Hell’s Kitchen Season 11 Episode 1: Welcome Back to the Kitchen

Grab your fire extinguisher and press that bleep button, it’s time for another season of “Hell’s Kitchen.”

This season’s opening sequence has to be the corniest one yet. The kitchen appliances have turned into killer robots and the chefs kill them off using kitchen tools in a robot apocalypse style scenario?

Regardless of those initial feelings,“Hell’s Kitchen” has outdone itself this season.

The contestants arrived in LAX airport and were greeted by “Hell’s Kitchen’s” black bus. They think they were headed there until the bus went back into the terminal. Ramsey appeared on the bus’s video screen and told them they were going back on a plane heading to Las Vegas. So the chefs arrived in Vegas and were taken on a tour. They were then taken a new feature called “Las Vegas 4D experience” where they were taken onto a stage in front of an audience.

Ramsey, coming out of the audience, announced the grand prize: head chef at Gordon Ramsey Pub and Grill at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Also, for the first time in “Hell’s Kitchen,” the signature dish challenge will take place in front of a live audience. Jacqueline said she wasn’t expecting to cook that day. You’d think after watching ten seasons you’d know that a “Hell’s Kitchen” contestant is expected to cook at the drop of a hat.

Some highlights of the tasting were Barret has the “Hell’s Kitchen” logo shaved into his hair which amazed Ramsey. Too bad his pork loin didn’t amaze due to having a ton of garlic. “No wonder your (bleep) hair is standing up,” said Ramsey. When it was Nedra’s turn, she asked for a prayer before Ramsey tasted her dish. Her prayer:” Lord, please don’t let Chef bust my balls.” He didn’t.

Other good ones include Jeremy not knowing which cut of steak he used and Ray revealing he’s the oldest ever contestant on “Hell’s Kitchen.” The best were Ramsey’s comments on Dan’s Eggs Benedict. “Did you throw up on that plate? Julia Child would be turning in her grave right now if she saw that,” and “it’s fitting that you made this in Vegas because whoever eats that is sure to get the craps,” stole the show.

In the end, the women won 5-4. Their prize was a day in Las Vegas and a Celine Dion concert. The men had to go back to Hell’s Kitchen in a school bus. It was worse for these guys because they had to travel through Death Valley and the entire trip was eight hours. Not to mention Sebastian could not shut up half the ride, annoying the other men and the bus breaking down halfway at night in the middle of nowhere.

The next day Gina was not feeling well and had to see the medic. Turned out she just had some kind of breakdown and needed to be away for a while. She’ll no doubt be one of the first to go home. That day Ramsey told the chefs that he guaranteed a perfect dinner service. Yeah, like that’s going to happen.

In other news, Jean-Philippe is back. Where was this guy hiding these past three years?

The first dinner service went exactly as you’d expect: a disaster. It was a game of who goes first.

Let’s start with the men. Sebastian undercooked his very first risotto and then made a super spicy pasta. He got kicked out for calling Zach “Zachy Wacky.” Michael and Barret were next to get thrown out because they couldn’t coordinate on meat. Jeremy got a flare up on meat and got thrown out because he couldn’t remember the order that was told to him multiple times in a few seconds. Jon and Dan followed due to burned risotto and Ray got tossed for tasting said risotto with his fingers. Anthony rounded up the losers by making another bad risotto. Zach was left to fend the Blue Kitchen all by himself which caused him to throw up. He did manage to finish dinner service. Kudos to the man.

The women did a lot better. The only ones that got thrown out were Gina for bad scallops, Jacqueline for getting a bottle of water, Susan for messing up her garnish because she was babysitting Danielle and Danielle for her inexperience cooking in a brigade. Danielle even asked the other chefs after service who worked in a brigade before. Everyone raised their hand.

Sure enough, the men lost and had to choose two people for elimination. They chose Jeremy and Sebastian. Sebastian got the can.

This season looks to be a huge improvement over last season. It’s much more entertaining and the chefs are a lot more likeable. Zach so far seems like a front runner and Gina seems like an early exit.