By Montykins
Before the night's dinner service, Chef Ramsay tells the teams that they'll be setting their own menus tonight, so they have to come up with three appetizers, three entrees and three desserts. Fine dining! And include some crab!
The teams return to the dorms and gather in front of those big flip-chart notepads you use for brainstorming. We cut back and forth between the teams as they say pretty much the same things. I enjoy the way Ben starts talking before he's come up with an idea: "I'm thinking halibut, gentlemen [this is where he wants to sound like a businessman in a meeting -- you can imagine someone shouting "I'm thinking halibut, gentlemen!" and pounding on his desk] and I think if we go ahead and take a halibut and we really try and go out there and do a method, say for instance, a shallow poach..." Robert interviews that poached halibut makes him think of a rich fuddy-duddy. Ben interviews that Robert and Danny aren't as refined as he is, and then there's a scene where everyone uses the term "pomme fondant" many times, even though no one appears to know what it means. Robert interviews that he wouldn't order this nonsense and they immediately cut to him saying that the menu sounds fine. Neither Danny nor Robert seems that into the menu that Ben has settled on. But both menus are done, so it's time to prep!
Carol plans to cook 26 orders of potatoes ahead of time and flash them in the oven to order. She interviews that this is a great idea that will in no way blow up in her face. On the blue side, Ben is getting on Robert's nerves by repeatedly asking if he's ready. End of prep! Open the kitchen!
Customers arrive. Each customer gets a half-red, half-blue menu to order from, which seems like it could cause trouble when half the table goes one way and the other half goes the other. Both menus feature carpaccio appetizers, steak entrees, and potato garnishes with Frenchified names: Ben's pomme fondant vs. Carol's gratin dauphinois, which I believe means "Cheese that will inherit the throne of France".
The first order comes in and the red team sends out its appetizers. But a customer is not happy with the beef carpaccio: "It has absolutely no flavor. It's like eating paper." JP brings it back, presumably to have some flavor added. Giovanni interviews that he guesses he didn't season it enough. Yes, that would follow. On the blue side, Ben's soup is salty and Chef Ramsay makes all three of them taste it. Robert claims that he spit it right out, but he actually waits until he sees Chef Ramsay do it first. Chef Ramsay shouts at Ben about oversalting the soup, and Ben just says "Yes, chef!" over and over again. Well, he does mention something about how he may have overreduced the soup, but mostly he just stands there and takes it. That's probably for the best. He tries making more soup, and we cut to the dining room. Apparently, if a table is split between kitchens, some people get food and some don't. And the woman who compared her carpaccio to paper is still not happy, so she picks up her plate and carries it to the kitchen. Well, that's pretty easy in this restaurant's layout, where the kitchen is right there.
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