The tenth and eleventh episodes of Season 2 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on August 14, 2006, as a double feature. On those episodes, Heather and Virginia designed their new restaurants, picked their brigades for the final service, and one of them is declared winner of Hell’s Kitchen.

Intro

The episode began with a recap of the first nine episodes of the season, mentioning what happened, and who got eliminated when.

The episode began exactly at the point where the last episode ended. Heather and Virginia were celebrating in the dorms with some champagne glasses, and somebody was knocking at the door. When it opened, it was revealed that those people were Heather’s parents, and Virginia’s mother and husband. Both of them were thrilled when they walked through the door, and hugged their respective loved ones. The finalists told them what they have done so far on the show, with Heather reminding the dumpster dive on episode 2 and her friendship with Rachel, and Virginia telling she won the Blind Taste Test and the Taste It, Now Make It Challenge. After some very appreciated time, the families left, and the two finalists hugged each other, telling it was a sweet gift.

Press conference

The next morning, the two finalists were back to business, aware that only each other were standing between their dreams. Virginia was trying to stay focus by giving kicks into a punching bag. The telephone rang and Heather picked it up. Ramsay told her to get down in the kitchen, along with Virginia. When the two finalists entered the blue kitchen, some members of the media were waiting for them in the dining room, holding cameras and taking pictures. After Ramsay talked in the microphone, reporters asked a series of questions to the finalists. At some point, Virginia declared that if she was to win, she would hire her husband who was also a chef. Moments later, the finalists revealed the dance they made up in the dorms, which Heather was embarrassed about. But, they did it anyway, much to our amusement. After that, Ramsay revealed the final challenge, and a huge red blanket came down from the ceiling. He told both finalists that the restaurant is divided, Virginia would work the blue kitchen, and Heather the red one, and that both of them would design their dream restaurant. Before they left to the dorms, Ramsay gave them their head chefs jackets. Back in the dorms, both of them were really excited, and changed in their new outfits.

New restaurants design

Back downstairs, both finalists stood on their respective sides of the restaurant, thinking about how they could design their restaurant. Heather declared that she could die now, and Virginia wanted to give art on the plates and on the wall, so the customers could understand who she was. With 36 hours left until the last dinner service, Ramsay introduced them to John Janavs, the designer of Hell’s Kitchen, and Albie Colotto, the designer of the Red Rock Resort & Spa. He told them to work with them, and after, work with Jean-Philippe for the uniforms and atmosphere of their restaurants. He concluded by telling Virginia she would work with Sous Chef Maryann for her menu, and Heather with Sous Chef Scott.

After that, both finalists met all those people and explained them their visions of their dream restaurant in details, and the construction began. They later met their respective Sous Chefs to design their menus.

Individual challenge

After some hard work from both finalists, Ramsay announced them to pack their bags as they were going to Las Vegas. Heather was extremely excited about that trip, and as they were going to the dorms, Ramsay joked that somebody should mop the floor. They went to Las Vegas in a huge GMC limousine, and on the way to Vegas, Ramsay reminded their signature dishes on the first day, Heather’s burn on episode 2, and Virginia’s incredible challenge winning streak.

Arrived in Las Vegas, Ramsay introduced the Final Signature Dish Challenge, where each of them had one hour to prepare their new signature dish to the customers of the casino. Virginia prepared her chicken roulade which she served on episode 6’s challenge, while Heather made a Chilean sea bass with puréed cauliflower. During the judging, both dishes were neck-and-neck, with a very close score the whole time. After a tie at 10, one last customer was approached to taste the dish. The customer clinched the victory for Virginia.

After the challenge, Ramsay invited the finalists to the top of the restaurant to admire Las Vegas, and inviting both of them to London as VIP guests at his own establishment to come and enjoy themselves. Both of them were very excited about the gift. After that, they went back to Hell’s Kitchen.

Restaurants design continuing

Arrived in Hell’s Kitchen, Virginia learned that the color of the column was too dark and would not fit with her waterfalls. Colotto suggested to get some lighter colors, which she agreed. On her side, Janavs told Heather that her stairs were missing the Plexiglas they needed. So he suggested a color to go with the rest of the dining room, which Heather agreed. Colotto was also concerned about Virginia’s waterfalls as he was struggling to think how he could make them work well during the night. Finally, Heather’s booths were not set up properly, which made her really concerned about the progress of her restaurant. After that, both of them went to sleep, exhausted, but having a lot of things on their minds.

Team select

The next morning, the two finalists woke up, getting ready for the big day. Then, their former teammates came back in the dorms to greet and congratulate them. Rachel was the first one to enter, and was hugged very hard by Heather. Rachel was very happy to see Heather in the finals. She was also surprised to see Virginia there, as everybody else. The others were Tom, Sara, Garrett, followed by Keith and Giacomo who were holding platters of breakfast food. Then, the phone rang and Ramsay ordered Virginia to come down to the kitchen, along with Heather and all their friends to pick the teams. Ramsay told all the returning contestants he was happy to see them back, and each of them received a quick flashback of one of their highlights during their run in Hell’s Kitchen.

Because Virginia won the final challenge, she got the first pick. She chose Keith as her first pick, which he was not very happy about it as he would rather be on Heather’s team. Rachel was Heather’s first pick, which both of them were very happy about. For her second pick, Virginia chose Tom, which surprised everybody, including Tom himself. After Heather declared she was happy to not have him on her team, she picked Sara as her second pick. That decision made Virginia happy as she was not friend with Sara. For her last pick, Virginia chose Giacomo, thinking it would boost his confidence for not being picked last, and Heather was left with Garrett, which surprised him, but was happy to be on her team. Heather was also happy to have him on her team as she knew exactly how she could get what she wants from him.

After the selection, both teams got back in the dorms for briefing time. Virginia managed to “demotivate” her team by saying she picked the people who everybody thought were weak, apart from Keith, and see what she could do with them. She told Keith that she picked him because he could carry Tom and Giacomo over. On her side, Heather was happy with her team. Rachel acknowledged her short-lived feud with Sara, but both of them declared she had nothing to worry about as they want to see her win. Also, both teams were happy about the respective menus, Keith saying that Virginia’s menu was adapted to his style, and Garrett saying Heather was smart about her menu and that she designed it for the team to succeed. On Virginia’s side, Keith said he would only work hard for her if she guarantees something for them at the end. Virginia was reluctant the first time, but she eventually promised $1000 each if she was to win. Tom, being unemployed, was happy about that gift.

Before service

The next morning, both teams started prep, and on Heather’s side, Garrett was very confident, while Rachel and Sara were focused on their own things. Moments later, Colotto came and talk to Heather about a minor problem with her booths. She agreed, along with Janavs, to trim off a small section of the booth, so it could fit on the wall. In the blue kitchen, Virginia was concerned about Tom and Giacomo as they were the weakest under pressure. When she got in the dining room, Janavs and Colotto declared that her waterfalls might not be ready for the opening as they were already supposed to be ready. Virginia was worried about it, but the two architects told her to concern about her food, and let them focus on the dining room.

4 hours before opening, the design of both dining rooms were way behind schedule, but fortunately, the kitchens were running smoothly. When Heather presented her menu to Ramsay, he said the chicken on her salad was chewed up, the sea bass was boring, but praised the desserts. For Virginia, he praised her presentations, but told she had to match ingredients that taste well together.

Minutes before opening, Heather presented her dining room to Ramsay. He found it very vibrant, elegant, and the only negative review he had was the child graffiti on the wall, written with a blue sharpie marker. The architects revealed to Virginia her waterfalls, who finally came alive. She was very happy about them. When Ramsay was presented her dining room, he found the color nice, and praised the lighting. After that, Ramsay told the finalists that he was proud of them both, and that he will not run the kitchen for them. He also reminded them that their teams are not their friends. Then, Heather and Virginia briefed their respective teams one last time, telling them what they want from them during that service, and service started.

Dinner service

For one time, Tom wanted to be on the winning team. Ramsay joked to Giacomo that he should have his oven on, with Giacomo reminding that he checked it four times already. In the red kitchen, Heather was controlling her brigade and everybody seemed confident and focused. In the blue kitchen, Virginia struggled to be understood by her team as they told her to speak louder. After she called out her first ticket, none of her team members called back. After that, it was revealed that the president of the Red Rock Resort, along with his wife, would sample each menu. Ramsay hid that information to the finalists, only telling them VIPs were in the dining room and that they had to have a great quality control. In the red kitchen, Sara sent the team off to a good start with her salad appetizers, making Heather very happy about it. Many starters went out of the kitchen very fast, but in the blue kitchen, it was not as fast as the red kitchen as Virginia was taking way too long to plate her dishes. She even pushed Giacomo and Keith, who were trying to help her, away. In the red kitchen, more than half of the diners received their appetizers, but one of them came back in the kitchen for being not hot enough. So, Heather asked for a scallop soup on the fly, determined to not leave that night not a winner. In the blue kitchen, Virginia told Giacomo to refire a salad order as the last one he sent had too much salt in it. Ramsay praised that decision, and told Giacomo to wake up. When Virginia told her team to begin going faster, Tom started to give her attitude, thinking he does not want to be talked like that because of his age.

An hour into service, most of Heather’s customers received their appetizers. Unfortunately, in the blue team, Virginia did a good quality control, but Giacomo was slowing the kitchen down because of the raw food he was sending. Ramsay then told Virginia that he was worried of the little food that was coming out. He also told her she needed help on the plating station. So, she asked Keith to come and help her, but he started to give her attitude, bothering her. Despite that, she was catching up on the red kitchen and most of her customers finally received their appetizers. Many of her customers were enjoying their starters, but the Red Rock Resort president complained that his pasta was a little bit too thick. In the red dining room, Heather’s appetizers received mixed reviews. When a salad came back for being too salty, Heather ordered once again a scallop soup on the fly. She was worried because Sara and her weak performance could get her chances of winning away from her. Rachel had to refire an order of meat because it was not cooked enough. When she sent it back to the hot plate, Heather told her it was perfectly cooked. The Red Rock Resort president enjoyed his meat dish. In the blue kitchen, Tom was caught not doing much by Virginia. When she told him to get moving, he gave her attitude saying he could take any shit from a man, but not a woman. After that, when Tom was slicing the chicken roulade, he cut his finger really bad, and rinsed his hand under water. He showed his injury to Sous Chef Mary-Ann, and she told him to go see a medic. Giacomo informed Virginia about the bad news, and she started feeling very concerned. When Tom went in the back to get some bandages on his finger, he showed his injury to Ramsay, who told him that was nothing and that he did not need a big drama queen. Tom came back in the kitchen minutes later, asking what was needed. Virginia called out the order, and Tom successfully sent out acceptable main courses. Virginia was determined to catch up with the red team, leading the main courses to be delivered to most of her guests. The Red Rock Resort president really enjoyed his chicken roulade. When Tom asked what was on the ticket, Ramsay told him to move his big fat ass and check the ticket himself.

Three hours into service, Virginia was rushing to get her entrées quickly, but a little too much as a customer complained about his dish containing too much oil. When Virginia asked for a reorder of snapper, Keith revealed they ran out of snapper. So, she started to panic at the same time we could see Keith eating some of the food. In the red kitchen, Heather started to push desserts out. She told Sara to replate some of the desserts because she was not satisfied with them. When she sent them for the second time, the plates were not the same, and told Sara to replate them once again, which she acknowledged it was becoming obnoxious. After that, Ramsay told Heather told the cream of the dessert was underneath the plate, so she told her brigade to clean underneath the plates. In the blue kitchen, Virginia started to panic when she realized she ran out of snapper, but the customers asked for their desserts anyway, so she ordered her team to get the desserts going. Both teams rallied to send their final desserts out, and the Red Rock Resort president enjoyed both kitchens’ desserts. Both finalists congratulated and thanked their respective teams, with the blue kitchen celebrating with champagne glasses. Keith declared he only wanted to win the $1000 Virginia promised.

Post-mortem

When the teams were lined up, Ramsay congratulated both teams and asked for a big round of applause. After that, Ramsay revealed that the president of the Red Rock Resort was dining in both restaurants that night, and he came in the kitchen to give his reviews about the different dishes. Heather’s sea bass was praised for the great presentation and delicate taste. Virginia’s short ribs were declared the best he has ever had. Ramsay told both finalists to say goodbye to their staff and wait in the dorms. Before they left, Virginia told Tom and Giacomo were always known as the weak links, and that if she could win despite them, she could prove everybody wrong. On her side, Heather gave a long hug to Rachel saying that if she does not win, she could say that she had a great restaurant for one night.

Back in the dorms, Heather and Virginia were drinking beer, and both of them told how nervous they were. After that, Ramsay was seen sitting in his office, thinking about making a decision based on his own observations, the Red Rock president’s reviews, and the customer comment cards. After a few minutes, the Sous Chefs went knocking at the dorms’ door to get both of them in Ramsay’s office.

Winner announced

Arrived in Ramsay’s office, Heather and Virginia stood in front of a door each. Ramsay praised Heather’s great improvement and maturity throughout the competition, and Virginia’s palate, which he said it was a gift. He declared he read every customer comment cards, and that one of them holds a slight advantage in front of the other. After giving both finalist a key each, Ramsay declared that one of those keys would not only open the door, but also their very own restaurant in Las Vegas. After waiting nervously for Ramsay’s countdown to end, both finalists turned their keys, but only Heather’s door opened.

Heather became the winner of Hell’s Kitchen, and Virginia the runner-up. Virginia took her defeat graciously, saying she trusted Ramsay’s decision and that she hopes to be as successful as Heather one day.

Ramsay’s comment: “Heather won Hell’s Kitchen because of her determination. She stuck to what she knew best, and she controlled her kitchen from start to finish. Heather clearly has great leadership qualities, and this, for a 25-year-old cook, is a phenomenon. This woman is going to be a big success. My work is done, it’s been a phenomenal journey, I’m ready for the next challenge, and fuck you all!”

Epilogue

Three months later, Heather was introduced to her new staff at the Red Rock Resort where she gave a very emotional speech and thanked everybody from Ramsay to her parents, who were as emotional as her during her speech. The season ended with a big firework on top of the Red Rock Resort & Spa.

My opinion

I think that Virginia pick the worst team which was Tom and Giacomo but she pick Keith one of the best chef.

My comment: Heather is a better chef than Virginia so she was my winner tonight. If Virginia pick a better team I think she would have won.

The ninth episode of Season 2 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on August 7, 2006. On that episode, the final three are taking control of the kitchen one by one, and a shocking elimination happened, where one of them is being very rude to Ramsay.

Please watch the full episode before you read (below) to avoid spoilers about this episode.

Intro

Back in the dorms, Virginia started crying because she was still feeling ashamed about her poor performance, and questioning her place in the competition. Heather told her she was surprised by her move, but Virginia told her she really meant what she said in front of Ramsay. On his side, Keith was feeling secured against Virginia as he felt he could easily beat her in the kitchen. When Virginia asked them if she was better than Sara, both Heather and Keith yawned in her face, as it was not important. Virginia left the patio table, and took a moment to herself in the bathroom, where she motivated herself so she could finally convince herself she deserves to be there. The next morning, Virginia, being determined to not fail on another service, asked many questions to Heather, but Heather refused to answer her, thinking she would not help her win the competition.

Individual challenge

When the final three entered the kitchen, Ramsay was cooking for them. He presented them his signature dish, told them to smell it, and then taste it. This made him introduced the very first Taste It, Now Make It Challenge, where each chef had 20 minutes to recreate the dish. During the challenge, Keith used the Chilean sea bass, while the two women used the wild stripped sea bass. For the purée, Heather and Keith used mashed potatoes, but Virginia used Tuscan white beans. For the sauce, Keith tried to hide couscous, which was what he thought was right, but Virginia convinced him to give her some of it. He agreed reluctantly. For the sides, Keith and Heather used cilantro, while Virginia used grapefruit.

In the end, Ramsay congratulated all three of them for having very good individual dishes. After deliberation, he declared Virginia the winner as she correctly guessed all the ingredients of the original dish. Ramsay praised her palate, and told her she have to use it from now on. Virginia was very proud of herself.

Reward

Virginia enjoyed some quality time with Ramsay in the kitchen, to ask him as many questions as she wants. He would give her some tips on how to cook on the line, run the hot plate, and eventually become a top chef. During the reward, she made Ramsay and the Sous Chefs laugh when she was simulating running the hot plate.

Punishment

Heather and Keith were punished by spending some time with Jean-Philippe in the dining room, polishing all the glasses and silverware of the entire dining room. Before the punishment, Heather accused Virginia of taking the recipe of the dish used in the challenge in the recipe book she got during her reward on the previous episode. Virginia accused Heather of being jealous of her success, and did not listen to her as she was proud of herself. Heather told Keith she would not help Virginia anymore, something with which Keith agreed to do also. During the punishment, both of them tried to listen to what Ramsay was saying to Virginia.

Before service

When all three of them finished their duties of the day, Heather gave cold shoulder to Virginia when she asked her if she was mad at her. Heather told she does not want to be her friend anymore. Keith showed attitude to Virginia when he told her Ramsay picked a dish only she was knowing because he was attracted to her. Virginia told him to shut the fuck up, and that he was being rude. When Heather went to sleep, Keith joined her, laughing and having fun with her, leaving Virginia alone in her bedroom. She was sick and tired of being an outsider, and got on her knees, in front of her bed, to send some prayers.

The next day, when the final three was prepping the kitchen, Heather refused to answer Virginia’s questions as she did not want anybody to take her dream away from her. Virginia was annoyed by Heather and Keith’s behavior as both of them thought they already won. She took it as extra motivation to prove everybody and herself wrong. When the chefs were lined up minutes before service, Ramsay reminded them that all three of them would run the hot plate, one at a time. They were stepping in Ramsay’s shoes.

Dinner service

on the first ticket, Virginia burned her two salmons, and trashed them. Ramsay asked her to get them out of the bin, and schooled her on her careless attitude, asking her if that was the start of what would come that night, which she answered no. When Ramsay asked for the chicken, Heather panicked, saying it needed 30 seconds more. Unfortunately, she sent it burned. Ramsay asked her to start again without doing the same mistake over. After that, Keith was the first who was told by Ramsay to run the hot plate. On his first ticket, Sous Chef Scott sent an overcooked lobster spaghetti, but Keith passed the quality control test by spotting it. However, Ramsay told him to show some energy in running the brigade and be more assertive to what is going on. When Keith called his second ticket, Virginia did not answer, and Ramsay had to tell him that she had to answer him. She was unable to give him a proper time, which Keith did not gave himself. During his time on the hot plate, Keith gave a very inconsistent leadership, which included being very soft with his brigade, and allowing them to give him time they need. Heather acknowledged he had to take the reins himself, and not let everybody take the reins for him.

When it was Heather’s turn at the pass, she asked Sous Chef Scott and Virginia a proper time on their food to be ready. She had a tendency to rush because of the pressure on her shoulders, so Ramsay had to told her to stop panicking and calm down. When Keith gave an unacceptable risotto and Ramsay was telling him the problem, he refused to look at him in the eyes and talked back to him. Ramsay told him his attitude was stinking, and asked him to give a beautiful risotto. Ramsay also told Keith, who seemed to have a careless attitude, that he does not have to wait until the end of service to kick him out. When Heather asked Keith a time on his risotto, he gave her seven minutes, but she gave him six. Her good leadership abilities managed the team to send many appetizers out. After that, Ramsay pulled Sous Chef Mary-Ann aside to tell her she could attempt a sabotage. So, she served lumps instead of mashed potatoes. Heather failed to spot the mistake, and when she started arguing, Ramsay lost his patience and told her to stop. After that, Heather was sent back to her station.

Two hours into service, despite some struggles from different chefs on the hot plate, they managed to send out many of the main courses to the dining room. Virginia was told to get on the hot plate to run it. On her first ticket, she was not taken seriously by Keith, who thought she sounded like a cartoon character, and Heather asked her to repeat the order because she did not understand her well. Despite her rocky start, she was very energetic, and Ramsay told Sous Chef Scott to send a Chilean sea bass instead of salmon. Virginia succeeded to spot the mistake, and asked for a salmon. Ramsay praised her quality control. With that compliment from Ramsay, Virginia was determined to finish her turn at the pass strong. She gave clear instructions to Heather, and with three tables left, Ramsay took control of the hot plate back. He reminded the remaining chefs that although they all fight individually to stay in the competition, they have to work as a team as well. Virginia started to struggle on fish, and lacked communication and teamwork with Heather. Despite that, the team rallied to send the last tables and complete dinner service for a third time in a row.

Post-mortem

Ramsay reminded the final three it was a good service, and that a great chef have to make tough decisions. He asked them to nominate one person who they do not think deserves to go in the finals. During deliberation, Virginia said she would not be surprised if she would leave, Heather deemed Virginia as the weakest line cook, but Keith as the weakest leader, and Keith was confident to go through, thinking he killed it. When Heather was about to tell him that he could have been louder, he told her to not fuck around. Virginia was already packing her bags.

Elimination

Keith and Virginia, nominated each other, and Heather, while acknowledging that Keith could have been louder, in the end, nominated Virginia. After hearing from both Virginia and Keith, Ramsay told it was his most difficult decision ever in Hell’s Kitchen. In the end, he eliminated Keith for lacking leadership skills. After Keith gave his jacket to Ramsay, he stood in front of him, and started to question his judgement, telling him how he was a better leader than anybody since the beginning of the competition, with people who did not knew much about working in a kitchen. When Ramsay told Keith he did not think he was ready to lead, Keith accused Ramsay of dropping him in favor of Virginia because he has a “hard-on” for her. Ramsay schooled Keith on his rudeness, and told him this proved he made the right decision, and that his attitude was indeed stinking. Keith hugged Heather, ignoring Virginia, and received a retrospective montage of his run during his exit interview.

Ramsay’s comment: “You got two choices. You run the team, or the team runs you. And sadly, the team ran Keith. If Keith could only lose the attitude, underneath all that, there’s one talented, talented cook.”

Celebration

After Keith left, Ramsay congratulated Heather and Virginia for making it to the final two. He told to get back in the dorms, and get some rest. Arrived in the dorms, both of them were excited and shouted all over the place, when they saw champagne bottles waiting for them on the table, with a letter of congratulations. They opened a bottle, drank a glass, and somebody knocked at the door. Before the people were revealed, the episode ended in a cliffhanger.

My opinion

A lot of people said that Keith should not have been elimination and in the final. I agree and disagree with this.

Agree

I agree because I think Keith was a better chef then Virginia at the dinner service and be more a challenge for Heather.

Disagree

I also disagree because Virginia was better at the challenge then Keith and was better at leading a team so I think Gordon make the right decision about Virginia leading the team better.

My comment: By having the agree and disagree I make a decision that keith should have been in the final with Heather but agree with that Virginia was better leading a team then Keith.

Gordon choose keith to leave.

The eighth episode of Season 2 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on July 31, 2006. On that episode, immunity was given for the first time in Hell’s Kitchen, but the chef who received it made a shit performance, not worthy of it.

Please watch the full episode before you read (below) to avoid spoilers about this episode.

Intro

Back in the dorms, Virginia went lying on her bed, crying and ashamed about her poor performance and being nominated a fourth time. She said she does not want to be there if she does not deserve to. Sara was thinking that Virginia had no skills whatsoever, and that Heather and Keith were her biggest competition. On his side, Keith joked with Heather about the fact he was the last man standing, declaring he had to get rid of the dudes as he was a pimp. He reminded his nickname “K-Grease”, and Heather said to him that he had to pick her if he was to win the next challenge, or she would punch him in the throat.

Individual Challenge

The next morning, when Ramsay asked the final four who they think was the strongest chef, everybody answered themselves, except Virginia who was still feeling ashamed about her last dinner service performance. Ramsay declared they were all strong chefs, and named the reward of the next challenge before explaining it, which was a guaranteed spot in the final three. After that, the chefs put blindfolds on and were taken to a secret location where they would run their own individual restaurants.

Ramsay introduced the 100 Portions Constructions Workers Challenge, where each contestant had 1 hour to prepare 100 portions of a meal for the same number of construction workers for lunch. Virginia prepared a turkey, prosciutto, and feta cheese sandwich, Sara made seared quail with salad and fresh berries, Keith served a poached lobster and greens, and finally, Heather cooked a grilled chicken sandwich with French fries. While serving her plates to the construction workers, Sara spoke in her native tongue which was Spanish, and on her side, Virginia used a very flirtatious approach. After every worker sampled each plate and voted for their favorite and least favorite dishes, the contestants went back to Hell’s Kitchen with Ramsay.

Arrived in Hell’s Kitchen, Ramsay announced that Heather’s dish was voted the worst, which made her feel her heart dropped. He also announced Virginia’s dish as the one who was voted the best, making her the winner of the challenge.

Reward

Virginia was rewarded with immunity at the next elimination, which means she went through to the final three, and a shopping spree of $1000 at the Sur La Table boutique, where she shopped with Ramsay. In the end, she bought for close to $970 worth of kitchen items.

Punishment

Heather, Keith and Sara were punished by prepping crab for the next dinner service. Heather and Keith felt that Virginia won not because the workers liked her dish, but because they liked her. Keith said she won only because she is the hottest and was flirting with them, saying things like “I’ll take you home”. Both of them also plotted against her, where they agreed to leave her on the side if she would need help during service. During the punishment, the three chefs punished trash-talked about Virginia and said they were tired to see her win, which included she was successful only on the fish station, which was the easiest one. Sara entered in the other two’s conspiracy to keep Virginia aside during service.

Before service

When Virginia came back from her reward, she received very cold shoulder from her teammates, as she gave them cheap presents, and did not want her to be there as they did not want to be friend with her any longer. Virginia took her bags, went to her room and got to sleep.

The next morning, during prep, Virginia was not feeling secure even though she was safe, so Heather, Sara, and Keith were given more pressure as one of them would go home that night. Although he was not safe from elimination, Keith was feeling confident.

When the chefs were lined up, Ramsay revealed that three top chefs would be eating in the dining room that night. The final four were given extra pressure as Ramsay reminded them that was not a table they would like to mess up.

Dinner service

Virginia was up to a good start with her crab amuse-bouche that she was serving in addition of taking care of the garnishes. Keith and Sara also took the kitchen off to a great start by sending many appetizers out, Keith serving them in record time. It took only 30 minutes for the kitchen to move on to entrées. Ramsay praised that service start, and told the chefs he wants to keep that momentum. After, when Ramsay called out a six-cover, Virginia was caught staring at him, not doing anything. He told her that she had to move her ass by mimicking what she was doing. Heather was running around her station, knowing she could be eliminated that night. On her station, Virginia was looking for the green beans and started panicking when she could not find them. She told Ramsay she wanted to move fast as many things were going at once, but he told her to communicate well with Heather, who has just sent out perfectly cooked Wellingtons. Ramsay told it was the best start they have ever had.

One hour into service, nearly half of the dining room received their entrées, and the three master chefs arrived, greeted by Jean-Philippe. Ramsay declared to the team each of them would choose a dish to serve them as they were VIP guests. Keith would serve a lobster spaghetti, Sara would serve one monkfish and two scallops, but Ramsay told her to get all three of them the same dish, so she chose the scallops Saint-Jacques. Heather would serve beef Wellingtons. When a minor fire erupted on Keith’s station, he reassured Ramsay telling him he was in control, and the fire disappeared. When he realized his pasta was undercooked, he took a chance and put it back in the boiling pot. On her side, Sara declared she needed two minutes on the salmon, so Heather had to take her duck back. When she acknowledged her mistake, Ramsay said he knew it was her mistake and claimed the duck was perfectly cooked and that she was holding the entrées back. When Sara said she needed two minutes again, Ramsay was discouraged and Heather had to refire her duck. Ramsay said to Sara that she cannot sabotage this service as it was immaculate going on. When the master chefs finished their appetizers, Keith realized his gamble of reboiling the pasta did not pay off as the pasta was still too watery, and Ramsay told him to not give up on Ramsay, as Ramsay did not give up on him. Then, another minor fire erupted on Keith’s station. After that, Sara declared she was running out of salmon for the night. Ramsay did not believe her, and she told him she was serious. She checked with Jean-Philippe if she could serve turbot instead, and after that, when Ramsay was schooling her about her performance, she talked back to him saying “come on!”. Ramsay became furious when she kept talking back to him, and sent Heather to the fish station so she could help her. Sara refused her help and told her she was fine. Ramsay threatened her with elimination. When her scallop dishes made it to the chefs’ table, it received mixed reviews.

Determined to insure the quality of her food, Heather had to communicate well with Virginia. She repeated one of her orders to her when she did not understood it well the first time. After a minor fire erupted on Virginia’s station, Heather was sent there to help her. She went to the back store looking for bok choy, and when Virginia asked Keith if he could run to get her cream as fast as he could, he categorically refused to. When Ramsay asked Virginia if it was because she was safe that she was panicking like that, she answered no and reminded that Heather was working her station for her. Despite this, Heather succeeded to get her entrées out, and more than half of the diners received their main courses. When Jean-Philippe returned to the kitchen with the chefs’ dishes, he said to Heather that the meat was cooked perfectly, but Virginia’s peas were burned. Ramsay provoked Virginia by saying that because she was safe, she was playing against Heather and not with her.

Heather was determined to complete service, with or without help. When Sara asked her to slow down, Ramsay made her count the tickets, which there were 10 left, and made her apologize to Heather. After that, Virginia told her to slow down as well as she could not make it in time, leading Ramsay to tell Heather she was screwing her. Then, Virginia told Ramsay she burned the cabbage, which made Heather taking her meat back. This is when Ramsay decided to take Virginia’s immunity away from her, which made Heather smile and thank god. After that, Virginia became confused and panicked on time she needed, which discouraged Ramsay. Two and a half hours into service, the team was about to complete its second dinner service in a row, which Ramsay was eager about it. After the last ticket was sent out, Ramsay congratulated Heather and made everybody clear down.

Post-mortem

When the chefs were lined up, Ramsay reminded them it was their best start ever, but when it became the middle, it shut down. Referring to the chefs’ comment cards, the Wellingtons were the most enjoyed, and because of that, Heather was named “Best of the Worst”, and Ramsay asked her to nominate two of her teammates for elimination.

Back to the dorms, Virginia convinced Heather to put her up as she was so ashamed about her performance. Heather respected that decision and went to the patio to tell the news to Sara and Keith that Virginia was taking herself out. They celebrated being the final three and clang their beer bottles together.

Elimination

Heather nominated Virginia as her first nominee, and Sara as her second. During her plea, Virginia was given the opportunity to take her immunity back by Ramsay. After deliberating about how she wants to be in the final three because she deserves it, Virginia eventually changed her mind and declared she wants to stay in the competition. Ramsay respected her decision and eliminated Sara for her poor performance on the fish station, but praised her hard work. Before she left, she gave a Texan farewell to Ramsay saying “Kiss my grits!”, and received a retrospective montage of her run during her exit interview.

Ramsay’s comment: “Sara’s not good enough as a cook, she made so many simple mistakes, she definitely didn’t merit to win her own restaurant. Hello sweetheart, kiss my grits!”

My opinion

Sara and Virginia should went up and they did went up but I will choose Virginia to go home but Gordon choose Sara. I think Virginia got the revenge on Sara when she backstab her in week 4.

My comment: I would choose Virginia to go home but Sara went home. So kiss my grits Sara.

The seventh episode of Season 2 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on July 24, 2006. On that episode, black jackets were given, and a friendship is broken as one of the two broke a promise.

Please watch the full episode before you read (below) to avoid spoilers about this episode.

Intro

After surviving elimination for a third time, Virginia was crying on her bed, thinking she sucks, but was comforted by Sara, who faked feeling compassion for her, as she said she deserves to go home. In the blue team, the three members were talking about what was in store for them tomorrow. When Heather left the patio table, Keith and Garrett promised that they would pick each other if one of them was to win an individual challenge. The next morning, Heather and Keith were hugging each other on the couch, when Heather declared she formed a great bond with him, as his prediction was both of them in the finals.

Individual Challenge

Before the next challenge, Ramsay announced the remaining five contestants would become one team, which was the black team. Virginia was the first to receive her black jacket, followed by Sara, Keith, Heather, and finally Garrett. After that, they went back to the dorms to change. When they came down in the blue kitchen, Ramsay introduced the 10 Ingredient Challenge, where each contestant had 20 minutes to prepare a dish using the same 10 ingredients from the counter in front of them.

Garrett served a veal chop over prawns and mushrooms with saffron. After Ramsay asked him if he ever cooked veal before, Garrett answered he did not very often. Ramsay declared the veal was cooked perfectly, and that his dish tasted good, but the saffron on the mushrooms was too much. Heather served fresh saffron prawns over a bed of spinach and artichokes, and Ramsay, despite telling it tasted nice, realized the spinach was not clean enough, as he got some dirt in the throat. Virginia made a chiffonade of spinach and beet tops, with poached prawns garnished with truffles. Ramsay praised the presentation, before telling the prawns were delicious, vibrant, and that if she performed like that on her last service, he would have been very happy. Sara made a grilled veal with a sauce of toasted prawn shells. Ramsay said the presentation was boring, but that the flavors worked well. Finally, Keith served a veal chop stuffed with wild mushrooms and spinach, with prawn salad on the side. Ramsay praised the color of the veal chop as he said it was making people wanting to eat it. After congratulating everybody because they did better than he expected, Ramsay said it was his toughest decision. After deliberation over Keith and Virginia, he declared Keith the winner, and said he could choose someone to come with him on the reward. Despite promising Garrett he would pick him, he chose Virginia because of her second place, infuriating Garrett, as he accused Keith of being a liar.

My opinion

Both Garrett and Virginia should went up which they did went up by Keith. But Sara and Heather didn’t have good performances as well.

My comment: Garrett was a good chef but he was angry sometimes so I went him back to home.

Gordon choose Garrett.

The sixth episode of Season 2 Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on July 17, 2006. On that episode, both teams created their menus, and that service resulted in one team performing strong, while the other struggled on their own menu.

Please watch the full episode before you read (below) to avoid spoilers about this episode.

Intro

Following Rachel’s elimination, Heather was already crying and missing her. She talked to Maribel about it, and said she did not think this would happen, but Maribel understood it as she wanted her to be eliminated. Maribel did not care about it, saying Heather could say whatever she wants. On the patio, Keith and Garrett talked about how Heather is not as strong as she thinks.

Team challenge

The next morning, Sous Chef Scott and Mary-Ann woke up the contestants with megaphones, shouting all over the dorms, and telling them to get outside immediately with their jackets on. The contestants were taken to the Grand Central Public Market in Los Angeles, where Ramsay explained the Three Course Meal Challenge, and that inspiration was the main reason of that challenge. Each team was given 20 minutes to shop for their ingredients of their three dishes. On the red team, Virginia took the leadership role, much to the annoyance of Maribel and Sara, as they felt she does not have what it takes. On the blue team, Heather struggled to find what she wants, and Keith noticed she was getting flustered.

When the teams came back in Hell’s Kitchen, they had one hour to prepare all three dishes. Virginia was the unofficial leader for her team as she chose the dishes, but said she would like everybody to lead their own station, with the help of others. Maribel did not feel her two teammates had confidence in her. In the blue kitchen, they were organized by each choosing a station, but Keith said he did not want to put too much responsibility on Garrett as he was lacking the knowledge of the kitchen the most in the team.

Garrett and Sara went up for the appetizer round. Garrett presented a roasted corn scallop and shrimp bisque. Although Ramsay found the presentation nice, he found the shrimp tail very dangerous to leave on the plate as it was really sharp. Sara made a bell pepper soup, and despite Ramsay praising the appetizing colour, the peppers were burned. Virginia took responsibility for that mistake as she told Sara to roast the peppers to fuck. For the entrées, Virginia served a chicken roulade stuffed with Mexican hard salami, sliced tomatoes and garlic. It impressed Ramsay as Hell’s Kitchen was not that sophisticated yet with their chicken dish. For the blue team, Keith served a pan-roasted rib-eye with smocked chili. Ramsay said the steak was cooked perfectly, and even the vegetables presented as a mess were delicious. For the desserts, Heather presented a fresh-fruit crepe with mango purée, but Ramsay did not like it as it was soggy. Maribel served a strawberry short cake, and received praise from Ramsay for the taste, but he said it could be more inspirational. After much deliberation, Ramsay declared the red team winners. He also added his favorite dish overall was Virginia’s chicken roulade. That announcement infuriated the blue team as they felt they should have won.

Reward

The red team enjoyed a day of sunbathing on the patio, before a night out with Ramsay at three different restaurants in Hollywood. The first restaurant they went was Providence, before going to Nick & Stef’s Steakhouse. Arrived there, Virginia annoyed her teammates for not being able to properly ask a question to the owner of the restaurant. The last restaurant they went to is unknown.

Punishment

The blue team was punished by taking part of Delivery Day. During the punishment, they were furious as they felt they should have won, being sore losers, and trash talked the red team. They also made an agreement to work hard, eliminate all the girls of the red team, and be the final three. When the red team took off for their night in the limousine, Garrett flipped the birds to them, unaware Ramsay was inside it. Heather did not think it was a good idea. During the night, they were going to bed, telling each other good night, and five minutes later, another delivery came in.

Creating new menus

The next morning, Ramsay reminded Garrett about the “bird-flipping” incident, and threatened him with on-the-spot elimination. After that, Ramsay announced that for the next service, he was going to let both teams have control of the menu. He told them to go back to the dorms and get to work. For the blue team, Keith and Heather quickly came up with suggestions for their menu, but Garrett’s ideas were turned down due to them being too complicated, much to his frustration. On the red team, it was the same story as Garrett for Maribel, with Virginia and Sara taking total control.

Before service

With three hours left until service began, both teams prepped their kitchens. Maribel was moving slowly due to not contributing to the menu, while on the blue team, Garrett was still mad on his lack of input and wonders why he was even there.

Before service, Ramsay reminds the two teams that while it was their menus, it was still his standards.

Dinner service

In the blue kitchen, Keith got the team off to a strong start with perfect risottos and Ramsay praised his work. In the red kitchen, Virginia sent raw scallops, slowing the red kitchen down, and got lost on orders, forcing Ramsay to send the blue teams appetizers to a few tables that have two different team orders. More problems occurred for Virginia when her sashimi was sliced in different sizes, and Maribel was sent over to try and help her. It worked, but they were way behind as it had been an hour since service started.

In the blue kitchen, all the appetizers went out, and Garrett and Heather began working on entrées. However, Ramsay noticed that Garrett’s duck salad was raw, and told Keith he needed to get his team under control. Before they could do anything more, a truck horn was heard, and the three of them were forced to do one more task on their punishment. All three of them raced outside and took in orders of wine, giving the red team a chance to catch up on appetizers.

Moving onto entrées, Sara sent in her lamb entrées but it turned out to be raw, and Ramsay was even angrier when Sara claimed she was learning. In the blue kitchen, Garrett sent up another duck salad, but it was raw again, forcing Ramsay to show him how to properly cook it. Garrett caused a small fire, causing a disbelieved Ramsay to say “Welcome to Hell’s Shithole”. Despite these problems, entrées from the blue kitchen came out, while the red team has not sent any entrées out yet, and red diners were getting impatient. That angered Ramsay who threatened to kick out Sara unless they would get moving. Her next lamb dish was raw again, forcing Ramsay to tell Jean-Philippe to take the lamb off the menu, and angrily ordered Sara not to touch another lamb for the rest of the night. Jean-Philippe himself has reached his limit and went off for a drink.

In the meantime, the blue team has almost finished service, and Heather took over the meat station, and served a respectable order of steak. In the red kitchen, more problems arrived as a lukewarm salmon returned to the pass because of Maribel, with Ramsay saying he could not believe the first thing Maribel touched all night went poorly. On their side, the blue team has performed a Hell’s Kitchen first and served desserts along with entrées, finishing their first complete service. On the other side, the red team continued to struggle, and Ramsay noticed that their salmon dish was very impracticable, much like their other items, and suggested they slice it for grilling. But when Sara argued about consistency, Ramsay finally had enough, and schooled her on her attitude, before calling the blue team over, and informing them that there are 11 red tables that have not received entrées yet. Ramsay ordered the blue team to help the red team, and left the kitchen, having seen enough for the night. With the blue team’s help, the red team succeeded to serve all their entrées.

Post-Mortem

After service, a returning Ramsay praised the blue team for completing the service. He told Keith that this was his best performance, while telling Garrett that he was lucky to be on the same team as Heather and Keith, which Garrett agreed. For the red team, Ramsay called Sara’s performance her worst so far, and that the red team were the obvious losers for creating a menu that was too difficult for any of them to handle. Nobody was safe, and each of them were asked to nominate one teammate for elimination.

The three discussed their performances, and Sara and Virginia argued over their performance, while Maribel deflected her poor performance since she never had a hand in the menu creation.

Elimination

At elimination, Ramsay decided to not go with the team’s nominees, and instead nominated the entire team for elimination. After deliberation, Ramsay eliminated Maribel for her lack of leadership and not doing much during service, but praised her for her attitude and hard work. During her exit interview, Maribel admitted that trying to work as a team was her weakness, and that her husband and daughter would be proud of her for being herself throughout the competition.

Ramsay’s comment : “I’m trying to find someone that deserves a restaurant. Now to run that restaurant properly, you need a leader and Maribel clearly can’t lead a section, let alone a kitchen.”

My opinion

The red team was a mess tonight because no one in the red team can cooked. I think Garrett didn’t know that Ramsay was in the car when he flipped them off. Garrett was lucky he was in the blue team.

My comment: Maribel wanted to see her family more than begin here. So I sent her home.

Gordon choose Maribel.

The fifth episode of Season 2 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on July 10, 2006. On that episode, happened the blind taste test, and a heartbreaking elimination of the hardest worker of the season.

Please watch the full episode before you read (below) to avoid spoilers about this episode.

Intro

After surviving another elimination, Virginia went on a war against Sara, saying that she was now an enemy for betraying her, but Sara did not care one bit. On her side, Rachel felt Ramsay had some choice words for her after her worst performance since her arrival, and felt he expected more of her because she has a lot to give. After Tom’s elimination, Keith now felt the blue team was strong and that he could smell the prize.

Team challenge

The next morning, when the contestants went down in the dining room, Ramsay arranged a table with some high quality dishes. Ramsay explained the taste is important for a chef, and asked the contestants to try some of the dishes, which included cheese fondue, chicken kebab, caviar and pâté. After tasting the dishes, and all the contestants saying they enjoyed the dishes, Ramsay revealed that the dishes were fake. The fondue was actually spray-on cheese, the kebab was a TV dinner, the pâté was made from hot dogs, and the caviar was from a catfish. Virginia was upset as she took that tasting seriously, but Keith said the pâté tasted good as it was made of hot dogs, and added that hot dogs are “slamin'”.

That is when Ramsay introduced the annual Blind Taste Test. Rachel was forced to sit out to even the teams at 3 members each. The first pair was Keith against Maribel. Both of them identified potato, but only Maribel correctly identified seared tuna. Keith made everybody laugh when he was struggling to get Ramsay’s spoon in his mouth. Neither of them got the oregano, but Keith tied the score at 2 by correctly identifying pear chutney. On the second round, Heather went up against Virginia. Both of them missed sea urchin, and scored with chicken and hot dog. Virginia scored on Swiss cheese, but Heather did not as she guessed parmesan. After two rounds, the score was 5-4 for the red team. The last ones were Sara and Garrett. Coming into the challenge, both of them were confident about their palates. They correctly identify scrambled eggs, and spinach, but failed for kiwi. With the score being 7-6 for the red team, Garrett tasted short rib, but guessed turkey, which secured the win of the red team. Ramsay praised Virginia as she had the best individual performance overall, with 3 out of 4.

Reward

The red team was rewarded with a photo shoot for TV Guide. During the reward, the women were having a positive vibe, and everybody was having a good time, and enjoying the moment with Ramsay, until Sara “blew gases” during the shooting, when Ramsay was sitting on her direct right. Rachel thought that was really immature and that it just showed her true personality.

Punishment

The blue team had to clean both kitchens after the previous night dinner service, which was left because Ramsay was too angry to let them switch it off themselves. Heather was envious as she was a woman also, and was on that team before. During the punishment, Garrett volunteered to get some champagne bottles to the photo shoot. When he arrived there, the women, especially Sara, were rubbing salt in the wound by showing him their pedicure, and Ramsay told him to get out as he stank. When Garrett came back, he made his two teammates envious, Keith even stated that anything else was better than doing the dishes.

Before service

When the red team came back from their rewards, it did not take long for Maribel to feel home-sick again, as she was missing her daughter and husband very much. On her side, Rachel developed a great friendship with Heather, which annoyed Sara as she found it unprofessional because both of them were making eyes to each other. Rachel explained to Heather the power struggle in the red team because of her feud with Sara.

During prep, both teams were very confident, and it did not seem that much animosity was going on the red team. In the blue kitchen, Sous Chef Scott was nervous as the blue team was a man down compared to the red team. When the teams were lined up, Ramsay reminded that the goal was still to complete a fully-booked dining room.

Dinner service

Even before Ramsay called one ticket out, Heather was caught as she was putting spaghetti in a pot to cook. Ramsay told her they were not a fast-food restaurant, and threatened her with on-the-spot elimination. When Garrett tried to comfort her by touching her shoulder, she aggressively told him to not touch her, prompting Garrett to say she had to work with him and not against him. When he called the first ticket in the red kitchen, Ramsay told them to keep talking because at the moment they are going to stop, they are screwed. When he called the first ticket for the blue team, only Keith answered back, and Ramsay told them he was already nervous and they have not even sent anything yet. On the first ticket, Rachel burned her duck and was already on fire. In the blue kitchen, the first risotto Heather sent was bland. He asked her to taste it, and she answered that she found it a little bit crunchy, but not more, before Ramsay asked her to start again. In the red kitchen, Ramsay gave some polite words of encouragement, and the red team sent many appetizers out. After that, Virginia was praised by Ramsay for her great communication about oysters. In the blue kitchen, Keith was doing the same thing, running around making sure everybody was in control of their station, and helped sending out many appetizers. In the red kitchen, a starter came back in the kitchen for having a hair on the plate. Maribel admitted she has black hair, but Ramsay did not care what colour it was. On the blue team, Heather was trying to help Garrett on the meat station to redeem herself. But, he was more annoyed than anything because he felt she wanted to control what he was doing. In the red kitchen, Maribel sent an acceptable risotto, but Rachel sent overcooked quail, and Ramsay pulled all the team aside to taste her quail. After she declared it was a little overcooked, Ramsay tried to humiliate Rachel by giving her glasses from a customer that Jean-Philippe brought to the kitchen. When Ramsay asked Rachel if she really thought he was going to send that quail in the dining room, she got confused and did not know what to answer. Then, he pulled her back in the pantry room and asked her if she wanted to go home. After telling him that she will not let him down, and Ramsay telling her she already had, Rachel got back in the kitchen ready to fight back.

Two hours into service, the blue team already served half of the main courses to the dining room. Jean-Philippe brought an entrée back in the kitchen, and when Ramsay told Keith it was too cold, Keith gave him attitude and did not show any care. Ramsay schooled him on his attitude, as he was not listening nor looking him in the eyes, and compared his behavior to a 5-year-old. He then told Keith to lead Heather and Garrett, who Ramsay said were cooking like donkeys. Ramsay then came to Garrett and suggested him to change the Hell’s Kitchen logo for Donkey’s Kitchen. In the red kitchen, Rachel’s night continued to go down in flames when she sent rare Wellingtons requested medium. She was ashamed of that mistake and apologized to Ramsay, and when she told him she was afraid of telling him the correct time, he answered by telling her he was not scared to tell the truth, and concluded by saying he was nervous for her, which she responded she was too. In the blue kitchen, Heather screwed Garrett’s station when she sent the wrong number of quail orders. Garrett accused her of making herself look good, and that his station was completely fucked.

Three hours into service, the blue team has served most of their customers, and Virginia was praised by Ramsay for her strong performance on the fish station. When Ramsay came for the last entrées of the blue kitchen, nothing came together and Ramsay schooled Keith and Garrett about the communication problems. He asked for the lamb sauce twice, before Garrett sent it. It became one of Ramsay’s most famous rants, along with calling Garrett a “fat useless sack of fucking yankee dankee doodle shite”. In the red kitchen, Rachel overcooked some Wellingtons requested medium, and tried to hide the mistake by covering them with some sauce. However, Ramsay not being a fool, he could tell her Wellingtons were well done by touching it. That was the last straw, and Ramsay shut down both kitchens. After service, Ramsay complimented Keith about his great cooking abilities, and told him if he could only lose the attitude, he would shine.

Post-Mortem

When the teams were lined up, Ramsay complained about the weight of two kitchens on his shoulders. Heather raised her hand to tell she indeed did not perform as good as she could, and added by saying they all should be up for elimination, but also added that they do not deserve to go home. Keith saw that as a way of getting the responsibility off her shoulders. Ramsay declared the red team losers for serving less entrées than the blue team despite having one more team member. Ramsay also praised Virginia for her comeback and improvement, and named her “Best of the Worst”, before asking her to nominate two of her teammates for elimination.

During deliberation, Rachel admitted her performance was very weak, but fought for her survival by trying to convince Virginia to pick Sara. Sara and Maribel said they would pick Rachel for screwing up service. On the patio, Heather admitted to Rachel that she would miss her very much if she was to go, and Rachel told her that if she was going, she would want her to win.

Elimination

Virginia nominated Rachel as her first nominee, and before she announced her second nominee, she gave a very long speech about how she thinks Sara should be nominated, but in the end, she nominated Maribel as her second nominee. Ramsay eliminated Rachel for screwing up her team and lacking confidence in herself. Before she left, Ramsay praised her hard work, before shaking her hand goodbye. During her exit interview, she received a retrospective montage of her run. Heather took her elimination very hard emotionally as she grew really close friend with her.

Ramsay’s comment: “Rachel clearly couldn’t handle it! She buckled, panicked, and actually screwed the kitchen completely. You’ve got no chance of running a successful business, if you can’t handle one section.”

My opinion

The right people went up for elimination was right. Which was Rachel and Maribel. But the blue kitchen was not good as well. Even though Sara was told that she backstab the night before.

My comment: Rachel was moaning about Sara being bad but Rachel was shit today and last dinner service.

Gordon choose Rachel.

RIP Rachel

The fourth episode of Season 2 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on June 26, 2006. On that episode, happened the first team switch of the season, and a very bad dinner service from both sides that resulted in two firsts of the show.

Please watch the full episode before you read (below) to avoid spoilers about this episode.

Intro

Back in the dorms, Tom went on a war with his teammates Garrett and Keith for nominating him. He told Garrett he has his back and expected he would have his. At that point, Garrett thought they would be a better team without Tom.

After that, Tom went on the patio and talked with Heather and Rachel about how it is only a game, how he only cares about the money, and how he sacrificed everything to be there, like if he was the only person who did. The two girls were irritated by his way of thinking, and Heather told him that she cares about the experience, and Rachel told him that she and Heather were born to do that.

Team switch

After Gabe, Larry, and Giacomo’s eliminations, the blue team was two men down. Ramsay noticed that Heather, Sara and Rachel were emerging as leaders in the red team, which pissed Virginia as she thought being bossy was not the definition of a leader. Heather was transferred to the men’s team, which pissed her off because she now has to work against her girls of the red team. Keith did not think he needed a leader, but was tired of telling Tom what to do. Sara was happy to see Heather go as she thought it was a perfect opportunity to take the reins of the red team.

During that sequence, we got to see Larry’s picture burning for the first time since his departure.

Trip to Los Angeles

Before the challenge, Ramsay took all the contestants out of the restaurant to visit one of the most successful restaurants in Los Angeles. After a long walk, they arrived at Pink’s Hot Dogs, which at the time, was the busiest restaurant in Los Angeles, with 2000 customers each day. Tom was upset as he thought they were going to Spago. All the contestants ordered a hot dog to eat, while Tom declared he worked at a hot dog place when he was in college. Ramsay invited him to go behind the counter to make a hot dog. Keith stated Tom belonged there. After, Ramsay asked Tom to get out before he sweats in the food, referring to his incident during the first dinner service prep.

After that, Ramsay declared Hell’s Kitchen would open for lunch for the first time, so the contestants ran back to the restaurant to begin prep. Keith was the slowest to run because of his stature. Back in Hell’s Kitchen, the contestants had only two hours to learn the menu and prep. In the blue kitchen, Heather quickly became a strong voice in the kitchen and the organizer for the men. In the red kitchen, Sara felt Rachel would crumble because of Heather’s departure from the team.

Team challenge

For the Lunch Service Challenge, each team would serve their half of the dining room, filled with children, and the first team who completes their tickets first wins the challenge. The menu included hamburgers, pizzas, French fries, and pasta. Before tickets came in, Sara cut her finger, and Sous Chef Mary-Ann and Rachel helped her to get her injury healed fast. Sara did not appreciate and said she needed space and a minute to herself. In the blue kitchen, Garrett and Tom got into an argument because Garrett was setting Tom’s station. Heather quickly calmed the situation down. In the red kitchen, there was a power struggle when Sara was not able to get her pizzas done. Both Rachel and Maribel came to help her on the pizza station, but Sara refused saying she could handle it by herself. Rachel thought she should have asked for help if she needed some.

After a few minutes, both teams sent acceptable food out in the dining room to the children who were making a big mess and screaming all over the place. In thirty minutes, the children became more satisfied when food arrived at the tables. But, in the red kitchen, Sara sent square pizzas, and accused Rachel of having rolled them.

Moments later, the blue team had 3 tickets left to serve, while the red team had 4. Both teams rallied to complete their tickets, and both of them finished at the same time. All the contestants celebrated their first completed dinner service, and the children left a very messy dining room. After service, Ramsay congratulated both teams and told them to keep that momentum for the next dinner service. When he said he asked all the children to rate the food out of 10, Ramsay declared the blue team winners as they manage to score 9,85 out of 10, compared to the red team’s 9,84.

Reward

The blue team enjoyed a day at the amusement park, at Santa Monica Beach, to feel like children again. They really bonded as a team, and Heather made up with Garrett, and became friend with Keith. All three of them conspired to get Tom out as they felt they would be better without him. Heather and Keith also joked that both of their initials were the same as Hell’s Kitchen, so they would be the perfect final two.

Punishment

The red team had to clean the big mess left by the children in the dining room. During the punishment, Rachel was annoyed by Sara’s childish behavior, especially when she was inhaling helium and making weird sounds while spraying water on the floor. Rachel said she busted her ass to make her team win, and considered that Sara did not care if they lost. Rachel and Sara became rivals and got into a heated argument. For lunch, Sous Chef Mary-Ann brought a cake that she smashed to the floor. Rachel got so angry she mimicked a choking gesture to her neck with her pencil.

Before service

The next morning, the blue team was very confident with the acquisition of Heather as a new teammate. She helped Keith to keep his pants up, and Garrett said his team needed to win. In the red kitchen, it was too much quiet because of the animosity between Sara and Rachel as both of them wanted to lead the team. Virginia felt very uncomfortable about that situation. When Ramsay briefed the teams, he told them that after three bad services, this is the one where they have to bounce back. He concluded by declaring the second part of the red team’s punishment by saying that the restaurant’s ice machine is broken, and one of them will have to get ice themselves.

Dinner service

In the red kitchen, Rachel, on appetizers, had to communicate with Sara, on fish, to get salads Saint-Jacques quickly. In the blue kitchen, Heather, on garnish, felt like the men’s babysitter, as she was telling Garrett how to do his risotto, and Tom if his pan was hot enough. In the red kitchen, Sara did not communicate well with Rachel when she was about to plate her first appetizer. She did not understood her on her first three calls. Garrett sent unsalted appetizers, and Ramsay told him to taste his food before sending it. On her side, Rachel sent stiff risottos, and Ramsay told her to start again. When he asked her if it was because Heather was gone, she answered that it was not. On his second attempt at the risotto, Garrett finally succeeded and impressed Ramsay. On her second attempt at the risotto, Rachel did not has the same success as she got from an extreme to the other by sending a risotto with too much liquid. Ramsay compared it to a soup. Rachel acknowledged her mistake and declared Ramsay would have a great opportunity to get rid of her. One of the customers at the blue tables sent a lobster spaghetti back in the kitchen because it was too cold. Ramsay schooled Garrett about the tasting he did not do. When Ramsay asked him if he would like to return in prison, Garrett took that like extra motivation, and was ready to bust his ass and show he deserves to be there.

45 minutes into service, Rachel only served 6 table of appetizers, and the red kitchen would move to entrées. When Virginia asked Sara if she was ready with her turbot, Sara answered that she was. So, Virginia sent her Wellingtons to the pass, but Sara did not bring her turbot, saying she did not even start cooking it. Sara was trying to sabotage Virginia, and Ramsay, unaware of that happening, accused Virginia of lying to him and sabotage her team. Ramsay told Virginia that she was not a team player, and that she was out for herself, making Sara laugh in her head because her plan of sabotage worked. In the blue kitchen, Garrett was about to send his last lobster spaghetti, and the team moved on to entrées, but Tom never started cooking the quail that was called an hour before. In the red kitchen, the team was about to complete their first entrées, but Maribel’s mashed potatoes were overcooked and looked like glue. Ramsay asked her to make some fresh ones, and told her if it was the last thing to eat in the country, he would rather starve. In the blue kitchen, the first Wellingtons that were needed were undercooked, but Keith reassured Ramsay when he told him 4 minutes were needed only. After that, Tom was schooled by Ramsay about his miscommunication.

An hour and a half into service, the red kitchen did not send a lot of entrées, despite them being enjoyed by the customers. In the red kitchen, Virginia and Rachel sent quail dishes with the bones still on them. Virginia was ashamed about that mistake, and Rachel said to Ramsay she has to get used to his procedures. Ramsay schooled her about that comment, and delegated her to get some ice for the restaurant, as the second part of her team’s punishment. In the blue kitchen, Ramsay was irritated by Tom’s way of organizing his cooking as he was cooking orders for the next tables and not listening to Ramsay. After Ramsay told him he does not have passion, Tom’s duck in his pan began to burn, and Ramsay had to tell him to leave it and removed the pan from the stove. In the process, Ramsay called Tom a “fucking dick” and a “donkey”. Then, he asked Keith to get on the meat station to cook for Tom, and told Tom to shut up, open his big eyes, and watch what was Keith doing. Rachel, who left the restaurant to get some ice at the supermarket, forgot some money to buy it. So, she got on her knees and begged the man in front of her to pay for her, which he accepted. On her way back, she fell to the ground and ripped one of her bags. While she was gone, Virginia, Sara and Maribel succeeded to send out many entrées, with Maribel acknowledging that Rachel gone made the kitchen run smoother as Ramsay was not constantly yelling at them. After that, Rachel came back, poured her ice into the machine, and came back to the kitchen, stating that she busted her ass.

Two hours into service, and only half of the diners in each kitchen received their main courses. In the red kitchen, Virginia sent rare Wellingtons which were requested medium, and Ramsay noticed that the Wellingtons were covered all night with egg whites instead of egg yolks. When he told Rachel about it, she acknowledged the mistake, but did not seem to care about it, like if it was not important. That was the final straw for Ramsay, and he pulled the red team off telling them “Fuck the lot of you!”. When he came back in the blue kitchen, he asked the red team and the blue team to come, and threw his apron and towel at Tom. He then told both teams he has had enough and that he could not believe one of them is trying to win a restaurant. He asked both teams to nominate one person for elimination before kicking them out of the kitchen. This marked the first time in the history of the show that the teams were named joint-losers.

Post-mortem

In the dorms, Virginia cried about Sara’s sabotage technique and felt betrayed by her. She cannot take being called a liar by Ramsay, and Sara tried to excuse herself by saying she wanted Virginia to learn from her mistakes. On the blue side, Heather, Keith and Garrett acknowledged that Tom was the reason why the blue team sunk. They all agreed to nominate him, and Tom, who stayed apart from them, was talking to himself at the table with empty chairs, trying to convince himself he is going to come back the next day. On the red side, when they were debating on who to put up, Virginia, after witnessing what happened, knew they were all going to go against her, but Rachel told her to step up for herself. She also considered Maribel for being a weaker cook than Rachel and Sara.

Elimination

Before asking who the nominees were, Ramsay compared the contestants to fast food cooks, but reminded them that the prize is not a fast food restaurant. After telling Keith he was the one bright star in the blue team, Ramsay asked him who was his team’s nominee, which was Tom. After telling Sara she showed some initiative, which Virginia disagreed by shaking her head, Ramsay asked her who was the red team’s nominee, which was Virginia. Ramsay questioned that decision and asked Sara if the team considered Rachel, which she answered they did. Ramsay told Rachel it was her worst performance since her arrival, which she agreed, and called Tom and Virginia down. After both of them pleaded their cases, Ramsay asked Rachel if she was happy, and she answered him he was not and even volunteered to take Virginia’s place as the red team’s nominee, an offer which Ramsay considered tempting. This marked the first time in the history of the show that a contestant nominated themselves for elimination. But in the end, Ramsay eliminated Tom for being a consistent poor performer and lacking the experience to work in a kitchen. After Tom left, Ramsay told the remaining contestants that was the worst service he ever experienced and to not give up on him. Heather was relieved that Tom was gone as she felt the blue team could come back without him.

Ramsay’s comment: “Tom’s got a big heart, sadly he’s a really crap cook. Why on earth he’s ever decided to attempt to become a chef? We’ll never know.”

My opinion

The blue team won the challenge on this episode, which was a lunch service and Heather move to the blue team. Sara make Gordon called Virginia a liar.

My comment: Tom was lucky that the last two chefs was shit but after tonight performance Tom was right to go.

The third episode of Season 2 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on June 19, 2006. On that episode, one contestant dared talking back to Ramsay, and gets Ramsayed for it, and another one forgot the basics to cook properly.

Please watch the full episode before you read (below) to avoid spoilers about this episode.

Intro

After Gabe’s unexpected elimination, Garrett jokingly compared his nominations of Tom and Giacomo to a kick in the nuts. Keith was upset, saying that Tom should have been eliminated over Gabe because he lacked more knowledge than him. Tom said he was relieved and felt Ramsay would love to see him win as he is the oldest.

On the red team, the women were as shocked as the other team. Rachel acknowledged that there is nobody who is really safe at elimination. Maribel and Virginia thought it would have been “fat fuck” eliminated, referring to Tom.

Team challenge

The next morning, Heather revealed her injured hand which healed very quickly, as she already taken the bandage off. After that, Tom answered the phone, and Ramsay told him to get everybody in the dining room immediately, in their uniforms. Everybody came down within minutes, expect Sara, who was still in the shower. She came down five minutes after everybody else. Ramsay schooled her when she laughed about it.

Ramsay introduced the next challenge by saying both teams had communication problems during the two previous services. For the Relay Challenge, both teams would cook three dishes from the existing menu in 20 minutes, one chef would be in the kitchen for 5 minutes at a time, and they had 15 seconds to communicate to the next one. Heather volunteered to sit out for her team because of her injury, prompting Sara to be very unsympathetic and calling her a princess. The first to go were Tom and Virginia. Ramsay told them the dishes are the chicken, tortellini, and salmon. Tom used pre-made tortellinis, where Ramsay told him he would not accept it, and Virginia started a new batch. During the relay, both of them successfully communicated to Giacomo and Rachel. In the blue kitchen, Giacomo continued Tom’s batch of fresh tortellinis, while in the red kitchen, Rachel started the sauce for the salmon. When it got to Maribel and Keith, communication was poor on both sides, as Keith started a new batch of tortellinis despite being told they were already done by Giacomo, and Maribel was never told by Rachel that the tortellinis was the third dish. Maribel only worked on the chicken and salmon dishes. She tried to find out what was the third dish herself, but never succeeded. While she was waiting for her turn, Sara was annoyed by Heather’s way of giving her tips. She responded disrespectfully by flipping the birds to her. During the final relay, Garrett misunderstood Keith and started a new batch of tortellinis, and Maribel never told Sara anything, so Sara had no clue that the tortellini was one of the dishes. Garrett brought all three dishes to the pass, but Sara only brought two of them, missing the tortellini. Seeing this, Tom was confident and thought his team had it in the bag.

During the judging, the women’s tortellini was missing, and the men’s was missing the sauce. When Ramsay acknowledged that, Tom said he wants to speak, but Ramsay told him to stand up straight as Tom was almost lying on the counter. Ramsay schooled him on his behavior, but Tom talked back saying nobody would want to get in a street fight with him, and that he was lucky he signed a contract stating he would never touch anybody on the show. The men won the tortellini round for at least serving something, while the women won the chicken challenge as they did not forget the sauce, which the men did. On the salmon round, the men were missing the bacon, which made the women win 2-1.

Reward

The women were awarded a day on the “Just Dreamin” yacht with Ramsay, and sunbathing. When Ramsay left, Virginia started flirting with him by saying “Miss me!”, and declaring she would like him to rub sun lotion on her.

Punishment

The men had to participate in Laundry Day, by washing and ironing all the tablecloths. During the punishment, Tom made a sexist comment, despite him saying he does not want to be sexist. He said that women do laundry better than men.

Before service

When the women came back from their reward, Garrett made a comment about how they should go back home to cook them lunch. This statement infuriated Heather as she considered it disrespectful. Both of them later had a talk where both explained to the other that the lack of respect is what pisses them off. Before getting to sleep, Garrett talked about how he was sick of that “men vs women” thing, and said he came in the competition to prove something to the entire world. In the next room, the women were listening to him and Heather mocked him.

During prep, Maribel was feeling very homesick as she was missing her daughter and husband. She cried and Heather tried to comfort her. In the blue kitchen, Giacomo was determined to get a good service because his team needed to break its losing streak. Sara was annoyed by Heather’s leadership. When both teams were lined up, Ramsay declared that the goal is still to serve a fully-booked dining room.

Dinner service

Keith, on the appetizers, tasted the food with his spoon and put it on the plate, and also grabbed rice with his bare hand. Customers saw him do it, and Ramsay told him to not do that in front of customers. He was also told to pull his pants up, because the view of his ass was not appealing for the customers. Garrett on garnish, was caught whistling, and Ramsay told him to stop. In the red kitchen, Sara was annoyed by Heather’s way of telling her what to do, and when Ramsay asked for a time, both of them answered. Ramsay said to Heather that the appetizers station was Sara’s, and that she had to run it. This made Sara smile.

A half-hour into service, Giacomo, on meat, failed to turn his oven on, and when he talked about it to Sous Chef Scott, he answered by calling him “stupid”, and Ramsay called him “donkey”. After that, Garrett was caught whistling once again, and Ramsay had to tell him one more time to stop doing it. In the red kitchen, Heather, on fish, struggled on her first entrée, and Ramsay refused to send her sub-par dish. When he schooled her, Heather understood she deserved to be yelled at because as a boss, he decides what goes out and what does not. In the blue kitchen, Keith was about to send his last appetizers out. He asked Tom to get him some tomato sauce. Sous Chef Scott then told Keith they did not have time to, prompting Garrett to take a batch of tomato sauce on the garnish station, leading Keith to tell Tom that he does not need him to do it anymore. Despite this, Tom continued stating he already started. When Ramsay asked Tom what he was doing as they already had tomato sauce, he said Keith told him to, and Keith answered by saying he got it. Tom was furious at Keith as he accused him of throwing him under the bus.

More than an hour into service, Sara, Heather, and Virginia successfully helped the women to serve many entrées in the dining room. However, for the men, Giacomo struggled on meat, and lied to Ramsay about duck that was supposed to be resting. When Ramsay asked him why he was lying to him, Giacomo apologized and said he did not mean to lie. Ramsay called him “useless” and got to the breaking point, at the point that he decided to switch everybody’s station. So, Giacomo was now on fish, Keith on meat, Tom on garnish, and Garrett on appetizers. When he grabbed a pan, Tom burned his hand, and acted like if it was torturing him. Keith took a look at his hand, but remained unsympathetic saying he should take it like a man and move on. Tom accused Keith of burying him when he reminded him about the sauce incident, leading Keith to say he can not take it anymore.

Two hours into service, the women served many entrées out, with the lamb Wellingtons being the most popular item. That put more pressure on Maribel. When she declared she only had 6 Wellingtons when 8 were on order, she told Ramsay about the situation but told her to stop panicking. After schooling Sara on her disrespectful behavior, Ramsay told Maribel to get lamb and pastry to make fresh Wellingtons. In the blue kitchen, Tom was still complaining about his burned hand. Ramsay asked him to show it, but saw nothing. He also told Tom he does not need a drama queen. After that, Jean-Philippe came to the kitchen to tell Ramsay that one of the red tables was about to walk out. Maribel declared she needed seven minutes, but when she sent raw Wellingtons, which were supposed to be rare, Ramsay told her to get them in the oven. In the blue kitchen, Tom ran out of mashed potatoes. Ramsay was discouraged, and when he asked Tom what he was doing, Tom looked confused and was accused of giving up by Ramsay. When Tom declared he was trying to make an ass out of himself, Ramsay congratulated him by saying he successfully did. Back in the red kitchen, the lady from the “walking out” table came to the kitchen to speak to Ramsay, and Maribel told them her Wellington was coming in 45 seconds, and the countdown began. Unfortunately, the Wellingtons she brought were undercooked, and because of that, the table walked out. After schooling Maribel on her giving up, and witnessing many frustrations from both sides, Ramsay shut down both kitchens.

Post-mortem

When the teams were lined up, Ramsay praised Sara’s performance, and named her the best on the women by far. He also reminded Maribel that she was the cause of her team not completing their tickets, which she was aware of. From the men, Giacomo and Tom’s performances were deemed the worst. Ramsay declared the men losers, and asked each member of the team to nominate one person for elimination, and named nobody “Best of the Worst”, because nobody deserved it.

During deliberation, Tom was seen talking to himself on the patio table, surrounded by empty chairs.

Elimination

Giacomo and Tom voted for each other, and Garrett and Keith both voted for Tom. After both of them were given 10 seconds to plead their cases, Ramsay eliminated Giacomo, despite the fact Tom received the most votes, for being the worst performer of the night, lacking the knowledge, and lying to Ramsay during service.

Ramsay’s comment: “Before you can even attempt to run a restaurant, the first thing you’ve got to do is make sure you know how to cook. Giacomo? He was lost beyond belief.”

My opinion

Both teams were rubbish in the challenge today because the red team didn’t bring three of the dishes up and the blue team did one of the three dishes time time and lose after begin one nil up. Tom burn his hand he reckon but no one believes him. Giacomo didn’t know that the oven was not on.

My comment: Giacomo was a shit chef but after tonight performance he be a good hair dresser.

Gordon choose Giacomo.

The second episode of Season 2 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on June 12, 2006. On that episode, there was a smelly group punishment to begin the day, the first emotional departure, and a surprise elimination.

Please watch the full episode before you read (below) to avoid spoilers about this episode.

Intro

After Polly’s elimination, the women were more ashamed and embarrassed about their dinner service loss. Virginia even stated she thought she was going home. On their side, the men were totally confident and enjoying their win. Garrett and Gabe talked about chopping off the red team before chopping off each other as men.

Team Challenge

The next morning, after only two hours of sleep, the contestants were woken up by Sous Chefs Scott and Mary-Ann playing cowbells. They were told to get outside immediately. Ramsay reminded that the previous night service was embarrassing, and Virginia that she was lucky to be there after being nominated. He also told Larry to start showing passion. The contestants then had to get in the dumpsters and collect all the trash from the last dinner service. That task was given as a lesson about waste. During the task, Giacomo commented it was nothing for him as he lost his retainer five or six times in the school trash can. After that, Ramsay told the contestants to get clean and meet him in the blue kitchen, where Ramsay introduced the Steak Challenge.

Each contestant had 10 minutes to cut as many acceptable 10 ounces sirloin steaks as possible. After a quick demo, Ramsay asked Keith to sit out to even the teams at 5 members each, which pissed him off because he would have loved to take part in the challenge. However, he was allowed to help his teammates, as he tried to do with Giacomo.

For the red team, Sara produced three acceptable steaks, while Heather produced only two. Ramsay told her he expected more. Rachel scored three more, and Virginia scored two, along with Maribel. The red team finished with a total of 12 points, a performance that Ramsay found unsatisfying as a lot of meat was wasted. For the blue team, Gabe gave a great performance as he scored three points despite never having done this before, and was proud of himself. Garrett only scored one point, and Giacomo scored two, making the blue team’s total at 6, with two people still to go. When it was Larry’s turn, none of his steaks were acceptable, making him the worst performer overall. Tom was the last man to show his meat, and gave the best overall performance by scoring five points for his team. But it was not enough as the final score was 12-11 for the red team. Tom’s performance was praised by Ramsay.

Reward

The red team was rewarded with a helicopter ride to The Saddle Peak Lodge to have lunch with Ramsay. During the reward, the women found Ramsay very nice and friendly, and Virginia stated she can not wait to know him on a different level.

Punishment

The blue team was punished by cutting all the steaks for the next dinner service, which included a steak special. During the punishment, Keith was angry at Larry’s performance and considered him as a weak link. On his side, Larry was so ashamed he did not even want to look his teammates in the eyes, and did the punishment apart from them.

Larry exit

When the red team got back from their reward, Gabe made a joke about how the red team are one man down and missing somebody, supposing he would like to transfer to their team. Heather answered by saying she would think about it in the jacuzzi. The whole red team, except Rachel, jumped in the hot tub, and were later joined by Larry who said women were his downfall.

When everybody got to sleep, Larry was feeling ill, sweating and tingling. He called a medic on the phone, and he was rushed to the hospital. The next morning, everybody was wondering where he was, as nobody saw him. Then, the phone rang and Sara answered. Larry was on the other hand of the phone, and told her to get everybody near the phone to listen to him. He told he was at the hospital because the stress of the competition shut his body down. He concluded by declaring he would not return to Hell’s Kitchen, and telling everybody to stay strong and be a unit. Heather stated she was sad to see him go because of an illness, and would rather see him leave because of something else. Gabe wished him to get better. Ramsay gave no comment on Larry’s departure.

Before service

Because of Larry’s departure, the teams were now even at 5 members each. During prep, Sara was happy about his departure as she felt she was now one step closer to her dream. When the teams were lined up, Ramsay assigned Sara and Keith as waiters for their respective teams. He jokingly told Keith to probably lose some weight while running up the stairs.

Dinner service

When the doors of the restaurant opened, Keith was already sweaty after walking up stairs, and his customers noticed it. Sara delivered her first ticket very quickly. In the blue kitchen, Keith delivered his first ticket 20 minutes after the opening, and it was not accepted by Ramsay because no temperatures were written. Also, Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to get a towel for him as he was sweating a lot. In the red kitchen, Virginia sent a first monkfish dish. It was rejected because of the vinaigrette. Ramsay broke the plate to the floor at the women’s feet, and asked them to start again. In the blue kitchen, Keith took 30 minutes to bring his first ticket to his team. Ramsay reminded him it was his team and warned him to not sabotage it. When Ramsay called the first ticket, Tom asked him to repeat the order, which Ramsay refused, and was told to read the ticket himself. Gabe got in a heated argument with Ramsay when he asked if quail was needed and no quail has been called. Ramsay schooled him on his rudeness. 45 minutes into service, no food left either kitchen. In the red kitchen, Maribel received help from Heather on appetizers, and in the blue kitchen, everybody took Gabe’s station over him. Ramsay schooled Gabe on that laid-back behavior, but despite that, he managed to send acceptable appetizers out.

An hour into service, appetizers fly out of both kitchens. When the red team got ready to plate their entrées, Heather suffered a second-degree burn to the hand, and Ramsay helped her by getting her hand under cold water. Then, he asked Jean-Philippe to get some ice. Despite her injury, Heather continued to be a team player by telling Maribel and Sous Chef Mary-Ann what was going on her station. She was then told to see a medic by Ramsay and left the service by ambulance. After her departure, the red kitchen became chaotic, and after Maribel dropped some spaghetti to the floor, Ramsay told her to get a restaurant with only one table in it, because with more, she would be fucked. In the blue kitchen, Tom on meat, and Giacomo on garnish, had communication problems. Giacomo did not know what was going with the duck as sides, which discouraged Ramsay. When a customer went to the kitchen, Ramsay told him he was working with mop heads for the first time in his life. After witnessing a communication problem in the red kitchen, Ramsay allowed Sara’s request to come back in the kitchen to finish service. She was put on the meat station. In the blue kitchen, Tom declared he was ready to walk with one duck and one chicken, but Giacomo’s garnishes were not ready. Ramsay schooled Giacomo after he discovered fried cabbage, saying he should become a hairdresser as he was “bouncing around with women’s hair”.

Three hours into service, many tables have walked out, despite Keith trying his best to buy his team some time. The red team rallied to try and finish service as they saw some hope. Many entrées left the red kitchen. Sara was complimented for serving nice Wellingtons. However, Virginia sent unacceptable tortellinis and when Ramsay asked her if she would serve it in her restaurant, she answered she would. He could not believe her answer and asked her another time, where she answered she would make some more. After that, Ramsay asked both teams to take a look in the dining room, which was almost empty because too many customers left. Ramsay shut down the restaurant.

Post-mortem

Heather came back just in time for the announcement of the winning team. Ramsay praised her dedication and teamwork when he reminded the delegation of her station to Maribel while standing in pain over the cold water. He also reminded Virginia she can not buy standards, and questioned Gabe about his multi-tasking abilities. Ramsay declared the blue team losers as they served no entrées, and praised the red team’s improvement. He also named Garrett “Best of the Worst” for being the only one on his team who did not have a bad service, and asked him to nominate two of his teammates for elimination.

Elimination

During Garrett’s deliberation, Giacomo was annoyed by Tom’s way of making himself look good.

Garrett eventually chose Giacomo as his first nominee, and Tom as his second. After Tom was sent back in line when he convinced Ramsay he would never let a major malfunction like that happen again and that he would take charge, Ramsay called Gabe forward, and eliminated him for his lack of passion, and the fact he allowed his teammates to run his station for him. Before getting out, Ramsay told Giacomo to get a grip fast.

Ramsay’s comment: “It’s absolutely crucial in Hell’s Kitchen to have finesse and passion. It was pretty obvious that Gabe had no passion.”

Gabe received the coat hanging and burning picture sequence, but Larry did not.

My opinion

Both blue and red dinner service was rubbish tonight so couldn’t decide to pick for the team which lost. So Gordon pick the blue team. So my nominated was Giacomo and Tom. But Gabe didn’t do much as well.

My comment: Giacomo was a shit chef but after tonight performance he be a good hair dresser.

Gordon choose Gabe.

Season 2 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox between June 12 and August 14, 2006. Sous chef Heather West, from Port Jefferson, New York, was the winner of that season and became Executive Chef at the Terra Rossa restaurant inside the Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino in Las Vegas, with a salary of $250,000.

Contestants

12 contestants competed during this season. From this season on, the teams were divided by gender at the beginning, male contestants in the blue team, and female contestants in the red team. The contestants were (in alphabetical order):

Contestant	Age	Occupation	Hometown
Giacomo Alfieri	21	Pizza Chef	Euless, TX
Rachel Brown	39	Personal Chef	Dallas, TX
Virginia Dalbeck	25	Salad Chef	New York City, NY
Gabriel “Gabe” Gagliardi	27	Marketing Executive	Chicago, IL
Keith Greene	28	Chef/Bartender	Southampton, NY
Polly Holladay	43	Caterer	Ben Franklin, TX
Sara Horowitz	31	Deli Manager	Dallas, TX
Maribel Miller	31	Cafeteria Chef	Brooklyn, NY
Thomas “Tom” Pauley	43	Former Stockbroker	Belleville, NJ
Larry Sik	38	Fishmonger	Arlington, TX
Garrett Telle	27	Former Prison Chef	Cedar Park, TX
Heather West	25	Sous Chef	Port Jefferson, NY

Contestant progress

At the end of each episode, one chef from the losing team is eliminated by Ramsay, after being picked by the “Best of the Worst”, determined by Ramsay after the last dinner service.

1. Heather West
2. Virginia Dalbeck
3. Keith Greene
4. Sara Horowitz
5. Garrett Telle
6. Maribel Miller
7. Rachel Brown
8. Tom Pauley
9. Giacomo Alfieri
10. Gabe Gagliardi
11. Larry Sik
12. Polly Holladay

Episode

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

Episode 10

Season 2