July 16, 2008
Fans of Hell's Kitchen may miss Gordon Ramsay's endless yelling now that the series has wrapped up its fourth season. Those who can't wait until season 5 to hear the temperamental chef call people "donkeys" will be happy to hear that a Hell's Kitchen video game is in the works. Ubisoft, which has also created games based on shows like CSI and Lost, will develop the title, which will feature a digitized Ramsay guiding players through high-pressure kitchen and dining room challenges. Anyone who owns a PC, Nintendo Wii or DS can have Ramsay yell at them personally when the game hits stores in September.
July 10, 2008
Christina has been fairly busy since winning the grand prize on Hell's Kitchen, and she hasn't even clocked in for her first day of work at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant just yet. Since filming completed in late 2007 she's graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, taken a trip to Dubai that she won on the series, and prepared to move to Los Angeles to start working at The London West Hollywood. Christina took a break from packing her bags to sit down and talk with us about her whirlwind experience on the reality series. She opened up about her future plans, the struggles she had during the final dinner service, and her reaction to some of the things her teammates said during the course of the show.
Read on for the mp3 and complete transcript of the interview.
July 9, 2008
Petrozza wasn't your typical Hell's Kitchen contestant. While his teammates often stooped to backstabbing and bickering to get ahead, the 47-year-old caterer always managed to keep a positive attitude and a wealth of integrity. Gordon Ramsay chose him as the best of the worst on more than one occasion, and when he stepped up and won the signature dish challenge last week it looked like he might have a shot at winning the grand prize. However, after the bustling dinner service seen on last night's season finale, Ramsay gave young upstart Christina the chance to work at his restaurant. Petrozza may not have left with a job at The London West Hollywood, but he did leave with his integrity and sense of humor intact.
Today we had a chance to talk with Petrozza about his final dinner service, why he chose Jen over Matt, and why he thinks Christina ultimately won the competition. Read on for the complete transcript and mp3 of the interview.
July 8, 2008
We started this season of Hell's Kitchen with 15 chefs competing for a position at Gordon Ramsay's new restaurant, The London West Hollywood. Now we're down to the top two. On tonight's exciting season 4 finale, Christina and Petrozza will battle it out to see who is more deserving of becoming a senior chef in Ramsay's kitchen. Will it be Petrozza, who has proven himself a team player and also has years of experience in the catering business? Or will it be culinary student Christina, who has won challenge after challenge and shown that she's not afraid to take charge? Now that both finalists have created their menus, chosen their decor and selected their staff, it's time for one last stressful night in Hell's Kitchen.
July 3, 2008
Though Gordon Ramsay is one of the most talented cooks in the world, Hell's Kitchen often seems populated with amateurs who aren't fit to stir risotto on the same stove as the master chef. With season 4 of the series offering one challenger the chance to work as an executive chef in Ramsay's own restaurant, it was especially important for the foul-mouthed culinary genius to weed out the "donkeys" and discover who has true potential. Ramsay has settled on two finalists who he believes have what it takes to survive at The London West Hollywood: Christina and Petrozza. Which of these chefs deserves the grand prize?
July 1, 2008
Last week on Hell's Kitchen, the three remaining chefs attempted to impress Gordon Ramsay by recreating one of his dishes based on nothing but a taste test. This led to Christina's third challenge win in a row, but she struggled along with the other players when Ramsay allowed everyone a chance to take charge of the kitchen during dinner service. This is when we learned that Corey doesn't like to yell at people, Christina has a screechy voice, and Petrozza can't spot an incomplete risotto. Despite everyone's leadership difficulties, Ramsay ultimately decided that it was Corey's turn to pack her knives and go.
Tonight on part one of the Hell's Kitchen season finale, the final two contestants make their signature dishes, design their own restaurants, and even meet Whoopi Goldberg! I'm not even joking about that last part. I hope someone asks her what it was like to star in Jumpin' Jack Flash.
June 30, 2008
This week, Hell's Kitchen will air part one of its two-part finale for this season. Thirteen chefs have already been eliminated, starting with stay-at-home dad Dominic, through Craig and his giant chef's hat, Bobby (the “black Gordon Ramsay”) and brassy Jen. Last week, Corey was most recent to be sent home, leaving Christina and Petrozza to battle it out for the top spot.
Going into the finale, there is one big question to be answered. No, not will the winner be Christina or Petrozza, rather: how are they going to generate two hours of material out of this showdown?
June 27, 2008
Once again this week, Hell's Kitchen unintentionally scores one for vegetarians when another trained palate is unable to discern the kind of protein used in a dish. Granted, Corey just mistook one kind of meat for another, but that, along with the challenge where the chefs didn't even realize they were eating meat substitutes, might give some veggies some ammunition about how important the taste of meat really is.
But that's really not the main point to consider when assessing how well the chefs did in this episode that brought the final three down to the last two standing, Christina and Petrozza. Of those three, though, beyond Gordon Ramsay's picks, who had the best performances of this episode of Hell's Kitchen and who fell flat?