Episode Report Card Monty Ashley: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT You Know, For Kids!
By Monty Ashley | Season 4 | Episode 4 | Aired on 04.22.2008
Back at the kitchen, the men are sad that they can't rest. Ben is called out by Scott (the men's sous chef) to bring in -- something. We do not know what, because it is time for commercials. The customized commercial bumper involves the game where you throw darts at balloons in hopes of winning a small stuffed animal or a mirror with the Foreigner logo.
Oh, it's a pony ride! Awesome! Except for Ben it is not so awesome, because he is shoveling shit while someone with a "Happiness Unlimited" shirt watches. The women return, and everyone reacts pretty much as you'd expect: either glee or sadness.
With an hour to go before the dinner service, the diners are outside in the parking lot. There's face-painting, a petting zoo (with some very handsome goats), a bouncy castle, and the pony rides. It sounds pretty good, actually. The women panic about learning the menu, but Jen is sanguine: "Don't get ourselves in a mad frame of bein' scared. We got this." Then she switches to an interview: "They were seriously worried about this, but...it's burgers and pasta, onion rings. If we can't do this, I don't know what the hell we can do." I agree with her; it sounds pretty straightforward. Meanwhile, the men are encouraging Craig, but with an undertone of menace. Craig interviews that he's pretty sure that cooking pasta isn't all that complicated. Yeah, we'll see.
Chef Ramsay calls everybody up to the line, instructing them that tonight will be a perfect service and that the first team to finish service will be the winner. Also he calls Craig "Egghead", which I choose to believe is a reference to the little-known Warner Brothers cartoon character who evolved into Elmer Fudd.
I like it when Chef Ramsay opens Hell's Kitchen dramatically, with an air of ritual. But I have to admit, I also enjoyed this: "Okay, J-P. C'mere, please, yes? Open [clap!] Hell's Kitchen. Now. C'mere, you. C'mere. One more thing. Yes. It's a family service. Take your tie off and relax a little bit. Open your shirt." Jean-Philippe is uncomfortable with the idea of taking his tie off, but Chef Ramsay will not be stopped. And he calls Jean-Philippe a doughnut! Poor Jean-Philippe. What did he ever do to you?
Okay, in come the customers. The menu now includes pasta (spaghetti with white sauce and clams,), barbecue chicken wings, and hamburgers with fries. The kids, some of whom have Hell's Kitchen face paint, ask incisive questions like "What kind of cookies are there?"