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Season Finale Pressure Cooking with Chef Gordon Ramsay of Hell’s Kitchen
by Troy Rogers
 Chef
Gordon Ramsay has earned a reputation as a straight-shooting,
no nonsense, expert of fine cuisine in the kitchens
of some of the world's most finest restaurants
and on TV as the Head Chef on Fox's Hell's Kitchen.
Although Kitchen Nightmares shows a softer side
of Gordon Ramsay at times, Hell's Kitchen is a
pressure cooker culinary boot camp for competitors
looking to make a name for themselves in the highly
competitive kitchens of the chef elite.
Now winding down its fifth season on May 14 at 9pm on Fox, Hell's Kitchen sees Chef Ramsay set his sights on the final two chefs to give them some last minute advice before they square-off in the final dinner service in the season five finale.
After sending the culinary competitors to the Borgata Hotel, Casino and Spa in Atlantic City for the final round of challenges and to meet with the Chief Operating Officer, the season finale sees a number of familiar faces return to lend their hands at helping one new chef become the season five winner of Hell's Kitchen.
With the Hell's Kitchen finale only hours away on May 14, we grabbed our Deadbolt aprons and hopped on the phone to join a conference call with Chef Gordon Ramsay to get the culinary goods on the pressure the final two must be feeling, what Gordon Ramsay would do if he were one of the Hell's Kitchen finalists, and why he eliminated season five chef hopeful Andrea Heinly from the competition.
THE DEADBOLT: How much pressure do you think Paula [Dasilva] and Danny [Veltri] are feeling right now?
 GORDON
RAMSAY: They’re feeling immense pressure,
and for me the most exciting finale ever so
far in Hell’s Kitchen. I have been to hell and
back with these two. And more importantly, on
a personal front, it’s very hard to separate
them. They are uniquely different; they have
total respect for themselves and for their competitors.
And more importantly, they have, I suppose,
a unique individual style. Danny is talented,
young, ambitious, and Paula is a little bit
more sedate in terms of she thinks a lot deeper.
So, yeah. I mean right now they must be absolutely petrified, because it’s the most important service of their entire life. And more importantly, they have to make this one count, because there’s no rehearsal.
THE DEADBOLT: If you were one of the finalists, how would you tackle this challenge?
 RAMSAY:
If I was one of the finalists? First of all,
I know my friends, and they can sort of make
or break a chef’s reputation. A chef is only
as good as his team. Whether you’re a quarterback
or playing baseball or basketball, you’re only
as good as your team. So I would, right around,
work on all of their weaknesses and improve
their strengths and then make sure I was hands-on,
no expediting. And more importantly, everybody
sign off of the same page. Crucial.
THE DEADBOLT: What was your reason for eliminating Andrea?
RAMSAY: You know what? Andrea, in terms of the finishing touches, in terms of, 'Is she a better cook than Paula? Is she a better cook than Danny?' No, she’s not. Unfortunately the competition was so high that it left her slightly exposed. In terms of the balance and the level of finesse, it couldn’t match Danny and it certainly couldn’t match Paula.
THE DEADBOLT: Was there anything during the season that we didn’t get to see that you would like to see on the DVD?
 RAMSAY:
Yes. I would like to see Robert [Hesse] on a
running machine.
Other Conference Call Highlights:
Gordon Ramsay on every contestant being a smoker:
"You know what? My father died at the age of
53, about ten years ago, to smoking. And my
grandfather died at 49. I’ve never smoked a
cigarette in my entire life. So I find it really
hard, and it’s a bitter pill for me to swallow,
to sit and watch these guys smoke their lives
away earlier than anticipated. I can’t understand
how you can taste food, reflect it, smoke, go
back and taste it. There has to be an inaccuracy
beyond belief.
"So I’m not their dad; I’m not there to mother them. But more importantly, I wish the hell they could understand the damage in terms of a refined palate is a trained palate. Smoking at the same time, it’s hard. But you’ve hit the nail on the head; it’s the one thing that I find it hard to tolerate. And it frustrates me.
"And secondly, when you train a palate, it’s like an athlete, every part of your body is toned. When you bring dishes and an ingredient together and it’s missing something, it’s too complicated, it’s only a palate that takes it there. So if I could ban smoking for every chef in the world as a mission, I’d start tonight."
Ramsay on whether he ever gets tired of trying to train
chefs and whip them into shape:
 "Do
you know what? I mean, I don’t want to sound
facetious or incredibly arrogant, but we have
an amazing team, and my kitchens are amazing
places to work in. I love that challenge, to
be honest. Having that noose around my neck
and being in situations to get these guys up
to speed, admittedly, there’s 30% that are never
going to make it. But I don’t participate in
any of the casting; that’s not how I perceive
Hell’s Kitchen to be, in terms of I don’t want
preconceived ideas about them before they walk
in; I take everyone at face value.
"So when there’s a natural opportunity there that shines and they’ve never had that opportunity in their life, that’s where it becomes sort of, really, fundamentally crucial to continue doing what we’re doing.
"Am I tired of it? I am tired of the opening night service. So that’s becoming a bit of a ball-break, to be honest. I try so hard. I simplify things; I try so hard and it’s – yeah, it ages me. I don’t know when I’ll grow into my face, but I just got back from India, and in three different states across India, every person I dealt with or cooked with, each said I looked 55-years of age. Now, at 42-years of age, that’s a kick in the balls.
 "No,
but what’s going to happen when I get to 65?
They’ll say, 'Oh, my god, you look 80!' I suppose
what I’m more concerned about is it’s really
exciting when you get down to the sort of final
six, and when there’s talent like that progressing,
and you can witness what they’ve done over an
actual period of time and how good they’ve become.
It’s real for me. It’s how I know it’s talent
and how we are, where we are, in terms of our
setup."
Gordon Ramsay on Paula’s strengths and weaknesses:
"Paula is very strong-minded; she has a focus of a long-distance swimmer. You know, she’s durable; her mind is set, she is incredibly creative, and, more importantly, she has this really nice, sort of charming influence about her, a very sort of demure sort of attractive personality, because it’s just so controlled. But yet when she’s in the kitchen and she is on fire, she cooks brilliantly. Highly creative, and a woman that definitely knows what she wants, and not scared to be bold."
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