T01:51:02Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > The competition is to be the head chef in one of Ramsay’s restaurants. Even home cooks have no excuse for not knowing what a “meez” (thank you **gotpasswords**! 🙂 ) is or what it’s for, much less various cooking techniques. You go into that show knowing what it’s going to be like. Anyone who wants to try out for Hell’s Kitchen should review previous season’s challenges and especially Ramsay’s common dishes (off the top of my head, Beef or something else Wellington, John Dory, risotto, **scallops** …) to get an idea of what they’ll be expected to deal with. Reading any ‘life of a chef’-type books (either Bourdain or Michael Ruhlman are good sources) will give you a good idea of terminology basics. Really? Scallops? I’ll admit that I don’t watch the show often, but on the few clips I have seen, I got the impression that the only reason he ever asks anyone to cook scallops is so he can make a big deal about throwing up on their shoes… I even saw him do it once on the British version of _Kitchen Nightmares_, or whatever it was called. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/44 "2009-07-24T02:18:51Z")
Going from memory, it’s not uncommon. Pretty sure they had scallops on this first episode, even; one of the women was sucking ass at cooking them properly (burnt on one side, raw on the other). ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/45 "2009-07-26T16:20:30Z")
I just saw these episodes online (I had a class Tuesday night). I do suspect, as some people have on this thread, that Joseph is a plant. Military personnel tend to be pretty deferential to authority and I can’t imagine someone with his attitude lasting long in the USMC (again, though, for all we know, he could have been kicked for slugging for an officer). I highly doubt any blows are going to be exchanged, and even if Joseph were dumb enough to so much as lay a finger on Ramsay, production crew and any security on hand would be on his ass in seconds. Also, isn’t Ramsay a black belt of some sort. What will probably happen is both of them will break out in fits of laughter, point to the other contestants, say something like “you’ve been punked” and reveal that Joseph is an actor. Then they’ll all breathe a sigh relief as they realize that nobody’s going home. Of course at that point Ramsay will tell them they still did an awful job and need to get their fucking act together. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/46 "2009-07-26T16:31:38Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > What will probably happen is both of them will break out in fits of laughter, point to the other contestants, say something like “you’ve been punked” and reveal that Joseph is an actor. Then they’ll all breathe a sigh relief as they realize that nobody’s going home. Of course at that point Ramsay will tell them they still did an awful job and need to get their fucking act together. I’d pay good money to see that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/47 "2009-07-26T17:55:49Z")
**joebuck’s** thoughts have merit, so you better get some money ready. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/48 "2009-07-28T12:51:30Z")
Way late to the party here (but I brought Cheez Doodles!) Robert: he’s definitely heavier than last season. I’d really rather see him on The Biggest Loser. I also agree that Joseph is probably a plant, but Tex or whatever his name is is the real loose cannon. I seriously thought he was going to knock JP’s block off, although I also believe JP likes the cut of his jib. Lovely is this season’s Lacey. Whoopi is trying to be this season’s Jen but doesn’t have nearly the skill. And dude- did you seriously serve sausage gravy over biscuits to Gordon Ramsey as your signature dish, and expect him to be impressed? The quality of cooking on this show is abysmal. It’s almost as if they plucked 20 people off of the street and made them contestants, and had them make up backstories for themselves. I’m a casual home-kitchen cook at best, but I know how to cook a scallop so it’s neither raw nor burnt, al dente pasta, the difference between salt and sugar, how to determine if the lamb chops are done, etc. These people are supposedly professionals with at least some culinary connection or training- it’s comical. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/49 "2009-07-28T18:51:23Z")
> [@](#): > > The quality of cooking on this show is abysmal. It’s almost as if they plucked 20 people off of the street and made them contestants, and had them make up backstories for themselves. I’m a casual home-kitchen cook at best, but I know how to cook a scallop so it’s neither raw nor burnt, al dente pasta, the difference between salt and sugar, how to determine if the lamb chops are done, etc. These people are supposedly professionals with at least some culinary connection or training- it’s comical. I’m telling you guys, I swear they are only choosing three, four max, actual good (or potentially good) chefs then a bunch of mopes who just wanted to be TV. > [@](#): > > Way late to the party here (but I brought Cheez Doodles!) Just in time, to me. Just timely enough to bump the thread before the next show airs later today. Good work. 😉 And I’ll take those Cheez Doodles for you and put them into a serving bowl, this is a high class establishment dontcha know. No eating chips and such from the bag, we put them into overly espensive decorative-ish bowls. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/50 "2009-07-28T18:52:35Z")
Double post, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/51 "2009-07-28T18:55:45Z")
I guess bringing Cheez Doodles to this discussion is a little trailerparky. Next time I’ll bring some Beef Wellington- medium rare! You stupid cow! Shut it down! ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/52 "2009-07-28T23:32:27Z")
I love how the promos make you think that Joseph is going to set fire to the restaurant. If that actually does happen though, I’ll personally write out a check for $1,000 for everyone on this thread. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/53 "2009-07-28T23:38:11Z")
For the past week, they’ve been teasing us with what looks like major calamity at Hell’s Kitchen - evacuating the building in the middle of the night, the building is surrounded by fire trucks and so forth. Did someone leave the gas on? Did Chef Ramsay finally explode and catch on fire in rage after someone misspelled his name as “Ramsey”? I have a prediction that I will seal into an envelope… Oh, no envelopes here. How 'bout a spoiler box instead? The listing in today’s paper said “The contestants serve pasta to firefighters” My prediction is that the contestants are going to be roused from a sound sleep and given the bizarre assignment to cook up dinner for a fire crew at something unholy like 3:30 AM. So, how far off the mark was I? ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/54 "2009-07-29T00:09:20Z")
Why is tonight’s on an hour earlier than usual? They completely threw my evening’s schedule out of whack by doing this. ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/55 "2009-07-29T00:45:32Z")
This is the first time I’ve seen this show. I was surprised at GR’s anger. In Kitchen Nightmares he did when something was on the line, and only did personal insults when someone needed to be taken down a notch. Here people are SUPPOSED to screw up so they can be eliminated. And nothing is on the line like it is in KN. I think GR angers up for the camera to make the show interesting. But he takes it too far and makes it seem contrived and I become immune to the anger. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/56 "2009-07-29T00:49:17Z")
Could y’all decide whether you want to have a single thread for the season – which seems to becoming standard practice for many shows – or a new thread each week? Pending that decision, I merged in the “new thread for the week” thread. Discuss amongst yourselves, pls. twickster, Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/57 "2009-07-29T00:55:45Z")
I vote for one thread, for somewhat obvious purposes. 😉 It just makes things so much more organized. Also, I would fully encourage the use of spoiler tags and specific dates of episodes during episode-specific discussion, so as not to spoil someone who’s coming in late. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/58 "2009-07-29T02:04:14Z")
July 28: [spoiler]So Joseph ended up not being a plant or anything like that. He’s just psychotic. And what the hell is with those _two_ guys hurting themselves? Come on people. 😛 I suspect Lacy/Lovely and Whoopi Goldberg are going to be around for a while. Lacy last season lasted soooo long into the game and I am betting Lovely will also. Tinneal (sp?) seems like she’s going to end up being the one that “has potential” that Ramsay will give chance after chance after chance to do well, but eventually he has to let go. We shall see.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/59 "2009-07-29T03:16:42Z")
Much sucking at scallops tonight, I see. And injuries - the guy with the fracture is kind of crazy, I think, to be working. I broke my wrist a couple years ago and all I could do was use a pen or type; I’m hoping the doctor cleared him to work that way. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818/60 "2009-07-29T03:34:26Z")
Kevin is from my town- cool! He actually seems competent and in control. Sucks about his ankles! ETA: **gotpasswords** : spot on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-summer-2009/503818.md?page=4)