Accepted under the mentorship of your idol and the world's hottest chef Gordon Ramsay, you must prove your skill and determination through competing in Hell's Kitchen- A month long cooking contest versus fifteen other fierce contestants and difficul...
The next morning, the red team wake up around the same time and get ready together. There's a general air of happiness around, which is welcome. Hopefully with everyone feeling good we can knock this next dinner service out of the park.
Sous Chef Christina comes to collect us all from upstairs, and we all follow her into the kitchens.
Chef Ramsay stands at the front as per usual. I wonder if the chef's jacket that he's wearing was one that I'd ironed for him. The thought that it could be makes me smile a bit.
"Good morning, Chefs!" Gordon calls out to us.
"Good morning, Chef!" we respond cheerily.
"I know how badly you all must be missing dinner service, eh?" he muses.
A few of us groan playfully, to which Gordon grins.
"It has been quite a while since we've had an elimination, and your grace period ends now. Both today and tomorrow, one of you will be sent home. I want to see everyone on their best behavior. Now, today there will not be a challenge because we have a whole lot of prep to get Hell's Kitchen prepared for family barbecue night! My family will be here, so please don't embarrass me." Gordon gives us a pleading look.
I feel my body tense up. Gordon's family will be here? That obviously includes his children. I hadn't considered how meeting his children might go. I wonder what their understanding of Tana's boyfriend is. Hopefully both Gordon and Tana can tell me what's expected of me when it comes to the children. I try to loosen the tension in my body with a few deep breaths.
When I get my brain reorganized from the sudden onslaught of questions, Gordon's voice tunes back in.
"We'll be making beautiful grilled steaks, hamburgers, pulled pork sandwiches, cedar plank grilled fish, with shrimp kebabs and vegetable kebabs served table-side. Obviously, pulled pork will take a while in the slow cooker, so please get started on that first. While the pork is cooking, peel and de-vein all the shrimp for the kebabs. The rest of the prep should be self explanatory, yeah?" Gordon looks at us expectantly.
"Yes, Chef!" we respond as Sous Chefs Scott wheels out a cart with six slow cookers to the center of the room.
"Each team will have three slow cookers to tend to. Go on and grab one and get started on the pulled pork!" Gordon claps, then turns on his heel and takes the stairs to his office two at a time.
Our team brings our slow cookers in, and we start on prepping the pulled pork. We work together in great harmony now that Bella has stopped trying to be snarky with everyone and is being helpful instead. We finish our slow cooker prep much before the men, and then head to the metal end table at the front of the kitchen that has a big container full of cold salt water and shrimp.
The process of de-veining a shrimp always gives me a squicky feeling. It doesn't help that Gordon always gets the absolute freshest ingredients.
I look for the first hinge on the shrimp's head, just below its eyeballs. I then cut right through it and remove the head. Now, I have to pull all the little legs off and then the shell. I slide off the tail and set the shrimp down on the cutting board. I slice my knife along the outer curve of the shrimp then fish out the vein with the tip of the knife before cleanly removing it from the meat. Finally, I set the shrimp in cool water to wait until we're ready to grill them.
Only a few hundred more shrimp to go... sigh.
After a long while, we manage to finish up the shrimp and move on to the rest of our prep work.
Service closes in. Gordon appears at the head of the kitchen to assign us to stations.
"Bella on meats, Gina on garnish, Mary on appetizers, Taylor on fish and I want (Y/N) to serve our kebabs table-side, right?" Gordon passes his eyes over each of us, and we all nod.
I gulp down some air. He wants me table-side? Now, not only will his family be in the dining room, but I'll be out there around them the entire time! If I make a fool of myself, I'm sure Tana and the kids will see it.
"(Y/N), stay in the kitchen and help with appetizers until we get to entrees, then head out and do your magic for the crowd, yeah?" Gordon smiles at me.
"Of course, Chef." I nod and try not to betray my anxiety. Ordinarily, I'm sure Gordon would have caught on and pressed me for a reason as to why I've tensed up but thankfully he either doesn't notice or spares me the embarrassment of having to try and make up a reason as to why I'm heating up before the stoves are on.
The last step to complete prep is to shred the pork from our slow cookers. Taylor, Red, and I each take a hunk of pork from the slow cooker and get to work on shredding it with two forks. The meat is tender, juicy, and shreds easily. Once done, I put the shredded pork back into the juices of the slow cooker to marinate until it's needed for service.
"Everyone ready?" Gordon asks us, tilting his head from the front of the kitchens.
"Yes, Chef!" we shout back.
"Excellent. Jean-Philippe, would you do the honors of opening Hell's Kitchen for family barbecue night?" Chef Ramsay directs the question over his shoulder.
"Oui, Chef." Jean-Philippe walks to the front of Hell's Kitchen and opens the flood gates for parents and their small children to come streaming in.
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