Hell's Kitchen Season 4 - Page 7

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

The Executive Chef position, from what I've heard about previous winners, is mainly a figurehead position. Ramsay wants you to at publicity events and to hang with customers for photo op. It's like being a celeb greeter at a casino or putting on the mouse suit at Chuck E Cheese. The first two winners aren't part of Ramsay's empire and last year's Rock is now doing public relations for the Green Valley Ranch and the restaurant instead of cooking.

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

I admit I have never eaten at a "fancy" restaurant. I prefer real food over the stuff most of these chefs make. But I was wondering if the chefs really touch your food all the time? I don't like the idea that these dirty hands are poking my food just to tell if it is cooked. They are professionals, they should know if something is cooked in other ways I would think. Watching this show just confirms to me that upscale places are not for me.

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

The chefs I know wash their hands—and are far, far more concerned about hygiene and food than non-professionals. Touching food (such as a steak) in order to determine if it is cooked to the degree the customer requested (e.g. medium-rare) is commen—and expected.

Just a question Scott—as your preferences are your own, but what in your mind constitutes real food? For me it is the avoidance of using frozen or pre-processed foods and using the freshest ingredients available. Of course with some types of food it is almost impossible to not use some ingredients that have been frozen (why I use the term ’avoidance’). This is true regardless of how much you pay or where you eat. A roadside taco stand most probably serves ‘real’ food, while most chain restaurants rarely do. Most upscale places of the ilk that Ramsey runs do serve real food (which of course may not be to your taste—but that does not make them less real).

And there are many expensive places that rely on pre-processed foods and would not meet my test of ‘real’ food.

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

I agree that pre-package food isn't real either.

What I am thinking of as "real food" is food that fills you up. Food that isn't all prettied up in a "presentation" with colored sauces drizzled in patterns. Food that isn't all about "show".

I love a good steak (filet) with a couple of good side dishes. Including a baked potato etc.

I know that the fancy places have filets but they also want way to much money for them.

My List of "Real Food":

Prime Rib, Baked Potato and veggies.
Pizza
Angus Burgers
Most Mexican and Italian foods.
etc.

and here is an example what I think is NOT real food:


I mean, come on. That would barely fill up a super Model.

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

I tend to agree with Scott. A lot of the time watching this show, I wondered where the real food was.

I hate the micro desserts served on 3-foot plates with sauce drizzled everywhere except on the food.

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

To be fair, it's pretty much a given that if you are eating food portioned as seen in Scott's picture, there is often multiple courses. Generally in "fine dining," the goal isn't to cram as much food of a single type (or whatever) onto a single plate, but to spread the meal out over courses (even the steaks that appear on the show aren't that large). As such, a great deal is made about the appetizers and salads and whatnot, because each and every customer (it is assumed) is ordering an appetizer in addition to an entree, and then a desert.

In my opinion, it is fine to have a meal in either manner, be it spread around in various courses, or all together at once (save desert, of course). However, I don't think it's appropriate to mash the two together, as is the norm these days at most "normal" restaurants. People order an entree, and are pleased to see large portions of "real food." However, more often than not, they have also ordered an appetizer, which was in all honesty, big enough to be an entree in its own right. Then comes the desert, which is so massive that it too is essentially a meal by itself.

I'm not trying to imply that people get fat by eating too-large portions, but merely stating that in a curious turn of fate, what passes for "real food" these days is actually far from it (due to large portions), while fine dining, when done "properly," is, for the most part, well portioned (in the larger framework of the meal).

I guess what I'm saying is that if you go to a fine dining restaurant and only order a single entree, you are doing it wrong

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

But a single entree is all I can afford at those places. LOL

Also, if a place has a snooty Matrade' ( I know that is probalby not correct spelling, but I don't care enough to look it up), I bet I wont like it. John-Phillipe is a prime example of what I hate about "fine Dining".

LOL, I am an Anti-snob I know. Dress codes, more than 2 forks, meals that take an hour to get to your table are all things that would make we not want to eat there.

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

You don't think that only happens at upscale places, do you?

The chefs at upscale places are probably more likely to be very careful about keeping their hands clean than those serving more, um, earthy fare.

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

you haven't heard those stories about McDonalds employees and the big mayo jar?

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

Dude, I was a McDonald's employee. . .back when it was cool.

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

Not to appear to be harping on you (I'm really not trying to!), but another aspect of fine dining is that traditionally your meals come VERY fast, despite the debacles on Hell's Kitchen. Generally speaking, you should be getting your appetizer about 15 minutes after you order, and your entree should come just as the last person at the table is finishing their appetizer. Deserts likewise should either follow immediately after your entree, or allow for time for after-dinner conversation/drinks/coffee/etc. But generally, if the restaurant is worth its salt (no pun intended), food should come prompt and hot (or cold, as it fits), and just the way you ordered.

cheers!

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

About the portion sizes – I have an amusing story about them.

I had a good friend who was the head chef at his family owned four star rated restaurant. I would always give him crap on why his place wasn’t a five star, but only a four….He finally had enough of that, and told me that the reason they were only a four star restaurant is that their portion sizes were too large, and the reviewers felt too full because they would eat everything on the plate when performing a review. He said that he would rather fill people up, and maybe have them leave with a doggie bag, then skimp down the portions so that some reviewer would not feel too full and give them the extra star. After knowing that, if you want larger portions, look for the four star restaurants instead…

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

That's a pretty stupid reason to ding a place in a review- how about not eating it all if the portion is too large for you?

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

"how about not eating it all if the portion is too large for you?"

I guess part of the star review process is checking the portion size – to get the five star rating, the portion size needs to be such that you are no too stuffed after completing the service.


My friend the chef wasn’t too happy about it either, which is why he was more than happy to get the four star rating, and the reason it wasn’t a five star restaurant is that portion size was too large…He would rather have the portions be too big for some, then to have some people walk away still being hungry…

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

Everyone should choose places where they feel comfortable and eat what they want and like. But places that serve food one does not care for, or that is served in a style that one does not like, does not mean that the food is not real.

Real (at least for me) does not refer to portion size.

Real does not mean that the food cannot be served attractively.

Real does not mean that the food cannot be served in a setting that is attractive.

And I think the converse also. Just because food is served in large portions, does not mean that the food is real.

Food that is just thrown on a plate with no attention to placement does not make the food real.

Sitting in a booth with a gingham tablecloth or at a counter with a Formica top does not make the food real.

Serving fresh food, properly prepared is what makes food real.

Pizza for example can be (and often is at many chains) made in mass at a central location, frozen and shipped to restaurants where it is popped in a microwave or oven and served to customers. This is hardly real food.

Or it could be made from pre-prepared shells, topped with canned sauce and topped with some fresh and some canned ingredients and decent cheese. This is getting somewhat closer to real food.

Or pizza can be constructed from dough made that day at the restaurant, spread with a tomato sauce made on the premises, topped with fresh ingredients, including, buffalo milk mozzarella and baked in a wood-burning pizza oven. Now this is real food—regardless of where it is served.

The same with prime rib and veggies—the same with burgers—the same with Italian—the same with Mexican (for example does the salsa come from a jar or was it made with fresh tomatoes and chilies, both perhaps roasted before being combined).

Now if the picture shown by Scott has been made from a selection of indifferent ingredients with little attention paid to taste, it won’t make any difference how it looks—the food won’t be real. On the other hand, just because it is not a burger does not mean that it is not.

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

> Pizza for example can be (and often is at many chains) made in mass at a central location, frozen and shipped to restaurants where it is popped in a microwave or oven and served to customers. This is hardly real food.

The location where it is made hardly makes it real or not. That pizza you describe is still real, unless the crust is plastic or something.

Real means real, not fresh or gourmet or prepared from scratch. That's why we have other words for those things.

I don't care much what food looks like, but what it tastes and smells like. If I want to see pretty food, I can turn on the food channels or look at a magazine, but food is for eating, not staring at.


I had never seen previous seasons, so I've started watching season 1 on DVD. I was pleasantly surprised that it is unbleeped and unblurred, so we get to hear Ramsay tell a diner to fuck off and tell a contestant the food tastes like dog shit. So much better to hear what he actually says.

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

Off-topic but related to the above--has anyone else been watching the S3 reruns on Fox Reality channel? Although the episodes are still bleeped/censored, I like how they include numerous post-season interview snippets/videos from the contestants and the show producer; you get to hear some interesting stuff not revealed during the in-show interview segments. Example--they showed one camera shot of Eddie (I think that was his name--he was the short guy who looked like a teenager) staring at Bonnie's (who was wearing just a t-shirt and underwear) rear while she was reaching up to grab a cookie jar. Also FWIW--post-season Julia looked a lot cuter than she did during the season...

Re: Ramsey telling a diner to ****-off--LOL I got a laugh out of a S3 episode where Ramsey tells the wedding planner to go the **** away during the dinner service; the planner had that look on his face like, "Did he just really say that to ME?"

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

I also don't think that real is a synonym for frozen, canned or large.

Since you think that a frozen pizza is real, then we can never agree.

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

Sorry, but I use words to mean what they mean, and don't make up definitions.

At what temperature does pizza become fake?

I'm just curious, because I assume if Ramsay served pizza, it would be real, so when I take some of it home and put it in the freezer, how long would it take until it is no longer real?

If I just put it in the fridge, will it become just partially real, or does it have to get much colder to become fake?

If I put cash in the freezer, does it become counterfeit?

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

As soon as it froze - at which point it might be real, but not real good

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

Since it was me that derailed this topic, I guess I should chime in.

When I talked about "real" food, I was thinking about food that is filling, satisfying and at a reasonable price. I wasn't really taking about "real" as in not fake. Although the food in the picture I posted is fake in my eyes. That food in the picture was more about art and show, than about consumption.

I guess I am just not into the fancy stuff. Plus, I simply can't see spending more than $20 for a meal. I bet there is nothing under $20 at any of Ramsay's restaurants.

Having said all this, I will admit that Gordan Ramsay is probably one of the few big time chefs that I think understands that food is more than show. I watch him on Kitchen Nightmares (English version) and he does seem to actually like foods closer to what I would actually like.

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

Also, from the plates we've seen on the show, it seems to me that the portion sizes of the dishes are actually pretty hefty. The risotto in particular looks quite filling, as does the beef wellington (if you can manage to get one that isn't burnt ).

Re: Hell's Kitchen Season 4

LOL--you'd probably have a better chance of getting one that isn't burnt than you would a crab cake cooked by a particular Season Three chef who happens to share the same first name as yours.

Sorry--couldn't help myself...