Welcome back! Thanks for joining me as we dive into Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars Season 2, Episode 2 recap. Last time, Gordon Ramsay and Lisa Vanderpump built their teams. This week’s episode, titled “The Bootcamp Begins,” presents the teams with a difficult, and stress inducing, challenge. Here’s everything you need to know about Gordon Ramsay Food Stars Season 2, Episode 2!
The battle begins
Both teams meet up at the Battersea Power Station in London. The contestants were energetic, but some were nervous. This iconic location is a thriving marketplace, and the ideal location for the competitors’ first challenge. Their first test will see how well the entrepreneurs can adapt to a business outside of their comfort zone.
The teams will start a new business, a food truck, which will launch in 24 hours. No pressure! The winning team will be the one who makes the largest profit from the lunch rush. And the losing team will join Lisa and Gordon at The Grilling where one competitor will be sent home.
After the teams left, Lisa and Gordon discussed the challenge. It is about the price point, and the ability to pivot as needed. I am here for the smack talk between Lisa and Gordon.
Team Ramsay starts preparing
Here are the members of Gordon’s team.
First off, the group must decide who will work in the kitchen and who has more experience in the field of promotions and design. Andrew, Rose, and Ali will handle the kitchen.
Who is cooking for Team Vanderpump?
Here are the members of Lisa’s team.
For Team Vanderpump, Roman and Nicholas are going to be cooking. Roman, who is just 21 years old, has a food truck selling his pretzels, so he was born for this challenge.
What type of food will satisfy customers?
On Team Ramsay, after a bit of back and forth, they decide to serve Mexican food. When Rose asked if they could add some truffle sauce, Ali shot her down.
And what does Team Vanderpump decide on? Roman suggested Italian sandwiches and the group agreed.
Both teams headed to their design studio and kitchen to start cooking up ideas. Team Ramsay’s promotion team comes up with the name Fiesta London. Meanwhile, the kitchen crew decides on quesadillas, chicken tacos, and steak tacos for their menu.
Rose, who used to be a competitive bodybuilder, is competitive and hates to lose. This contestant from Arkansas is analytical and will be handling all the numbers-related tasks.
Is Lisa in love with her team’s branding?
Team Vanderump’s promotions team consisted of Jess, Maria Laura, and Peri. Jess came up with the name Mid-Day Amore: Italian Lunch for Lovers. And Jess, whose business is Whiny Baby, caters to Gen Z. She has no problem trusting her gut and has made a lot of sacrifices for her business.
Then Lisa popped in for an update. These ladies better wow her. She looks like she doesn’t love the name. So, Lisa reminded them that there are a lot of business people there.
All Lisa wants is to slam Gordon. “More than anything it’s not about the food, it’s not about the promo, it’s not about f*cking trucks. It’s not about anything other than who gives it to Flash Gordon,” Lisa said in her confessional. Well, damn!
The promo team then worked to come up with some snazzy logos for their truck. Jess wanted the logo to be black and white, while Peri believed that colors would look better.
In the team’s kitchen, the crew was working up the cost of their sandwiches. They have a chicken sandwich with sauce, tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. Nicholas and Roman wanted to use a ciabatta roll instead of a sub roll. But Erica wanted to use the sub roll that costs $1.50 less. Roman and Nicholas won this round. Ciabatta it is! While the cost of the chicken cutlet sandwich was $2.70, Erica proposed selling it for $7.00. But Roman and Nicholas think that charging $10 to $12 is reasonable. They are also serving veggie paninis and risotto balls.
Team Ramsay’s promotion strategy is…interesting
Team Ramsay’s promo team decided that entertainment was the way to draw in people. Tyler wanted to use a juggler, which has Liz worried. The rest of the team agreed on the juggler. So, Liz was in the driver’s seat for the logo design. They selected a white, red, and green logo over a black background.
Day 2 begins
The teams only have two hours until the lunch rush begins, so they need to get it popping, and fast. Team Vanderpump was still trying to figure out the price for their sandwiches. Peri thought that $11 was too high, while Erica thought it was too low.
Gordon popped by Team Vanderpump’s truck and criticized the 10 pounds (almost $14) panini. He wished them the best because, in his words, “They are going to need it.”
Then Lisa showed up and told her team not to let Gordon gather intel. But what did she think of the prices? She told Peri that she was concerned about the price point. Then a crazy gust of wind blew over Team Vanderpump’s tent.
Gordon is worried about his team
Rose thought that 5 pounds, or $6.00, was a good price for the tacos. Liz believes that is too steep, so they settle on $4.00 per taco. Gordon showed up to see his team. He loves the name Fiesta London. But when he asked Tyler to tell him the menu, Tyler responded that he wasn’t on that team. Oops! Gordon was shocked and told his team that everyone needed to know what was happening at all times.
So, Ali put Tyler to work unwrapping slices of American cheese. Since he doesn’t work in the food industry, he was learning on the fly.
Then Lisa and Gordon compared notes. Gordon likes the direction of Mexican cuisine, but his team needs to unify. While the Vanderpump Rules star worried about the pricing. She felt it had to be under 10 pounds. Both teams have just two hours to raise all the money they can.
Team Vanderpump’s Jess gets creative
The Italian food truck has long lines. Then the wind blew away the team’s order tickets, as Lisa and the team scrambled to grab them. Some customers became disgruntled when their tickets were lost.
But Lisa worked the crowd a bit, even taking a selfie for a panini. Meanwhile, Roman tried to streamline the process so they could clear the backlog. The line was moving, and Jess started stealing customers waiting in Team Ramsay’s line. Gordon yelled to Lisa, complaining that Jess “can’t hijack.”
Still, Team Ramsay’s low prices lured in hungry customers. Gordon jogged over to tell Rose to step on it because the line was too long. Meanwhile, Tyler chatted with the customers in line while his juggler performed. Most of the line wasn’t thrilled with the entertainment.
When Gordon asked Tyler how long the wait was, he didn’t know. He also didn’t know if they had samples for people. But he touted his juggler, which annoyed Gordon.
A frustrated Tyler told Rose and Ali that the line needed to keep moving. He shouted that people in line were going over to Team Vanderpump’s truck. Finally, Andrew called Tyler to the side and lectured him about not yelling in front of the customers. Ali was embarrassed by her team’s behavior. But Kyson turned the energy around by dressing up as a chili pepper. He rocked that costume and had the good vibes flowing.
Who won the challenge?
Both Lisa and Gordon looked somber at the reveal. Gordon complained that both trucks kept customers waiting. Then he shared that Team Ramsay spent $463, while Lisa’s team spent $568.
Team Ramsay’s sales were $1,172, which means their profit was $709. Team Vanderpump’s sales were $1,967, with a profit of $1,399. Team Ramsay will see Gordon for The Grilling. He was so upset that he tossed his ledger on the ground.
The Grilling
Gordon started by saying that he “was bloody disappointed.” He asked who determined the pricing, and Rose said that she did.
Gordon also called out the marketing as being “boring” and slammed Tyler’s juggler. “What the f*ck were you smoking?” Gordon asked him. He also criticized his team for not giving out samples.
Ali told Gordon that Tyler yelled at Rose in front of the customers. She also explained that she had to show him how to unwrap American cheese. Gordon honed in on Rose for the pricing and Tyler for his behavior.
Who is leaving the competition?
Tyler Dirks is leaving the competition
Gordon said that Tyler wasn’t “hungry” enough. “I would have loved to continue on and see how long I stayed on. It was a very hectic first challenge, and I was just in a hectic situation that was out of my wheelhouse,” Tyler explained.
Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars airs on Wednesdays, 9:00-10:00 PM ET on FOX.
TELL US – DID YOU ENJOY GORDON RAMSAY’S FOOD STARS, SEASON 2, EPISODE 2? DID THE RIGHT CONTESTANT GO HOME?
