Episode Report Card Daniel: C | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Ice So Nice They Carried it Twice
By Daniel | Season 11 | Episode 13 | Aired on 05.30.2013
But he needs more information from them, because for the first time in Hell's Kitchen, he's doing an individual challenge with each of them because he wants to see how much they've grown. They've got forty-five minutes to make him whatever they want. Oh, so it's really just a little bit of Master Chef? The prize, he announces, is that the person who makes the dish he likes the best will be safe from elimination, no matter what happens in the next dinner service.
So the chefs get to work. Susan's doing lamb -- despite Ramsay, in the season premiere, wanting to know if she was trying to kill him by serving it raw. Not the dumbest move, since Ramsay says it's specifically about seeing how much they've grown.
What boring storyline can we highlight in Blue? Well, Jon talks to himself while he's cooking. "It's how I process," says Jon. "I'm bouncing ideas off my own self." Zach's OK with it, as long as he doesn't answer. Zach throws his shoulder out praising his own creativity, and compares his dish to sending someone to the moon.
With seconds to go, Susan is horrified to realize her lamb's not done all the way through, and starts panic-searing. She's pushing the plating deadline. "Come on, Susan!" yells Ramsay.
The chefs get their food plated. "Who has the best dish?" he asks, and all the chefs raise their hands. "Love the confidence," he says. "Love the automatic response you know you have to give" is more like it.
He starts with Ja'Nel. He thinks back to her Thai grilled prawns (just two of them!). She's made pan-seared duck breast, with a Cuban-scented sweet potato puree and orange-glazed green beans (she nervously corrects herself after saying "orange-glazed carrots"). He says the duck is cooked beautifully and is beautifully seasoned. She gets to sit in the winner's chair for now. She would have, even if she'd made him puke, but he says she's set a high bar. Still, it's hard not to think going first is a bit of a disadvantage.
Anthony is up next, knowing that he's got to do well because if their next dinner service (next week, clearly) goes bad, he'll be up for elimination. Ramsay reminisces about his scallop po' boy. Disappointing, he recalls. "Fucking disgusting" and "hideous," according to the flashback. But, Ramsay says, he's done some great things in this competition. Anthony has made a seared rib eye that he's seasoned with chili powder, salt and pepper and Italian seasoning, with caramelized carrots on the side. Ramsay calls it nice and soft and subtle, but it's slightly overcooked, and the carrots are practically raw. Ja'Nel's not moving from the chair.