Episode Report Card Monty Ashley: C | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Chefzapoppin!
By Monty Ashley | Season 6 | Episode 7 | Aired on 08.25.2009
The customers start coming in! JP schmoozes with the chefs, and Dave chats with them for a second. Chef Ramsay asks Dave what the chef's table's appetizer is, and Dave claims it's two risotto. The two customers (who are actually chefs, but I'm calling them customers in this context) didn't actually order risotto, and mildly wonder if they get a choice. It appears that they do not. Nice work, Dave! I mean that sincerely, because it appears that the wait-staff will not be coming into the kitchen to take orders, so the chef on the appetizer station is supposed to talk to the chef's table customers and get their orders. So while Dave committed a bit of a faux pas, at least he's making them some food. Unlike Red Appetizer Chef Ariel, who is ignoring them completely. Chef Ramsay finally clues her in to the fact that she's supposed to go chat with them, recommend something, you know the deal.
On the blue side, Dave's risotto is a success. And he's still working with a broken hand! Ariel's scallops and crab are criticized for not having enough salt. Because these chefs, having worked for Gordon Ramsay for years, are very particular about how to cook scallops. Also, they don't look that thrilled about eating something they make all day in their own restaurants, but I might just be guessing.
Timeskip! Both teams are moving to entrees, and Van (the fish cook) is feeling pretty confident on the fish station. Oh no! But he has failed to remove the plastic from the cheese before cooking it onto the fish! That's what Sous Chef Scott was warning them about earlier! Oh, the hubris! Doooooom! Robert participates in the usual hyperbolic panic: "Somebody coulda ate that, choked on it, died. You want that on your shoulders?" Shut up, Robert. Incidentally, I always enjoy when Chef Ramsay is standing over someone's shoulders as they're trying to cook, shouting at them to concentrate.
Suzanne might be on desserts or something, because she's in the back of the kitchen cleaning counters and yelling at people to be peppy. Instead of, y'know, cooking.
Another blue table has some plastic on one of Van's dishes. Chef Ramsay is apocalyptically angry. I may have gotten that phrase from Top Gear. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did. The point is that Van is getting yelled at a lot here. On the red side, Sabrina gets called a pig for reusing a pan. Gasp! And on the blue side, they completely forget about the chef's table. Van gets sent over, and he pours on the Southern charm: "What're y'all having?" Unfortunately, they don't even have a menu, so the answer is just "I dunno. Whaddya got? We have no idea." Van lists off the entrees, but they want more information than just "sea bass". So Van tells them "it's all right. It's not that good." Classy! Van is flustered and can't remember everything that's on the plates. See, that's why you hire waiters to describe the food. Eventually he makes them settle on something. Off he goes! The customers are not impressed.
Amanda has apparently already served the chef's table on the red side, and they like it. Good for them. Amanda is getting annoyed by Suzanne, but things seem to be going pretty smoothly, really. On the blue side, Robert is dripping sweat and screwing up lamb. He and Gordon have a relatively incomprehensible exchange, which I shall now relate for you:
GORDON RAMSAY: IS that the best you can do?
ROBERT: Hell, no, it's not the best I can do!
GORDON RAMSAY: Well, give me the [bleep] best!
ROBERT: I am, chef!
Nice work, everyone. Robert goes on to explain in an interview that he feels like [bleep], but "me giving you 75% is still better than half the people here." Yeah, but you're graded by results, not tonnage. Zing!
Timeskip! The red team has only two tables to go, and the pasta is like twenty seconds late. Amanda blames it on "your princess", which means Ariel. Little Mermaid reference! Meanwhile, the blue team is stopped by some raw rabbit. When Chef Ramsay calls everyone over for a little intimate shout, he gets mad at Kevin, who has not put his dish down to give Gordon his undivided attention. This results in Kevin being called "cocky". There's a bit more shouting (mostly at Kevin, although it was Robert's rabbit), and the blue kitchen gets Switched Off.
The red team successfully finishes the service, so when everyone's lined up for the postmortem, they're a little pleased with themselves. This is enhanced by the news that the customers at the red chef's table would happily return, although the blue side's customers said "thanks, but no thanks". Gordon complains about the "rabbit with fur still on", and designates Dave as the best of the worst. Dave will nominate two of his team.
Everyone is sent off to the dorms, and there's a full moon. But we haven't been seeing it every night, so I'm going to allow it. Robert shouts at us in an interview that he doesn't deserve to go home. Robert and Van appeal to Dave that Andy should go up instead of them because he's been worse than them on previous nights. Robert tells Andy to "suck a [bleep]" several times. They shout and bleep at each other for a while, and Dave doesn't want to get involved. He's a low-key kind of guy, and I appreciate that.
Down to the dining room! Dave's first nominee is Robert, for having a weak service and health problems. Dave claims to be concerned about Robert's health. His second nominee is Van for the night's service. Van and Robert step forward, and Gordon tells Andy to join them. Because Gordon cares nothing for your "rules". It's all about crazy swerves, remember?
Robert mutters "Thank God" just loud enough for Gordon to hear so that everyone knows how much better he thinks he is than Andy. Chef Ramsay tells Andy he's probably not going to win. Then he asks Van what the deal was with the plastic, and Van says he doesn't have an excuse, but that he does have talent. "You've got twenty-something years in this business, you can spot talent!" Gordon sends Van back to his team. Van doesn't argue. Okay. Robert, why should you stay? "I've never been on the block once." Well, okay, that's -- oh, you're not finished? "And I'm disgusted that I even share the same [bleep] stage with this guy right here, all right?" Among his points is that Andy is "not there for the team". That seems like an opening for a counterattack.