Episode 2 recap

[PlatypusBen]

After a disastrous opening night, the remaining 11 contestants head back to the dorms for a much needed rest. In the bathroom, Dewberry and Elsie assure each other that there are no hard feelings. And in the lounge, the chefs tease Jeff for getting off the hook by not being nominated by Elsie.
The next morning, Scott and Mary Ann awake the contestants at 5:45am by banging pots and pans in their bedrooms. The sous chefs order the contestants to the kitchen ASAP. Chris takes his time and shows up seven minutes late, which Chef Ramsey immediately berates him for. He then gives the two teams a challenge. Cleaning squid.

After quickly demonstrating how to properly clean a squid by cutting off the tentacles, removing the guts and placing the tube over a cucumber to scrape the body clean, he tells the teams that the side that properly cleans the most squid – no tears in the body, no guts left behind – will win a private dinner prepared by and eaten with Chef Ramsey. The losing team will have to clean squid for the next night’s dinner service.

The red team properly cleaned six squid. Chris offered up four by himself, but Chef Ramsey rejects all but one as unacceptable. The blue team had five properly cleaned squid going into Andrew’s offering. But Chef Ramsey rejects it for having a hole in the bottom of the tube. The red team wins.

Following a break, Chef Ramsey calls the teams back to the kitchen for a training session. He runs them through the basics of his menu and cooking style. When training ends, the red team heads off to prepare for their dinner tonight. The blue team stays in the kitchen to clean dozens and dozens of squid. The red team sits in the dining room with Chef Ramsey, enjoying dinner, while the blue team can only look on from the kitchen, up to their elbows in squid guts.

The next day, the teams prepare for a second dinner service. In the red kitchen, Dewberry practices cooking lobster spaghetti, which will be his responsibility for the night. Moments before the house opens, Chef Ramsey announces that, as an additional punishment for losing the squid challenge, the blue team will be without air conditioning in their kitchen tonight. Sous Chef Scott helpfully pops a thermometer on the wall so the blue team can continually monitor the rising heat in their kitchen.

Dinner begins and the orders start to pour in. Chef Ramsey is looking for starters from the blue kitchen, but Wendy struggles right from the start. Over in the red kitchen, Dewberry successfully sends out his first lobster spaghetti. On the other side, Ralph jumps in and makes two risotto for Wendy, rescuing his team for now.

The red team delivers their first two entrees of the evening for delivery, but Jeff neglects to give them the vegetable garnishes. Because, unfortunately, Jeff has burned the spinach. The red team has to start the ticket over. Then Jeff spills a pan of tomato garnish. Things are not going well for Jeff. Ninety minutes into service, he’s slowing his team down. They’ve only served four entrees, whereas the blue team has served ten.

To help jumpstart his team, Chris uses his experience to help Elsie out on the meat section, Conversely, Andrew and Mary Ellen bicker over the doneness of a Beef Wellington. Mary Ellen leaves it in the oven too long and Chef Ramsey refuses to serve it. On the other side, Dewberry also delivers an overcooked Wellington and is also sent back to the starting line with it. Chef Ramsey continues to berate Dewberry and, in his haste, Dewberry spills oil into a pan, starting a small fire.

When Chef Ramsey asks Dewberry how long it will be for the Wellington, Dewberry has no answer. Chef Ramsey calls him useless and Dewberry begins to walk out. Only the desperate pleas of his teammates bring him back. Out in the house, a couple of customers tire of waiting and ask Chef Ramsey if they’ll be getting food soon. Hungry, they order pizza.

In the blue kitchen, Mary Ellen finally has a handle on her section, but Andrew tries telling Sous Chef Scott that she’s struggling to get the meat temperatures correct. Scott frankly tells Scott that that’s not how he saw in. In the dining room, the pizza arrives. Jean Philippe tries to turn it away, which leads to a confrontation with a diner. The entire party is ejected. Seeing the fracas, Chef Ramsey once again orders the restaurant closed.

Chef Ramsey consults the customer comment cards to determine the winning team. Because nearly half of the red tables never received an entrée, the blue team is declared the winner. Chef Ramsey congratulates Chris for turning things around tonight, then asks him to nominate two teammates for elimination. Following some deliberation, Chris names Dewberry and Jeff.

Although Chef Ramsey thinks Jeff is a terrible cook, he eliminates Dewberry for walking out on his team.