Hell's Kitchen Season 11: Gordon Ramsay

Hell’s Kitchen Recap: Season 11 Premiere

Hell's Kitchen Season 11: Gordon Ramsay

Close the windows and baton down the hatches! Hell’s Kitchen is back, and Gordon Ramsay is tougher than ever!

This season, there are 20 contestants competing for the job of Head Chef at the new Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas.  The starting salary: a cool $250,000!  It’s no wonder the contestants are excited!

The show begins at LAX where all of the competitors arrive to begin their battle.   They’re all surprised (in a good way) when told they’ll be going straight to Las Vegas!

Upon arrival in Vegas, the contestants are taken on a tour which eventually brings them to a small auditorium where screaming fans greet them. Moments later, Gordon Ramsey is brought onto the stage.

He introduces the competitors to the crowd and reveals that for first time in “Hell’s Kitchen” history, they will be preparing their “signature” dishes in front of a live audience. Everyone has to pull themselves together quickly!

They have 45 minutes to make something stunning, so “don’t screw it up,” says Gordon. And so it begins!

It’s fun to watch the contestants, still dressed in their travel clothes, scrambling to get the dishes ready. The pressure is on. The teams are divided between women and men, which I always think is fun. Go girls!

A large part of the show involves Gordon judging the dishes. He brings two people out at a time, and whichever dish he picks, that team gets a point (either the men or the women). And it’s close. Most of the cooks or chefs haven’t impressed him, and as we know, he doesn’t hold back on his criticism.

Here are a few of Gordon’s comments regarding their dishes: “not s great start,” “what happened in that kitchen should stay in that kitchen,” “it’s nasty,” “the lamb is f*cking raw,” “did you throw up on that plate?” What a first impression. I’d want to run for the hills!

A few dishes do get a complement, but only a few. I’m surprised at the lack of ability from so many of contestants. Gosh, I’m starting to sound like Gordon now!

The competition sort of drags on, as Gordon judges each of  the contestants. I’d prefer to see them in the kitchen, but that’s coming.

The girls win by a point at the end of the first challenge, with a great prize: VIP treatment at Caesar’s Palace. The poor guys have to get on that school bus and drive eight hours back to “Hell’s Kitchen” in L.A. The kicker is that there’s no AC! I thought that was mean, but also funny.

And of course, there always has to be a know-it-all — in this season, that’s good ole Sebastian. Most of the guys — and I don’t blame them — wanted to strangle him. He would not stop talking! What a fun bus ride … not!

The ladies definitely had fun. They had that beautiful room, wonderful food, and what did you think about them meeting Celine Dion before they saw her concert?! Pretty darn cool. And to top it off, a private jet back to L.A.!

Back in L.A., you could really see the characters come out. What the heck was with Gina and her chef puppet? I loved it when Nedra said, “This isn’t Sesame Street.”  The puppet was actually sort of funny, but Gina is a little odd. It will be fun to see what happens with her in future episodes. Remember, she was being attended to by a Medic as the first part of the premiere ended. I think she had an anxiety attack. I would too.

The next morning, we got a little glimpse of what’s coming up. The two teams were divided into blue (men) and red (women.) The clips of the teams working in the kitchen were quite opposite, with the men focused and working together, and the women not! Gina was having her anxiety attack, and nobody knew what was going on.  Total chaos. The women need to have a leader and get it together. Come on, ladies.

Finally, I was a little shocked with all the bad language from the competitors. Those girls can swear. I think there’s going to be a lot more of that in upcoming episodes.  Nedra, wow!  She has a mouth on her, but I like her. Gordon told her that her dish was “cooked perfectly” in the opening challenge. I want to see how far she can go in this competition.

What did you think of the first part of the premiere? Will you watch the second part? I want to see the personalities come out. Then it will be fun!


Posted

in

,

by

Comments

2 responses to “Hell’s Kitchen Recap: Season 11 Premiere”

  1. Denise Avatar
    Denise

    Good review ….I think the girls are acting like typical catty women, should be an interesting season! Of course, Gordon will be a hard ass…hard to watch some times!

  2. Kathy Avatar
    Kathy

    Hell’s Kitchen…Great competition, good food, entertaining..Less vulgar language, less swearing, and more healthy food practice. I work in food service, and I have to follow very strict food handling procedures. I am appalled that hats or hairnets are not required. You never see contestants wash their hands. And those hand cloths are used for everything!!! One contestant had the cloth under his arm while preparing food. One contestant wiped sweat from her face and then wiped the plate. The cloths are placed in back pockets, over the shoulder, and carried. Bare hands handle the food even after it is cooked. I would not want to eat here. Where are the health standard practices?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *