MasterChef 2016: Welcome, the Kinder, Gentler Gordon Ramsay

It’s been interesting, watching Gordon Ramsay over the years. I’ve watched him on his show, “Hell’s Kitchen,” on “Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares,” and in the various incarnations of MasterChef.

In Hell’s Kitchen, he was a screaming, cursing terror and on occasion, in the more recent shows, we got a tiny peek of this old scary persona, but fortunately it was minimal, compared to the past.

Today, Ramsay is positively sweet, and I’m not sure whether it’s the tempering influence of his current co-host, the talented and charming Christina Tosi, pastry chef and owner of Milk Bar bakery, or because the contestants he’s dealing with on Master chef are, as a whole, a nicer group of individuals than the frankly, rough and tumble folks he dealt with on Hell’s Kitchen.

Whatever it is that’s been having a softening effect on Ramsay’s personality, I like it. The man is smart and charming and is obviously skilled at what he does, so it’s much more enjoyable to see him in this more pleasant incarnation, and it’s much less uncomfortable to watch him interacting with his contestants. (I, for one, never could stomach it when he yelled in the face of his incompetent chef-wannabees on HK.)

This season of MasterChef is going to be a bit different, in that Graham Elliot, one of the original three judges, will not be joining the show. It will be a different dynamic with just Gordon and Christina to play off each-other.

They’ll be bringing in guest judges, like Wolfgang Puck, Aaron Sanchez and Richard Blais, to make things interesting, and I’m sure that as usual, they’ll be thinking up some weird and wonderful challenges for the home cooks to test their skills with.

If the first two shows were a taste of what’s to come, this is shaping up to be an exciting season on MasterChef. The contestants vying for the twenty white aprons had personality, flair, and obvious skills when it came to putting out great-tasting food.

If Gordon Ramsay’s new, kinder gentler personality is here to stay, it will be a pleasure to tune in every week and see what they’ll be cooking up in the MasterChef kitchen. May the best home cook win!