Episode Report Card Monty Ashley: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT I Bet J Didn't Like That!
By Monty Ashley | Season 5 | Episode 7 | Aired on 03.19.2009
Chef Ramsay tells the blue team that there's dinner service that night, so they have to clean both kitchens, do the prep for both kitchens, and also get the smaller plates so they can do tapas. The red team ("Ladies! And Giovanni!") is going to the racetrack. You play the ponies, Gordon? The women mostly seem to dress up, although in my opinion the only acceptable attire for the track is a lime-green suit. And try to be chewing a matchstick or sucking on a lemon drop. Before they leave, Giovanni comes over to his four teammates and essentially tells them to stop fighting with each other.
The blue team does prep. Ben sniffs food for some reason. J cooks risotto, verifying that it involves half-and-half water and chicken stock, three boxes of both. Hmm. I always go through the rigmarole of measuring the water, blah blah blah, but this method of using the chicken stock boxes for the water, thus ensuring that you have the same amount, makes a lot of sense. I'm learning! We see shots of Lacey standing in the kitchen not doing anything, alternated with her interviewing tearfully (yes, again) that there was a lot of work to do.
The red team is at Hollywood Park, and Chef Ramsay is hanging out with them picking horses. I don't think he should start betting on horses, because this is where his insane competitive streak will kick in. The blue team gets the new plates from the truck. Lacey doesn't know what to do and asks for instructions. Upon being given them, she proceeds to complain that everybody orders her around. She's sent off to polish plates. At the track, Gordon's horse ("Stress Free", ho ho ho) loses to Andrea's horse ("Victory's Lady"). I imagine you could figure out what day this was shot on from that information, but I'm not going to bother. Andrea gloats.
Back to the blue team. Lacey is putting cookie dough in something (I think it's probably a proofer) and being told she's doing it wrong. She left the paper on, which we don't get a good look at, but I think it means that instead of putting the dough directly on the pan, she left paper between the dough and the pan. I don't guarantee that any of this is correct, although I have actually worked as a baker. It would be easier if we got one of those Amazing Race-style insert shots showing us what was happening. Anyway, whatever she did, Robert and J want her to fix, but she insists that if it's a mistake, she'll be the one who goes home. Robert interviews that he's going to use a Jedi mind trick and "choke the [bleep] out of that bitch. Mentally." I don't think you can get away with threatening to choke your competition just because you added "mentally." Lacey's interview includes calling Robert a "fat ass," so no one's really got the high ground here. Although Robert's also calling her a bitch in person. Lacey claims that if she fights with anyone, she'll leave. Everyone is in disbelief, and J calls her bluff. When she starts shouting, he answers, in a relatively calm voice, "This is a professional kitchen. If you wanna [bleep] go, go. I'll [bleep] do everything." She doesn't leave, but she does shut up. For a moment. Then she needs Ben to tell her where the fennel is, and he reacts with exasperation because it's literally right in front of her. So she declares that she hates them all because they are mean, and stomps out, saying she quits.