Hell’s Kitchen: The Young Guns aren’t lacking in confidence

When you hear talk about “The most dramatic season you have ever seen!” usually the show they are talking about is The Bachelor or any of the numerous versions it has spawned. Hell’s Kitchen may be intense, loud and at times shocking, but never has it been called dramatic.

From watching the first episode of Season 20, that may all be about to change. Because the Young Guns have arrived and with them, drama aplenty.

First impressions in food television competitions usually don’t mean much. Once you get to know the contestants over the course of a season you get a more complete picture of who they are. However, when it comes to the Young Guns, the word that would apply to almost every one is confident, bordering on cocky and in some cases, downright arrogant.

Now before you head to social media and start attacking me with “Okay boomer.” memes, let me explain. I fully realize all chefs have a touch of arrogance to them. It’s part of a chef’s DNA. Antonia Lofaso, Alex Guarnaschelli and Gordon Ramsay have accomplished great things and are entitled to have all the confidence in the world. It’s what comes with paying your dues and achieving greatness.

None of the Hell’s Kitchen Young Guns have paid their dues.

And that’s the thing about the Young Guns. They are all under the age of 24 and I don’t care how much you think you’ve done, you haven’t even come close to paying your dues. A few of the chefs seemed to think that they deserved the opportunity they were being given. That the older generation should just stand aside and let them have their time in the sun.

Life doesn’t work that way.

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In any event, that attitude quickly disappeared once they arrived at Hell’s Kitchen and took part in the Signature Dish Challenge. Ramsay was not gentle, handing out plenty of twos and not being shy about what he didn’t like. Ava in particular had a bad day when her “Ava flavor” orange chicken didn’t in fact have any flavor and she got a two.

If we’re being honest, some of the twos probably should have been ones, in particular Matthew who forgot to clean the shrimp in his seafood dish. However, Ramsay has said that he plans to be a bit more gentle this season in an attempt to nurture the love of food in these Young Guns. Luckily for them.

In the end, the women of the Red team won the Signature Dish Challenge by a score of 28 to 30 and got to enjoy a dinner out with Ramsay and three past Hell’s Kitchen winners. In my opinion though, it was the men who got the more valuable victory. They got to spend the day in the kitchen, getting to know the layout and how they can work best together. Because as we all know, who wins the challenges really doesn’t matter. Winning the dinner service is the way to impress Chef Ramsay and win the ultimate prize.

That ultimate prize for Season 20 is the position of head chef at Gordon Ramsay Steak at the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and more importantly, the chance to become Ramsay’s protégé.

Next week the competition heats up (pun intended) and the Young Guns take part in their first dinner service at Hell’s Kitchen. And from the promo, things don’t go well for everyone.

What do you think Guilty Eats Nation? Are the Young Guns of Season 20 a bit too confident? Leave a comment below and let us know or join the conversation on our Twitter and Facebook pages.