Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 9) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Season 9 of the American competitive reality television

Reality television

Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...

series Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen (U.S.)
Hell's Kitchen is an American reality-television cooking competition broadcast on Fox...

which premiered on July 18, 2011, on Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

. and concluded on September 19, 2011 with a two-hour season finale. Jr. Sous Chef Paul Niedermann won the season and was awarded a "head chef" position at BLT Steak in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

.

Gordon Ramsay

Gordon Ramsay

Gordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars....

returned as head chef, as Scott Leibfried

Scott Leibfried

Scott Leibfried is a chef and culinary consultant best known for his work hosting and participating in cooking-related competition programs Hell's Kitchen and the Food Network Challenge....

and Andi van Willigan remained as sous chefs, as does James Lukanik as the maître d'.

The entire season took about six weeks to film. It also saw the show return to its original one season per year schedule, having run two seasons each in 2009 and 2010 due to the after-effects of the 2008 Writers Guild of America Strike.

Opening sequence/credits

The opening sequence of Season 9 of the show, like the previous two seasons, did not not take place in the kitchen. The opening featured Chef Ramsay playing a pinball

Pinball

Pinball is a type of arcade game, usually coin-operated, where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The primary objective of the game is to score as many points as possible...

machine, with the contestants trying to dodge the pinball and the machine's bumpers.

Credit Order: Paul, Chino, Jason, Natalie, Tommy, Gina, Jonathon, Krupa, Monterray, Elizabeth, Brendan, Jennifer, Steven, Amanda, Jamie, Carrie, Elise, Will

Chefs

18 chefs competed in season 9.

Contestant	Age	Occupation	Hometown
Elizabeth Bianchi	27	Line Cook	New York, New York New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Natalie Blake	23	Sous Chef	Harrodsburg, Kentucky Harrodsburg, Kentucky Harrodsburg is a city in and the county seat of Mercer County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 8,014 at the 2000 census. It is the oldest city in Kentucky.-History:...
Chino Chang	39	Executive Chef	Hatboro, Pennsylvania Hatboro, Pennsylvania Hatboro is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,360 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Hatboro is located at ....
Amanda Colello	26	Personal Chef	Sun City, California
Jamie Gregorich	24	Sous Chef	Bradenton, Florida Bradenton, Florida Bradenton is a city in Manatee County, Florida, United States. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's 2007 population to be 53,471. Bradenton is the largest Principal City of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2007 estimated population of 682,833...
Brendan Heavey	31	Head Chef	Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
Carrie Keep	31	Pantry Chef	Dallas, Texas
Monterray Keys	34	Line Cook	Darby, Pennsylvania Darby, Pennsylvania Darby is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, along Darby Creek southwest of downtown Philadelphia. It has a public library founded in 1743 and a cemetery more than 300 years old. The Quakers lived there early in the colonial era. Darby was settled about 1660 and was...
	31	Sous Chef	Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
Gina Melcher	34	Restaurant Consultant	Cape May, New Jersey Cape May, New Jersey Cape May is a city at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean and is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 United States...
Paul Niedermann	26	Jr. Sous Chef	Davie, Florida Davie, Florida Davie is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States. The town's population was 91,992 at the 2010 census.- History :Davie was founded by Jake Tannebaum and Tamara Toussaint. The original name of the town was Zona. In 1909 R.P. Davie assisted then Governor Broward by draining the swamplands...
Jennifer Normant	34	Chef de Cuisine	Boston, Massachusetts Boston Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
Steven Paluba	44	Sauté Chef	Ridge, New York Ridge, New York Ridge is a census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 13,380 at the 2000 census.Ridge is served by the Longwood Central School District.-Geography:Ridge is located at ....
Krupa Patel	30	Private Chef	Queens, New York Queens Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
Jonathon Plumley	34	Head Cook	Memphis, Tennessee Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
Tommy Stevens	31	Line Cook	Brewster, New York Brewster, New York Brewster is a village within the town of Southeast in Putnam County, New York, United States. Its population was 2,162 at the 2000 census. The village is the most densely populated portion of the town...
Elise Wims	26	Line Cook	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jason Zepaltas	29	Line Cook	Chicago, Illinois Chicago Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

Contestant progress

#	Chef	901	902	903	904	905	906	907	908	909	910	911	912	913	914	915
1	Paul	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	NOM	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	IN	IN	IN	WINNER
2	Will	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	IN	IN	IN	RUNNER-UP
3	Elise	WIN	WIN	LOSE	NOM	NOM	WIN	LOSE	BoB	NOM	LOSE	NOM	NOM	NOM	NOM	OUT
4	Tommy	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	NOM	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	NOM	LOSE	WIN	IN	IN	OUT
5	Jennifer	WIN	WIN	NOM	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	NOM	NOM	OUT
6	Elizabeth	WIN	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	OUT
7	Natalie	WIN	WIN	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	NOM	NOM	WIN	LOSE	OUT
8	Carrie	WIN	WIN	NOM	NOM	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	WIN	NOM	OUT
9	Jamie	WIN	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	NOM	WIN	OUT
10	Jonathon	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	NOM	NOM	OUT
11	Krupa	WIN	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	NOM	WIN	OUT
12	Monterray	NOM	LOSE	WIN	NOM	NOM	OUT
13	Gina	WIN	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	OUT
14	Chino	NOM	NOM	WIN	OUT
15	Amanda	WIN	WIN	OUT
16	Brendan	LOSE	OUT
17	Steven	OUT
18	Jason	SICK

Contestant was nominated for elimination but prevailed

Contestant was nominated for elimination by Chef Ramsay

Contestant was eliminated

Contestant voluntarily left the competition

The winner of Hell's Kitchen

Episode 1

Viewership: 5.84 million
Original airdate: July 18, 2011
Introduction: In the introduction, the contestants were shown receiving their invites to appear on the show and were bused to the Orpheum Theatre, and walked on stage behind a curtain with covered platters bearing their names and the sound of crowds cheering. However, as the curtain opened, the theater was empty, other than Chef Ramsay, who reminded them that they are not stars yet, before sending them to Hell's Kitchen.
Signature Dishes/Team Challenge: The first challenge was the signature dish challenge; whichever team had the most dishes liked by Chef Ramsay would win. Things got off to a bad start with Carrie's dish, which Chef Ramsay spat out because it was overly sweet, and Will earned the first point after Ramsay enjoyed his Italian-Jewish fusion dish. Amanda and Brendan both impressed Ramsay in the next round, earning a point each. Jonathon offended Chef Ramsay by using canned fruit in his dish, resulting in Ramsay refusing to even taste it, and Jennifer earning the point for her pork loin, tying the scores. Paul regained the Blue team's lead in the next round, as Ramsay liked his eggplant and crab dish, while Krupa's dish looked like a mess and was seasoned with raw spices. Jamie and Steven both burnt their dishes, which caused neither of them to earn a point. In the following rounds Elise, Monterray, Natalie, Elizabeth and Tommy all earned points, leaving the scores tied going into the final round. While Ramsay was dubious about Jason serving up tacos, Gina's scallops were burnt, meaning that the final point went to the men. The blue team won, six dishes to the red team's five. There were off camera allegations of active sabotage among contestants.
Award/Punishment: The men enjoy lunch at the L.A. Market restaurant at the JW Marriott Hotel
JW Marriott Hotels
JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, namesake of John Willard Marriott, Founder, Chairman & CEO of is a luxury hotel chain. Found in major cities as well as vacation destinations world-wide, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts are becoming known in the hospitality industry for their practical approach to luxury...

at L.A. Live, where they dined with last season's
Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 8)
Season 8 of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen was broadcast on the Fox Network on September 22, 2010 and ended on December 15, 2010. Sous Chef Nona Sivley won the season and was awarded a head chef position at the L.A. Market restaurant at the JW Marriott Hotel at L.A...

winner, Nona Sivley. The women stay behind to prep both kitchens for the next night's service.
Early Exit: Shortly before dinner service, Jason was rushed to the hospital after he became short of breath. Later, just before the service, Chef Ramsay stated that Jason would not be returning, making him the first chef to leave Hell's Kitchen.
Service: The restaurant had some minor changes since the previous season – a balcony area over the kitchen was built as a dining area (the first time that the dining room had two floors since the second season), and each kitchen has a chef's table, where contestants are sent when they commit particularly egregious errors. On the Blue Team, Chino was benched for burning the fish; then Steven for burning the scallops and arguing with Chef Ramsay when Ramsay rejected them; then Tommy for more scallop mishaps. Over on the Red Team, Elise had trouble making risotto; Ramsay prompted Krupa to take over, and she did well on both her stations. Carrie had trouble with scallops and fought with Elise, who was sent to the chef's table for attempting to take over Carrie's station. On the Blue Team, both Monterray and Brendan struggled on the garnish stations, much to Ramsay's dismay because the Wellingtons were perfect (thanks to Jonathon). With food severely late, customers began leaving, and Ramsay ordered the kitchens shut down.
Nominees for elimination: Chef Ramsay declared the Blue Team the loser, as no entrees were served. After returning to their dorms for deliberation, Brendan and Paul got into an argument over who was at fault. The team nominated Steven and Monterray for elimination. Chef Ramsay, however, also felt that Chino should be nominated as well.
Elimination: After teasing Chino and Monterray by having them step forward before stepping back, he chose Steven as the second contestant to leave Hell's Kitchen, following Jason's illness-related departure early in the episode.
Chef Ramsay's Reason:
- Jason: No reason was given for Jason's withdrawal from the competition despite being hospitalized prior to dinner service and did not receive his full elimination sequence. However, in episode 5, Jason's burned picture and hung jacket can be seen when Chef Ramsay hanging Gina's jacket.
- Steven: "I realized early on that Steven had as much of a chance of being the head chef of BLT Steak as I do of winning a gold medal in figure skating."

Episode 2

Viewership: 5.77 million
Original airdate: July 19, 2011
Team Challenge:The chefs were awakened at 5:35 a.m. to the sound of a kid playing an electric guitar, and were brought outside Hell's Kitchen for the challenge. In pairs, they would have to grill 4 pieces of meat to Chef Ramsay's instruction: a medium rare New York strip, a medium ribeye, a medium well filet mignon, and a well done burger. Jennifer, Gina and Elizabeth formed a trio on the Red team, while Will grilled alone on the Blue Team. While most of the teams worked well together, Carrie and Elise struggled due to their bickering, and as a result, they managed to grill only 1 out of their 4 pieces of meat properly. The Red Team scored a total of 10 points. The Blue team struggled to properly grill a well done burger, but a perfect score from Will earned them the win, with a total of 11 points.
Award/Punishment: The Blue team earned a trip to Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

via a private jet, where they took a tram up into the mountains and enjoyed a fine dining lunch with Chef Ramsay. The Red team's punishment was to clean and scrape all of the grills, and later had to pick up a cow carcass, bring it into the kitchen and cut the meat on it. For lunch, they were served a blended mix of the meat from the challenge, which they struggled to swallow down except for Carrie.
Service: For service, certain items on the menus would be served table side. Carrie and Will were chosen to serve caesar salads for appetizers, and Krupa and Monterray would carve and serve prime ribs for entrees. The Red kitchen started slow, when Jennifer messed up the first order and Carrie was slow serving the caesar salads, causing Ramsay to send Krupa out of the kitchen to help her. In the Blue kitchen, Chino sent up burned risotto twice, but managed to cook it properly on the 3rd attempt. Brendan made a huge mistake on the fish station, by firing a sea bass before entrees were called and then serving the same bass later to Chef Ramsay, claiming that it was another bass. Both teams struggled with communication, with Elise yelling out orders in the Red kitchen (prompting Chef Ramsay to yell at her when she spoke over him), and the chefs in the Blue kitchen argued back and forth. While serving ribeye table side for the Red kitchen, Krupa accidentally dropped an entire piece of meat on the floor, and had to wait for Monterray to deliver her a new piece. For the second time in a row, the Blue kitchen failed to send out their first entrees due to inconsistencies. With Tommy sending an over-cooked duck and Brendan sending a raw sea bass, Chef Ramsay threw the Blue Team out of the kitchen. The Red Team was spilt up and completed the service in both the Blue kitchen and the Red kitchen.
Nominees for elimination: After being thrown out of the kitchen, the Blue team began to yell and argue in the waiting room, with Paul and Will speaking up the most. The Blue team nominated Brendan and Chino, causing for a fight to break out between Chino and Jonathon.
Elimination: Brendan was chosen by Chef Ramsay to leave Hell's Kitchen. Afterwards, Ramsay announced to the Red Team that they would have to pick one member to go over to the Blue team, much to the disapproval of both teams. Will even attempted to decline Ramsay's request for a woman to transfer to the Blue team, but was rebuked.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: "The only thing bigger than Brendan's ego are the lies he tells, and I can't have that in Hell's Kitchen."

Episode 3

Viewership: 5.95 million
Original airdate: July 25, 2011
Team Change: To even the teams out after the departure of three blue team members, Chef Ramsay called on volunteers on the red team to move to the blue team. Before the team challenge, Carrie initially volunteered in order to separate herself from Elise but Chef Ramsay chose Natalie for the team change.
Team Challenge: The chefs were awakened by a number of clowns and were brought to the dining area of Hell's Kitchen. They were meet by Sous-Chef Scott who told them to go outside and bring in flatbread for the day's service. Chef Ramsay then welcomed 50 children and and their mothers for a special "Mommy and Me" service. Each team must serve quesadilla
Quesadilla
A quesadilla is a flour or corn tortilla filled with a savoury mixture containing cheese and other ingredients, then folded in half to form a half-moon shape. This dish originated in Mexico, and the name is derived from the Spanish word queso ....

and macaroni for the children then panini for their mothers; the first team to complete service on their side wins. Jamie had burnt a quesadilla and got scolded by Chef Ramsay to not wasting with the children. The teams cooperated most of the time and were able to get most of the orders out without Chef Ramsay sending it back to the kitchen (in some cases, Chef Ramsay sent the food back). In the end, both teams were on their last ticket but the blue team managed to pull ahead and win their third straight challenge.
Award/Punishment: The blue team earned a trip to Medieval Times
Medieval Times
Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament is a family dinner theater featuring staged medieval-style games, sword-fighting, and jousting performed by a cast of 75 actors and 20 horses. Each location is housed in a replica 11th-century castle, with the exception of the Toronto location, which is housed...

in Buena Park, California
Buena Park, California
Buena Park is a city in northwestern Orange County, California. As of Census 2010 the population was 80,530. The city is adjacent to the city of Anaheim and is 12 miles northwest of downtown Santa Ana. The Current OMB metropolitan designation for Buena Park and the Orange County Area is "Santa...

where they enjoyed a meal with a medieval jousting tournament; after the show, the knights taught the team members how to draw swords. The red team's punishment was to completely clean the dining area and set tables for the next night's dinner service. In addition, the red team also had to set up a children's playground, as the next service is a "family night" service.
Service: Chef Ramsay assigned Chino and Gina to be James's assistant maitre d's. Each table would serve margarita pizzas, Elise and Jonathon assigned pizza stations in each team. Early in the service Chino took too much time to get the first ticket to his team's kitchen, while Gina managed to get her first ticket in reasonable time. Appetizers from both kitchens managed to pass Chef Ramsay's approval. When the red team began with their entrees, all their momentum disappeared as Jennifer and Carrie cooked the entrees for a completely different ticket. In the blue kitchen, the entire team was focused on completing the service and entrees began leaving the kitchen at a steady pace. Natalie had a shaky start on the meat station, as her first two attempts at the beef wellington were both raw, but she soon found her feet. The red team attempted again to get the first entree ticket correct, but this time, frustration rose above the entire team and tried to gain some momentum back. In another try by the red team, Amanda forgot to cook a part of the dish and lowered the teams momentum even more. Back at the blue kitchen, the team continued to work together to get entrees out of the kitchen, making Chef Ramsay very impressed. Just when it looked like the Red team would finally serve their first entrees, Carrie sent up lamb that was raw and badly carved, causing Ramsay to stop the whole kitchen and tell Gina to lead the entire red team to each and every red table to sincerely apologize for the delays in their entrees, before Chef Ramsay kicked the entire red team out of the kitchen; the blue team then took over the kitchen, successfully completing service on both sides. At the dorms, the red team had a complete meltdown and began to fight against one another.
Nominees for elimination: Due to the severity of the problems on the red side for this service, Chef Ramsay was the sole nominator for the red team – he nominated three contestants, Jennifer, Carrie, and Amanda, for elimination.
Elimination: To everyone's surprise, Chef Ramsay chose Amanda to leave Hell's Kitchen. While the other women had wanted Carrie out, Ramsay felt that Amanda had given up after her first mistake.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: "Amanda lost the will to cook on the line tonight. I lost the will to keep her here."

Episode 4

Viewership: 6.04 million
Original airdate: July 26, 2011
Team Challenge: Each team has 15 minutes to capture a flock of live chickens in a pen; each chicken captured earns an ingredient that can be used for the next stage of the challenge – each team has 30 minutes to use a single chicken (not the ones captured in the roundup) to cook four chicken dishes, each cooked a different way, using only ingredients earned in the chicken roundup. Joining Chef Ramsay in the judging are editors of People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...

and Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

magazines. Carrie and Gina failed to impress the judges after served a raw chicken. The red team won this challenge, 3 dishes to 2.
Award/Punishment: The red team spent the day go-kart
Go-kart
thumb|A [[Kart racing|racing kart]] at the [[Commission Internationale de Karting|CIK-FIA]] European Championship 2008A go-kart is a small four-wheeled vehicle...

racing at K1 Racing, while the blue team spent the day preparing chickens for the next service. During their punishment the blue team decided to hold a practice run for the next service, and Chino proved to be unable to get his times right even though the chefs weren't actually cooking, which was met with a mixture of amusement and concern from his team-mates. Shortly before the service, Elise got into an argument with Sous Chef Andi, who felt that Elise was being disrespectful to her.
Service: Each kitchen for tonight's service will include two former Olympic athletes. The red team had the volleyball tandem of Misty May-Treanor
Misty May-Treanor
Misty Erie May-Treanor is an American professional volleyball player. She has won more tournaments than any other female player with 107 career wins....

and Jen Kessy and the blue team had swimmers Janet Evans
Janet Evans
Janet Beth Evans is a American competitive swimmer who specializes in distance freestyle. She recently announced her comeback to the sport with intentions to swim in the 2012 Olympic Trials.-Biography:...

and Mark Spitz
Mark Spitz
Mark Andrew Spitz is a retired American swimmer. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelps who won eight golds at the 2008 Olympics....

. While each side did well with the appetizers, both sides seriously faltered with the entrees. In the Blue kitchen, Chino kept serving raw beef wellingtons and lamb, while Monterray got into a shouting match with Sous-Chef Scott over the handling of sea bass. The Red kitchen did not fare any better, with Elise undercooking bass and Gina stopping service after rushing in raw lamb. With too much food failing the pass, Chef Ramsay had enough and eventually kicked both teams out and closed the service, with Sous Chefs Scott and Andi cooking food for the Olympians themselves. With the service deemed "pathetic", Chef Ramsay declared everyone losers.
Nominees for elimination: Chef Ramsay ordered each team to nominate two contestants for elimination. The blue team quickly decided on Chino and Monterray, though this led to Chino accusing Natalie of deliberately trying to sabotage him in the service, visibly upsetting her. The red team all agreed that Carrie would be their first nominee, and came up with a tally system to decide on the second. However, Elise claimed that she had performed flawlessly in every single service and challenge (despite being benched in the first service) and then started yet another argument with Carrie, eventually causing her team-mates to forgo the tally system and put her straight up as the second nominee.
Elimination: Elise asked Chef Ramsay to poll the red team, saying that they would all agree that Carrie should be eliminated. When Ramsay did poll the red team, including former team-mate Natalie though, all but Elizabeth said that Elise should be sent home. However, following Elise's testimony, Chef Ramsay called Elise forward, only to tell her to stop crying and get back in line. He then declared that Chino, after three strikes, would be the one to leave Hell's Kitchen.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: "Chino took his time in Hell's Kitchen very seriously. The problem is he seriously couldn't cook."

Episode 5

Viewership: 5.60 million
Original airdate: August 1, 2011
Team Challenge: Chefs from Moto
Moto (restaurant)
Moto is a restaurant in the Fulton River District of Chicago, Illinois known for creating "high-tech" dishes which incorporate elements such as carbonated fruit, edible paper, lasers and liquid nitrogen for freezing food....

restaurant in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

demonstrate how to make an orange sorbet using sound waves and ice cream out of liquid nitrogen. However, the challenge awaiting the contestants is that they have 45 minutes to make six dishes using only fire and water, with Chef Ramsay and the Moto chefs judging. The challenge ended with a 2-2 tie, but Chef Ramsay declared the blue teams winners, due to the red team favoring Elizabeth's dish over Carrie's for the presentation (with Carrie's dish tasting better than Elizabeth's), and Krupa mistaking filet mignon for veal.
Award/Punishment: The blue team spend the day of pampering at the spa at the Montage hotel in Beverly Hills. The red team must clean the hot tub in the dorms and the fountain in front of the restaurant; also, they must prep both kitchens for service that night.
Service: Jennifer and Natalie assigned to serve tableside halibut sashimi. On the red team, Krupa makes mistakes with the risotto (with Chef Ramsay saying it's more like soup) and, twice, lobster spaghetti (which Chef Ramsay says it's like baby food); while Gina undercooks the sea bass, and Elise has difficulty communicating with Gina. Because of their mistakes, Chef Ramsay first ejected Krupa, then shortly after ejected Gina and Elise from the kitchen. In the dining room, Jennifer keeps sweating into her food, causing Ramsay to talk to her in the kitchen about it. On the blue team, Monterray and Tommy make numerous mistakes on the beef wellingtons, resulting in their expulsions. Jonathon was also berated for not knowing which Mushroom he needed for the Seabass which prompted Paul to come over and help him out (which Ramsay thinks he just took over). Both teams would finish their services short-handed, but because of the numerous mishaps, Chef Ramsay declared both teams losers.
Nominees for elimination: Each team must pick two contestants for elimination. The red team chose Krupa and Elise; the blue team chose Tommy and Monterray. As Elise gave her testimony, she says that Gina should have been the one nominated.
Elimination: Chef Ramsay calls Elise forward, only to say she was right about Gina. Chef Ramsay then tells Gina to leave Hell's Kitchen.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: "They say good things come in small packages. But unfortunately in Gina's case, her talent matched her size: tiny."

Episode 6

Viewership: 6.32 million
Original airdate: August 2, 2011
Team Challenge: The Culver City High School
Culver City High School
Culver City High School is the main public high school of the Culver City Unified School District in Culver City, California. It was opened in 1951. The school's colors are primarily blue and silver, and the mascot is the centaur. As of 2008, the enrollment was 2,308...

class of 1991 is celebrating its 20 year reunion, and will be having it at Hell's Kitchen. Both teams prepare three different meals for a Hawaiian-themed high school reunion, according to the specifications given by the coordinators, which Elizabeth on the red team and Paul on the blue team take notice of and relay to their teammates. Paul took notes very carefully, while Elizabeth spaced out and told her team the wrong information, resulting in the red team cooking an Asian-themed spread, with their fish entrée containing bacon, which was against one of the cooordinator's pescetarian
Pescetarianism
Pescetarianism is the practice of a diet that includes seafood but not the flesh of other animals.In addition to fish and/or shellfish, a pescetarian diet typically includes all of vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains, beans, eggs and dairy...

diet. As a result, the blue team swept the red team, 3 to 0.
Award/Punishment: The blue team spend a day on a luxury yacht
Luxury yacht
The term luxury yacht, “Superyacht” and "Large Yacht" refers to very expensive, privately owned yachts which are professionally crewed. Also known as a Super Yacht, a luxury yacht may be either a sailing or motor yacht.-History:...

, while the red team ready Hell's Kitchen for the reunion, including decorating the dining area and and making a three-layer cake, which Chef Ramsay rejected as it was poorly made.
Service: All three of the blue team's dishes that won in the challenge was served at the service. The blue team started well, serving all their appetizers in a much shorter time than the red team, but suffered a total meltdown when they moved onto the entrees. Paul undercooked and overcooked the snapper, while Monterray tried to cook broccolini in a cold pan, then accidentally threw it out. On the red team, no one emerged as a leader, until Elise stepped up to bat. Things ran much smoother from that point, even when Carrie tried to put old rice into new rice to reheat it. Back on the blue team, after two mistakes by Paul, Monterray, and Jonathon had to take over, but neither of them could put out a snapper. Chef Ramsay then threw the blue team out of the kitchen, with the red team successfully completing service on both sides. Following the service, the alumni and the red team were treated to a performance by an Hawaiian dance troupe.
Nominees for elimination: The blue team were told to choose two contestants for elimination; after massive arguing, the team decided to nominate Paul and Monterray. Chef Ramsay then decides that Jonathon should also be up for elimination.
Elimination: After Paul argued for why he should stay, Chef Ramsay ordered him back in line. With Monterray and Jonathon still standing, Chef Ramsay ultimately chose Monterray to leave Hell's Kitchen.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: "It was high school reunion night in Hell's Kitchen. Unfortunately, for Monterray, he flunked the test."

Episode 7

Viewership: 6.51 million
Original airdate: August 8, 2011
Team Challenge: Each team has 45 minutes to cook five dishes, in which each dish must contain at least one type of beer. On hand to judge are two female brewmasters. The blue team won this challenge, 3 to 2.
Award/Punishment: The blue team attend the 2011 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
2011 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
The 2011 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was the third race of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season. The race took place on April 17, on the temporary street circuit in Long Beach, California, and was telecast by Versus in the United States.-Qualifying:...

as VIP guests, where they also try out racing in a race car. The red team must take in several deliveries of food, including ice and kegs of beer.
Service: For the service, each table had a beer dispenser which customers could freely use. On the red team, Elise forgot to drain her salad, which she blamed Carrie for not doing herself. Natalie is still struggling with the scallops, and Chef Ramsay discovered that there are 30 scallops that need to be re-fired (Jonathon counts over Ramsay, and he gets told to "Shut it!"); as a result, Will helps Natalie for the next couple of scallop orders. Also, Jamie sent out a raw sea bass and Krupa sent a raw venison, while Elise's loud mouth disrupted concentration in the kitchen. On the blue team, Natalie has trouble with the scallops, Jonathon struggled on the Wellingtons - which he blames Tommy for bad preparatory skills; and Krupa continually struggled on the entrees. Fed up with the blue kitchen mistakes, Chef Ramsay kicks Natalie and Jonathon out of the kitchen, leaving the rest of the team to finish service by themselves. While both teams finish service (despite Jonathon threatening to quit, but suddenly changing his mind), Chef Ramsay declared both teams losers.
Nominees for elimination: Each team must choose at least two contestants for elimination – the blue team chose Jonathon and Natalie, the two chefs were kicked out during the service, while the red team chose Krupa and Jamie.
Elimination: Before making a decision, Chef Ramsay asked Natalie if she can do the "honorable" thing and quit the competition, in which she refused. Chef Ramsay then told Krupa that she must leave Hell's Kitchen.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: No reason was given for Krupa's elimination, Chef Ramsay has said he was not finished yet, ending with a "To Be Continued
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...

". (Unlike Boris Poleschuk and Trev McGrath of Season 8, Krupa didn't receive her full elimination sequence with her coat hanging and her picture burning. Though Krupa got the "hook" and burning picture in the recap in the following episode.)

Episode 8

Viewership: 6.41 million
Original airdate: August 9, 2011
Prologue: Following the previous elimination, Chef Ramsay asks each team to pick a contestant who could be the strongest leader – the red team chose Jennifer and the blue team chose Will. Chef Ramsay then asks Jennifer and Will on who would be the weakest leader – Jennifer chose Carrie and Will chose Tommy.
Team Challenge: Each team has 45 minutes to cook five comfort food
Comfort food
Comfort food is food prepared traditionally that may have a nostalgic or sentimental appeal. Comfort foods may be foods that have a nostalgic element either to an individual or a specific culture...

dishes reinvented with a modern twist, under leadership of Carrie and Tommy. On hand to judge is famous chef Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Johannes Puck is an Austrian-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, businessman and occasional actor. Wolfgang Puck restaurants, catering services, cookbooks and licensed products are run by Wolfgang Puck Companies, with three divisions...

. In the final set of dishes, Jonathon initially refused to bring his dish up, and ending up Carrie and Jonathon's pizzas both failed. The red team won this challenge, 2 dishes to 1.
Award/Punishment: The red team spends the day at the Laugh Factory comedy club
Comedy club
A comedy club is a venue, typically a nightclub, bar, or restaurant where people watch or listen to performances, including stand-up comedians, improvisational comedians, impersonators, magicians, ventriloquists and other comedy acts...

in Hollywood. The blue team prep both kitchens for that night's service, and clean both teams' dorms, with the team leader Tommy having to clean the bathrooms with a toothbrush. Jonathon practically sat out most of the punishment, due to what he claimed was a pulled muscle in the neck.
Service: In attendance for tonight's service is servicemen of the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

. The red team had some flaws in the beginning with the appetizers, otherwise the service was well-coordinated and almost flawless (despite their personal dislike of each other). The blue team struggled with appetizers the whole night due to Natalie and Jonathon's poor communication. Chef Ramsay described the red team as "harmony", while he described the blue team, which was experiencing a state of chaos, as "noise". The blue team continued to produce unqualified food, and Jonathon's listlessness that began during the punishment carried over to the service, leading to Chef Ramsay having a private discussion on what was going on about Jonathon's injury, stating at one point that during season 6
Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 6)
Season 6 of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen began airing on the Fox Network on July 21, 2009. Gordon Ramsay returned as the host and head chef. Scott Leibfried returned as a sous chef for the blue team, for his sixth season. This season, Heather West, the winner of...

, a contestant (Dave Levey) won "Hell's Kitchen" with a broken arm; he eventually convinced Jonathon to return to the kitchen despite wanting to quit. Tommy struggled to get out the entrees. Both teams eventually finished service, with the red team clearly the winners. Elise was singled out for a spectacular performance on a busier than normal meat station, something that the other members on the red team resented as they already felt that she was egotistical.
Nominees for elimination: The blue team must select two contestants for elimination; they selected Natalie and Jonathon once again.
Elimination: Chef Ramsay ordered Natalie to step forward and "take your jacket... back in line!", before telling Jonathon to leave Hell's Kitchen. Chef Ramsay then told Natalie that she had one more shot.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: "The only thing worse than the pain of Jonathon's neck was listening to him blame everyone else for all his mistakes. I was glad to put him out of his misery."

Episode 9

Viewership: 6.99 million
Original airdate: August 15, 2011
Team Challenge: Each contestant has 60 minutes to make a dessert that can be served at a romantic dinner. Two dessert experts taste each dessert, grading on a scale from one to three stars; the team with the most stars win. The red team won this challenge, 14 to 13. Elise was infuriated that the other women chose her dessert to not be judged by Chef Ramsay (owing to the red team having an extra member), but when Ramsay tasted it after the challenge ended, he told Elise that her dessert tasted awful and would have caused the red team to lose.
Award/Punishment: The red team fly Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...

to Las Vegas, where they spend the night in the villa suite at Caesar's Palace; in addition, Holly Madison
Holly Madison
Hollin Sue Cullen, professionally known as Holly Madison, is an American model, showgirl and television personality. She is widely known for being one of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends on the reality television series The Girls Next Door...

pops by to give the ladies signed copies of her book, as well as passes for a three day, two night stay for the contestant and a guest at a later date. The blue team prepare for the next night's "date night" service, which includes a raw bar
Raw bar
A raw bar is a small restaurant or a bar within a restaurant where live raw shellfish are shucked and served. These restaurants are traditionally popular in coastal resort areas, and increasingly with the advent of fast shipment of seafood, in major cities away from the coast.Raw bars serve a...

.
Service: On the blue team, Chef Ramsay told Tommy to leave the kitchen for a few minutes after undercooking the scallops (an appetiser) and cooking the entree (sea bass) before the appetiser, bouncing back after spending a few minutes talking with customers. Later, Paul was thrown out of the kitchen after serving raw chicken and then getting into an argument with Chef Ramsay. On the red team, Elise kept giving Carrie the silent treatment when she asked how long to cook her scallops. Carrie would kick out of the kitchen first from service for overcooking the sea bass. Later, Chef Ramsay rejected a garnish, as it had a strand of hair purported to have come from Jamie. Also, Elise cooked lobster spaghetti for a vegetarian diner, leading Chef Ramsay to force her to shout out the order repeatedly. As she overcooking the oysters, willing Elise to thrown out of the kitchen. Both teams would complete service shorthanded. Also, during the service a man gave a marriage proposal to his girlfriend, when her entree included the question "Will you marry me?" written in chocolate.
Nominees for elimination: Despite both teams having a problematic service, the red team were declared the losers due to their poor team-work and for having had two chefs ejected from service compared to one for the winning blue team. The red team were told to nominate two for elimination, and quickly decided on Carrie and Elise, the two chefs who were removed from service.
Elimination: After their deliberations, Chef Ramsay called both Elise and Carrie forward, only to order both back in line. He then went off the board and told Jamie to leave Hell's Kitchen, leaving the other members of both teams visibly shocked. As with Amanda in Episode 3, Chef Ramsay told Jamie that he was not willing to tolerate a cook who gives up after making a mistake.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: "Jamie's lack of fight-back told me she's not ready to be a head chef. The remaining chefs need to know it's not about what they've done in the past. It's what they do here that counts."

Episode 10

Viewership: 6.07 million
Original airdate: August 22, 2011
Team Challenge: The chefs took part in the blind taste test challenge, where they each had to identify four items of food by taste alone. The red team won this challenge, thanks to Elise equalling the Hell's Kitchen record of three correctly identified items.
Award/Punishment: The red team got a horseback ride in the Hollywood Hills
Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills is an affluent and exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in the southeastern Santa Monica Mountains. It is bound by Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west, Vermont Avenue to the east, Mulholland Drive to the north, and Sunset Boulevard to the south.-Hollywood Hills...

, enjoying champagne and a stunning view of the Los Angeles skyline, while the blue team had to prep both kitchens for a special "steak house" service, along with making a grape preserve for the dessert, peeling each grape by hand. As the contestants were peeling grapes, Tommy told numerous jokes and puns about grapes, leading Natalie to throw grapes on the floor and stomp them by foot.
Service: Tonight's "steak house" service was a split dinner service; during two 90-minute periods, one team cooks the menu while the other team serves the diners. Both teams did well as servers, though each team had a member who struggled in their role (Tommy for the blue team, and Elise for the red team). The blue team's service got off to a bad start caused by Tommy's poor communication, and Natalie had a lot of trouble getting the steaks out, as she kept overcooking them. While the team eventually rallied, their early problems counted against them and they left five tables without food. Things weren't any better in the red team's service; despite Jennifer's strong performance on the appetisers, Elise had poor communication and repeatedly overcooked the fish, while Carrie got completely lost on the garnishes. Like their rivals, the red team improved late in the service, but fell well short of serving all their tables. As a result, neither team won.
Nominees for elimination: Each team was ordered to nominate one contestant for elimination; the red team nominated Carrie, while the blue team decided on Tommy.
Elimination: While Chef Ramsay said that he thought Tommy was out of his league and had no chance of winning the competition, he chose Carrie to leave Hell's Kitchen. Like Robert Hesse and Sabrina Gresset in season 6, Carrie was paid a retrospect montage during her exit.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: Chef Ramsay did not give a reason for Carrie's elimination. Instead, he told Elise to also take off her jacket, at which point the episode ended with a cliffhanger. (Like Jason and Krupa, Carrie didn't receive her full elimination sequence with her coat hanged and her burning picture, though Carrie got the "hook" and burning picture in the recap in the following episode.)

Episode 11

Viewership: 6.42 million
Original airdate: August 22, 2011
Prologue: Continuing from the last episode, Chef Ramsay got all the chefs to remove their jackets, and told them that they would all be leaving Hell's Kitchen... Instead, they are flown to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

for a culinary tour of ethnic cuisine and a visit to BLT Steak.
Team Challenge: When they returned to Hell's Kitchen, they were presented with a slot machine
Slot machine
A slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...

, which would assign them a list of ingredients and an ethnic style of cuisine to cook. Each contestant would be individually judged on their dishes, and whoever had the best dish would win the challenge for their team. All of the chefs got good reviews (apart from Natalie, whose dish Ramsay considered to be far too spicy), but Jennifer won the challenge for the red team, narrowly beating Will.
Award/Punishment: The red team were rewarded with a trip to Venice Beach, where they join James in riding a plastic bubble (which James calls zorbing
Zorbing
Zorbing is the recreation of rolling downhill in an orb, generally made of transparent plastic. Zorbing is generally performed on a gentle slope, but can also be done on a level surface, permitting more rider control. In the absence of hills some operators have constructed inflatable, wooden or...

); while the blue team had to prep both the kitchens for that night's service.
Service: The blue kitchen got off to a rough start when Natalie's scallops were cooked unevenly, and Tommy served up greasy onion rings. Things appeared to improve after that point, but then every single table returned their fish entrees, leaving Chef Ramsay furious at Natalie, and causing him to threaten to throw her out of the competition. Despite this, the team regrouped and eventually finished service. The red team's service was much worse; Elizabeth got overwhelmed on the fish station and suffered a temporary breakdown, causing Ramsay to give her a pep talk. Elise cooked several pieces of meat incorrectly, and her beef wellingtons were falling apart when she served them. She attempted to blame this on Tommy, who had prepped them, but Tommy defended himself and argued that he had only partly prepared them. With little improvement in Elise or Elizabeth's performances, Ramsay lost his patience and threw them out of service, leading to Jennifer finishing the red kitchen's service by herself. Even though the red team's performance was much worse than that of the blue team, Chef Ramsay told the teams that he expected flawless services at this stage, and declared them both losers again, vowing to no longer name any more winners until there is a perfect service.
Nominees for elimination: Chef Ramsay asks for one nominee from each team. Natalie nominated herself for the blue team, but became tearful on doing so, realising that she was almost certain to be eliminated due to her string of bad performances in the last few services and challenges. The red team's nomination effectively fell to Jennifer after Elise and Elizabeth voted for each other, and Jennifer picked Elise to face elimination.
Elimination: Natalie was eliminated, with Ramsay telling her that she had become a liability to the blue team rather than the leader he had hoped she would be. Like Carrie, she was also paid a retrospect montage. However, he encouraged her to continue learning, and told her that she still had a bright future. Ramsay told Elise that while he still saw huge potential in her, his patience was running out and that she rapidly needed to improve her attitude.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: "Natalie was lucky enough to get to see BLT Steak in New York. She may get to see it again as a customer."

Episode 12

Viewership: 6.21 million
Original airdate: August 29, 2011
Team Challenge: The teams were told to cook three entrees each; one that would take 30 minutes to cook, one that would take 20 minutes, and one that would take 10 minutes. Jennifer (who had to frantically pan-sear her undercooked lamb at the last minute) beat out Tommy in the battle of the 30 minute dishes, while Paul beat Elizabeth in the 20 minute dishes. The final showdown was between the 10 minute dishes, and Will won this for the blue team, after Elise's calimari was undercooked (Will's vegetables were too garlicky, but Ramsay considered this a less serious mistake). After the end of the challenge, Elise started crying for sympathy, only for Ramsay to tell her off.
Award/Punishment: The blue team got to go to a Ted Baker
Ted Baker
Ted Baker is a British clothing retail company, known for applying twists to its products, and has become a UK designer label through word of mouth rather than advertising.-History:...

outlet to buy some designer clothing, while the red team had to set up the dining room for the next service. The blue team bought a handkerchief as a gift for Elise, mocking her earlier actions in crying after the challenge loss.
Service: In this service, Hell's Kitchen would be hosting a charity dinner, and each kitchen would be responsible for serving a twelve-top each. Each team sponsored American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...

and American Humane Association
American Humane Association
The American Humane Association is an organization founded in 1877 dedicated to the welfare of animals and children.The AHA's Film and Television Unit has monitored the welfare of animals during the production of films and television programs since 1940. They are the source of the familiar...

. Additionally, each chef took charge of a specific course. The blue team had a shaky start, with Chef Ramsay criticising Paul's sloppy plating and Tommy's watery salad. Things got worse on the next course, as Tommy's risottos were inconsistently seasoned, forcing Will to step in and rescue them. Things ran smoother when Will took charge, and continued to do so under Paul's second turn. The service threatened to derail when Tommy took charge of the Lamb Wellingtons, but he eventually emerged as a strong leader after being yelled at by Ramsay. Finally, Will led the team to a strong finish on the desserts. The red team started off better, despite Elizabeth's poor communication while running the first appetizer, but then things went badly wrong. Their plating of the lobster cappelini was terrible, and Jennifer struggled to control Elise. Elizabeth cooked the chicken too early, and repeatedly failed to understand Chef Ramsay's explanation of why this was a mistake. Elise refused to let the others help her with the Wellingtons, demoting them to garnishes, which resulted in Jennifer serving underseasoned mashed potato. Finally, the team's apple dessert was raw, which led to an argument between Elise (who had cooked them) and Jennifer. After the end of service, Ramsay announced that the blue team had been the clear winners.
Nominees for elimination: After yet another fierce argument between the women in the service post-mortem, Ramsay lost patience and announced that the entire red team would be facing elimination. Prior to the actual elimination, Chef Ramsay awarded black jackets to the three remaining men,(Ramsay specifically praised Tommy that it had been his "night of redemption", since it was his best service out of all twelve) announcing that the five remaining chefs (for the first time since season three
Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 3)
This article contains contestant information and episode summaries from Season 3 of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen...

) would be part of one team in the next service.
Elimination: Ramsay called forward Jennifer and told her to take off her jacket, saying that she had given her worst performance to date... but then gave her a black jacket, and told her that she had another chance. He then got Elise and Elizabeth to take their jackets off and eliminated Elizabeth, telling her that she had shown great promise, but wasn't yet ready to take charge of a kitchen. However, she was not paid a retrospect montage. Elise was also threatened with elimination, but Ramsay said that he still thought she had potential, and gave her a black jacket.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: "Tonight was all about charity in Hell's Kitchen and after watching Elizabeth's performance, I'm now ready to donate her jacket to a worthy cause."

Episode 13

Viewership: 5.89 million
Original airdate: September 5, 2011
Individual Challenge: With the chefs uniting into the black team, they would now be competing individually in the challenges. Their first individual challenge was to take five comfort foods and create fine dining versions of them, which would be rated on taste and presentation. Will won this challenge, beating Elise by just one point. Tommy finished in third place, Paul in fourth, and Jennifer in last place.
Award/Punishment: Will and Elise were sent on a culinary tour of several Los Angeles restaurants, while the remaining chefs stayed behind and did Hell's Kitchen's laundry.
Service: Just the night before the start of the service, The "returning chefs" team consisting of Ben Walanka (Season 5), Tennille Middleton and Van Hurd (Season 6), along with Jillian Flathers and Trev McGrath (Season 8) was brought in to compete with the black team (known as current chefs) in their first task, and both teams were instructed to come up with their own menu by a one-hour limit. The returning chefs team did this without much trouble, but Elise tried to take control of the black team's menu and reacted angrily to any suggested alterations by the other chefs, which eventually resulted in Will storming out of the planning session. The service generally went well, with the black team's only problems being that Paul served an overcooked lobster, Jennifer undercooked the garnishes for one dish, and Elise tried to push the other chefs too quickly. The returning chefs team had some initial problems with Trev making a salad for the wrong ticket and Van undercooking their first meat entree, but their service improved. However, Tennille proved to be a major weak link in their kitchen, as she constantly overcooked and undercooked the fish. At the end, Chef Ramsay announced that the returning chefs team had scored an 80% approval rate, but the black team won with a 96% approval rate.
Nominees for elimination: Ramsay asked for two nominees for elimination, and after much argument, Elise and Jennifer were nominated. Ramsay expressed surprise at Elise's nomination, and implied that he thought Paul should have been nominated instead of her, but accepted the two nominees.
Elimination: After briefly hearing from the two nominees, Ramsay called Jennifer forward and told to remove her jacket and got a new one, he sent Jennifer and Elise back in line and announced that since none of the chefs had made any major mistakes and the approval rating had been so high, no-one would be sent home that week.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: Tonight's service was the best yet in Hell's Kitchen. Just like the returning chefs received a second chance, I decided to give Elise and Jennifer a second chance as well. Hopefully, they'll make the most of it.

Episode 14

Viewership: 5.78 million
Original airdate: September 12, 2011
Individual Challenge: The chefs were each given a portion of Alaskan salmon, and assigned to create restaurant quality dishes with them. Whoever's dish was considered the most valuable by Ramsay and a panel of three judges would win the challenge. Paul narrowly won the challenge, in a very close three-way finish with Will and Jennifer. Tommy finished in fourth place, and Elise was last.
Award/Punishment: Paul got a helicopter trip with Chef Ramsay, followed by lunch at the Water Grill. He was allowed to pick one person to join him on the reward, and picked Tommy. During the meal, Paul attempted to ask out Amanda, the head chef at the Water Grill, only to be left with egg on his face when she appeared more interested in Tommy. Will, Jennifer and Elise had to prepare the Alaskan salmon for Paul's dish, which would be on the menu for the next service, and Will did this mostly by himself, as Elise openly refused to take part in the punishment, while Jennifer mostly did minor tasks.
Service: The service got off to a rocky start, as Jennifer got completely overwhelmed on the appetizer station. Tommy came over to help her, but Jennifer constantly failed to give him correct times, resulting in the appetizers that he served up being undercooked. Elise also failed to have the scallops ready on time and blamed Jennifer, even though both Jennifer and Chef Ramsay had both told Elise when to cook scallops. With the service falling behind, Ramsay decided to make up lost ground by getting the team to work on the entrées as well, but Elise's continued poor performance on the fish station meant that only the meat entrées got served. Elise continually overcooked the salmon, ignored both Paul and Chef Ramsay's instructions on how to cook it correctly, and chased Tommy away when he attempted to help her. After her sixth incorrect attempt at cooking the salmon, Ramsay lost his temper and threw everyone out of the kitchen. However, he then changed his mind and brought back Will and Paul (who had both done well on the garnish and meat stations respectively) to finish the service by themselves. After the service ended Tommy got into a shouting match with Ramsay, feeling that he did not deserve to be thrown out of service.
Nominees for elimination: Jennifer and Elise both agreed that they should be the nominees for elimination. Elise's nomination ties for the record for most nominations for elimination in the entire competition, (It ties with Autumn of season 7) Prior to the ceremony, Elise pulled Will and Paul to one side and got them to promise that they would back her up if Chef Ramsay asked them who was the weakest. The two nominees got into an argument after Ramsay called them out, and much to Jennifer's shock, Paul and Will honored their agreement with Elise and told Ramsay that Jennifer should be sent home. Tommy, on the other hand, said that Elise should be sent home.
Elimination: Chef Ramsay agreed with Will and Paul, and eliminated Jennifer, saying that while she was an exceptionally talented cook, he didn't think she had the personality to be a head chef. Elise taunted Jennifer after her elimination, until the men told her that this was inappropriate.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: "Jennifer finally found her voice in Hell's Kitchen. Unfortunately, it was when she was being eliminated."

Episode 15/16

Viewership: 6.04 million (first part); 5.94 million (second part)
Original airdate: September 19, 2011

Part 1

Prologue: Before the start of the challenge, Chef Ramsay surprised the remaining chefs. First, Elise's husband, son and aunt came in, followed by Tommy's girlfriend and mother, Paul's older brother and Will's mother and wife, for spending visits on their love ones.
Individual Challenge: The chefs each tasted a dish cooked by Chef Ramsay, and had to recreate it by taste alone. Tommy finished last, after misidentifying both the fish and the type of ham it was wrapped in. Elise and Will both finished second, correctly identifying everything but the fish itself. The winner was Paul, who recreated Chef Ramsay's dish in perfect detail.
Award/Punishment: As mentioned above, Paul and his older brother got to attend a Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...

versus Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

baseball game, while the three remaining chefs had to move the belongings of the other, since-departed contestants out of the dorms.
Service: In this service, each of the chefs took control of the kitchen for part of the service, running the pass and having to spot acts of sabotage that Chef Ramsay deliberately had set up. Paul went first, and despite having trouble getting acceptable scallops out of Tommy and failing to spot that Scott had given him spaghetti with shrimp instead of lobster, he led the kitchen well. Tommy went next and had a shaky start by failing to communicate well with the other chefs, and then not realising that James had given him a ticket that didn't specify the temperature for an order of filet mignon (Will had to point it out to him), though he improved as the service went on. Elise followed Tommy and temporarily lost her nerve after failing realise that she had been given the wrong purée, but recovered and led the kitchen well despite more problems caused by Tommy on the fish station. Will was the final chef to lead the pass, and got off to a strong start by realising that Scott had served Lamb Wellingtons rather than Beef ones, but then got into a massive argument with Elise over the garnishes, causing the kitchen to stall and lose momentum. Will eventually got the service back on track, but Chef Ramsay specifically noted that the other chefs didn't respect him. Ramsay then led the service to its finish.
Elimination: After being briefly sent back to the dorms to consider their pleas on why they should stay, the chefs returned to the dining room, and Tommy was immediately eliminated, as Chef Ramsay and the three other chefs all agreed that he was by far the weakest of the final four, though Ramsay told him that he still had plenty of passion and skill. The remaining three chefs were asked to justify why they should stay, and after hearing their pleas, Ramsay named Will as the first finalist. He then chose Paul to advance to the final, meaning that Elise was eliminated. As a gesture of his pride in her abilities, Ramsay allowed Elise to keep her jacket.
Chef Ramsay's Reason: No reasons were given for Tommy's or Elise's elimination, nor did they receive the "coat hook and burning picture" routine (except for Elise, as she kept her jacket); the episode immediately proceeded into the second part.

Part 2

Individual Challenge: Paul and Will were taken out to dinner by Chef Ramsay with their relatives, and in an ironic reversal of what happened in the season premiere, were unexpectedly shown into a room filled with a cheering crowd. Each of the two finalists had to cook five dishes, which would be judged by the executives of BLT Steak. Will won this challenge, 3 to 2.
Team Selection: Eight of the last nine eliminated contestants returned for the finale (Jamie did not return; instead, Krupa came in her place and was the last contestant to be eliminated prior to top ten), with each team getting four members and, unlike the previous season, the help of Sous Chefs Scott and Andi. For winning the challenge, Will was given first pick, and selected Tommy, Natalie, Jennifer and Krupa. Paul selected Elise, Elizabeth and Jonathon, and was left with Carrie as the last pick (Will deliberately having engineered his choices so that Elise and Carrie would be on Paul's team, hoping that their feud would bring down the team). Prior to the service Paul had a brief breakdown after Chef Ramsay hated his menu, but soon regained his composure.
Service: Among the guests for this service are the final two's relatives and BLT Group President Keith Treyball. Will's team started off better than Paul's team did, with Natalie getting all her appetisers out quickly, while Elise caused a fire on her appetiser station, and Elizabeth kept overcooking the scallops. With his team struggling to get any entrees out, Paul assigned Elise to help the other three chefs, which turned their service around. Meanwhile, Krupa almost single-handedly derailed Will's service by constantly serving up undercooked fish. When she finally managed what appeared to be an acceptable serving, it was sent back immediately as it was also undercooked. Will eventually replaced her with Natalie, but Krupa had used up all of their team's prepared fish, forcing Natalie to start over on their entrees, and putting Will's team far behind Paul's. Both teams eventually finished service successfully, and as Paul and Chef Ramsay noted to their amusement, Elise and Carrie never once argued during the service.
Winner: After reading over the comment cards, Chef Ramsay summoned the two finalists to his office. He complimented Will on his consistency and Paul on his spirit and tenacity, and announced that while they were two outstanding chefs, there was a clear winner based on both the comment cards and his own observations. The two chefs each stood before a closed door; whoever's door opened would be the winner. Paul's door opened, making him the ninth winner of Hell's Kitchen. Will took his defeat graciously, acknowledging that his service had been very disappointing, and that he was happy for Paul to honor for his late mother. In the closing moment of the season, Chef Ramsay told Elise that she could go far as a chef, but she needed to "stop acting like a bitch!"
Chef Ramsay's Reason: "Paul won tonight because he's probably the most passionate determined chef ever to enter Hell's Kitchen. He'll make a great head chef because his enthusiasm is contagious. I'm so proud to hand him over to BLT Steak in New York City."

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