Episode Report Card Monty Ashley: C- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Flashbacky!
By Monty Ashley | Season 4 | Episode 14 | Aired on 07.01.2008
The contestants arrive at a private jet, which flies them (to the sound of tinkly piano music) to New York. Everyone reminisces about times gone by. Remember Hen in a Pumpkin? Remember when Christina almost got sent home? Remember when Petrozza gave up and practically had to be dressed and carried back to the kitchen by Bobby? I do; I thought that was Bobby's finest moment on the show. Remember when Petrozza was messy? How about when Christina won nine challenges? And all those rewards? Yeah, yeah. They arrive in New York at night, where there is a full moon. At this point, I can only assume that reality show cameramen wait until there's a full moon and then get hours of B-roll, knowing that it will be used in every episode.
Christina and Petrozza look at the skyline, and their limo stops in the middle of Times Square. There are a lot of tall buildings covered in brightly lit advertisements. Ramsay says that there's a big surprise for them both, and we go to a commercial as Christina says "Oh my God." The commercial bumper shows an apple being cut in half to reveal the Hell's Kitchen Pitchfork. Because it's the "big apple", you see. When we come back, the surprise is that one of the many giant video screens reads "NYC Welcomes Christina and Petrozza Hell's Kitchen's Finalists!" That seems like the sort of thing that can cause spoilers, doesn't it? Petrozza's floored, and Ramsay tells them that they're going to spend five days at the Dubai Hilton because that's where one of Gordon's restaurants is. Okay, back in the limo!
They do not go directly to Dubai (I assume they'll be doing that after the competition), but they do go to the kitchen of "The London NYC", which is Chef Ramsay's local restaurant. The Los Angeles restaurant is going to be kind of a west coast affiliate of this one. Ramsay introduces the contestants to Josh, the Executive Chef. They get official Executive Chef jackets, and then are told to cook their signature dishes... right now!
Petrozza's signature dish is filet mignon with carmelized onion risotto. That sounds tasty, but what happened to the hen in a pumpkin? It involves green onions that are sort of peeled and turned into paintbrushes, which makes Christina believe she will wipe the floor with him. Her signature dish is a New York strip steak with sweet corn succotash. The voiceover guy adds more details, like roast fingerling potatoes. She likes her dish because it's simple and pretty, while Petrozza's (according to her) looks like slop. "I got this one in. The. Bag." she gloats. Well, we'll see. They both look like "nicely-cooked bits of meat on top of some vegetables" to me. The judges will be Chef Ramsay's five executive chefs. For some reason, I don't see any Hell's Kitchen winners up there. Weird.