18 Chefs Compete
June 4
Nine seasons... over 100,000 auditions...
over 10,000 customers... 132 contestants... Nine champions. Those
numbers... mean ZERO, because year 10 is about to begin.
Your chefs, along with their team
designations are...
RED TEAM (Women)
- Robyn Almodovar (31, Executive Sous Chef, Hollywood, FL)
- Dana Cohen (27, Chef Instructor, River Vale, NJ)
- Roshni Gurnani (27, Executive Chef, Boston)
- Tiffany Johnson (30, Sous Chef, Warren, VT)
- Barbie Marshall (34, Catering Chef, Philadelphia)
- Briana Swanson (32, Personal Chef, New York City)
- Danielle Rimmer (27, Saucier, Bayonne, NJ)
- Christina Wilson (32 Chef de Cuisine, Philadelphia)
- Kimmie Willis (27, Personal Chef, Memphis, TN)
BLUE TEAM (Men)
- Justin Antiorio (45, Sous Chef, Lyndhurst, NJ)
- Patrick Cassata (40 Executive Chef, Siskiyou County, CA)
- Chris Carrero (33, Executive Chef, Queens, NY)
- Clemenza Caserta (41, Executive Chef, Staten Island, NY)
- Tavon Hubbard (22, Executive Chef, Washington, DC)
- Brian Merel (31, Personal Chef, Orlando)
- Don Savage (44, Cafeteria Chef, Houston)
- Guy Vaknin (28, Executive Catering Chef, New York City)
- Royce Wagner (29, Sous Chef, Fort Lauderdale, FL) - His executive
chef... Ralph Pagano, season 1 runnerup.
And this time, Gordon Ramsay is putting
it out there for the contestants, because he's not just looking for any
head chef. He's looking for HIS head chef at Gordon Ramsay Steak at the
Paris Las Vegas. With it comes a yearly salary of... $250,000.
We kick things off with our sous-chefs
Scott and Andi, each of which... have shaved their heads as a sign of
commitment. And two chefs stand out as the first to do so. And as Scott
is getting ready for the third... IN COMES RAMSAY WITH...
SKILL DRILL
#1: Signature Dish
Before we go any further, the two people who had their heads shaved?
Friends of Scott. Decoys. Plants, even. And Andi's baldness? A bald cap.
- Robyn (Seared Striped Bass) vs. Don
(Southwestern Saltimbocca). WINNER: Robyn (Reds up, 1-0)
Clemenza coughs. Repeatedly.
- Tiffany (Lamb Schnitzel) vs. Guy
(Pan-Seared Striped Bass with Chocolate Miso). WINNER... Nobody.
Again, more coughing. And he's starting
to sweat a bit pale-like.
- Roshni (Coriander Rack of Lamb) vs.
Royce (Pan-Seared Grouper). WINNER: ... BOTH! (Reds up, 2-1)
We're tied at 3 with...
- Dana (Pan-Seared Scallops) vs. Tavon
(Ribs, Scallops & Crab). WINNER: Dana (Reds up, 4-3).
- Christina (Molasses Pork Chop) vs. Clemenza (Stuffed Veal Chop) The
truffle oil will kill you every time. WINNER: Christina (Reds win, 5-3)
The women are going to enjoy themselves a
picnic lunch with two distinguished alumni of HK, Chefs Rock Harper
(season 3 champion) and Dave "The One-Armed Bandit" Levey (season 6
champion). The men... are doomed to scrub.
That night, it's time to study up on the
menu, while the women share a bit of advice. A perfectly cooked scallop
feels like the tip of... something.
Everyone gets a jacket and a set of JA
Henckel knives. The knives you can keep. The jacket you have to earn the
right to keep.
Tonight is the 125th dinner service at
HK.
"OPEN HELL'S KITCHEN, PLEASE!"
DINNER SERVICE #1: Opening Night
Briana can't name an entree. That's okay, because she won't be serving
any of them. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
First order is in the window... and
Roshni misses a couple of scallops, but then screws them up entirely. In
the blues, Royce is looking for anchovies for his salad. Roshni's next
plate of scallops... sends her to the benches. Barbie takes over. Apps
are finally getting out to the diners. Meanwhile, Royce has finally
found his anchovies. Meanwhile Tavon's pigeon is still raw.
Football player in the crowd tonight.
Blues are working on the next table...
And Justin is working with scallops that are completely butchered,
thanks to Tavon. Seventy-five minutes into service, and no apps have
left the blue kitchen, and it's his fault. So he too goes upstairs.
Women have pushed out appetizers at a
steady clip, but what about the entrees? Raw beef Wellingtons. Reroll
them and then take another 15 ... minutes... to cook them. Meanwhile the
blues have STILL not pushed out apps. Royce says he has spaghetti.
Clemenza says no. Ramsay says get out, Royce. Two hours, and the women
are stalled on entrees. Men are still stalled on apps. And Don... he's
just lost.
And so is the rest of his team. Ramsay's
had enough, sending the entire team upstairs.
Can the women use this time to complete
their first service? ... No. They're gone as well. First dinner service
is an abject failure.
But we do have a winning team. Because
they at least served appetizers, the RED TEAM wins this service. The
Blues must serve up two chefs for elimination.
The two weakest links in the blue
kitchen: Tavon and Royce, because both of them were sent upstairs. Royce
makes a case for Guy because he missed the anchovies. As for Don...
well, Clemenza thought he was lost.
ELIMINATION #1
The Blues nominate Tavon (hot apps couldn't recover) and Don (didn't
cook). Ramsay overrules Don and sends up Royce.
Tavon takes responsibility for the team's
mess-up. Royce says that he tried and that he was sabotaged by Guy.
Leaving Hell's Kitchen tonight....
...
TAVON.
"Tavon may have been an executive chef at
22, but he did little to impress me in his short stay in Hell's
Kitchen."
To see this episode in its entirety, go to
fox.com/hellskitchen. |