Episode Report Card Daniel: B- | 3 USERS: B- YOU GRADE IT 20 Chefs Compete
By Daniel | Season 11 | Episode 1/2 | Aired on 03.12.2013
Boston line cook Christian versus Mary the butcher from Belchertown, Mass. She's got a high-pitched voice that makes Ramsay plug his ears. She's made a pan-seared duck breast with a red wine and orange reduction. The duck is still raw in the middle. "You certainly butchered your dish," he tells her. Why do I feel some of his judgments are based more on whether he can come up with a nice slam than the actual dish? Christian has made some sort of sautéed eggplant pasta. Ramsay tells him it looks a mess, but it's got flavor, and the men get a point.
The final pairing -- surprise, surprise, we have a tie -- pits head line cook Zach from Philly against roundsman Jacqueline from Florence, N.J. Zach has made a grilled pork chop with mustard greens. Ramsay says the dish tastes nice but the protein is slightly dry. Jacqueline has a roasted magret duck breast with sweet potato roasty and caramelized Brussels sprouts and a currant au jus. Ramsay says it's seasoned beautifully and presented nice. It's a close one, and he's happy that they've finished better than they started. It hasn't been so long that this show has been on that any of us think this is being revealed before another commercial break, right?
And then Ramsay declares the women to be the winning team, and a riot practically breaks out in the audience. Hooray for women! Their reward: they will be VIP guests in Vegas. "You are in a night full of surprises," Ramsay says, while the men will not be flying back to Hell's Kitchen or riding in a limo. They're riding a school bus. Ha! Nice. "I've been assured that the last time they checked, it should make it," says Ramsay, adding that there may be a problem with the air conditioning. The idea is to possibly kill a couple of the men on the way back, right?
The men board the bus despondently, while we watch the women enjoy a luxury suite that features an ice sculpture and sushi on the body of a woman, which only ever seems like a totally sanitary, non-sexist and not creepy way to serve sushi. If any of the women have reservations about this, we don't see it.
Meanwhile, an hour into the bus ride, it's so hot that Zach is considering saving his own sweat to drink it. I suppose he'd wring out his ever-present cap and top it off with beard squeezin's, huh? And while the men are focused on not dying, Sebastian decides to hold court on how they all have to work together and not let egos get in their way. You know, the guy who decides he's going to set himself apart by taking a leadership role that no one else wants him to have. Everyone appears to hate Sebastian for this, and eventually they're not shy about telling him so.