US version beats the UK hands down (Hell's Kitchen)

Member Name: bruffyboy

Product:	Hell's Kitchen
Date:	01/02/09 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great insight into the world of running a restaurant

Disadvantages: UK version ruined by contestants

WHAT IS IT ABOUT:
World renowned chef Gordon Ramsay takes a group of z list celebrities and teaches them the ropes of running a restaurant. The group break into two teams and work in a real restaurant. Each night, one celebrity chef is sent home until the last one is crowned winner. Meanwhile, Angus Deyton hosts the show each night, live from the dining room, as inevitably the dinner service falls apart around him.

IS IT ANY GOOD:
There are pluses and minuses about this show. The best bit about it is you get to see a realistic idea of what it's like to run a restaurant kitchen, and boy is it stressful (not for me thanks). Also, you get to see Ramsay doing what he is famous for - running a pass. On the downside, the celebrity contestants are there to reinvigorate their careers, and the result is a lot of high dramatics that doesn't belong in a kitchen.

From the dining room, Angus Deyton does a good job of holding the whole thing together with good humour, and it's a shame he lost his job on Have I Got News For You, but there you go.

After a couple of series, Ramsay quit the UK show and his once mentor Marco Pierre White took over, running the same format listed above. Sadly, White is past his prime, and watching a kitchen run by an aged hippy lookalike doesn't have quite the same appeal.

So, in conclusion, the bits about cooking and kitchens are great, but the high dramatics from publicity starved contestants ruin it.

NOW FOR SOMETHING BETTER:

Ramsay's opinion of the UK version was that it was rubbish, but then something great happened: the USA gave him millions (and I mean millions) to take the show there. Hells Kitchen USA is the result, and boy is it a good show. The format is exactly the same, but the contestants are not celebrities, they're up and coming chefs from around the States. The result is a brilliant show, still entertaining, but much more food and cooking centred.

IN CONCLUSION:
For high dramatics watch the UK version, but for a great cooking show, watch Hells Kitchen USA.

Summary: worth a watch