HELL'S KITCHEN: aka "DUNK BOZO"

by Bourdain

I liked last year's Hell's Kitchen. And I like a good fat joke as much as anybody. Making fun of the lame, the halt, the dim-witted--surely there's a place for it in comedy. But this season's HELL'S KITCHEN is--even for me--an exercise in pointless cruelty so ugly, cruel and squalid in its half-hearted, ritualized beat-downs as to shame all who take part--and all who watch.

I like Gordon Ramsay. I admire his 3 star Gordon Ramsay at Hospital Road--and (unlike many critics) find even his outposts excellent (if not always groundbreaking). I am a fan of his excellent and sympathetic Kitchen Nightmares and thought the Brit doc "Boiling Point" of a while back riveting and realistic television. But there's not even the pretense of real cooking--or anything resembling quality food on HK this year. Why do they even need a chef for this Springeresque freak show? It might as well be R Lee Ermey (in fact it SHOULD be), pretending to torment this crop of contestants--it being  blindingly obvious that all are unemployable in any capacity in ANY kind of busy restaurant. The challenge? WHAT challenge? They never seem to cook on HK! Their job appears to be to pretend to rush around in circles while Ramsay pretends to care. I've seen no more than a four top on the range at any one time. The rest of the time, they stand there or mill about  like mute sheep, waiting for the blow. Few finished plates are ever seen--and what is seen wouldn't pass muster at an Applebees. Pathetic, overaged, overweight, emotionally unsuitable and physically impaired Aaron was dragged, barely maintaining verticality, through two episodes, in the clear hope that it might be entertaining to poke a dead horse with a stick. It's like the old carny grift, "Dunk Bozo", in which  a barker invites the rubes to throw a ball at a clown on a diving board. Everyone knows the clown will fall in the water tank. The only question is when.

Really, the only suspense or drama on this show will come after the show, when the "winner's" new employers/backers have to figure out what to do with a cook who couldn't hold up a fry station at a 20 seat fish house.

While profitable in the short run, this freak show can't possibly be good for Ramsay in the larger scheme of things. It "damages the brand." It demeans. (Yeah. I said "demeans." And this is ME talking!) The millions who watch this carnival of feigned cruelty will not be customers of Gordon Ramsay restaurants. And those who might be customers cannot be encouraged by the cheesy artificiality of this season.

I'm all for hazing cooks. For hurling well-timed verbal abuse at them when appropriate (or even just amusing). I have enjoyed, in the past, Ramsay's Charlie Parkeresque use of invective and insult, as he can be a very funny guy. But everybody seems to be sleepwalking to the slaughterhouse this season, victims and executioner alike. I hope Gordon summons some REAL anger--and some REAL invective to ream great bleeding chunks out of the producers who selected this year's contestants. And that after a suitable interlude of skull-fucking, he separates himself loudly and publicly from a production team who clearly do not have his interests in mind.

Comments

[rockandroller]

We watched previous seasons so we've tuned into this one as well, but I have to agree with your diatribe. It's all "show" and no SHOW. We watched 2 episodes of "Kitchen Nightmares" last night and it's so much more pleasant and what it should be: it's real restaurants with real and sometimes terribly pressing bad situations (with closure looming and sometimes people's homes at stake as well) and him coming in and forcing everyone involved in the restaurant to overhaul and fix what's wrong immediately. At the end of each show, I'm almost always left with a desire to have a cute, small restaurant like the featured one in my own town, or a desire to visit the actual featured restaurant should I travel to that area, as well as amusement and affinity for the players involved in the tribulations during Gordon's visit. There's just as much entertaining swearing and screaming, but no "theatrics" and it's just so much better television. To me, this is what "reality" TV should be, not turning everything into a game show. I suppose it's because Hell's Kitchen is on a major network and they force this kind of crap; look what they did to "On the Lot," which could have been good, SHOULD have been, but instead they've forced the square peg AI-format into the round hole.

I too can't belive the ineptness at the contestants selected. Do they just have a slate of "types" and then fill in the types accordingly? (physical/mental disaster, bimbo, know-it-all, humble-but-proud, etc.)

[realitybites]

I too have watched the first three episodes of Hell's Kitchen. Besides the fact that none of the contestants can cook, the menu is crap. What 3 star chef serves pan seared chicken?! It all looks boring and bland. The only thing the show has done for me is to boost my ego a bit--realizing I'm not too shabby in the kitchen after all.

Kitchen Nightmares is a great show. Ramsay looks competent, caring, talented, and even playful. He has his stern moments, but he seems human--approachable. Hell's Kitchen simply makes him out to be a monster.

I hope he ditches HK and focuses on the new Kitchen Nightmares U.S.A., to be shown on Fox this fall.

[syoung68]

I totally agree. I was truly saddened to see them KEEP Aaron as long as they did. I do not know how this year's crop made it on the show. While the Top Chef contestants have seemed to go up in talent, HK has gotten progressively worse. I thought the folks in season 1 were varied, interesting and had some talent. And who didn't love/hate K Grease from season 2, but this season so far is horrible. The only one I would want behind the line is the Waffle House cook.

As for Kitchen Nightmares, I love the BBC show. My fear of course is that Fox will want the HK Ramsey for the US version. We will see.

[Chris]

The sad thing is that while there really seems to be a "boon" in food interest nowadays, crap like this show (and the Food Network) may ultimately serve to kill the golden goose, so to speak. While the public is seeking more and more information about cooking, organic food, sustainable agriculture, and other food-related topics, the folks in the entertainment industry can't figure out to give them what they want, so they just trot out their usual hackneyed crap and make it food-related. "Hey, people love reality shows, especially when they see others humiliated ... let's see, how can we tie this in with that food thing? I've got it! Let's make it a cooking show with humiliation!" I mean, the whole "celebrity cooking showdown" was a trainwreck to begin with, but Hell's Kitchen makes it look like Masterpiece Theater. What's next? When's VH-1 trotting out "Cooking Boot Camp with the D-List Celebrities?" or "Flavor Flav Cooks!" Will the Speed Network feature a reality show with NASCAR drivers trying to cook? Will the History Channel feature a "reality show" of former dictators in history trying to rule the world while still getting their mise en place worked out? Will MTV have a cooking reality show made up of cute college kids trying to cook while getting into each others' pants? How about a show on Spike featuring drunken frat boys trying to flambe things by blowing pure grain whiskey out of their mouths?

And when will someone ultimately come up with shows that actually TEACH cooking, TEACH people how to select good produce and use it, TEACH people good kitchen practices, and expand their culinary horizons??

[artnlit]

I have been eagerly anticipating Tony's thoughts regarding Hell's Kitchen and must admit, I agree with the majority of his comments. However, I wish that he (or someone) would focus on the fact that what has also made this show so "ugly" is Gordon himself; the continuous degrading of contestants does not inspire greatness, but rather, passivity. How does this make one a good cook or dare I say, chef? Don't misunderstand me; I completely recognize and accept that one must pay his/her dues and go through the "hazing" that Tony refers to. However, making people feel like absolute sh*t does nothing to enhance Gordon's reputation or the culinary world as a whole. Now, as an aside, the other point to remember is that this is an era of "reality" tv - not that any show called this is true reality. The producers of HK simply want cattle-call contestants, ones who may have some minimal culinary talent, but DO have the personality to make the show entertaining. And isn't that what it's all about, folks? ENTERTAINMENT. Now if I may inquire: would any of you go on this show in order to "make it" in the field? Has it come to that?

[Sarah Clark]

"And when will someone ultimately come up with shows that actually TEACH cooking, TEACH people how to select good produce and use it, TEACH people good kitchen practices, and expand their culinary horizons??"

http://www.altonbrown.com

And to the point of the post--great assessment, Anthony--though Julia seems to have the makings of a solid line cook (if not yet a chef). Most of these people are an embarrassment--It's bad when I can't decide between Rancid Crab girl, the Trash Can Gourmet, or Aaron for the biggest idiot on the show to date. However, the point of this exercise seems to be to encourage people to visit Gordon Ramsey restaurants, and while I might go if I had the opportunity, Hell's Kitchen sure as heck isn't encouraging me to.

[veron]

I was thinking the same thing after I watched this season's Hell's Kitchen this week for the first time. Are they cooking anything at all or are they just standing there waiting to be screamed at. Anyway , I thought the punishment for the guys was no punishment at all. Heck I love ox tongue, I adore pork tongue and don't get me started on the trotters. Now the way it's cooked is a different matter. The trotters I love in chinese black vinegar. If all they had were boiled ones then a dipping sauce of soy or vinegar would help...

[Sarah Clark]

Yeah, everyone going "ewww, ick!" at the Offal basically killed the last dregs of credibility for everyone on the boy's team (and I had actually kinda liked Rock, 3rd person dialogue aside, until he started acting like he was gonna barf up the tripe)

[artnlit]

Any credibility, as if it ever existed, was killed off when the majority could not recognize the foods that Gordon served them when blindfolded. Please! I am not a chef or a cook, but even I have a semi-developed palate! Shameful...

[KT]

Well said Tony. Very well said. I gave up after episode 2 and lost any respect I had for Gordon Ramsey.

[Claudia]

I just read an article (albeit, not the one linked below, although it makes the same reference) in which Gordon said the only way he could open an outpost of his restaurant empire in NY was by doing HK (and, theoretically, raising his profile). Apparently, he thinks that not enough NYers would know who he was without HK, Kitchen Nightmares, etc.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/02/070402fa_fact_buford/

As a New Yorker, I find that a little mystifying - even a little disingenuous. We know who Joel Robuchon was, ages ago, and he never did a reality TV show . . . Alain Ducasse . . . Jean Georges Vongrichten . . . oh, and arguably one of the best chefs in New York, Eric Ripert of the 4-star Le Bernardin, manages to have a stellar career and revered restaurant WITHOUT a TV show. He's just got one restaurant, no merchandising or branding and no show, but yet HE seems to be known across the nation.

Point One: It's the other way 'round, Gordo, mate - if you make it in New York, you don't NEED a TV show. Maybe TV made Batali and Flay super stars, but both of them were well-known and well-regarded NY-based chefs well before they got their TV shows, and all their restaurants made money from the get-go - Mesa Grill, from back in the '90s, Po, Lupa, etc. It was about the food, first - not the fame.

Point Two: Worried about not being known in NEW YORK? Is he kidding? A major city that is a seething hotbed of foodies and sophisticated palates? With foodinistas who have tracked his every move since he parted company with Aubergine? C'mon, Frostylocks! Don't be such a DONKEY!!! Gordon Ramsay certainly "made it" in the UK and enjoyed a global reputation before washing up on our fair shores, and he's worried about "making it" in New York without the benefit of a high profile TV show? Bollocks! (See Point One: "It's the FOOD, stupid . . .")

Methinks Gordo just digs the publicity, and gets some major catharsis inflicting on fresh shipments of hapless yobs the same abuse he got from Marco Pierre, etc. (Mind you, the cattle that are Season's 3's contestants totally deserve it.) And I don't have a problem with that at all - but Gordo should own it, man. Although you don't need a TV show to open in New York, by the same token, having a TV show is not enough to stay open in New York. His NY restaurant is by no means "dog's bollocks", but it hasn't exactly set NY on fire, either.

Claudia
"If you can make it here, you'll make it anywhere . . ."

[finnadat]

I could only get thru 45min of the first episode and then I was dunzo, it is entertainment distilled down to a school yard bully with a bit of “cooking.” The first season worked b/c there was a good balance of bombast and semi-reality, but it looks like they focus grouped it to death and drove it into Ramsay’s head to be more of an asshole more of the time. “Gordo, they love it when you are a complete maniacal dick.” On the UK shows you can tell he is ticking the piss and isn’t obviously just being an asshole to be an asshole. So I’m done, but they will probably continue to have decent ratings leaving off where Jerry Springer left off.

I also found it amusing that on top chef last night they ran a vytorin ad right after the challenge was to cook a meal “low in cholesterol” for families from different generations. I’m convinced that by season 4 they will have them make a meal out of gladware. That said, I can understand working sponsorship agreements so the show can happen, if anything it adds a bit of humor.

Also really dig tony on top chef and went to st. john in London 2 weeks ago b/c of a show I saw him tape there and my god was it good stuff.

[Bob delGrosso]

My first real cook's job was in a NYT2* owned by a Frenchman who had staged in Berlin from 38'-late 39'. He loved his stage and after some initial misgivings about Hitler and Nazism came to admire the man and the mission. By his own admission he would have stayed forever if he had not been called back to France to serve in the army ahead of the invasion by the armies of his beloved Fuhrer. (he later became a POW. Ironic, non?)

My chef, I'm sure, would make Gordan Ramsay wet his pants. He certainly cured me of any inclination I may have had to rely on screaming, throwing s**t and ridicule as my principal means of managing my crew.

I suspect that while Ramsay might be ratcheting it up for the camera a bit, he really is a tyrant.

He better hope that he never raises the scratch to open a restaurant in NY bec. you know as well as I do that there aren't very many NY line cooks who are going to stand for that kind of crap. Nor should anyone.

The histrionics we see from Ramsay on Hell's Kitchen might make for entertaining TV, but it sure is no fun being on the receiving end of that kind of crap -even when you have reason to believe that the guy doing the screaming is a really good cook.

[latenac]

I have to admit this season isn't doing it for me as much as the previous 2. I get the feeling Grrrr is walking through it. You'd think they could have gotten some higher quality people so it could have been more of a learning experience and maybe Grrr would have taken more of an interest. Or maybe he's just waiting until all of the chafe really does sort out and he's left with the 2 or 3 that are worth taking an interest in. Julia being one of them.

I don't think anyone watches this show thinks they're going to learn something. Well I do learn new and interesting ways of cursing people. I mean I still love the genius of "fucking donkey." I like Kitchen Nightmares and loved the first season of the F Word. I didn't like F Word as much when they started doing the kitchen contests. Which is strange since HK is my summer guilty pleasure.

[t-scape]

I have to agree with this. I enjoyed HK for what it was the last 2 seasons, but it's falling into a formula - the contestants suck, Gordon gets pissed, contestants are scared, Gordon calls them fat, the restaurant closes early every other night.

I think Fox clearly noticed that people think it's funny when Gordon calls people a donkey and scares these people shitless. So guess what! Season 3 is all about donkeys and getting scared shitless! Everyone looks glassy eyed the second they step in that kitchen - of course they're going to fuck everything up. And the thing is, if the show were honest, they'd admit that this is a show about people who for the most part don't know much about cooking, rather than pretending that the contestants are semi-accomplished people looking for a step up. I'm not even sure they've actually seen HK before, what with being all surprised that Gordon smashed risotto into your chest, or called you a poopy name.

Fox has started to run the previews for the American version of Kitchen Nightmares, and it's already clear that they are following the Irrationally Angry Gordon formula. On the Brit version of KN, he gets mad, but he doesn't fly off the nadle often - for the most part, he comes across like a competent, passionate guy with a killer sense of humor. On these previous, he just yells till his face turns purple. He needs to run far, far away from Fox, because Fox will beat this dead horse into the ground.

[t-scape]

sorry, previous = previews.

Oh, and the bit with the offal this last episode - I'm sure that stuff was basically just boiled, unseasoned, and not properly prepared. But the way those nincompoops reacted to the mere *thought* of eating offal means that I would never in a million years trust them enough as chefs to visit any restaurant that they may own. Come on - almost barfing at the mere thought of eating trotters and tripe?

Signed,

She who loves tripe stew

[georg]

I have never eaten at a Gordon Ramsey restaurant. And thanks to this show, I don't ever want to. I don't even watch the show- the commercials are enough vitriol to turn me off.

[john atkinson]

i'm thankful for dvr as the show is only palatable for the last 5 minutes. i go back to bourdain's description of ramsey in 'cooks tour' and wonder what happened to that guy. he's like a screaming cockney ex-wife in a chef's coat. oh well, at least he's better than todd english!

[Jennie/Tikka]

Well, according to this article in Salon (which mentions Bourdain, too) - Ramsay's been officially replaced by Marco Pierre White. Clearly, all is not well with HK.

The article is titled "The Man Who Made Godron Ramsay Cry"

http://www.salon.com/mwt/food/eat_drink/2007/05/22/pierre_whiteqa/

[julies]

I missed it this week. Just guessing....Ramsey cursed, yelled, humiliated contestants?....Someone wrecked the Wellingtons and risotto?...Someone cried? Ramsey said, "F***". And no one punched him.

HK is becoming even more predictable than Springer (and shows almost the same number of cooking skills.) Only Maury giving Ramsey a paternity test could spice it up now.

Ah, Bourdain. Train wrecks and mental breakdowns can be fun for a few sadistic good laughs--and I always enjoy your writing--but you know as well as we do that the real cooking talent is all over at "Top Chef".

...Please?

[Tim M]

I have been lurking on this blog for some time, but I feel I need to put in my two cents on Hell's Kitchen. I have loved this show since I first saw it a couple of years ago. But the contestants this year are disgraceful. There isn't a single person who could run a kitchen in the whole bunch. They all seem like TGI Friday's cooks to me. There was at least potential in the other seasons (Heather got my vote when she hurt herself in the kitchen and still was barking out orders to everyone so nothing fell behind). I think Hell's Kitchen is the dumping ground for the Top Chef rejects. As for Ramsay, I've never eaten at his restaurants, but I would really like to. This show hasn't changed that. I just don't think I'd want to work for him.

Overall, this season just seems like a sham. I watched an episode where the contestants were rudely woken up and supposedly given no time to get ready for the day's tasks. Bonnie comes rushing out of the shower, and comments that she doesn't even have time to get ready or dry her hair. The next shot is the contestants lined up in front of Chef Ramsay, and guess what! Bonnie's hair is not only dry, but it has been styled and her make up is impeccable! Then in last week's episode, a rather attractive female customer comes to the pass to complain to Ramsay, where she is quickly and curtly dismissed by the Chef. Didn't I see the same exact scene last season?

[Sorcha]

I dunno...I can see the points everyone's making here. But I watch HK for the entertainment factor, not for anything informative as far as food or cooking. I love Gordon, and watching him in full rant mode, even if it's staged, gives me a happy little glow that's probably not entirely healthy. *G*

I agree with the other commenters, when the boys were acting like a bunch of picky toddlers over the offal, I was like, "Bzuh? These guys are supposed to be *chefs*?" It makes me wonder how much they're actually coached on how to act. And that customer that approached the pass last week *had* to be a plant. Had to be. How you gonna go bitch at Gordon in the middle of service and act suprised when he tells you to fuck off?

All the same, I adore Gordon enough that I watch HK and enjoy. Now, the first time I saw him shilling cookware on HSN? *That* broke my heart. But then, he's said himself that he never feels financially secure, so I guess if they pay well...

[Shannon]

I don't understand why the "chefs" have such a hard time cooking the easiest foods in the world:

eggs, and spaghetti.

This season is pretty useless in terms of picking an individual who has talent.

[eat4fun]

I'm an outsider looking in so I don't have the knowledge of what really goes on in the kitchens of fancy restaurants... but I was under the impression (based upon stereotypes?) that Chefs always drove the underlings hard with verbal abuse and maybe some physical (throwing stuff), especially in an apprentice system.

Is Gordon Ramsey's behavior really atypical?

The contestants are ruining expensive cuts of meat and dishes. I imagine the wastage is pretty high for the show.

In regards to the show this season, I agree that it appears the producers went with a cast full of characters instead of ability.

I find it amusing that the "professional" cooks are dissing Julia the Pancake House short-order cook because she's lower on the food chain. Yet, based upon the highly edited episodes, she probably has more natural ability than many of the other contestants. Heck, she was able to fry quail eggs where other had failed. She, also, had sense to talk Jen out of using food from the trash. She may not win since she lacks the "fine" dining background, but it appears she has some skills.

R. Lee Ermey would be a hoot as the D.I. Chef (DIC). He wouldn't need to remember names. Everyone will be Gomer Pyle. No fat contestent by the end of the season. They'll all lose weight from doing push-ups for every screw up.

Overall, I find the show very entertaining. It's over-the-top with odd and extreme characters which makes it all interesting.

[Natalie Sztern]

Wow! I take my hat off to you for having written this post. I have watched all seasons of Hell’s Kitchen, the groupie that I am, but never have I been so insulted as a fan,as a mother and as a human being,than when I watched Gordon belittle two men: Aaron, whom should never have been allowed onto the show because clearly he was not medically sound, and Eddie, with obvious deficiencies that he, himself, so clearly acknowledged and with which Ramsay so clearly exploited. it was not Chef Gordon’s proudest achievement for tv even if fox thought so...

I could care less about the other obviously inadequate contestants Fox chose to air and good luck to those who think 13 or so weeks in Ramsay’s kitchen, and pouf,a Chef is made.

This is not reality television – this is not unscripted television - Fox and Gordon Ramsay have taken us viewers back to the days of the gladiator when watching victims suffer was entertainment.

I am not a chef, but if all you other chefs sit back and allow your hard earned profession, which has finally reached the epitome of distinction that even Escoffier had hoped for, to be belittled by the likes of Gordon and all those who follow after him, just for the sake of the buck, then I am sad to say it will be a punishment deserved.

No other profession that I know of would stand for this kind of abuse. Especially from one of their own. And yet you all sit back and let it go on. Oh, yeah, and you write about it.

Too bad Rosie has left the building.

[CarolinaGirl]

I also really enjoyed the first two seasons. This season is all about the typecast.They all apppear as bumbling caricatures. And the Asian Cowboy was sad. I really do not understand why he lasted so long other than for watchers to tune in for the inevitible train weck. I also am at a loss that sanitation has been so compromised that it appeared that garbage and rancid crab were served to the patrons. At this point this show is like an anti-commercial for the winner's venture.Besides the yelling overkill, what makes it so different than starting a new job and having to cover a station on your first night? Oh yeah it is "reality" tv !

[hungrytraveller]

Just an FYI to Bob delGrosso but Ramsay already has his own restaurant in NYC that opened to a lot of press right before this season's of Hell's Kitchen.

[cafelady]

What??? A post from Tony and no F words??? Could fatherhood be taming him???

[lipsmackin]

Can any one say Rocco? I think I saw him cooking at the Huddle House off I-75 and Macon Georgia

[Steph F.]

"Making fun of the lame, the halt, the dim-witted--surely there's a place for it in comedy."

Of course there is - Ancient Greek comedy is centered around this.

On the subject of the show, the tripe thing made me sad. Obviously they don't know what's good food; it's not surprising that they have no idea how to cook. It reminds of of Iron Chef America judging panels, where the judges are terrified of and disgusted by eating things that "don't seem right" or are too adventurous. It's just lack of knowledge about and respect for food.

[indigotea]

I watch HK for the same reason I watch any reality show: because it's good for my ego. I don't watch SuperNanny for the parenting tips, or Wife Swap to learn how to relate to my family. Those stagey, trainwreck portrayals make the average person look like a paragon of common sense and decency.

Same thing with HK. Sure, it's fun to watch Ramsay blow his stack and shout things at his employees that you've only muttered under your breath. But mostly it's just enjoyable seeing the snooty get taken down a peg or six because on national TV, they pick spaghetti out of the garbage. You won't see that on Top Chef. But you can relate to it...because we've all at least had that George Costanza moment of strongly considering it.

[uberangie]

cafelady,
so desensitized you, you missed a good skull fucking.

[FoodPuta]

After watching all of the Kitchen Nightmare series, and even some of The F word, I found that Gordon is just a construction site supervisor in the culinary world. The man does have compassion for more than just the food.

As for this years HK, Why shouldn't he yell and scream at the contestants? They are all DONKEYS!

True justice for Gordon, would be at the end of this series, would be for him to turn on all the producers and filet them all, just as he has with their choices of contestants.

[beagle72]

If you spend any time navigating the Hollywood margins where aspiring writers swarm, you'll find a significant quantity of want ads looking for "reality" show writers. Writers to write pilots, writers to write series', etc...

Obviously most of us are savvy enough by now to take "reality" with a tablespoon of sea salt. Just know that, as produced and manipulated as you think these shows are, they are even moreso.

That said, as a viewer I simply want to be entertained. A good story is a good story, whether it's script, real, or "scripted reality". HK is no longer entertaining because they've abandoned the elements of a good story. The casting is too blunt, the setups too repetitive and unimaginative, and worst of all, the competition is flaccid. I doubt Ramsay has much to do with any of this, although it does reflect poorly on his brand and I agree with the sentiment that he should cut the cord with Fox for his own credibility.

Like any show, some "reality" programs are simply put together by less skilled producers than others. Say what you will about the Apprentice, but it's first few seasons were very well produced -- before it ultimately fell prey to rote formula. In contrast, Tommy Hilfiger's short-lived knockoff was an abortion of a reality show. Believable reality shows manipulate their video as much as Hilfiger's, but the latter looked to be cut together by first year film school students, blatantly telegraphing its own contrivances.

Top Chef, despite its notable drawbacks (too many hosts and a botched finale in season two), still presents imaginative challenges. My hope is that they keep the focus on the food and not try to overplay conflicts between contestants. The line between reality and soap opera is a thin one.

[French Laundry at Home]

I'd love to see a Hell's Kitchen episode with RayRay, SLop, Ina, Giada and Robin Miller on the girls side, and Mario, Dave Lieberman, that tater tot guy who won TNFNS last year, Flay and Jacques Pepin on the men's side.

[RI Swampyankee]

Now *that's* an episode I'd watch. Picking on the crippled is only funny to a point. Evicerating the high, mighty, shallow, stupid, and proud is my idea of entertainment.

[RI Swampyankee]

That said, why Pepin? PBS is hardly the FN.

[French Laundry at Home]

Yeah, but the best part about HK is that Aaron the Crying Asian Cowboy wasn't sick. It was all fake. And, he's not a nursing home cook. He runs a very successful Chinese food place in Torrance, and volunteers at a nursing home where his mother lives. And? He's an actor. Has been an extra on "Weeds" and a few other shows. His "illness" was all faked and once the production team found out about it, they staged the whole fake phone call of Gordo telling Aaron he was off the show, so the HK folks could save face. This all comes from a very well-placed source at FOX.

And, Pepin is in the line-up because I wanted to have someone I could root for.

[Sorcha]

I kinda wondered, FLaH. He was just too much of a character. He had me yelling at the TV for him to take a Midol. Is he really 48, do you know? Because he totally doesn't look it.

[parkbench]

I didn't see the previous seasons of HK, but decided to check it out after seeing Kitchen Nightmares and the F Word on BBC America.

Oh. My. Gawd.

Surely Ramsay doesn't need the money that badly to agree to this craptastic piece of Faux TV shite. The fact that poor Aaron was dragged through 2-1/2 episodes and didn't cook ONE SINGLE THING, while two other cooktestants were booted, well... This is Fox scripting, and beneath Ramsay, one would wish.

Risotto and wellingtons...wellingtons and risotto, wash, rinse, repeat. After three eps, no one can figure out how to cook this yet. Ugh. And one of them will exec chef at Green Valley Ranch? Maybe it's a good thing GVR is out in Henderson. It's a $35 one way cab ride to the Strip and a decent restaurant from there. Maybe no one will notice.

As for the offal debacle and the guy who was gagging on tongue so to speak, he deserved a bitchslapping within an inch of his life.

I grew up in Central California Basque country, and the best food memory of my teendom was hitting the Basque Club booth at the county fair every fall, where they sold marinated tongue sandwiches for a buck. Paper thin slices, marinated in red wine vinaigrette with onion, garlic and parsley on a fresh, warm french roll. Nothing else -- no peppers, no condiments. Perfect.

It didn't hurt that they also sold homebrew red wine by the glass and were totally uninterested in checking IDs. I was nobody's food fetishist...it was just seriously tasty goodness.

When I get back to the old hometown, I go looking for that at the local Basque eateries, of which there are several of the traditional, family style, show-up-at-service-time-and-eat-what-we-give-you variety.

ok..I digress. Excellent deconstruction of the disappointment that is HK, Tony. Perhaps the next punishment should be to harvest lamb fries -- using the traditional sheepherder technique.

--parkbench

[EK]

I don't watch this show. But you mention R. Lee Ermy and skull-fucking in the same essay. I think I'm in love.

[jen]

Gordon Ramsay should stun some of those "chefs" with the same device they used on his F-WORD show to slaughter the baby lambs.

Agreed, my culinary skills seem expert compared to the bunch of nitwits the Fox Network has chosen to "run" his kitchen. Crikey, with a little instruction, shouldn't even a marginal cook be able to replicate a dish as easy as pan seared scallops? This isn't brain surgery cooking, folks, its British food.

[k]

Hmm... I made it through all of five minutes of this show. I tuned in not so much because I really wanted or expected to enjoy it, more just out of curiosity... All I took away from it was the same sort of sadistic amusement I get from watching the series of impending train-wrecks over on food network...
It's the sort of programming that we cringe to watch, find ourselves questioning why we are still watching, and yet still feel somehow almost sickly entertained... our brain pleads against it while our hand refuses to hit the power button on the remote...

Unsurprisingly, all I could think about during those five agonizing minutes was the BBC series 'Chef!'- the main differences being that a)one eventually realizes Blackstock isn't a complete sociopath, and b)Chef was fictional... HK unfortunately involves real people being subjected to that sort of behaviour, all for the sake of 'entertainment'.

I'm just glad that Bourdain watches and rants about this stuff so I can be properly dissuaded from doing the same.

[Vinotas]

Well, unsurprisingly, I have to agree with Bourdain's take on HK. I watched it a few times in the previous seasons and enjoyed it despite Ramsay's shouts and abuse. This season, however, is not about food, it's not even about the chefs and their talent (or lack thereof), it's all an endurance test to see how long you can take a loud, foul-mouthed Brit screaming at you.
And who the Hell picked these jokers?
Were they lined up at a soup kitchen (not cooking mind you, but eating there)? Calling them rejects from Top Chef insults Top Chef, a show that is actually about cooking and being creative.
But this HK is just plain ridiculous. It's not even fun in a Springeresque fashion, it's just plain abuse for the sake of abuse. In the Roman Empire, this would have been held in the middle of the Colisseum, with lions circling the edges of the kitchen, the weak and bewildered getting tossed to the slobering animals (Aaron would have been a mighty feast indeed).
If anything, this show is degrading and demeaning to Ramsay as well. After watching his BBC Kitchen Nightmares, I really liked the guy and thought he was trying to do right by the small restauranteur (loved the day he got served a rancid scallop and puked on camera).
But this?
This is just being an asshole for the sake of being an asshole.
OK, rant over, off to lunch at Les Halles (ironic, eh?).
Cheers!

[eat4fun]

Basque country! Whenever I'm in Bakersfield, my wife's family takes us to their favorite Basque eateries, Noriega Hotel or Pyrenees are our favorites. Simple food but very delicious. I missed out on the tongue and oxtails, but was served a fantastic lamb stew. My family shys away from lamb, which is okay. Just more for me! :-) I'm still craving the lamb stew and that was 2 months ago.

Aaron is an actor and faking it? Great! The potential scandal makes for more compelling TV.

[roebear]

i dont watch hells kitchen, but my a.m crew at the restaurant does. every lunch service on the day after that show, all my cooks seem to appreciate my bad language a little more and they yell out "yes chef" a little louder on pick-ups.

[Rachael]

I made an attempt to watch Hell's Kitchen but gave up quickly. As I'm a horrible chef, my enjoyment in cooking shows comes from watching people who know what they're doing perform tasks I could never tackle. After watching some of HK I slowly began to realize something horrific: these people probably handle a kitchen just as well as I do. My god, how bad do you suppose they are? My salmon loaf may actually top whatever it is they come up with!

Isn't it scary when you think that a show like Food Network Star almost seems to have "more" in the actual realm of "cooking?" That is, if you think that a gob of vegetables with potato chips stuck in is an inventive form of pot pie... Mmm, I could go for some pot pie slop and deep fried meatloaf right now.

At any rate, though Bourdain probably won't care much: I was somewhat tickled the other day here in San Francisco when I was at a MUNI stop and noticed the No Reservations posters up. Several older Chinese women were very amused by you and were gesturing at the poster quite a bit. Perhaps you've picked up some new fans?

PS: Where's the next portion of your Food Network Star update? I sit through that show every week despite blushing constantly and turning away every time a grown man cries about the pressure. The least you can do to ease my pain is spend some time skewering them each week.

[Clarke]

I saw 10 minutes of this show once, and it was all I needed to create deep seeded hatred for Ramsey. I wait for word that one of the contestants finally bitch slaps him like the punk he is. No one deserves to be berated like that - I don't care if you signed up for it or not. It's not about cooking.

This is exactly why Top Chef is the show to beat. And I'm in agreement with other posts here - let's hope the quality stays where it is (or gets better) and it doesn't turn into another "Survivor." I can see already how these shows can turn into an emotional train wreck.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, this season's HK isn't that great but I still like it better than Top Chef or Food Network Star.

All the hard work the contestants do on Top Chef gets knocked down by the judges. Same with FNS. OMG, I watched five minutes of that show the other day and had to turn it off. Watching Giada and Paula and the two unknowns sit there and shove food in their faces saying, "I don't like this." "Not enough seasoning." "Not enough salt in that." "The fruit was so cold it hurt my teeth." Shut the fuck up you pathetic bunch of whiny rich snots! It must SO easy to sit there on your fat asses getting paid the big $$ just to criticize someone else's cooking.

The kitchen crew on HK are a bunch of losers but at least they only have one judge telling them they are. HK is funny to me. I'm wondering when someone is going to fight back and give him a taste of his own poison. THAT would be even more funny.

I did think it was uncalled for when Chef Ramsay smashed that raw egg on the guy's jacket. He acted like that tyrant Marco P. White. I don't like White after reading what he did to Mario Batali in the book by Bill Buford called Heat.

[Skawt]

I would pay real money to see a show that had Gordon Ramsay in a room with Rachael Ray and Sandra Lee, just making them cry.

I could watch that for hours.

[fiat lux]

I watched a bunch of the 'Kitchen Nightmares' episodes and I came away thinking very highly of Ramsey. The cursing was a symptom of the larger problem: really crappy chefs and Ramsey's quite genuine outrage at their pathetic attempts to cook.

I'd really like to see some discussion of what it is that drives otherwise talented and intelligent chefs to do stunts like this (HK). Is it really just the money? Is it the misguided belief that any PR is good PR? Is it an attempt to create a "personal brand"? Ego? Or what?

Tony and Michael are both well suited to talk about this issue, and I hope to hear more on the subject in the future.

Along with the snark, of course. :)

[parkbench]

eat4fun: How could you talk about Bakersfield Basque joints and omit Woolgrowers?!

I'm in Fresno now and there's a couple of Basque restaurants, but I don't go to them. They can't hold a candle (they serve tongue in a cream sauce, which I cannot abide, and the veggies and soups all taste canned).

But that's okay -- I wouldn't expect Bako to outdo Fresno for Armenian food, either. Seems fair.

--parkbench

[buster brown]

FINNADAT. just so you know, he HAS OPENED IN NY. 54th street. times gave him one star.

[Sorcha]

Fiat, Gordon's said before that he never feels financially secure and that he's more or less a whore (his word, not mine *G*). So I'm guessing that he does these things, whatever his personal feelings, because of that. When I saw him on HSN, he was happy and animated while he was cooking, but when he was having to actually "sell" the cookware he was...well, he was subdued, is the best way I can think of to put it. It definitely looked like he was doing it because he felt he had to, not because he wanted to.

Of course, I'm kinda biased, because I really like the guy (as much as you can like someone you don't personally know, anyway), both when he's pissed off and ranting and when he's being helpful!Gordon to some beleaguered restaurant owner. So take my opinions with as much coarse sea salt as necessary. ;)

[Josette]

RI Swampyankee is correct. I've known Aaron for over twenty years. He not only has The Tea House, but he's also a caterer. The man can float around a kitchen like a ballerina.

[Sorcha]

So, he was having a good time pretending to be hapless, huh? I still say there's no way he's 48, but if you've known him that long I suppose he must be. He should sell his secret for looking young on the side, man.

[RI Swampyankee]

For what it's worth, Bill Buford recently wrote a facinating article on Ramsay.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/02/070402fa_fact_buford

[Vincent]

That short midget feller fuckling freaked me out.

[CarolinaGirl]

Vincent,
Eddie had a kidney condition that caused problems with his growth, kinda like Gary Coleman. I will concede in the words of the late , great Chris Farley he was not "camera friendly"

[Bob Schaffer]

I completely agree. The other seasons of HK seem to have people who know how to prepare a meal, this season I kept wondering, "What's the criteria for this show? These guys stink! I probably cook better then them!" I like Ramsays BBC shows too, and I've been to his NY outpost and loved it. Don't know why a chef of his caliber is sinking to this level.

[coffeepot]

watching HK and Top Chef make me never want to eat out ever again.

ugg

[chefwannab]

I agree, Tony. I couldn't get through one episode. My reaction was, I think they've deliberately chosen people with minimal, if any, cooking experience just so that they can fuck up royally and GR can yell at them. The fact that they are competing for an executive chef position at one of GR's restaurants in Vegas is laughable, and certainly turns me off the idea of visiting ANY of his restaurants. I wonder if Ramsay saw the final edits before they aired and realized how ridiculous he, and the show, look.

Chris, I loved your post - unfortunately some reality TV hack will probably steal one of your ideas and we may very well be subjected to "Flava Flav Cooks" or some such other nonsense! I constantly find myself begging for quality food programming that we, whether we are in the profession or just enthusiasts, can learn from but, alas, it becoming less and less about the food. At least Top Chef this season (so far) has had a lot less drama, but then again they've had to make room for more blatant and shameless sponsor plugs. (Still love it, though!)

[julie]

Why do people continue to glorify Ramsey? Even Bourdain, even Buford, seem to feel a need to mix lavish praise with fairly mild criticism.

The guy seems like a real psycho to me--who cares if he can cook? Buford's profile of him revealed that he actually FRAMED Marco Pierre White for stealing his reservation book, just to smear White's reputation and get good PR for himself (and manipulate their joint backers).

In the article, he hits some poor guy over some minor offense, the man falls to the ground with the sound of a loud "crack!" from Gordon him in the head--and feeling good about it. He reacts like a sociopath to the people around him--charming when he's on, a hateful madman when he loses it (usually over something trivial).

Ramsey's style of expensive, upscale, somewhat Frenchified English food doesn't appeal to me anyway, not when there are so many better restaurants to enjoy. And I see the "loyalty/love" of his staff as psychologically akin to boot camp...an abused spouse...the Stockholm Syndrome. I don't buy the "love" when you're being emotionally abused.

And enjoying having your four young kids raise lambs and then made to electric shock and butcher them? Empathy? No. Sadistic pleasure in others' discomfort and actual pain? Yes.

And Giada talked about JAG'S "demons" on TNFNS! What would Bob and Suzy say about this sicko?

[Jennie/Tikka]

Re: The Buford article.

I agree - Ramsay's obnoxious but he's not the worst thing you'll ever run into in a restaurant situation. Yelling is one thing - but worse things happen.

During my externship I worked in a place where one of the owners of the restaurant was also the GM. We were preparing for a food and wine pairing night, highlighting California Zinfandels. We were tasting them and the Majority Owner was asking us for our opinions on the wine. The GM knows absolutely nothing about wine or how to taste it. He had zero to comment. I was asked last (for obvious reasons) but made a comment about wine #3. It was good but it was about the pepperiest Zin I've ever tasted so I said so. Asked the other owner what was going to be served with it since it would need something pretty powerful to stand up to it. The Owner was impressed because I was the first person ever to ask that question. Normally everybody just says, "Mmmm, yummy!" and that's all.

Later, the GM came up to me in a fit of rage and said, "You made me look bad today." Well, what was I going to say - how do you compliment somebody who shotguns 8 different glasses of wine in a row when he's trying to taste them and then says, "I don't like any of them!"

A few days later he got me back. He set it up to look like I was cheating on my hubby of just barely two weeks (who he was supposed to be a friend of, by the way). He had everybody disappear from the restaurant right after making me work closing on a Saturday night and left me alone with the bartender. The bartender was doing everything he could think of to get me to fool around with him, all with Mr. GM poised to dial my hubby and pass it all along right outside the front door.

Fortunately my hubby was smart enough to figure out what was going on and well, the guy failed.

He also lost his part ownership in the restaurant, by the way.

[El_Español]

I have a great respect for Mr. Ramsay, for his work outside and inside a Tv Set.

I've eaten at his famous Royal Hospital Road, where after 4 hours of "show" I felt that the world had stopped. The food was superb. The front house was superb and the guys working at the brown kitchen were real craftmen. Even the Maitre'd sang Happy Birhtday in Spanish for us...It was an excellent experience... expensive, but truly good.

I live in London, UK, and I feel quite lucky as he's been very often on the TV.

"Boiling point" was one of the greatest documentaries about cooking I've ever watched. His beginnigs..

"Kitchen Nightmares", had all the ingredients to become a sucessfull series of a good TV thiller. I loved every bit of it and I hope we will get more. It's amazing to see how easy things can turn nasty, and how many people open a restaurant without haaving a clue how to run it.

"The F Word" is also a very good TV program where the spectator gets the best part of Ramsay, lots of family bits and good recipes.

But "Hell's Kitchen" is, sorry to say it, very American. I've just seen the first series,as the second ones are not yet here, and it was a bit over the top...sometimes looked like faked. It seemed that some of the "F*ck-Blod*-Hell-*sshole" situations were "on the script" as I'd never seen Gordon swearing that much -and the guy swears a lot!- and getting p*ssed so fast. Maybe the contestants were not as good as they should, as someone said before, but everything in these series looked weird. Bigger, louder and with much more swearing...I thought that they were getting wrong where fun was.

I believe that Mr. Ramsay should move away from those parameters, as someone said it will damage his image in the US. If he wants to promote his brand over the TV as a Adv campaign for his new restaurants in the States, the best idea would be to take as an example other TV programs like Top Chef where there is a real focus on what is required to become a "proper" chef....and where the guys know how to cook...most of them!

And please Gordon, f*cking hell, don't do it for the money!

[fendel]

I just watched a DVR'd episode of the F Word where one of the amateur cooks in the brigade burned the mushrooms... TWICE in quick succession. And Gordon, while clearly not pleased, stayed calm and reasonably civil.

On HK he would have goaded her as a "dumb blonde," called her a f*cking donkey, yelled in her face, and thrown the mushrooms on the floor. The Gordon of the F Word looks positively cuddly in comparison.

My SO won't watch HK, considers it an exercise in sadism. I find it absorbing in a train-wreck kind of way, but this season they seem to have chosen people who were guaranteed to generate maximum incredulous loathing from Gordon. Rock and the Waffle House cook are the only ones I can stand.

[Bob delGrosso]

El_Espanol

I wonder how your respect for Mr. Ramsay would fare after a week or two of stage in one of his kitchens?

Me, I'd sooner suffer having to answer "yes chef!" to Rachel Ray than spend a millisecond working for a foul-mouthed lout like him or Marco Pierre White. Gods know I have.

But I suppose that there is a bit of disconnect in the culture between those of us who have had to suffer abuse from myopic anger junkies and those who derive enjoyment from watching them on TV. In any case, I cannot imagine that you will find too many emotionally healthy professional cooks (or anyone who has worked in any field) who have ever worked for someone like that who admires them overmuch.

I'll end by abstracting a line from your comment which refers to you reaction to dining at Royal Hospital Road

"I felt that the world had stopped."

And wonder what your experience there might have been like if you were on the line and not on a banquette.

[Jennie/Tikka]

Along the lines of what Bob said - I'd rather stand in the path of an oncoming tornado than work in certain Chef's kitchens.

[t-scape]

As diners, should we temper a timestopping-meal experience with the knowledge that the chef who just made that meal is a jerk, and that working under him might suck?

[Jennie/Tikka]

I'll say this about that, t-scape.

I just spent my entire weekend in a mandatory Management training class. It was how to motivate an all-volunteer staff (vs. a paid staff that you can fire). You can' fire volunteers. They don't have to do what you tell them to do. When I'm supervising volunteers I don't get the option to yell, scream, throw things, etc., yet - I still have to motivate them to get their work done (sometimes very unglamorous work). That yelling option is off the table for me. Forces me to figure something else out. I'm curious to see what would happen if Chef's got the same parameters and were simply not able to go to their old stand-by abuse techniques.

There's a mystique among chefs that its necessary to act like you're satanically possessed or the food will suffer. Would it really? I'd like to test that theory.

[Jerry]

I watched one episode in utter amusement and shock. I'm a cook, by no means a chef, but hell I could do better than most people there. It's like they took the Top Chef rejects and put them together for a show. But despite the amusement, there is so much humiliation going on. Is Ramsey going to be the next Rocco?

[Jenni/Tikka]

I recall reading an article a few years ago about the fall-out that "reality t.v. stars" go through once they're done with their shows. After the show is done they have to live with the fact that all their bad behavior was paraded before a lot of people. A person's personal and professional reputation usually becomes damaged and/or destroyed after they've done a stint in reality t.v.

[t-scape]

But my question is from a diner's perspective, not from someone who works in the back of the house - should a chef's propensity to yell and lose his temper affect how I rate the food in the end? I mean, if that's going to be the case, I shouldn't even go to the restaurant in the first place, because what does the food matter if the chef is considered by some to be a bully?

[Jennie/Tikka]

Well, look at it this way: If you knew child-labor was involved in making your shoes would you still want to buy them? That's a personal question we all have to answer on our own.

[artnlit]

Yes. There is a difference between a bully and an asshole. The latter category is what we are talking about. The same theory could apply to any experience - shopping, dining, etc. If I see poor behavior/interactions, I am turned off, period.

[Jennie/Tikka]

American t.v. shows and movies all fall victim to the mentality of "If this much is good, more will be better, and going way-over-the-top will be better yet." If Rocky I, II, and III were good - Rocky 47 will be THE BEST YET. If Gordon Ramsay yelling is what people like - Gordon Ramsay having a complete psychotic break will be BETTER.

My guess is some network exec is out there saying, "Can we get blood to shoot out of his eyes???"

Like the song says, "It aint necessarily so."

(And goodmorning to you, Ms. Artnlit!)

[t-scape]

I think the jump from employees of someone like Gordon Ramsay to children who are subjected to forced labor is kind of large.

And see, a bully is considered by some to be an asshole, so the way I am reading this debate does not fall into one category or the other - some think he is a bully/a jerk/a maniac/etc, it's all the same to me. I'm not interested in defending Gordon Ramsay, I'm sure he can do that on his own just fine, but if someone says he greatly enjoys the food at one of his restaurants, then he enjoyed the *food* at one of his restaurants (as opposed to enjoying being an employee there). Should a diner put humself in a position when he dines out of wondering "Well, I loved the beef wellington, but I wonder what it's like to work here?" Because that is what I got from Bob's response to El Español, but I could be misreading it.

I get that if a chef or restaurant manager or whatever is a visible asshole to his employees that might affect your decision to eat there again - but if you've been there already and say "The food and service were great", then I think the issue of what the employees think of their chef is separate.

[Jennie/Tikka]

t-scape, I hear what you're saying, but my guess is if you asked that chef why his food was better than someone else's, he'd be likely to say, "Because I'm tough on my staff." Chefs like these fully believe that if they eased up the food would suffer. They don't have any faith in their underlings to be good linecooks without being beaten.

Could it be a coincidence that the food tastes good when the chef is a bully? Do the linecooks turn out great food IN SPITE of the chef, not because of the chef?

That's what I'd like them to think about.

[sara]

Padma - oh Bourdain, you will eat anything

[CarolinaGirl]

Great questions. My husband and I discussed Ramsey's temper and came to one conclusion which leads to another question. It is fairly established that he uses yelling and intimidation to communicate with his staff. This leads to the question....why do people work for him? (not just the camera hungry, but at his other establishments)Does free will mean nothing? Also what is his turnover rate? It would seem like it would be ludicrous.Are there any regulars of his who can address these musings? Also, does anyone know anything about past winners current relationships with Ramsey?
BTW I'll fess up... I will watch tonight to see them ruin some poor girl's wedding day. What bride would set herself up for this, if it is not staged the same way the cast is?

[parkbench]

whoa, sara...if you're referring to a certain Gawker piece that ran recently, they regret the VERY BIG error:

http://gawker.com/news/regret-the-error/anthony-bourdain-totally-not-dating-padma-lakshmi-274386.php

[sara]

Thanks and I apologize - just couldn't stomach the thought

[Bob delG]

"As diners, should we temper a timestopping-meal experience with the knowledge that the chef who just made that meal is a jerk, and that working under him might suck?"

Interesting question t-scape that could be asked about a lot of products that are associated with abusive working conditions e.g. diamonds, sneakers, chocolate.

I suppose that what we choose to think about when we consume something we have reason to suspect is linked to something we would not want to have happen to ourselves is a matter of personal choice.

I never been one to tell anyone what to think mostly because it's kind of pointless. But I tell you what- the day you read me slobbering praise on a guy who behaves like that is the day you need to call me out!

Finally I'll add that the ability to produce time stopping meals is not dependent upon the proclivity to act like an a-hole. So you've got lots of choices if you choose to reject the opportunity to eat at one of Ramsay's restaurants.

May I suggest El Bulli or Jean Georges as two restaurants that a run by consummate professionals?
Or perhaps The French Laundry -all reports suggest that Tom Keller, who by his own admission and an accounting by a friend who was his sous-chef at Prunelle, was a screamer in his early days is a very well mannered and brilliant chef.

[Claudia]

I agree with you, Bob - I have never believed that the ability to produce great food is predicated on the chef being a screaming tyrant. I think that was traditionally the mold of the professional chef (particularly the Europeans), and I think, as in the case of child abuse, the abused commis/line cook/sous chef can then "grow up" to be an abuser himself - it doesn't ALWAYS happen, but the pattern is there.

As for Gordon himself - yes, it's true he inspires a great deal of loyalty despite his screaming and abusiveness, but here again . . . is it because (a) he's tough but fair and inspires excellence, or is because (b) any smart sous knows that if he can survive Gordon long enough and prove himself, Gordo will inevitably give him his own restaurant within Gordon Ramsay Holdings? Or, as previously hypothesized, is it as simple as (c) the abused and browbeaten cooks have developed a kitchenized form of Stockholm Syndrome, in which the captive, so badly traumatized, now begins to identify with and rationalize his treatment by his captor? I'm not trying to suggest that cooks are all mentally fragile wussies who are crushed under the heel of their chefs and have no capacity to make independent judgment - hell, we all know better than that. But I am suggesting that, like grunts in the military, these guys have learned very well how to survive and adapt in the face of vicious screaming and soul-shredding abuse. Not unlike Catholic school kids (!)

[Jennie/Tikka]

There are very few routes to getting any type of professional credit in this business. There are very few routes out of poverty-level wages. If you want more than $8 to $10 an hour you have to move up. You are forced to do it the only known way: Hook up with a Chef who's got the Michelin stars (and there aren't many), put up with everything they hit you with for years (if you get an asshole), and finally get to do it your own way later on. It's STILL an apprentice system - and its one where the are very few checks and balances for the guy at the top.

[Bob delGrosso]

I agree with the what Jennie/Tikka and Claudia wrote in their most recent posts. I'm tired and don't have the chops to defend them now but I believe that what they said is real.

Night all

[lorettalockhorn]

Funny, I have no inclination to watch Ramsay berate his sycophants or whatever they are; nor do I care to eat anything that must surely be tainted with vitriole as his food must be. But I would (almost) pay money to see R. Lee Ermey tear GR a new asshole. Because if anyone is going to make a killing at being a drill sargeant in the world of make believe, it should be him, not the chef.

[Hunter]

My wife is looking to get an "Anthony Bourdain Special" tattoo while we are in Dallas. Whether its Absinthe, Guinness, an Absinthe fair tossing back a Guinness or just a personal note, my wife would LOVE a tattoo of your blessing/design/signature.

She can even get you a Ramones Onesie for your child in trade!

Please help out another guy.

[julie]

The moral dilemma over a product and the way it's been produced (whether by child labor...asshole tyrannical boss...animal torture, etc.) is an interesting one. I agree completely that it's something people should decide for themselves (but at least think about and take an interest in--that's MY judgmentalism showing!)

As for the question of "If you loved the food, wouldn't you still go there regardless of Ramsey?" for me, it would be "No." Maybe my morals would weaken if his was the ONLY restaurant with food I loved. But, at least for my tastes, there are PLENTY of equally pricey equally delicious (or better) restaurants so...not much of a moral dilemma for me. I'd go somewhere else and...enjoy.

[Claudia]

Hunter, I know of someone who can help you out. Please e-mail me at bukigreco@aol.com.

Getting back to great food and tyrannical chefs - I'm just glad I live in a city where I have he option of eating terrific food created by equally terrific chefs . . . Eric Ripert . . . Marcus Samuelson . . . the two Scotts, Bryant and Conant . . . all reputed to be VERY nice guys. With the exception of some really celebrated "bollockers" like Ramsay, White, etc., it's really impossible to know whether the person running the kitchen is that restrained, crisp professional in the white jacket we've been brought up to believe he is, or a screaming loon. But, as Jennie said, kitchens, right or wrong, are still an apprenticeship system and, unless that changes, the culture itself will not.

[Claudia]

Oh, and for those who might have thought Gordon was up to his ass in shit on HK . . . well . . . now he really is:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a84_1179313455

[Jennie/Tikka]

Karma strikes again!

[corey3rd]

How does anyone apply to go on that show without being able to crank out Beef Wellington and risotto? It's like going on Jeopardy without knowing how to press the button.

I don't care how good the food is, I'm not munching on bread for 3 hours. If I want to wait 3 hours for food - I'll cook a butt roast.

Ramsay has destroyed his rep this season with the show. he's got a group of dorks in the kitchen and he's not giving them a crash course in how to work together. It's like he's auditioning the new Three Stooges. Curly could win this show. Joe Besser can top The Rock.

[parkbench]

Hey! A fellow Roper!

I gave up on HK with last night's show. I was slaving away in my own kitchen when the Significant Other switched the channel to the Henry Rollins show over on IFC about halfway through.

Henry Rollins hotness trumps Gordon Ramsay hotness. And the first half hour of HK just was more same old, same old. That pretty much leaves me down to Top Chef 3, until the new season of F Word shows up on BBC America, as far as food teevee goes (alton brown excepted).

--parkbench

[Sorcha]

That's not karma, Jen, that's PeTA. Not at all the same thing. ;)

[fendel]

I read in an interview that they didn't have thermometers for the Wellington. I have to admit, I'd be lost without mine. I don't know whether they were wanting to avoid holes in the pastry or just being sadistic in withholding thermometers.

[Jennie/Tikka]

A Henry Rollins fan!?!? COOL! I fell for him way back in his Black Flag days!! :D I still hear "Rise Above" every time I look at him!

[Evan Elliot]

"And when will someone ultimately come up with shows that actually TEACH cooking, TEACH people how to select good produce and use it, TEACH people good kitchen practices, and expand their culinary horizons??"

Chris: Have you seen "Good Eats" by Alton Brown on Food Network? He does all of these things that you mention.

[Evan Elliot]

"And when will someone ultimately come up with shows that actually TEACH cooking, TEACH people how to select good produce and use it, TEACH people good kitchen practices, and expand their culinary horizons??"

Chris: Have you seen "Good Eats" by Alton Brown on Food Network? He does all of these things that you mention.

[NvG]

So people REALLY think this show is real?!

1. It's a reality show. Therefore, it is not reality; it's scripted. There are writers, there are casting calls, and yes, specific types are sought.

2. It's brought to us by the illustrious carnies at FOX.

3. It's a cooking show in the same way that it's possible to dance about architecture. (Was that from Tom Wolf, or John Waters? I can never keep them straight. --but you get the idea.)

4. WWF-worthy personalities: who wouldn't watch Crying Fainting Asian Cowboy throw down with that strange bossy redheaded woman with the soul patch, both in full superhero regalia?

It all adds up to roller-derby-style entertainment, with barely-bleeped spittle-encrusted swearing. It's a total fraud, and we (HK's remaining viewers) are the fucking donkeys of the piece. And it's a particularly welcome diversion from whatever political asshattery is going on.

Top Chef, on the other hand? yaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwnn. Premise is more or less in the same ballpark. Less screaming and less food is thrown. Yet the show is only slightly more believable, and the challenges are less than gripping.

Say what you will about Iron Chef in any of its incarnations, but I do trust that the constestants on that show can actually cook. When I watch HK, TC, or whatever the Food Network's version is called, I can never sufficiently suspend the belief that none of the contestants are capable of much beyond assembling a reasonably boiled Kraft Dinner.