The second episode of Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on July 21, 2009, airing as a double feature alongside the first episode. On that episode, shrimp was the main ingredient, the maitre’d was almost assaulted once again, a disastrous dinner service occurred on both sides, and at elimination, one chef did something that nobody before him did and nobody after him will do. That episode is the only one in the show’s history where a fight between a contestant and a staff member almost happened, twice.

Intro

From that episode onwards, during the opening sequence, Dave was placed between Tek and Tennille, and Robert was featured last, holding and blowing on a torch.

While being dismissed, Robert was very excited to be brought back in the competition, declaring he would lead his team to victory or die trying. On the blue side, Dave was worried because he knew Robert was strong and could make the red team win over the blue team. Then, Robert gave some tips to the women on how to properly cook the food, with Lovely even comparing to an angel coming down from Heaven. Robert acknowledged the red team was seeing him as the one who would save the day, and declared that statement was true.

Team challenge

The next morning, both teams got down in the blue kitchen, where Ramsay immediately told them they were cooking like idiots, adding that the attention to details from the previous service was missing in both teams. That led him to introduce the Shrimp Cleaning Challenge, where each chef had 10 minutes to clean as many shrimps as possible. Ariel declared the red team had to win that challenge after losing the previous service, and after a quick demonstration from Ramsay, Joseph declared that cleaning shrimp was very easy and that a simple cook could do that. After, Ramsay made Lovely sit out to even the teams at 7 members each, and the Sous Chefs brought a bucket containing shrimps, but Ramsay declared it was not enough shrimps. All of a sudden, when he asked for more shrimps, hundreds of them started raining from the ceiling, with Andy comparing it to a freak ice crustacean storm.

When the 10 minute delay began, all the chefs grabbed pots and rushed to get as many shrimps as they can, before going back to their stations. During the challenge, Tennille declared she made herself a clear system, and Jim jokingly said that some of his shrimps finished a large meal before they got captured, referring to the size of them. Because she was sitting out, Lovely decided to act like a cheerleader for her team, by clapping her hands and telling them to keep on going, but she was more annoying them than anything, especially Tek and Van. Moments later, Joseph looked over to the red team and declared they looked confused and lost because they were women. On the red side, Amanda said the same thing for the men, saying the blue team was disorganized and did not know what they were doing, and that the girls were way more organized. During the last few seconds, all the chefs rallied to complete their last shrimp, and then, time was over.

During the judging, the red team went first, and despite being a little bit worried, Sabrina managed to get 7 of her shrimps accepted. Amanda was determined to not screw up after being nominated the previous night, and she successfully managed to redeem herself after giving a perfect performance of 9 shrimps out of 9, leading the red team’s total to 16. Tek continued the streak with 7 shrimps accepted, as well as Ariel with 6, leading the total at 29. When it was Tennille’s turn to be judged, she gave the worst performance overall by having only 1 shrimp accepted out of 8, being ashamed and wondering what she did wrong. Robert questioned her judgment by referring to the fact that she was wearing glasses, so she could see what she was doing. Suzanne got the red team’s momentum back with 10 acceptable shrimps, and finally, Robert got judged, and he was confident, but his performance was disappointing as only 4 of his shrimps were accepted, and Ramsay declared he was expecting more of him. The red team finished with a total of 44.

The blue team went second, and Andy declared he was loving numbers and that because of their current situation, each member of the team had to average more than 6 shrimps each in order to win the challenge. He was very happy at himself when he managed to get 7 of his shrimps accepted, and Van, the fish cook, kept the team’s streak by getting 9 of his shrimps accepted. Tony scored 9 shrimps as well, only missing 1, being very proud of himself, but Joseph only scored 5, a performance Ramsay deemed disappointing. Dave did not fare much better as he scored only 4 shrimps, giving hope to Sabrina. Unfortunately for her, a very confident Kevin gave a perfect performance by giving 9 acceptable shrimps out of 9, and was praised by Ramsay. That led the total of the blue team at 43, and they were only 1 point left from tying and 2 points from winning, with Jim still to be judged. He came down to Ramsay with 7 shrimps cleaned. Ramsay accepted his first shrimp, tying the score at 44 each, and Tony compared that situation to a baseball game, at the bottom of the ninth inning, and Kevin was nervous as well, saying Jim must come through it. His five next shrimps were rejected, so it came down to his last one, which was accepted. Therefore, the blue team won the challenge 45-44. Then, Ramsay asked Tennille why she was that bad, but she did not give any excuses, accepting the blame and being very emotional in the process, knowing she let herself and her team down.

Reward

The blue team was rewarded with a day at Newport Beach for a seafood lunch with Ramsay, as well as a dessert on a 100 foot mega yacht. Van was excited as he never saw the Pacific Ocean before in his life, and said he was California dreaming. When they got back to the dorms and changed, Tony was excited to get out as he declared the restaurant was literally Hell. They went out by the red kitchen, rubbing salt in the red team’s wound in the process.

Arrived there, they went at the Cannery Restaurant, where they were served shrimp cocktails, and Dave said it was nice to go out with Ramsay and not being yelled at by him. Ramsay responded that everybody would get better each service, while recalling that he took a lot of shit in the past and that as he was taking it, he was getting better. By hearing that, Joseph ruined the fun by saying he was not learning anything from Ramsay and that everything he was saying meant nothing. He continued by saying that he did not enter the competition for having a great time and getting out, despite acknowledging it was good to, and that he would constantly keep his eyes on the prize. Dave was irritated by his behavior saying he was hot-headed and intense in the way he was disrespecting Ramsay. Then, the mega yacht arrived with Jean-Philippe wearing white clothes and a blue scarf, and Jim even stated he was looking ridiculous, and Tony said he was having style. Then, the men clinked their glasses, and Ramsay said he would get back to Hell’s Kitchen while they would have dessert on that yacht. The blue team entered the yacht, while Kevin declared it could not have been a better day. On the yacht, Jim and Van talked about how cool it was receiving tips from one of the best chefs in the world, referring to Ramsay, but while they were talking about that, Joseph was shown not being impressed nor enjoying the moment. Despite that, Dave declared he would not want to lose anymore if that was what winning was like.

Punishment

The red team was punished by cleaning shrimps and segmenting lemons, removing every seed from all of them, all day long, for a shrimp cocktail during the next dinner service. Ariel declared she was tired of cleaning shrimps and not liking them as well. During the punishment, Tek declared she never spent that much time with a lemon, even joking that she knew that lemon better than some people she slept with.

Then, Ariel threw Tennille under the bus, saying that if she had done her part during the challenge, the team would have won. After that, Tennille declared to her team very seriously that all the lemons needed to be done, acknowledging she had to redeem herself to prove that she was a valuable part of her team. Suzanne was annoyed by her way of telling people and started to confront her in the kitchen, leading to an awkward moment, until Lovely asked when they would eat lunch. Later, Suzanne continued to confront Tennille about her poor performance and questioned her experience, saying she could not believe someone like her never cleaned shrimp before, despite Sabrina defending Tennille. Then, Tennille declared she checked every of her shrimps six times, and was annoyed by Suzanne, saying that she was not a good person despite being able to clean shrimps.

Before service

The blue team arrived from their reward and the red team was still in the red kitchen doing their punishment. They were all wearing their new hats, and when they entered the red kitchen, they picked on the red team, which annoyed them, especially Tek who said they could eat a bag of dicks, called them bastards, and declared the red team needed to win the next service and bounce back. But while the blue team was doing that, Lovely suggested they could make them some dinner.

The next day, during prep, Robert emerged as a leader on the red team, giving specific instructions on how to prep some type of food, which the women really appreciated as they were trusting him. In the blue kitchen, Tony was struggling to properly cut a grapefruit, so Kevin reached over and did it for him, but Tony did not appreciate, saying he jumped over and pushed him to the side, calling him a prick in the process. When Ramsay entered the kitchen, he told Tony to cut the grapefruit over a bowl so they could keep the juice and schooled him on the fact that he was standing still and looking oblivious. Tony threw Kevin under the bus, blamed the grapefruit, and when Ramsay asked him who butchered the grapefruit, which he claimed was looking like a hexagon, Tony said he did. Joseph declared that Tony was in the weeds before the service started and that he was looking like he would wet himself.

When the teams were lined up, Ramsay announced that shrimp scampi tableside would be served during that service. Then, he dedicated Van for the blue team, and Tennille for the red team, to take charge of those tableside stations. Van was excited, stating that his charisma would help him get through service, while Ramsay told him to not bench-press the tables and give the customers an old-fashion Texas smile. Tennille was not happy about that because she hated shrimp, but Ramsay told her it would be a perfect opportunity to redeem herself after her poor performance during the challenge. When the chefs got on their stations, Tony was the only one who still was not ready, and Ramsay told him twice to cut the grapefruit over a bowl, and threatened him to kick him out before service would begin. Despite that, Ramsay ordered Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service

Before tickets came in, Joseph, Kevin, and Van motivated themselves, with Joseph saying he would do everything he could to work as a team. In the red kitchen, Robert led the women, and the red team told themselves to communicate. Before he went to the dining room, Van asked Ramsay for some rags, but Ramsay told him to fuck off in the dining room, before asking who would get him toilet paper after he sat down on the toilet. Van answered himself would get some and acknowledged he had to stop asking Ramsay for stuff, before going to his station in the dining room.

Ramsay called the first ticket in the red kitchen, and for the appetizers to arrive at the same time, Tennille would have to coordinate with Robert and Suzanne. In the dining room, Tennille said she did not know what charm she should put on, but she would do it anyway. Then, she went to a table, asked the customers if they ever had celebrity impersonators, before telling she was supposed to be Whoopi Goldberg, referring to her strong resemblance with the actress. After, Ramsay called the first ticket in the blue team, but Tony was so excited and thrilled to cook scallops that he cooked them without communicating to anybody. Ramsay asked him why he did that, while Jim told he never called scallops to be dropped, and Ramsay schooled Tony on that mistake, before Tony said he would redo them. Despite that, Tony managed to keep a positive attitude. In the red kitchen, Lovely was cooking her scallops, but her stove was still off. Ramsay told she could not cook without gas, and she threw Tek under the bus, saying she told her it was on. Tek declared it was her responsibility to turn her own gas on, and Lovely apologized to Ramsay. In the blue kitchen, Tony told he was ready with his scallops, and Ramsay told Van his team was ready to serve the appetizers. However, Ramsay discovered that Tony’s scallops were raw, and questioned his vision because he could not spot that mistake despite having glasses. Ramsay asked Tony what could he cook, which Tony answered he could cook anything, but Kevin said that maybe he could cook at home, but not on the line. Because of that mistake, Tony went in the dining room to tell the problem to Van, who did not appreciate and told him to move. Tony went back in the kitchen, and was helped by Kevin who got very aggressive when he told to flip the scallops. Joseph acknowledged Tony needed Kevin’s help because of how lost he was, and Kevin told Jim that he was sending the scallops to the pass.

25 minutes into service, and because of Kevin’s help, appetizers were finally getting out of the blue kitchen. In the red kitchen, Robert was confident in making his first risotto as it was his second appearance on the show, but Ramsay told him he put rice over burnt shallots. He blamed that mistake on the fact he was a little bit anxious, and acknowledged he had to turn the oven on before cooking. Ramsay pulled him to the side and asked him why he did that mistake, but Robert did not give any excuses. In the dining room, Tennille witnessed that mistake, and declared he was not a saver or a God, and that he was like everybody else, except that he was fatter and talked more. Then, Robert got back to his station, and a minor fire erupted in one of his pans, discouraging Ramsay, who told him he was doing terrible at the moment despite having done well on the previous season. Suzanne gave him some encouragement, and in the dining room, Jean-Philippe came to Van and gave him some tips. However, Van did not appreciate that interfering and aggressively told him he was working. Ramsay spotted the argument between the two of them, and went in the dining room to ask them to keep it cool in front of the customers. Then, Van picked his cart and went to a red table. Jean-Philippe told Ramsay about that problem, and Ramsay called Van to the hot plate and asked him to give a scampi special to the right table, before asking what was the matter between him and Jean-Philippe. The latter told there was a language barrier, but Ramsay reminded him Van was speaking English like him, before Jean-Philippe told Van was from Texas. Ramsay was discouraged and pulled out his tongue, and Van apologized to the table before going to the right one. Meanwhile, the red team sent many appetizers out, but Tennille served a raw shrimp to a woman who revealed she was pregnant. Then, she went to the hot plate to tell Ramsay she would need 5 more minutes, which infuriated Ramsay who told her to tell her team she was way behind. Ariel was not impressed and told she should get her shit together. Meanwhile, Van was working on his scampi appetizers by telling the customers to watch their eyebrows and that his shrimp was “Van-licious”. However, at one point, his pan dropped and shrimps fell on the floor, and when he tried for a second time, the same thing happened. When he went back to the kitchen to get another pan, Jean-Philippe told him not to run in the dining room, but he did not appreciate that comment saying he would not let him tell what to do. When Van was about to go back in the dining room, Jean-Philippe started to lose his patience and aggressively asked Van to listen to him. The two of them were about to fight each other, with Tony, Andy, Kevin, and Jim commenting on the situation, before Ramsay pulled both of them in the pantry room. Jean-Philippe told Ramsay that Van was not having any respect for the dining room, but Van did not even care what he said. Ramsay schooled both of them and asked them to do their own jobs so they would come together. When they got out of the room, Jean-Philippe sarcastically told Van “Ladies first”. In the red kitchen, Tennille got back in the kitchen to tell Ramsay she was way behind. So, Ramsay pulled the whole red team aside and Tennille revealed she was six tables behind. Ramsay told her she sunk her team, but she denied that fact, and Ariel acknowledged she indeed sank the team and that they were in big trouble.

An hour and a half into service, the red team was stalled waiting for Tennille to catch up. In the blue kitchen, Andy sent his lamb to the pass, which was accepted, but when he moved on to the chicken, he sliced it but it was still undercooked. So, he put three pieces of chicken back in the pan, but Ramsay was discouraged when he saw them and compared them to chicken nuggets. Then, he pulled Andy aside, schooled him on his mistake and calling him a donkey. Joseph said that Andy was having a meat thermometer on his arm and that he should check his meat with it as it was not looking good on him. After that, Ramsay went to the meat station and asked Andy if he would cook like that in Whistler, and Andy answered he would not, before Ramsay angrily threw the pan in the sink. While Andy was starting over, in the red kitchen, Sabrina declared her chicken was coming up, but she acknowledged it was raw, so she put it back in the pan, while Suzanne was trying to interfere with her job, telling her what to do. Sabrina did not appreciate, and the two of them got into an argument, where Sabrina told her to shut up so she could get it done. One minute later, she sent her chicken to the pass, Suzanne acknowledged it was still raw, and Ramsay came back saying to Sabrina that the chicken was pinker than her lip stick. Suzanne gave all the credits of noticing the raw chicken to herself, saying Sabrina should listen to her in the future. In the blue kitchen, Ramsay called an order and asked Tony for the halibut immediately, but he repeated that a second time because Tony did not understand it the first time. He put the halibut in the pan, but Ramsay noticed he did not season it, discouraging him. Because of that, Kevin had to take over the fish station once again, and cooked the halibut on the garnish station. In the red kitchen, Lovely sent her sea bass to the pass, but it was raw, and Ramsay schooled her for that. She denied that mistake, even blaming Ramsay’s vision and age, but on her second attempt, her sea bass was burnt. Suzanne lost faith in Lovely and declared she did not think she could cook. Then, Ramsay angrily threw the sea bass in the bin, and Lovely had to start over. In the blue kitchen, Kevin sent his halibut to the hot plate, but it was raw, which he acknowledged. Ramsay called the entire blue team to ask them what they could do, and Joseph suggested to cook the fish himself, not wanting to have a bad finish, and Jim said that the situation was crazy. Five men were on the fish station, and Ramsay berated Tony for failing to control his station. Joseph took vocal control of the fish station, Dave said he did not want to take charge, and Joseph asked his teammates to shut up and relax, as they were looking like chickens. Ramsay was discouraged as there was more shouting than cooking. Then, he looked over to the red kitchen, and Sabrina’s chicken was crispy and burnt, discouraging even more. That was the last straw for Ramsay, who called both teams aside, schooled them because no food was coming out, and declared he would do something he never done before. Dave acknowledged it was a desperate time and that everybody would go home. After, Ramsay ordered both teams to prepare shrimp cocktails for the customers because it was not cooked, with Sabrina acknowledging that situation was embarrassing. Ramsay told Jean-Philippe about that news, and shrimp cocktails went out in the dining room, with Jean-Philippe telling the customers that it was compliments from the chef. When the cocktails were sent out, Ramsay pulled both teams in the blue kitchen, with Tony comparing the situation like if Ramsay was having a machine gun and blow everybody away. Ramsay declared that the chefs turned the restaurant into a shrimp stand, before asking them to shut down both kitchens. Joseph did not feel good about it, and declared they were looking like broken men.

Post-mortem

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay declared that service was worse than the first one, and asked Tennille what was the big deal when she served raw shrimp to a pregnant woman. When Ariel heard that question, she made a surprised facial expression as she did not know that happened. After that, Ramsay named both teams losers, and asked them to nominate two people each for elimination.

Back in the dorms, Tennille declared she was not comfortable putting any of her teammates up as she was not in the kitchen, as well as being in denial about her poor performance, with Robert reminding her she served raw shrimp to a pregnant woman. Tennille said she did not know she was pregnant and that she did not do it on purpose. In the blue team, Tony acknowledged he messed up straight away and waited for Andy to do the same. But, he did not, which infuriated Tony. Then, Dave declared that the fish and meat stations were the biggest problem, adding that he would put himself up if he had been on meat. Andy declared he did not put himself up because he was having more experience than anybody else and thought he could do that job at the Araxi. In the red team, Suzanne quickly named her team’s problems, saying that Lovely’s sea bass was burnt, but Lovely declared she did not make any fatal mistakes, such as serving a pregnant woman something that was raw, referring to Tennille. Then, Suzanne considered Sabrina for the chicken incident, but Sabrina was annoyed by her way of talking to her like she was a 5-year-old. In the blue team, Jim considered Van for almost punching Jean-Philippe in the face. Van confronted Jim, saying he would punch him in the face and that he could suck his dick. Van angrily mimicked Jim, who said he had a “fuck the world” attitude and that he should bring himself out with all that anger. Van left the conversation and was calmed down by Robert, before going on the patio. Then, both teams made a group decision and went down in the dining room.

Elimination

Ariel named Tennille as the red team’s first nominee for serving raw shrimp to a pregnant woman, and Lovely as the second for her overall performance and experience. After that, Ramsay asked Joseph for the nominees of the blue team, but instead of following the instructions like everybody else before him, he decided to go on the counter-attack, for no apparent reason, answering that his teammates could speak for themselves as they knew who they were. Ramsay did not appreciate that answer and called him a smartass. So, Ramsay asked Joseph the question for a second time, but Joseph named Tony and Andy without valid reasons. Then, Ramsay called him stupid, and asked him a third time, which he answered Tony by adding that he knew why. Then, Joseph started to confront Ramsay by revealing that they chose as a group, and there was no need to have pressure from anybody because they were men. Ramsay asked him if he wanted a medal, but Joseph stood his grounds saying his teammates knew who they were and that his team chose as a group. Then, Ramsay stepped forward to try to get him back to earth and follow directions, but Joseph started rambling about the fact that he was not a bitch, confronting fellow contestants, such as Robert, Ariel, Suzanne, and Tek, telling everybody to shut their fucking mouths. Then, temper started to flare, Joseph took his jacket off, threw it to the ground, and walked aggressively towards Ramsay to try to fight him, but as he approached him, the episode ended as a cliffhanger, with the mention “To be continued…”.

My Opinion

 

The first episode of Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on July 21, 2009, airing as a double feature alongside the second episode. On that episode, the new contestants arrived in Hell’s Kitchen, one of them did not make it through dinner service, and they welcomed a former contestant who got a second chance of winning the competition.

Intro

The season began with a quick preview, telling everybody was in a fighting mood and the contestants would be the most dedicated yet. It also announced some injuries, people being emotional, and fights against Ramsay himself.

The planet Earth was seen from space, zooming to Los Angeles, and further to Hell’s Kitchen, where Jean-Phillippe was seen pacing in front of the restaurant and complaining that the contestants were late. Then, the bus containing the contestants arrived, with Ariel being excited, and Louie stating he was ready to do a backflip. Before entering the restaurant, Jean-Philippe explained that in the past seasons, contestants were giving him a nightmare with some stupid mistakes, leading him to be physically assaulted by customers, yelled at by Ramsay and ran into doors. So, he decided to give the contestants some tips, before asking them to follow him inside the restaurant.

Inside the restaurant, the contestants lined up in the hallway, and former contestant Bonnie, from Season 3, appeared in one of the televisions. She told that during her time in Hell’s Kitchen, she broke some rules, and a clip of her cooking without gas was shown, with Tennille mocking her. Bonnie revealed the first rule, which was to always turn the stove on before start cooking. After that, Colleen, from Season 5, appeared in another television, where she declared she had advice for the chefs, and a clip of her putting sugar in a risotto was shown, with Amanda worried that she would eventually do it as it was her kind to do those kind of mistakes. Colleen announced the second rule, which was to always taste the food before serving it. When the rule was shown at the television, Joseph mocked the concept by sarcastically saying he would love someone would tell him how to tie his shoelaces. Finally, Aaron, also from Season 3, appeared on the last television, where he declared he was so excited for his first dinner service, and then, a clip of him crying before the opening night was shown, where Van called him a sissy. Then, Aaron revealed the last rule, which was that there was no crying in Hell’s Kitchen. After the tips were given, Ramsay’s voice was heard asking if they were ready and repeating that question three times, before Ramsay himself appeared in front of the chefs and ordered them to cook their signature dishes.

On that episode, the opening sequence featured Dave at the end, holding and blowing on a torch.

Signature Dish Challenge

Before tasting the signature dishes, Ramsay revealed the grand prize of the season, which was a Head Chef position at the Araxi Restaurant & Bar, in Whistler, British Columbia, with a salary of $250,000, where the winner would welcome the world for the 2010 Winter Olympics. While learning what the prize was, Kevin said it was tremendous and could not ask for anything better, and Jim joked he was already polishing his skis. After that, Ramsay divided the teams into genders, women in the red team and men in the blue team, and announced that for the first time ever, the Signature Dish Challenge would be performed as a team challenge, with the dishes going head-to-head.

During the first round, Suzanne went up against Dave. She prepared a Fontaine risotto, being already very confident saying she could kick anybody’s ass. But, Ramsay immediately saw that her rice was looking undercooked, which she categorically disagreed, and when Dave tasted and described it having a chalky texture, she continued to disagree. But, when Ramsay spat it out, he declared it was undercooked as the rice was crunchy and bright white in the center. After that, Dave presented an ostrich with pan seared Brussel sprouts. Ramsay liked the cooking of the ostrich as well as its seasoning, but found the Brussel sprouts were undercooked. Dave was heartbroken as Ramsay did not like his dish, and no points were scored. On the second round, Tek faced off Louie. Tek presented a chipotle honey shrimp, and declared she was unemployed at that moment, adding she needed the job as she got a family to support. Ramsay called her dish nice, saying the prawns were beautifully cooked. Tek was proud and padded herself on the back. Louie presented a sausage gravy over biscuits, which shocked Ramsay when he saw it, and when Louie revealed he was owning a diner, Ramsay asked him how much he was charging for that dish. Louie answered he was charging $4.75 with coffee. Ramsay took one bite and spat it out, declaring it was tasting like gunk. Louie did not think it was worthy of being spat out as hundreds of customers were eating that dish every week at his diner. Tek scored the first point for the red team, giving them a 1 point lead. On the third round, Tennille and Joseph faced off, and Joseph revealed he was feeling like a dog who was just taken off his leash, in the fact that he was hungry for the prize, stating he wanted it and that none of the other chefs would get in his way. He served his roasted veal with vegetables to Ramsay, who praised the colors and the cooking of the meat, but his Brussel sprouts were also undercooked. When Ramsay asked him to taste his vegetable, Joseph requested a fork, saying he was not an animal and that he was not eating with his bare hands. He went extremely defensive, declaring war to Ramsay by saying both of them would go head-to-head without a doubt by training him in the parking lot at some point. For the red team, Tennille’s balsamic lamb chop was deemed nice by Ramsay, and she extended the red team’s lead by 2 points. While getting back in line, she jokingly told she would take autographs later.

For the next round, Amanda went against Tony, but before Ramsay would taste her dish, Amanda got back in line to grab tequila shots, hoping to take one with Ramsay, and returned to Ramsay. He asked what was it, which she answered tequila, and when she revealed her dish, which was margarita French toasts, Ramsay was shocked and thought she was joking, but Amanda really hoped to take a tequila shot with him as it was going with the dish. Ramsay was disappointed as French toasts would take only 3 minutes to make. After that, Tony declared he was cooking at home and never went to culinary school, by adding that he did not need to go there because if he had a passion for cooking, he would succeed. His mussels with chorizo received praise from Ramsay for having potential, and he scored the first point for the blue team, closing the gap at 2-1. On the following round, Melinda faced off Jim, and Melinda presented her poached lobster tail with Portabella mushrooms. She started to be very flirtatious, but Ramsay could not find her lobster tail, which she stated having challenges over during the cooking process. He called it absolutely fucking pathetic and threw it in the trash. Jim declared he was not intimidated by anybody, but after being told to take off his coat, he said he was a little bit intimidated by Ramsay. He served his seared Ahi tuna with a soy ginger vinaigrette, which was deemed delicious by Ramsay and tied the score at 2.

The following round featured Kevin and Ariel’s dishes, but Kevin was criticized for putting coffee sauce over a perfectly cooked steak, and Ariel’s duck breast was undercooked, therefore none of them scored. After that, neither Andy or Lovely scored a point. So, the final round was a tiebreaker between Sabrina and Van. In line, Lovely prayed Lord for a prize, and then, Sabrina presented her chipotle wrapped pork tenderloin, but it was too spicy for Ramsay. For the last dish, Van served his seared Foie Gras with minted caramel, which was praised for its creativity and complexity. Van clinched the victory and the blue team won the challenge 3-2. Kevin was impressed because Van was having talent underneath his muscles.

After announcing the reward and punishment, Ramsay introduced the contestants to his Sous Chefs, which were Scott for the blue team, and Heather, the winner of Season 2, for the red team.

Reward

The blue team was rewarded with a three-course meal on the Hell’s Kitchen patio, featuring dishes from Ramsay’s London West Hollywood Restaurant. Arrived on the patio, they were greeted by Jean-Philippe and toasted with their champagne glasses. Then, the dishes were served, and all of the men enjoyed them, with Tony saying that the flavors were exploding in his mouth. Later, Louie took a splash by jumping in the hot tub, and the men continued to serve champagne to each other.

Punishment

The red team was punished by cleaning both kitchens ahead of the opening service the following night. When he learned the red team’s punishment, Louie made a sexist comment, stating that women were better at cleaning than men, so it would be right up their alley. During the punishment, when Sous Chef Heather revealed their dinner, which were Bologna sandwiches, Tennille was confused, saying she thought Bologna was illegal in California. After their punishment, the women came up to the dorms and found their uniforms, knives, and cookbooks, which they had to learn by heart. Because of that, Tek declared she would not sleep very much that night. Then, every woman read and studies the cookbook.

Before service

The next morning, both teams got down in their respective kitchens to begin their prep, and the blue team was given their knives by Sous Chef Scott. In the blue kitchen, the men were slow to prep, as they were still hungover from the previous night. Van declared that something in the champagne was good, and Jim asked Dave where was the pesto on one of the recipes, which none of them could find. In the red kitchen, the women were going full steam ahead and were confident as they studied the menu the previous night.

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay told he was expecting a bloody good service, which the chefs were ready to perform, but when they got on their stations, Ramsay found already overcooked fondants on the red team’s hot plate. Lovely admitted she cooked them, and Ramsay got confused, stating she already screwed it for her team, while Tennille said it was all they had to work with, and Suzanne called her team a bunch of circus clowns and added she would have to bust her ass to make sure the red team would win. Despite that mistake, Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service

When Ramsay called the first ticket out in the red kitchen, the women responded appropriately. But, when he called out the first ticket in the blue kitchen, the men did not respond at all, discouraging Ramsay, and when he asked Tony to recite the order back, the latter struggled, thinking Ramsay would eat them alive. Ramsay told the blue team to call back “Yes Chef” after an order was called, which they did. In the red kitchen, Tek brought her first order of scallops to the hot plate, but they were raw, and Ramsay schooled her for that mistake. Seeing that, Ariel was embarrassed as Tek was not able to properly cook scallops. Because of Tek’s mistake and her pasta being overcooked, Lovely was forced to start her capellini over and trash it in the bin, saying that she would make sure that she would be synchronized with Tek so they could bring all the appetizers together. In the blue kitchen, Jim sent his first scallops, which were perfectly cooked, but Ramsay noticed only four pieces were there instead of the six needed. So, he asked Jim to count to six, which he did twice because he was not loud enough the first time, and told him to wake up. Jim acknowledged his mistake, and jokingly said he thought he was playing Yahtzee. After, Ramsay clearly asked Jim to drop six pieces of scallops on his next order. In the red kitchen, there was lack of communication between Tek and Lovely, and in the dining room, customers were starting to lose patience. Moments later, Season 5 Robert made his way in the dining room with his wife, invited as a special guest for that service. But, unbeknownst to him, Ramsay planned to give him a second chance to compete in Hell’s Kitchen after his departure on the previous season. Ramsay greeted him and his wife, and told both of them to have a seat and enjoy themselves, which they did.

40 minutes into service, in the blue kitchen, Kevin and Jim succeeded to get the first appetizers out to some very satisfied customers. But in the red kitchen, the women were still trying to get their first order out, and Tek was berated by Ramsay for sending rubber scallops to the pass, which he compared to something one would expect Tiger Woods to tee off with. They were forced to start over several times after the pasta was overcooked and the scallops were undercooked, annoying Tennille, who compared the situation as an apocalyptic chaos. She took vocal control of the red team, and meanwhile, in the blue kitchen, the team moved on to entrées, but Ramsay caught Louie putting lamb in the oven without any seasoning or searing it first. Ramsay told Louie why he should sear lamb, which was to give color and improve the flavor, prompting Jim to say that as he was a man, there was a primal instinct inside him that knew how to cook meat, and that he needed to find it. As the blue team rallied behind Louie on the meat station, an impatient Ramsay asked the red team for the eighth time if they could bring their first order of appetizers. Tennille vocally motivated the team and when she asked Melinda if the pasta was cooked, she answered it was, but Ramsay disagreed and found it undercooked. So, Melinda mistakenly tossed it in the trash, which upset Ramsay as he meant for her to just put it back on the stove and cook it a little bit more. Sabrina acknowledged Melinda was having a “deer in the headlights” look and that it would kill her. Then, Ramsay found out she trashed a lot of pasta since the beginning of the night, and started to take all of it out, while angrily asking Melinda how much did she trashed, but she was too shocked to give an answer. Ramsay said that she was making him fucking mad, and Tennille said Melinda would lead the team to destruction, calling her stupid in the process.

In the blue kitchen, the men have served eight tables of appetizers, but Louie was caught doing some of Joseph’s job by cooking spinach. Ramsay asked Joseph why Louie was doing that, which he answered he did not know, but Louie said that he thought he should put all the dish together. Then, Ramsay told him to not touch the spinach as they already got enough problems cooking lamb. After that, Joseph asked if he could cook the lamb himself, but Ramsay refused to, saying he was looking like a fucking idiot, but Joseph aggressively told he got it. That led Jim to tell that Joseph went on a war despite being only in a kitchen. So, he told to calm down and cook some carrots.

In the dining room, some red customers got impatient because of their missing appetizers, and then, Ariel noticed that Lovely was missing. Lovely went to the back store to sit down and drink water. She revealed she drank a total of four bottles of water because her body was craving hydration. Despite her absence, her team began preparing entrées, but Ramsay noticed a piece of shit lying on the counter, and when he asked what it was, Tek revealed it was supposed to be a salmon. Ramsay took the salmon in his hands, compared it to a bison’s penis, and asked who put the salmon in the freezer. Amanda admitted that she fucked it up as she misplaced the freezer with the fridge. That mistake caused the red team to take out the salmon from the menu, and when Sous Chef Heather revealed there were five orders of salmon waiting, Ramsay ironically congratulated Amanda for a good job. Then, Lovely made a heroic return by coming back to the appetizer station. Her team asked if she was all right, which she answered she was, and got back to work.

Automatic elimination

In the blue kitchen, Louie finally managed to send up his lamb to the pass, but Ramsay schooled him on not cutting it properly, with one piece being butchered, even asking if he bit in it. Joseph acknowledged Louie was lost and out of his league. Then, Ramsay discovered a huge pile of wasted lamb on the meat station. He angrily tossed all of it on the station, asking what he was doing, and finally, he eliminated Louie on-the-spot. Louie went back to the dorms and pack his bags, before telling Ramsay to kiss his fucking ass and leaving by the delivery dock.

With both kitchens at a stand still, and Van comparing the situation to a bad dream, Ramsay was forced to shut down both of them, much to the chefs’ disappointment. While clearing down, Tennille said that was not as easy as it looked, and Joseph declared he never had a service like that before and that it was a complete and outer nightmare.

Robert’s return

After both kitchens cleared down, Ramsay went to the dining room and met Robert and his wife. He stated it was bloody good to see him, and noted that he lost the opportunity during the previous season because of his health problems, before inviting him back to compete again in Hell’s Kitchen. Robert stated that second chances in life were not happening often, and, with the blessing of his wife, accepted the offer, with Ramsay declaring he was deserving it as he was a bloody talented cook. His wife became emotional, and Ramsay asked her to not be upset, which she responded she was happy instead. Robert hugged his wife goodbye, while declaring his plan was to win Hell’s Kitchen.

Post-mortem

When the teams were lined up, Robert joined the blue team, and Ramsay introduced him to everybody, while telling why he came back. After that, Ramsay said he never had a service like that in his life, with nothing positive and being pathetic. After that, he sarcastically congratulated Amanda for screwing up her team by freezing the salmon, and warned Melinda and Lovely that both of them were running out of time in the competition. After that, Ramsay decided on a winning team, while noting that both teams had shocking services, but added that the blue team managed to get a few entrées out, compared to the red team’s zero, therefore making them the losing team. Ramsay concluded by asking the red team to nominate two people for elimination. While being dismissed, Lovely declared she did not know who her team would nominate as they all performed badly.

Back in the dorms, Suzanne immediately targeted Melinda for lacking the passion and the knowledge, but Melinda declared she was not done with Hell’s Kitchen yet. Then, Tennille pointed out that the team never got passed appetizers, inclining towards Lovely as the second nominee. However, Lovely said that she would fight for her place, and stated that she admitted her mistakes and was a strong chef on the team, while Tennille recalled her leaving for 45 minutes during service. Then, Tek recalled Amanda’s mistake of putting the salmon in the freezer instead of the fridge and considered her as well, but Amanda was convinced she was not deserving to be nominated for that. Because of that, the red team deliberated on Melinda, Amanda, and Lovely.

Elimination

Tennille declared Melinda as the red team’s first nominee, and Amanda as the second. Ramsay asked Amanda if she agreed with that decision, which she did not and said Lovely should be up instead of her. Then, Ramsay asked her if she knew the difference between a freezer and a fridge, which she answered she did. After both of them pleaded their cases, Ramsay eliminated Melinda for being the worst performer of the night, the reason why her team lost, and her lack of desire to be in the competition.

Team addition

After Melinda left, Ramsay announced that he decided to strengthen the teams by sending Robert to the red team. He also reminded Robert that even though he was a hero on the previous season, he would be treated like everybody else that season. While being dismissed, Ariel was excited as Robert was the end of the red team’s losing streak, and Tony declared elimination was sounding scary, while hoping he would not be next.

Ramsay’s comment: “Melinda was completely lost in space, so I sent her back to whatever planet she came from.”

Ramsay gave no comment on Louie’s elimination, and he did not receive the coat hanging and burning picture sequence.

 

Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox between July 21 and October 13, 2009. Executive chef Dave Levey, from San Diego, California, was the winner of that season and became Head Chef at the Araxi Restaurant & Bar in Vancouver, British Columbia. That marked the first time a prize was awarded in Canada.

Contestants

The teams were divided by gender at the beginning, male contestants in the blue team, and female contestants in the red team. That season began with 16 contestants, but Robert Hesse, who was a contestant on the previous season, eventually joined the competition. The contestants were (in alphabetical order):

Contestant	Age	Occupation	Hometown
Ariel Contreras-Fox	27	Sous Chef	Los Angeles, CA
David “Louie” Cordio	45	Diner Owner	Fitchburg, MA
Kevin Cottle	35	Executive Chef	Middletown, CT
Tony D’Alessandro	30	Culinary Store Manager	Chicago, IL
Amanda Davenport	27	Sous Chef	New York, NY
Sabrina Gresset	34	Restaurant Manager	Phoenix, AZ
Robert Hesse	30	Executive Chef	Quogue, NY
Vincent “Van” Hurd	26	Fish Cook	Dallas, TX
Andrew “Andy” Husbands	39	Executive Chef	Boston, MA
Connie “Lovely” Jackson	23	Camp Chef	Chicago, IL
Dave Levey	32	Executive Chef	San Diego, CA
Jim McGloin	34	Sous Chef	Nashua, NH
Melinda Meaney	38	Private Chef	Philadelphia, PA
Tennille Middleton	28	Executive Chef	Fairfax, VA
Amanda “Tek” Moore	27	Line Cook	Greenwich, CT
Suzanne Schlicht	24	Sous Chef	Milwaukee, WI
Joseph Tinnelly	27	Former US Marine & Sous Chef	Massapequa Park, NY

Contestant progress

1. Dave
2. Kevin
3. Ariel
4. Tennille
5. Suzanne
6. Van
7. Sabrina
8. Andy
9. Amanda
10. Robert
11. Jim
12. Tek
13. Lovely
14. Tony
15. Joseph
16. Melinda
17. Louie

Episodes

Season 6 Final

Episode 14

Episode 13

Episode 12

Episode 11

Episode 10

Episode 9

Episode 8

Episode 7

Episode 6

Episode 5

Episode 4

Episode 3

Episode 2

Episode 1

Info

The fifteenth episode of Season 5 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on May 14, 2009. On that episode, Danny and Paula led their teams during the final service, and one of them is declared the winner of Hell’s Kitchen.

Before service

The episode began where the last one left off, with Ramsay dismissing the chefs, so Danny and Paula could brief their teams on what would happen. Danny gave his team a pep talk and reminded them that he was the boss, but only Ben was rooting for Danny to win, as Carol secretly wanted Paula to win, and Giovanni did not want to be back in Hell’s Kitchen. Meanwhile, Paula was more concerned with Lacey because of her poor attitude in the past, and Andrea and LA urged Lacey to at least give some effort that night. Lacey promised that she would try and behave, but was upset as she felt her team did not trust her.

8 hours before service, both teams began prep for the final service. However, LA was still concerned about having Lacey on her team, and secretly hoped that she would walk off the line during service. Paula was also concerned, but decided to trust Lacey on the dessert station and instructed her on how the crème brulée was to be made. Unfortunately, when Paula and Lacey went to check on them later on, Lacey managed to curdle all of them, forcing them to start over. That caused Paula to get angry at Lacey and to wonder if she should keep her for the rest of the night. As that was going on, both teams worked on making the sample dishes for Ramsay to taste. For Paula’s menu, it featured a homemade pasta with eggplant caviar appetizer, a halibut with pearl onions and pancetta entrée, and a banana crème brulée dessert. Ramsay liked the pasta dish, but warned Paula about the danger of the halibut being dry, as the halibut on the sample plate was dry. Ramsay also said Paula’s crème brulée looked more like scrambled eggs due to it being one of the initial batches Lacey wrecked earlier. For Danny’s menu, it featured an arugula salad with crispy duck breast appetizer, an eight ounce pan seared filet with baked potato entrée, and a cinnamon poached pear with mascarpone mousse dessert. Ramsay warned Danny about the cooking of the duck as it needed a little bit more pink on the meat, suggested that the tempura spring onion should be cut in half as the whole tempura looked phallic, and noted that the poached pear was undercooked. By the end, Ramsay noted that while he would usually see a clear difference in the menus from previous seasons, Danny and Paula’s menus were very similar to each other in terms of modern style, contemporary, and appeal.

An hour before service, Ramsay pulled Paula aside so she could show him her restaurant. Paula introduced Ramsay to “Sunergy”, which Ramsay praised for having subtle colors and looking comforting. After, Danny introduced Ramsay to “Velvet Hammer”, which Ben noted that it sounded like a porn video, and Ramsay was a little concerned about the restaurant looking a bit intimidating. With only a couple of minutes left before service, Ramsay brought Danny and Paula to the middle of the hotplate to give them one final pep talk, and reminded them that this was their biggest night and that at the end of it, one of them would be the winner. After that, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service

Paula’s mother and sister, along with Danny’s father and girlfriend, were in attendance that night. Danny received the first ticket from Jean-Philippe and vocally called out the order, causing his team to immediately communicate with each other. Paula called out her first ticket, but her team did not respond initially, which Ramsay took notice of. Paula went to Lacey’s station to check on her progress, but Ramsay warned Paula that her kitchen would run behind if she did that and told her to be more vocal at the hotplate. Lacey sent up her scallop salad, but Ramsay noticed that Andrea burned the scallops on one side and chewed out Lacey for trying to hide it from Paula. Then, Ramsay told Paula to get a strong standard going. Meanwhile, Ramsay warned Danny that Carol was boiling the lobster, and Danny gave Carol a sizzling pan to cook the lobster on. After, Ramsay pulled Danny and Paula aside and told both of them to get a grip and pick it up. So, Danny became more vocal and continually asked Carol for the lobster.

45 minutes into service, customers from both sides received their appetizers, and gave positive reviews. Moving onto entrées, Andrea sent up her halibut, but it was overcooked, which realized Ramsay’s biggest fear earlier that day. After that, Andrea became flustered and confused, even asking Paula to come down to the fish station and check on the halibut. That shocked LA as she thought Lacey would be the problematic chef in the red kitchen that night, but it was becoming clear that Andrea was the weakest link. Meanwhile, Danny was getting his entrées ready as well, but Ben said he needed three more minutes on his baked potatoes, much to Ramsay’s dismay. Despite that, Ben got the potatoes out to the hotplate on time, allowing Danny to send his first order of entrées out to the dining room. Meanwhile, Paula was still waiting on Andrea’s halibut and became more vocal with her, but Ramsay noticed it took three overcooked halibut to do so.

Meanwhile, Danny continued to push out entrées to his customers, but he found out that the sauce for the monkfish Giovanni sent up was too salty. So, he asked Giovanni for a time on the refire, but Giovanni was unresponsive as he still did not care about who would win that night. Meanwhile, Paula was pushing out entrées to the dining room, but Lacey got confused on orders for the garnishes and accused Paula of creating a menu too complicated for her to follow. So, Ramsay told Lacey to speed up, but Lacey’s poor attitude led to her giving up, and Paula sent LA over to help Lacey. Then, everyone called for Lacey on the spinach, much to her annoyance, and she said she had enough of getting yelled at. Back in the blue kitchen, Danny’s team started to work together, and Danny continued to push his team to get entrées out.

Two hours into dinner service, Paula finally found a rhythm for her team and was calling out orders louder. With most of the entrées out to the dining room, it became a race to see which kitchen would finish first. Both Danny and Paula managed to get their teams rallying the entrées, but Danny managed to get all of his dishes out first and felt really good about doing so. However, Paula did not care if Danny finished first as she wanted to finish her final service on a high note. Paula managed to complete all of her tables, and the customers wrote down their opinions on the comment cards. As they were clearing down, Paula and Danny’s loved ones came up to the pass and congratulated them for a job well done.

Post-mortem

Ramsay had both teams lining up, and congratulated them for the best final service he had ever seen, and even jokingly asked them why they could not have been that good earlier in the season. However, only one of them would be the winner, and Ramsay announced that the winner of Hell’s Kitchen was living in Florida. But, everyone knew that Ramsay was joking as both finalists were living in Florida. Then, Ramsay admitted that it was going to be a tough decision, and told Danny and Paula to head back to the dorms and wait for his decision. Danny and Paula said goodbye to their teams before heading back upstairs.

While Danny and Paula were relaxing back in the dorms, Lacey, LA, Ben, and Carol were discussing what happened in service from their respective teams while they were cleaning up the kitchens. Danny and Paula were proud of what they accomplished in the competition as they patiently waited for Ramsay’s decision. Back in his office, Ramsay reviewed the comment cards from both restaurants, as well as his own observations.

Winner Announced

Both Danny and Paula headed downstairs to Ramsay’s office, each of them being confident that they were the winner. Ramsay said he was proud of both of them, praising Danny’s growth in the competition and Paula’s excellent performances. After that, Ramsay told them that no matter the decision was, both of them had promising careers in that industry. Then, both finalists stood in front of one door each, knowing that only the winner’s door would open. After they nervously waited for Ramsay’s countdown, both of them turned their door handles, but only Danny’s door opened.

Danny was declared the winner of Hell’s Kitchen, and won his own restaurant at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, therefore making Paula the runner-up. Paula took her loss graciously, congratulating Danny for winning while admitting that she was going to have a lot of opportunities in the future due to her ranking in second place on the show. Danny teared up, knowing that his deceased mother was not able to see him win, but knew that she was looking down on him from heaven, proud of his accomplishment. In the middle of the celebration, Ramsay introduced Danny to the four previous winners of Hell’s Kitchen, including Season 1 Michael, Season 2 Heather, Season 3 Rock, and Season 4 Christina. Then, Ramsay revealed that he would start a new Hell’s Kitchen tradition and introduced the Hell’s Kitchen “Wall of Fame”, which featured the portraits of the Hell’s Kitchen winners. After that, Danny hung his portrait on the wall, next to the previous winners’ portraits.

Ramsay’s comment: “Danny won Hell’s Kitchen because in a very short period of time, he grew more than any other chef I’ve ever seen. He now has the talent, the maturity, to become a great head chef. Borgata Resort should consider themselves lucky. I know I would.”

My Opinion

 

 

The fourteenth episode of Season 5 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on May 7, 2009. On that episode, Danny and Paula worked on their restaurants, competed in their final challenge, and reunited with their former teammates.

Intro

The episode began with a recap of the previous thirteen episodes, mentioning what happened, and who got eliminated when. During that recap, Lacey, Giovanni, and Andrea received the coat hanging and burning picture sequence for the first time since their respective eliminations.

The episode continued where the previous one ended, with Ramsay revealing that Danny and Paula’s biggest test would begin at the moment, as two giant screens dropped next to Ramsay. He explained that the two finalists would be creating their own restaurants inside Hell’s Kitchen, with Paula cooking out of the red kitchen, and Danny cooking out of the blue. Before dismissing the finalists, Ramsay urged them to think about what their visions were for their restaurants.

Danny and Paula made it back to the dorms to find champagne and notepads waiting for them. They toasted their victory and decided to take Hell’s Kitchen off their minds for that night and drink. By 1:43 am, both were drunk as Danny admitted that he was surprised that he made it this far despite being the youngest chef of that season.

New restaurant design

The next morning, Danny and Paula woke up feeling terrible, but decided to get to work. While Paula already had her ideas down despite last night, Danny did not have anything down, and felt like an idiot. They went downstairs and met Hell’s Kitchen architect Jon Janavs to discuss their restaurant ideas. Danny’s idea of having a wooden fish in his restaurant was rejected as Janavs did not want it looking like Bob’s Bait Shop. Danny also thought about using either “Velvet Hammer”, his old college nickname, or “Susan Marie”, his late mother’s name, as his restaurant name. Meanwhile, Paula wanted to have real candles in her restaurant and decided to use “Sunergy” as her restaurant name.

As construction began, Danny and Paula met Sous Chefs Scott and Gloria, respectively, to discuss their menu items. Paula wanted her menu to be simple so she could focus on her staff, while Danny had a little more ambitious menu.

Atlantic City trip

After discussing their menu items with their Sous Chefs, Ramsay came by to greet the finalists. Then, he told them that the next 24 hours were going to be important, and that he was taking them on a trip to Atlantic City. However, Ramsay noted that he could not leave their restaurant constructions unsupervised, so he invited some special advisers to help out. Those advisers turned out to be Paula’s mother and sister, and Danny’s father and girlfriend. Happy by that, both of them greeted their love ones and gave them an update on what was happening with their restaurants. After five minutes of updating them, they headed back to the dorms to pack for their trip, while their loved ones got to work. The finalists and Ramsay made their way to the private jet, and flew to Atlantic City. During the ride, Ramsay recalled Danny’s grilled banana signature dish, Paula’s TV reward, and the fact that both of them had been up against each other for a long time during the competition.

Back in Hell’s Kitchen, Janavs told Paula’s loved ones that there was some concern for using real candles due to it being a fire hazard, which meant they had to use fake battery candles instead. Meanwhile, Danny’s girlfriend gave her own input in what his restaurant should have, which conflicted with Janavs’ original design idea.

Later that night, Danny and Paula arrived back at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, and entered their master suite. After settling in, Ramsay provided them with laptops and web cams to communicate with their loved ones on how their progress was going. Danny’s loved ones told him that they had to make some compromises with their designs, which Danny was okay with, but Paula was disappointed when she heard that her restaurant had some of her original ideas removed.

Final challenge

The next morning, Danny and Paula met Michael Facenda again, who informed them about a meeting that they need to attend. When they came down with Facenda, they saw all 500 staff members of the resort and Ramsay down in the casino area. Ramsay introduced them to Larry Mullin, the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Borgata, and showed him their menus. Mullin found that their menu items sounded great, and Ramsay revealed that for their final challenge, they would have to cook three of their menu items in 45 minutes. Before sending them off, Ramsay had Sous Chefs Scott and Gloria give them their new head chef jackets.

After changing into their new jackets, Danny and Paula began cooking on their sample dishes. After the time limit, they had their dishes cooked and plated. Then, Ramsay revealed that he invited some of the Borgata’s Executive Chefs to taste their dishes. The first one up was Michael Shulson of Izakaya. Paula’s wild mushroom salad with arugula and cherry mustard vinaigrette tasted nice despite being over dressed, and while Danny’s Caribbean jerked lobster tail with lime chili salsa was praised for its creativity, Shulson could not taste any lobster in the dish. So, he chose Paula’s dish, giving her the lead 1-0. After, Ramsay introduced the next judge, Geoffrey Zakarian of The Water Club. Paula’s Chilean cilantro broth with mussels, clams, and shrimp was praised for its cook, but Danny’s baby arugula salad with crispy skin duck breast and ginger vinaigrette gave him the point, tying the score at 1. For the final round, Ramsay welcomed back Larry Mullin. Paula’s roasted black sea bass with parsnip puree and kale was deemed good, but Danny’s pan seared filet of beef with twice baked potato and tempura fries was also praised. After a tough decision, Mullin chose Danny’s dish as the winner, and Danny won the challenge 2-1.

Team select

After the challenge, Danny and Paula made it back to Hell’s Kitchen and saw how the progress of their restaurants was going. Both of them were happy with their progress, though Danny was nervous on what the final product would look like the next day. After saying goodbye to their loved ones, the two finalists rested up ahead for the following day.

The next day, Danny and Paula got dressed and went downstairs to meet Ramsay, who revealed there was one more challenge for them to face. In front of them were six domes, which Ramsay said were their key ingredients for their final service. After Ramsay and both Sous Chefs lifted them up, it was revealed that those domes were containing the heads of Lacey, LA, Carol, Giovanni, Ben, and Andrea, much to the finalists’ shock, but they were relieved that their former teammates were still alive.

Then, Ramsay brought back everyone to the kitchen. He recalled the time Andrea burned tuna during the eleventh dinner service, LA looking asleep during the eighth service, Ben being targeted by Ramsay for his poor performance on meat during the seventh service, Lacey being eliminated in the middle of the eighth service, Carol losing an order of chicken during the ninth dinner service, and Giovanni’s infamous “dickface” argument in the tenth service. Because Danny won the last challenge, he was rewarded with the first pick for his team. Danny picked Ben since the two of them worked well together despite their differences, while Paula picked Andrea since they had gotten close during the competition. After that, Danny picked Giovanni, while Paula chose LA as her second choice, shocking Carol as she thought she would be the second choice. With Lacey and Carol left, Danny immediately chose Carol as his final pick, leaving Lacey as Paula’s final pick. When the teams were selected, Ramsay dismissed everybody back to the dorms, and the episode ended in a cliffhanger.

 

The eleventh episode of Season 5 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on April 16, 2009. On that episode happened a trip to Atlantic City to visit the prize hotel, one chef is forced to withdraw because of their health, and another chef proved they did not deserve immunity during that night’s service.

Intro

Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay announced he was shutting down Hell’s Kitchen, much to the shock and disappointment of the final five. However, he continued by revealing that they would be leaving for Atlantic City to visit the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa for a few days, as he was hoping they would see what was at stake, much to the relief and excitement of the chefs.

Trip to Borgata

The next morning, the final five left Hell’s Kitchen and drove down to the airport, where a private jet was waiting for them. Later that night, they arrived at Atlantic City, and made their way to the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, where they met Michael Facenda, the Director of Marketing. The following day, the chefs were given a tour of the hotel by Facenda, who reminded them of the grand prize one of them would win, even showing the construction site of what their restaurant would be, sparking inspiration to all of them. For the rest of the day, the chefs relaxed at the hotel.

Later that evening, the chefs went to the SeaBlue restaurant for dinner. They met VP Food and Beverage Nicholas Kurban, and Executive Chef Ron Ross, and got a chance to speak with them. A few minutes in, Robert excused himself from the table and left, which Andrea took notice of. What the other chefs did not know was that Robert was not feeling well and was having chest pain. The local paramedic came to check on him, and she recommended him to leave for the hospital, as the other chefs expressed concern for his well-being. Later that night, Robert called Ben and informed he was at the hospital, with Ben relaying the news to the other chefs. At 11:35 pm, the remaining four chefs returned to Hell’s Kitchen, but were still concerned about Robert’s status, with Danny and Ben fearing he would be forced to leave the competition.

Robert’s exit

A couple of days later, the four chefs met Ramsay, who was aware about what happened at the Borgata. However, Ramsay revealed that Robert was back at Hell’s Kitchen, much to their relief, and asked Robert how he was doing. Unfortunately, Robert revealed he was diagnosed with pericarditis, a condition that would eventually lead to heart disease, and based on the doctor’s orders, he would not be able to come back in the competition. Everybody was heartbroken by the news, and Robert said goodbye to the other chefs, hugging each of them. Before leaving, Ramsay told Robert that he has been a fantastic competitor and had the potential to win the competition. After that, Robert gave Ramsay his jacket and left as the remaining chefs gave him a standing ovation. Robert received a retrospective montage of his run during his exit interview.

Individual challenge

After Robert’s exit, Ramsay told the final four that it was back to business now. For their next challenge, each chef would create a new signature dish that would be their highlight at the Borgata, and the winner of that challenge would receive immunity at the next elimination.

The chefs had 45 minutes to cook their dish, and had access to any ingredients they wanted to use. Each chef managed to complete their dishes and plate them in time. Danny was up first, and while his pan seared scallops with citrus basil champagne sauce and ginger did not look creative, it was praised for its flavor and perfectly cooked scallops. Andrea’s green tea crusted tuna with black sesame rice cake was praised for its build up and managed to have all of her parts work well together. Paula’s smoked salmon ceviche was deemed delicious and had great seasoning. Finally, Ben’s pan roasted tiger prawns with mango scented turnips and basil crushed Yukon gold potatoes was stated to look prettier than Ben, according to Ramsay, but was criticized for only using the prawn tails instead of the whole prawn. Afterwards, Ramsay ruled out Ben, and out of the remaining three chefs, he announced that Andrea was the winner.

Reward

Andrea won immunity for that night’s service. Back in the dorms, Ben and Danny vented how Andrea won despite the fact her dish was not cooked, and looked like she would have been the next to go until then. Both Danny and Ben realized that they, along with Paula, would have to do their best in that night’s service in order to survive.

Before service

Later on that day, the four remaining chefs got to work on prepping for that night’s service. With only three minutes left until the doors opened, Ramsay had all of them lined up and expressed excitement for that night as he had the best four at the moment, while reminding Andrea to prove why she deserved her immunity. After reminding them how the Borgata trip motivated them, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service

Immediately, the four chefs were vocal with each other, and Andrea and Danny sent over their appetizers out successfully. However, Jean-Philippe soon came back with a plate of raw scallops, and Ramsay noticed that Andrea did not turn her flat tops on full, while telling her to speed up. Andrea’s next attempt came out overcooked, which slowed the momentum down.

30 minutes into service, despite Andrea’s problems, the four chefs were moving onto entrées. However, Ben could not remember what was recently called out and needed Paula’s help. Then, Ben proved to be unresponsive and sent up cold carrot purée, but managed to heat it up quickly. Despite that, Ramsay lectured Ben on his attitude and threatened him with elimination if he would send up anymore cold food. Paula asked Andrea for a time to send her Wellingtons, but Andrea revealed she needed four minutes on her salmon. Ramsay told Paula to send her Wellingtons despite Andrea’s slow performance, and Paula sent up beautifully cooked Wellingtons to the pass.

An hour and a half into dinner service, because of Paula’s strong performance, the final four sent out almost half of their entrées to the dining room. However, Ben forgot another order, which caused an annoyed Ramsay to remind him what was next. Then, Ramsay noticed that Ben’s station was in disarray, and told him he was so full of shit he did not even know he was shit, while chewing him out for giving excuses. Ramsay kicked Ben out of the kitchen, but Ben decided to pull himself together and fight back. Ramsay reluctantly allowed Ben back in, but ordered him to wake up. Meanwhile, Jean-Philippe sent back a raw salmon to the kitchen, but Ramsay was more upset that Andrea was not communicating properly. Ben managed to fight back after his slow start, but Andrea continued to struggle, causing Ramsay to order Danny to help her out. Danny was irritated for helping Andrea out since she was immune, and Andrea sent up two raw John Dories to the pass, causing Ramsay to accuse her of trying to sabotage everybody else due to being safe. Andrea argued she was not, but she also burned her tuna, much to her own dismay. Despite Andrea’s problems, the team was able to send out their last ticket, but Danny knew that service was really rough.

Post-mortem

The four chefs were lined up, and Ramsay called that night’s service embarrassing, criticizing them for having no teamwork or any fight, and ordered them to think of two people for elimination.

Back in the dorms, Ben told Andrea that if she was not immune, she would definitely be up for elimination due to her poor performance, which Danny agreed. However, it was a tough choice on who would be up there as Ben knew he had a poor night, but Danny and Paula were solid on their stations. Ben struggled to nominate a second person for elimination.

Elimination

Andrea announced that Ben was the first nominee, and Paula was the second. Ramsay was shocked about Paula’s nomination, and when he asked why, Andrea claimed it was her lack of communication. Ramsay called Ben and Paula down, but before Paula could finish her plea, Ramsay sent her back in line and called Andrea down, as she was the worst performer, along with being the reason Ben had a bad night. After listening to Ben and Andrea’s pleas, Ramsay decided to eliminate neither of them, as Andrea was immune and he could not eliminate Ben in good conscience because his performance, while not great, was not as bad as Andrea’s. However, Ramsay did warn Andrea that if she was not immune, she would have definitely been eliminated. Afterwards, he dismissed the final four back to the dorms, and Robert received the burning picture sequence.

Ramsay gave no comment on Robert’s departure.

My Opinion

 

The ninth episode of Season 5 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on April 2, 2009. On that episode, the teams create their own menus, and when Ramsay accuse one chef of sabotaging their team, it leads to one of the most shocking eliminations in Hell’s Kitchen history.

Intro

Back in the dorms, Andrea confronted Carol for throwing her under the bus on the chopping block, but it led to another argument between the two of them. It annoyed Giovanni, who told the two women that they had to work their problems out, but Andrea said that it was impossible, since they would never get along. Paula voiced her concern that their arguing was killing the red team’s teamwork, and warned both Andrea and Carol that they might be back up for elimination if it would continue.

Team challenge

The next morning, both teams came down in the dining room to meet Ramsay, who explained that one of his favorite things to do was taking a protein and elevating it to a stunning dish. Despite some of the chefs thinking they would be working with chicken, Ramsay revealed that for their next challenge, they would be taking a red king crab, and turning it into a stunning dish. Each chef would create their own crab dish, and both teams would have to agree on what dish they would want to present, with Ramsay adding on that this challenge was one that they did not want to lose.

With both teams having 45 minutes, they got to work on their dishes. Ben had a clear idea of what he would be making, while Paula had no idea where the chinois was, and asked Ramsay if he could look for one, only to get chewed out by him for asking. With ten minutes left, the blue team had most of their dishes finished, and tasted all of them to decide whose dish would go up. Despite Carol’s concern of Andrea’s dish having the crab shells on the plate, Andrea was confident on her dish, even though Carol thought Paula’s dish looked the best. Robert like Ben’s dish the most, and Danny reluctantly agreed to it, even though he thought his dish was better. Paula and Andrea’s dishes were singled out as the best on the red team, but Andrea persuaded her team to have her dish up.

Once the time was up, Andrea and Ben sent up their dishes to Ramsay. Andrea presented her king crab legs crusted with macadamia nuts, asparagus and pear infused butter, but Ramsay criticized the presentation because of the shells on the plate, and also told that it had a bland taste. Ben’s dish was a crab in sriracha butter, but his very long explanation of it annoyed everybody. Ramsay was not impressed by the minimalist presentation, and while the crab tasted better than Andrea’s, it did not meet the wow factor Ramsay was hoping for. Ramsay was disappointed by the dishes he received, and ordered Danny and Paula to bring their dishes up. Paula’s crab with hazel coconut broth wowed Ramsay by its presentation, and it was deemed delicious, while Danny’s poached crab in a Madeira berblance with sautéed celery and fennel was also deemed delicious. Ramsay was happy that both of their dishes hit the mark that he was looking for, and even asked why they were not chosen first place. In the end, Ramsay gave Danny’s dish the win for the blue team after a very tough decision.

Reward

The blue team won a day at the Santa Monica State Beach with Ramsay for lunch and a Segway ride. Before leaving, Robert decided to leave his boxer shorts for the red team to clean up as part of their punishment. At the beach, they met Ramsay riding a Segway, but Robert had to ride a bicycle due to the weight limit on the Segways. At lunch, Ramsay told the blue team that each of them had a chance to become the winner of that season, and they toasted to their victory.

Punishment

The red team had to clean both the dorms and kitchens, and prep all the king crab for the next night’s dinner service. During the punishment, the red team got mad at the returning blue team for rubbing their loss at them, and they took their anger out on the crabs they were cleaning.

Creating new menus

The next morning, both teams were ready to prep for that night’s service. However, Ramsay had other plans and revealed the news that for that service, he would let both teams create their own menus. They were required to have 3 appetizers, 3 entrées, and 3 desserts on their menus that would also feature a crab special. Ramsay sent the chefs back upstairs to discuss about their menus.

Surprisingly, both of the team’s menus were very similar, but with a few key differences. For the blue team, Ben pushed for some high-class items for their menu liked poached halibut and “pomme fondants”, though neither Danny or Robert were thrilled with the idea.

Before service

With both of the team’s menus finished, they went downstairs to begin prep for that night’s service. Carol was getting her own potato dish, gratin dauphinoises, cooked before service, and planned on cooking them again for orders, much to Andrea’s concern. In the blue kitchen, Robert and Ben got into an argument over Robert’s speed while prepping. Once everyone was ready, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service

Orders came in for both teams and they all got to work immediately. Giovanni managed to get the red team off to a fast start with his beef carpaccio appetizers, but they were immediately sent back for being flavorless. Then, Ramsay lectured Giovanni to slice the beef on a seasoned plate for flavor. Ben’s soup appetizer was very salty as he overreduced it, and Ramsay forced the three men to taste it. With Ben’s mistakes slowing the blue kitchen down, some of their customers were forced to watch the red diners at the same table getting their appetizers. However, the same red diner who complained about her bland appetizer before said that it was still under seasoned again. She went to the hot plate to confront Ramsay about it, but Ramsay chewed her out for whistling at him, and he called the woman a dog.

One hour into service, both teams have sent up all their appetizers to the dining room. Carol brought her gratin dauphinoises up to the pass, but Ramsay saw that they were raw and hard, and forced the red team to taste them. Carol revealed that she thought she had to cook them in the oven first before the orders came, but Ramsay told her that gratin dauphinoise needed to be cooked before service would begin. When Ramsay accused Carol of trying to sabotage Andrea, Carol argued that she was not, but that made Ramsay even angrier. Soon after, Carol revealed that it may take ten more minutes for the gratin dauphinoises to cook properly, which caused Ramsay to angrily tell the customers that they would get their dishes in about ten minutes, and chewed out Carol for screwing over the customers. Then, Carol revealed that she cooked them in boiling cream for an hour during prep, and Ramsay called her useless. Meanwhile, Ben was getting his pomme fondants cooked, but Ramsay was confused by their appearance as pomme fondants were usually cooked in butter, not blanched. Sous Chef Scott confirmed to Ramsay that Ben’s potatoes did not look like a traditional pomme fondant. Then, Ramsay chewed out Ben for his mistake, and the blue team were forced to do them over again. Meanwhile, Carol poured more cream on her gratin dauphinoises in order to save them, but Ramsay tossed the entire pan in the trash bin, accusing her of giving up. Then, Ramsay angrily told the red team to think of an alternative side, with Giovanni suggesting fingerling potatoes.

An hour and a half into dinner service, none of the kitchens have served their entrées due to their respective potato problems. Robert miscalculated one of his halibut orders due to working at both the fish and meat stations, and needed three more minutes, which angered Ramsay as that meant Robert was dragging the blue kitchen down, and Ramsay ordered him to not give up. Looking for some redemption, Carol sent up her steak to the pass, but it came out rare, which crippled her team even more. Meanwhile, Ramsay looked at Robert’s filets and noticed that they were not the same size. Ben took the blame for poorly cutting them, which caused Ramsay to accuse him of trying to sabotage Robert. Ramsay was further discouraged when he saw Ben’s poorly cut portions in the fridge.

Two hours into dinner service, both teams were getting their entrées into the dining room. While getting their desserts ready, Robert and Ben got into an argument for Robert’s slow momentum, which caused Ramsay to once again accuse Ben of trying to sabotage Robert. Soon after, Jean-Philippe brought back one of Carol’s steaks that was mid-rare instead of medium. That was the final straw for Ramsay who decided to shut down both kitchens.

Post-mortem

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay was angry because despite giving both teams the responsibility of creating their own menus, neither of them could execute it properly. After, Ramsay revealed he took a look at the customer comment cards, and while the blue team’s entrées got a 39% above average rating, the red team’s entrées got a 54% above average rating. Because of that, the red team were declared the winners, but Ramsay told them that it was not a victory worth celebrating over. Danny was named “Best of the Worst” for the blue team, and was tasked to nominate one person for elimination.

Back in the dorms, Carol was surprised that the red team won despite her potato fiasco, but Andrea thought they should have lost due to Carol’s poor performance. Meanwhile, Ben pleaded his case to Danny on why he should stay, while Robert argued his case to stay. That put Danny in a tough spot on who to nominate, even thinking that both of them should be up for elimination.

Elimination

Danny announced that Ben was his nominee for elimination. While Ramsay agreed with Danny’s decision, he also called down Robert as well. After listening to their pleas, Ramsay revealed that the person that would be going home was the one who sabotaged their team and gave up afterwards. That led Ramsay to eliminate Carol from the winning team as she was responsible for the gratin dauphinoises being undercooked in the first place, and making no attempt to fight back afterwards. This marked the first time in Hell’s Kitchen history that Ramsay eliminated someone from the winning team.

Ramsay’s comment: “Carol knew she was out of her depth in Hell’s Kitchen. I just put her out of her misery.”

My Opinion

Both service were rubbish for both team tonight. Carol, Benjamin and Robert have a bad service even though it was their our menu. Blue team were loser so I would nominated Benjamin. I was not surprised that Carol went home.

My comment: Carol mess up with the prep of the potatoes so that why she went home.