Bitesize 17 - More Reality TV Gone Mad: Opening Too Soon - Hell’s Kitchen
Personally, I’m not a big fan of Reality TV, but “Hell’s Kitchen” is something I just can’t tear myself away from. British Chef Gordon Ramsay has opened a dual-kitchen restaurant in Los Angeles, California called Hell’s Kitchen. As part of the restaurant’s opening, he has two teams, red and blue, cooking for the restaurant patrons while simultaneously vying for the grand prize: their own restaurant to run.
Most of the contestants have no professional cooking experience. Some of them can’t even seem to cook, period. So it’s interesting to see their faces when Chef Ramsay lays into them. Even the 4 or so professional chefs competing are drop-jawed when Chef Ramsay yells at them or belittles them personally.
If you’ve seen the show or even just the trailers, you’ve probably seen Chef Ramsay yelling and insulting the contestants. Having been a line cook myself, I’m no stranger to being yelled at by someone above me. But Ramsay is of an older breed of Chefs who seem to think that belittling and personally humiliating team members somehow builds character and eventually makes them better line cooks.
But lovable Ramsay goes one step further and aslo insults the patrons with the most unbelievable comments. I can’t believe that someone with the stature that he supposedly has would be so vicious. In the first episode, he told his maitre de to escort two attractive blondes “back to plastic surgery” after they inquired why it was taking over 2 hours to get their meals, or even their appetizers. In the second episode, he insulted yet another customer who very politely asked about the delay. (The design of the kitchen makes it very easy for customers to walk up to the other side of the kitchen and interact with the head chef or sous chefs, depending on who’s there.)
Watching Hell’s Kitchen sort of reminds me of the British TV comedy “Chef!”. But you could laugh at comedian Lenny Henry’s overbearing, cantankerous, perfectionist “chef” character. You can only shake your head at Chef Ramsay’s utterly rotten behaviour.
My own experience as a line cook tells me that, unfortunately, more head chefs behave like Ramsay than don’t. That includes young “head” chefs who are half the culinary master Ramsay is. There are other professions in which the “master” yells at and insults the student as part of character building exercises. In Ramsay’s case, he pretends that his behaviour is justified because the food has to be perfect to protect his reputation (and the health of customers). That’s understandable. And of course, insulting customers and insulting every one of your line cooks and belittling them to the point of tears is also important to the proper management of a restaurant.
Oh, by the way, in episode 3, one of the least competent contestants finally cracks and calls Chef Ramsay an “asshole”. The surprising part is the shocked look on Ramsay’s face, as if the contestant (who had been singled out and constantly belittled) had absolutely no provocation. Finally, a reality show actually interesting to watch, and proof positive that being a line cook is not at all a glamorous job.
(c) Copyright 2005-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://www.curryelvis.com
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