I think we can all agree that Hell’s Kitchen is the consummate train wreck of culinary reality TV. But if this is the case, why am I, and so many other people completely addicted? I even have a season pass set for it on Tivo. Do we tune in en masse each week just to watch grossly under-qualified cooks be shamed and ridiculed by Gordon Ramsay? Why do I care if Julia can actually make a Beef Wellington correctly, and when are these people ever going to get that nasty looking pea risotto perfected? Probably never, but after sticking with the show all summer long, they’re finally down to the final two contestants. Pastry chef, Jen Yemola was axed this week and now Ramsay has pitted Rock Harper, the clear odds-on favorite who is already an experienced Executive Chef, against Bonnie Muirhead, the whiny and perky Nanny/Personal Chef. Now I’d like to think that Rock will win. Obviously he’s the individual with the most appropriate resume to run a restaurant, but my odds are on cute as a button Bonnie and her wide eyed ingenue-in-the-kitchen act. Who do you think will walk away victorious from Hell’s Kitchen, and who will Gordon Ramsay browbeat into tears? Tune in next week to find out!
(Originally posted on the Well Fed Network’s blog Edible TV)