Episode Report Card Monty Ashley: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Case of the Hungry Sumo Wrestlers
By Monty Ashley | Season 5 | Episode 5 | Aired on 03.05.2009
The next day, both teams are doing prep and still talking about Lacey. Chef Ramsay rounds them up for a pep talk. He specifically praises Paula's tuna dish and says that it's on the menu that night. JP, open Hell's Kitchen!
There appear to be a lot of orders for the tuna. We get a shot of the menu, and it's actually called "Paula's Ahi Tuna Tempura with Wild Mushroom Confit, Lemon Aioli". That's pretty cool that she got her name in the menu like that. The rest of the menu looks about standard and I think (without checking) that it's the same stuff as last season. I can't see the starters, but one of the items includes "poached hen's egg". That's good, because rooster eggs taste terrible.
Chef Ramsay tells Giovanni to stop cooking risotto "in mid-air", which means that Giovanni's always got the pan held a few inches above the flame. But the risotto is deemed "very nice". LA also has "very nice" risotto. LA says, "Gettin' compliments from Chef Ramsay, it's like my dad tellin' me he's proud of me, you know what I mean? Doesn't get any better than that." Opinion is divided on my couch: I think that's creepy, but my girlfriend thinks it's sweet.
Thirty minutes in, appetizers are going well. But then in walks a gimmick. A table of six sumo wrestlers, who each order one of everything on the menu. The voiceover guy explains that Chef Ramsay decides to split the table between the two kitchens. Well, obviously.
On the blue side, we see Lacey talking up a storm in the proper Ramsay-approved way. She's telling everyone how long her dishes will be and ensuring that she's in sync with everyone. There's a cute shot of her waving at Coi in the other kitchen. Coi waves back. Giovanni and Ben praise her and tell her to keep it up. Positive reinforcement is key!
Andrea hides two burned Beef Wellingtons and tells Coi she needs eight minutes. That's the way to do it. On the blue side, J has some Wellingtons that are cold. He tells Chef Ramsay that he doesn't know what happened, and Sous Chef Scott walks past and says "Fan's on low. It should be on high." Chef Ramsay does some shouting.
On the red side, Colleen is caught leaving an oven door open. And then Chef Ramsay notices the three or four burnt Wellingtons that Andrea has been hiding, which makes him very angry indeed. Andrea interviews that she's in trouble. I think she's right.
On the blue side, Chef Ramsay is calling Robert "Bobby". Robert does not like that. "My father's name is Bobby. And I had a [bleep]ed-up childhood," he explains. He's increasingly unresponsive to Chef Ramsay, and it doesn't help that he's also screwing up the John Dory. Chef Ramsay objects to the amount of food that is being thrown away. Robert starts to explain that he didn't want to send up unacceptable food, but gives up partway through the explanation. "Why can't you look at me when I talk to you," asks Chef Ramsay. He sounds a little concerned. He sounds less concerned when he follows that up with "Robert. Get out!"