Episode 1110 - 12 Chefs Compete

The tenth episode of Season 11 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox on May 7, 2013. In that episode, Hell's Kitchen hosted its first Quinceañera, one chef nearly lost it, both teams turned a celebration into a nightmare, and a shocking double elimination took place.

Intro[]

While going back into the dorms, Amanda claimed that she felt like a piece of shit as she should be the one Ramsay should be patted on the shoulder every night and that it sucked to be on the chopping block. Susan and Ja'Nel both said they put Amanda up because she was folding during service. Cyndi added on how Amanda packed her bags after being ejected from service. After Susan told Amanda to pick up her slack, the latter knew she had to shine and become the leader for the red team.

Team challenge[]

The next day, both teams came downstairs to see Ramsay and liked their energy by running down to line up. Then, Ramsay said that after service, he, James, and Andi started talking about how their love of cooking started, with the consensus being during their teenage years. Ramsay showed the chefs pictures of him during his two favorite passions, cooking and soccer, with Ray stunned how a cute kid in the picture became a hard ass in the picture. After, Ramsay showed the chefs pictures of their younger years, starting with Zach, with Anthony explaining his hair swapping places. Ramsay then showed Nedra with a teddy bear, Cyndi with a trophy as she called it hysterical, Barret, Mary and Jon. Then, Ramsay shocked everyone with Ray's picture, with Zach calling the latter a mobster. Then, Ramsay showed them a significant picture of Brianna, explaining that she was turning 15. For the first time, Hell’s Kitchen was hosting a Quinceañera, much to Barret's concern as he struggled to pronounce the name. Ramsay briefly explained what a Quinceañera was before bringing in Brianna, her mother, and godmother accompanied by a mariachi band. After seeing Brianna, Mary called her tiny and cute. Ramsay announced the Quinceañera Planning Challenge, asked Brianna what her favorite foods were. She explained that she liked chicken that was creamy and lemony, as well as fun appetizers. Then, Jennifer explained that Brianna would eat anything spicy but would not eat it if it was too spicy. That confused Anthony over a young Latina that did not eat spicy food and asked where Brianna grew up. At the same time, Josette explained that they liked to eat good hearty portions of meat. Susan asked Brianna what her favorite appetizer was, with the latter explained she loved cheese. Mary then asked what styles of meat they liked, with Josette explaining they like steak that is medium to a well-done temperature. However, Zach got annoyed by the women’s questionings, even arrogantly asking what Brianna and her family know about food as they should let the chefs do the cooking.

Both teams had 45 minutes to create a tasting menu which consisted of two appetizers, a pasta dish, a chicken dish, and a steak dish. Barret wanted to do macaroni and cheese sticks as the challenge began, while Ray explained he would do a ravioli. In the red kitchen, Cyndi explained that Mary was doing the chicken. When Ja'Nel smelled the peppers on the grill, she explained that it smelled like a Quinceañera. Susan commented that the women knew what it was like to be fifteen before and called it an amazing opportunity to cook for Brianna. In the blue kitchen, Barret was looking for hot sauce, as he explained, Brianna was Spanish but forgot that she hated spicy food. Halfway into the challenge, Cyndi then asked Amanda how she was feeling. Amanda explained that it was her day of redemption. In the blue kitchen, Jon told Ray to put the pasta in the water as the latter wasn't going to make it Jon did everything he could to make sure the men won and told Michael to make sure he has his meat ready as the didn't have enough time left. Eventually, everybody had their dishes cooked and plated on time.

The cold appetizer round was up first. Jon and Ja'Nel presented their dishes, with the latter presenting her ceviche with cucumber, jalapeno, orange, and lime. It was praised for not being too spicy. In contrast, Jon’s ceviche with halibut, lobster and crab in a nice crispy shell was also praised for having a lemon taste and being nicely fried. After, Jon won that round over Ja'Nel, and the men led 1-0. On the hot appetizer round, Cyndi presented her fried cheese raviolis. It was praised for the cheese coming out and being hot and melting. Barret presented his fried macaroni and cheese balls. Still, the sauce was criticized for tasting like hot sauce, with Cyndi asking if the boys even listened, and the latter scored a point, making it a one-point tie. On the pasta round, when Nedra saw Ray, she said that she had her dish in the bag and presented her grilled shrimp with an herb marinade. It was praised for having perfectly done shrimp. Then, Ray presented his homemade raviolis with three different types of cheeses. It was praised for having a good sauce, and he won that round over Nedra, making the score 2-1 for the men, and Ray called himself the ravioli king. During the chicken round, Anthony presented his grilled chicken with refried pinto beans. While it was praised for the tender chicken, it was criticized for not having a lot of flavor, although he arrogantly asked Brianna what she knew about chicken flavors. Then, Mary presented her butterfly chicken with a lemon cream sauce and a cauliflower purée. Brianna said it was delicious but criticized it for being too soft. Jennifer and Josette both praised it for being flavorful, but the latter criticized it for having too much lemon, making Mary was worried if they would go down in flames if they didn't get the point. In the end, Mary won over Anthony, the score was tied at two each, and Cyndi explained that it was close and still had a fighting chance. In the final round, the steak round, Ray wanted to get the point as his team only won one challenge so far. Amanda presented her grilled ribeye with spicy chili peppers, and it was praised for not being overpowering, for having great flavor. Amanda declared that she was back. After Michael said his flavors were spot on, he presented his steak dish, but Ramsay immediately saw blood on his plate and asked if it was raw. Michael said it wasn't, but it was criticized for being raw and undercooked, much to his frustration before giving up on cooking steak again. Amanda's dish won that round, the women won the challenge 3-2, and Jon was pissed the men lost another challenge despite being so close. After Brianna and her family left, Ramsay told the women they were completely dominating the season with seven wins out of the eight challenges so far.

Scoring[]

Reward[]

The women were rewarded with a trip to Knott's Berry Farm, and an excited Amanda said she was going to be at the front of every rollercoaster. When the women walked past the men during their punishment, Nedra mockingly wished them luck. Ja'Nel wanted to go on the scariest roller coaster during the reward, but when Nedra saw the rides, she was scared and asked if there were drops on the ride when Ja'Nel picked one. Later, the ladies then saw a game with the blue team's faces and decided to play it to hit the faces, and they won a giant teddy bear.

Punishment[]

The blue team was punished with decorating the dining room for the Quinceañera under Josette’s instructions. Barret felt he was starting to lose it due to all their defeats. During the punishment, Josette gave out instructions to the men. When they got to decorating dolls, Ray said that he never put dolls together, even saying that it was not part of his Marine Corp chores. Barret suggested he should then glue his manhood back together. Later, Josette criticized Michael’s bow work on the chairs as Barret called her a crazy person for making them work to her standards. As Michael was on his last nerves with Josette, she and Barret argued about the chairs, resulting in him about to break a chair until Ray stopped him. Fortunately, Barret revealed he was only kidding and promised his teammates he would not break down.

Before service[]

Later that night, the women came back from their reward, rejected Anthony’s offer to help them wrap candy. Ja'Nel mockingly said how hard it was to keep winning as Nedra and Mary danced on the dance floor. When Ray asked when the punishment would end, Anthony snarkily said when they died.

The next day, both teams began preparing for the Quinceañera. Still, Susan was concerned about Amanda as she was not feeling good and wanted a successful service. Then, Zach was amazed at the men's job during their punishment and was ready to knock it out of the ballpark. After prep, Ramsay lined up the teams. He reminded them about the Quinceañera before revealing that he wanted the appetizers to go out clockwork because afterwards, there was an important waltz. After, Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell's Kitchen.

Dinner service[]

The menu for the Quinceañera dinner service included the winning dishes from the previous challenge. Before dinner, Jean-Philippe introduced the birthday girl as well as her escort. When the chefs saw the girl, Amanda said that she got teary-eyed. When the red team was working on their first ticket, Mary told Amanda that it was three tuna and three Caesar Salads. Still, when Amanda asked if it was three tuna, Nedra's got dismayed as they had to be on the money. Ja'Nel sent her first ravioli up, but Amanda said her tuna wasn't working as Susan told her to bring it up. However, Amanda’s tuna was broken, much to her and Ramsay's dismay, and Nedra told Amanda to get it together. Jon and Anthony were working on their appetizers in the blue kitchen, and while Ray jumped in to help them out, Jon said that they did not need the help but told Ray to walk them up. The appetizers were accepted, and Ramsay told the women that he just got the men’s half for the head table out. Amanda sent up her second attempt, and it was accepted, with the head table being completely served.

Ramsay told Amanda to get it together half an hour into service as she was working on her next tuna. Still, when Nedra asked Amanda if she needed help, Amanda responded no. However, Nedra knew Amanda did not have it and decided to pitch in without the latter’s knowledge. In the blue kitchen, Jon and Anthony's strong teamwork got appetizers out at a strong pace. After completing their orders, they then congratulated each other, with Jon telling Anthony that he loved him. Amanda’s tuna meltdown in the red kitchen has the women playing catch up as Ramsay told them that the men had finished while they were two tickets behind. When Amanda sent up another tuna, it was ice cold, Ramsay asked her who seared it, and Amanda said that Nedra was responsible for it. Pissed by that, Nedra said that Amanda was on thin ice and that the tuna that was sent up was not the one she seared as Ramsay grew more frustrated. Then, Amanda said that Nedra seared it, and she got it, much to Ramsay's annoyance, and told the latter to back off. With the backlog in the red kitchen, the party guests grew impatient as Josette wanted to get the waltz started. Still, as Amanda and Nedra argued, Jean-Philippe begged the women not to let them down. Then, Nedra dropped the refire to the ground, blamed Amanda for causing her to drop it by bumping it into her, and an annoyed Cyndi told the latter to get her station under control. After a frustrated Ramsay asked Amanda who oversaw appetizers, she claimed she was before pushing Nedra away, with the latter deciding to step off and let Amanda sink by herself. Then, a fire erupted on Amanda’s station. Then, Jean-Philippe said he could not hold the waltz any longer, much to both Ramsay’s and the women’s dismay. As the waltz began, Ramsay berated the women for screwing up the easiest appetizers in the world. While Amanda claimed to be the most embarrassed about it, Ramsay bitterly told her off as he tossed the appetizer tray to the counter in her direction as Ja'Nel asked if she could drop another ravioli. Then, Ramsay brought the women into the blue kitchen, criticized them for moving slower than the actual waltz, and told both teams to fire entrées for the head table.

As the men began entrées, Ramsay ordered them to get it ready in six minutes. Anthony blamed the women’s mistakes making the former pissed before knowing that any more mistakes would multiply that anger by ten. When Zach brought up his garnish, Ramsay noticed fewer potatoes than required. While Michael knew Anthony and Jon gave the men a great start, he also knew services were more about how they finished. After, Zach sent up his refire, but Barret sent up raw linguine with no spinach and too much oil. Fortunately, Barret got the refire accepted, and the men served their part of the head table. Nedra said that despite appetizers being messed up in the red kitchen, she felt entrées were in the bag. Unfortunately, Nedra sent up dry chicken. When Ramsay ordered her to get it together, Nedra revealed that she had another one. When it was sent up, Ramsay sternly warned Nedra that he would not allow any more dry chicken but praised the refire for being perfect. As both teams were pushing out entrées, Ramsay noticed that Zach served enough potatoes for one portion than the two required. While Zach told Ramsay to calm down as he had more cooking, the latter called him a smartass in response and scolded him for not doing what he was told four times before. However, Zach arrogantly said that Ramsay did not need to bark at him and suggested that he chill out. While Zach got enough potatoes out again, Ramsay continued to lecture on his poor attitude and performance, warning him that he was history if it happened again. When Zach asked Jon if Ramsay hated him, the latter responded that he hated everybody.

Two hours into service, both teams were on their final ticket. Barret knew that he started rough from the raw linguine but wanted to fight back. Unfortunately, he sent up overcooked kebabs with a burnt splinter in a piece, frustrating Ramsay to no end as he asked Barret what he was doing. While Barret argued that he was not letting the men down, Anthony ordered him to get it together. Barret felt he should slap himself for two years due to the pasta incident. Fortunately, Barret’s refires were accepted, and the only thing left was the women’s final ticket. Cyndi sent up her ribeyes to the pass. However, they were raw to the point Ramsay felt they still had their horns on and angrily ordered Cyndi to send him the perfect ones after she revealed there were more in the oven. Then, Ja'Nel’s station went up in flames, and a dismayed Mary asked how it could get any worse for them. Despite that, Cyndi’s refire was accepted. While service was finished, Ja'Nel was disappointed as she wanted that night to be memorable for Brianna, but instead, they sucked that night.

Post-mortem[]

When both teams lined up, Ramsay said that they hosted a special event that was especially painful. Both teams were named joint losers, as Ramsay called it an embarrassment, and asked them to nominate two people each.

During deliberation, Jon was pretty pissed about the Quinceañera and that the men had a great chance to win, but instead, it came crashing down again. Jon suggested Zach and Barret as they were the ones who got yelled at the most, to which Ray agreed. That pissed Barret off as it meant the points he got in the challenges did not mean anything to the team, but Jon said that one mistake means anybody goes up on the chopping block from now on. Then, Zach refused to nominate himself.

Meanwhile, Susan felt the biggest problem that night was the tuna incident Amanda caused, with Ja'Nel reminding the latter how every tuna got sent back that night. Then, Mary nominated Amanda and Cyndi for elimination. Still, Cyndi felt she had been a leader since she came and was not the dead weight for the women, but challenged them to put her up as she would fight. However, Amanda disagreed with Cyndi as a nominee. The only other person who messed up more than herself was Nedra. Still, Nedra argued that she had two different sized chickens and accidentally sent the wrong one up. That led Amanda to accuse Nedra of not admitting to her mistakes and hoped to God she was the next to go.

Elimination[]

Ramsay said he was not happy when both teams came down as they turned an amazing Quinceañera into a disaster. Ray announced Barret as the men’s first nominee, with Zach at the second. After Ja'Nel announced Amanda as the women’s first nominee, she admitted how hard the second nominee was before revealing that Cyndi was the one. During their pleas, Cyndi acknowledged that it was her worst performance yet. Still, Cyndi promised that it would never happen again, even claiming she gave a shit when Ramsay asked her. Then, Amanda felt that she never gave up since day one and apologized to Ramsay and Brianna. However, when Ramsay asked Amanda what she should do when she was in the weeds, she answered that she should take control, which the former felt she did not do. Zach said he was passionate about what he did, but Ramsay accused him of not being at this level. At the same time, Barret felt he could get back up a hundred times if he was knocked down, as going home was not an option. While Ramsay felt that he should eliminate all four of the nominees that night due to his angry mood, he eliminated Amanda for the tuna meltdown, not bouncing back, and being why the women failed to complete appetizers before the waltz. During her exit interview, Amanda was upset as she did not expect to leave so soon and admitted that it was not as easy as she thought.

After Amanda left, Ramsay called that night a disaster, an embarrassment, and announced he was not done yet. Before anything else could happen, the episode ended as a cliffhanger.

Ramsay gave no comment on Amanda’s elimination, and she did not receive the coat hanging and portrait burning sequence.

Trivia[]

• This, and the beginning following episode, features the first time Ramsay eliminated two chefs in one night in the proper way.
• Starting from this episode until Episode 1116 - 6 Chefs Compete, the blue team set their record to face elimination, six times in a row.