Episode Report Card Daniel: B | 1 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT Off to a Bad Start
By Daniel | Season 9 | Episode 1
Then there's Paul, with an eggplant involtini, with crab and mascarpone and ragout. Ramsay likes it, calls him a natural chef. "Slam dunk," Paul tells us.
Jamie, 24, from Bradenton, Fla.. Ramsay seems impressed she's already a sous-chef, but she knows how good she is. She's serving up lamb lollipops with red onion confiture. He tries it, and tells her she's overcooked the lamb. "If you're going to have the balls to call yourself a sous-chef, learn to cook lamb properly first," he tells her. She croaks out a barely audible "yes, chef." Steven, a sauté chef from Ridge, N.Y., has made seared diver scallops with wild mushroom risotto. He tells us he's been cooking for thirty years, so no one else has a chance at this thing. Ramsay's eyeing his dish skeptically, and he pokes at the scallops, saying they look like dinosaur toenails. Steven tries to tell him it's got good flavor, but Ramsay bags on both of them. No points! "Stop fucking around," he tells them.
We start to rush through the matchups, with Elise's pesto seared scallops with sautéed escarole earning a point over Hatboro, Pa., executive chef Chino's Korean barbecue beef because his miso is too strong. Three-all.
Monterray nails the sea bass, while Natalie makes perfect lamb chops. A point for each. Elizabeth's pan roasted quail is going up against Brewster, N.Y.'s Tommy and toasted coconut crab cake. Ramsay's a little more interested in his tattoos. He's got designs all around his neck, plus "Rock and Roll" tattooed just under his hairline on his forehead. "So now I'm supposed to take you serious," says Ramsay, and Tommy says he'd appreciate that. Ramsay does manage to see past the tattoos and says there's finesse in the crab cake, and awards a point to each of them.
So it's tied for the last two dishes: Gina's pan-roasted pistachio scallops up against Jason's pork tacos. I WANT BOTH THOSE THINGS. Ramsay says the scallops taste nice although she burned the top of them. As for the tacos, Ramsay wants to know why he'd make tacos on a day like today. "Because they taste delicious," says Jason. Ramsay limes 'em good, and munches away. He deliberates for a moment, but based on an interview we already saw with Gina being slightly indignant about Ramsay complaining about the scallops being a bit burned, it doesn't take a genius to predict that the men get this one, which they do. "It looks a mess, but it tastes delicious," says Ramsay.
The men will be treated to a feast in downtown L.A. with last year's winner, Nona, while the women will be cleaning both kitchens and preparing for tonight's opening.