Hell's Kitchen - the Holy Guacamole, Batman! Episode

Wow. Now first, let me say, I read Jay's excellent summary of the episode yesterday, so I knew what was coming - but still, seeing it in action was very interesting.

The challenge was really interesting. It was made more interesting by the number of Google hits I got here yesterday looking for something along the lines of "Hell's Kitchen Virginia Cheats". Now, even if the recipe was in the cookbook, I don't see that as cheating. She got the cookbook as part of a prize for winning a previous challenge - and Ramsay knew she had it because he signed it. So he very well could've chosen a dish that wasn't in his cookbook if he thought it was an issue. Plus, seriously, who goes home and reads cookbooks from cover to cover? I flip through them, but I don't commit recipies to memory - otherwise, what's the point of having the cookbook? And Virginia has already proven that she has a palate from the previous palate based challenge. So I don't see any basis for the "ooh, she cheated" commentary other than clear proof that Keith and Heather obviously wouldn't have recognized another taste that crossed their tongues: sour grapes.

I hope that Virginia took advantage of her cooking lesson - they didn't show a ton of it, so I'm guessing she did (because it really only would've made good tv if she hadn't and Ramsay had to berate her for screwing up an opportunity.) Instead they focused on Heather and Keith whining - but they were close enough that if they'd just shut up, they could've absorbed a little of the knowledge too. It's not like polishing glasses takes all kinds of effort and talent.

Dinner service showed leadership skills pretty clearly and I was a little surprised at how well Virginia did. She seems to have found her confidence, and that, to me, means she might actually have a shot - not just at winning, but at actually being successful in a leadership role (if not in the winning kitchen, then in another kitchen somewhere else.) I do think that her skills show her better prepared to be an executive chef than a line chef - she's not great at the pressure of running a station, but does well with the dish creation and expediting. I was a little surprised that Keith had such poor leadership skills - I really expected him to be able to back up his mouth with some action. In the end, while he did catch the overcooked spaghetti, I would've been confused by his wishy-washy leadership as well. Heather, well, Heather was herself and while she's competent she hit the nail on the head as far as second guessing herself and that's why she's so inconsistent.

In the end, with Keith mouthing off, it definitely was the right choice to send him home. He's a good line chef but doesn't have the leadership qualities to pull off being in charge. As for the final - honestly, I think it could go either way. And at this point, I'd love to see Virginia win and most of that is because of what she said to Ramsay when she defended her right to stay. She is teachable. She's willing to grow - she craves growth. She understands that she doesn't know it all and is seeking mentoring. That kind of attitude is going to get her far in life. Heather would never admit that she had anything to learn from anyone - even Chef Ramsay. And while self-confidence is valuable and necessary, everyone can learn something from someone, and the "I'm always right" attitude isn't going to get you far with a kitchen full of very qualified chefs.

As for next week, I think it's going to be the biggest challenge the girls face - even including actually running a restaurant. Because at RedRock, the kitchen isn't going to be full of people who think they should be where you are and who respect you the way they respect a gnat - and/or are actively working against you. Seriously - these teams are going to be the most dysfunctional teams a leader will ever encounter, because in a work situation you can correct the problem - even if it means firing people - in this challenge, they're stuck. It'll be interesting to see what happens. In some ways, I think Virginia has a little bit of an edge because she hasn't gone around badmouthing everyone like Heather has, but we'll have to see. I'm looking forward to it.