Team Christine: Felix*, Scott, Tanya, Mike, Stacy, Ryan
Team Josh: Becky, Frank, Anna, Monti*, David, Tali
*chosen by captain as expediter
Christine's extra perk is the opportunity to trade one chef for another. Without hesitation, she gets rid of Ryan for Becky.
Gordon Ramsay makes it clear right away that the key to expediting in the kitchen is communication, and each kitchen is a polar opposite of the other. Monti is screaming out orders (in two languages), pushing dishes out of the kitchen in rapid succession. Meanwhile, Felix is silent, keeping to herself, which is creating confusion in the blue kitchen.. It is clear that this is everyone's first experience in a professional kitchen.
While both kitchens continue to get dishes out, it seems they are being returned just as quickly. Quality is suffering for the sake of quick service. After a dish is returned to the blue kitchen with a hair in it, tension is at an all-time high, but despite a few arguments between Josh and Monti it appears that, in the end, everyone appreciated one another and the blue team turned in an overall great performance in the kitchen.
Over in the red kitchen, they were drowning throughout service at the direction of a silent Felix. The worst moment for the inexperienced expediter came at the end of service when she was still trying to send dishes out after time was called, resulting in a cheating accusation by Gordon Ramsay.
Though the blue team appeared to outperform the red team, it all comes down to customer satisfaction. Surprisingly, with 60% of the votes, the winning team was the red team, meaning the blue team must face an elimination pressure challenge.
As the chefs wait to enter the kitchen, Ryan and Tali are shown talking of their "alliance" (wait...what?) and about how Monti is at blame for the loss.
Once in the pressure challenge kitchen, each judge saves one contestant from the challenge. Their selections: Joe: David; Graham: Frankie; Gordon:
This type of pressure challenge is my favorite. Cooking a dessert, the chefs will bring what they feel is their best dish when they feel it is ready with a 60 minute limit. The challenge: Molten Lava Cake. As Gordon says, "when you slice into it, you should be rewarded with a chocolate gooey surprise. Leave it in the oven too long and you have a brownie; pull it out too soon and you have a mess." Let's see what the chefs have to present.
Ryan's test cake, when pulled out collapses in a messy heap. Graham Elliot says "diarrhea on a plate." Precious, little time remains to cook another. Josh also pulls a test cake too early and it, too, falls apart.
Tali is the first chef to present before time runs out. Cooked to perfection, there is a nice gooey center. We will wait to hear how it tastes.
Anna also serves before the time and hers appears to be even better than Tali's.
With two minutes to go, Josh's second cake is ready to serve and when cut into, a beautiful runny center gushes out.
As time expires, Ryan gets his dish to the chefs just in time, however; the cake is a mess, collapsed on the plate. In poor taste, Monti, David and Frankie audibly chuckle on the balcony.
The judges' takes: Josh and Anna both produced a Molten Lava Cake of "pure perfection" according to Ramsay. They nailed the pressure test, and received big compliments from all three judges. The self proclaimed "Dream Team" is left standing in front of the panel in disbelief that one of them will be leaving. Tali's was stable but floury, while Ryan's was tasty but a complete mess. Gordon Ramsay turns the table and asks the chef "who knows he didn't make the better Molten Lava Cake" to turn in his apron. After a moment's hesitation, Ryan the "Flavor Elevator" removes his apron and hands it to Chef Ramsay -- a noble move in the end for a very arrogant chef.
And like that, we're down to 13 chefs. Who will be the next to go? Who impressed you this week? Share your comments below.
Surely Tali is on his way out. I think he's been up for elimination the last three episodes. Nonetheless, I was very pleased to see Ryan hang up his apron.
ReplyDeleteMonti was bossy and loud, but she had her kitchen working. I thought she would be a weak competitor but she's holding her own.