Episode Report Card Monty Ashley: A+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT You Wanna See Crazy?!
By Monty Ashley | Season 4 | Episode 10 | Aired on 06.03.2008
The chefs lift the domes off the serving platters in front of them and discover that they're all now on the Black Team and cooking in one kitchen. Bobby describes the situation as "bases loaded, bottom of the ninth." That's not that bad. I mean, he didn't tell us how many outs there are or the score, so his team could actually be in a pretty good position. Anyway, two beefy bald guys in suits, sunglasses, and earpieces come in with suitcases containing $250,000 in cash, which unfortunately leads to Matt interviewing about how much he wanted to smell the money.
The chefs go downstairs to a construction area, where Gordon rhapsodizes about how extraordinary his restaurant is going to be. I've noticed that he has this ability to attach hyperbolic adjectives to things that don't actually exist yet; he has no problem informing people that they are going to cook "the most amazing little appetizers" or whatever. It does look like a nice space, but it's hard to tell without carpets or ceilings. The chefs are properly impressed, with Jen claiming that she will either get this restaurant or die trying. That seems like quite a thing to guarantee. You'd think she'd wait until Sweeps for that kind of stunt.
Everyone returns to Hell's Kitchen for the first Individual Challenge. Each chef lifts a dome to reveal an ingredient. Matt gets veal (and seems either overwhelmed or inspired by it. Whatever he's feeling, he's feeling it very strongly); Christina gets sea bass; Bobby gets duck (five dollars says he makes a duck version of Buffalo wings); Jen gets beef; and Petrozza gets chicken. That leaves Corey, who guesses that she'll have pork. No, it is a whole lobster. I would find that startling, because I don't normally expect to see giant arthropods when I lift things up. If lobsters are arthropods. Corey interviews that she's no lobster expert. Anyway, the challenge is to cook something unique.
Jen interviews that she is a culinary artist, and that her food is both bold and vibrant. Corey is told to "Make it count, yeah?" Her plan is to make something that tastes good. Matt is told to "Make it work", possibly because Gordon wants to use someone else's catchphrase for a change. He hasn't called anyone a [bleep] donkey in quite some time.
Time's up! Matt's first, and he made a roasted veal loin. Chef Ramsay praises it, sort of, with "Nice. In terms of flavor, there was hardly anything wrong there." This leads Matt to gloat in an interview about how he smells victory. Stop talking about smelling things. It's weird.