So, I regularly watch Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares on Food TV here in Toronto. I'm a foodie. What can I say?
And here's the thing: for all that Gordon swears like a sailor caught in the Doldrums, he's a caring guy who is very honest with the people he's helping out. Dare I say it... he's even gentle.
J and I were watching a recent episode where the Chef was a twinkie of about 21 and clearly not experienced enough to be heading up a kitchen. Hell, the poor kid couldn't even muster together a meal for his own parents and grandparents without burning the croutons for the French Onion Soup and under-baking the Lemon Meringue Pie.
Gordon's first experience with this kid involved eating food that had clearly been rotting in the fridge. The cameras, thankfully, did not follow Gordon out the back kitchen door as he went to throw up.
I would have fired the kid. Pronto. Serving rotten food... to anyone... in a restaurant? He'd have been kicked out on his overconfident ass. I'd have sent him packing back to school with his tail between his legs and with a tapestry of intricately woven obscenities following close behind him.
I don't claim to be worthy of being head chef anywhere but, crap,
even I can cook a 4 course meal for 24 on Passover without burning anything.
BUT rather than telling the kid to give up and go back to an Ecole de Cuisine, Gordon spent a week training this kid and even got a respectable full evening's service out of him. Yes, the 'fucks' abounded. But
fuck, the kid earned them. I was
only watching (with an awed expression) and several 'fucks' were emanating out of my mouth.
Unfortunately, despite Gordon's best efforts, this twinkie of a chef went right on back to his old ways as soon as Gordon left, letting food rot in the fridge and dicking off.
Too bad.
That twinkie had a wonderful opportunity to learn from the Sensei.
Fuck.
