Episode 1508 - 10 Chefs Compete

The eighth episode of Season 15 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on March 2, 2016. In that episode, the chefs cooked dishes with number limits, one chef injured themselves at punishment, dinner service turned into a therapy session for two others, and the third team switch occurred.

Intro[]

While going back to the dorms, Ariel felt the wrong person was sent home, as she was annoyed by Dannie’s arrogance by that point. While Dannie told Manda being up for elimination was terrifying, she knew she would be passed over for Hassan. However, Kristin knew the red team needed a win and felt the only way it could be done was through teamwork before suggesting that Dannie should have some humility and stop acting arrogant.

Later that night, Manda revealed to the chefs that she used to be a dancer at a go-go bar, and while she admitted that it was something she was not proud of, it was also something she was not ashamed of. Then, Manda showed everybody her signature moves, and Chad was getting a little hot over the risqué moves the former was doing with Dannie. However, Frank deemed Manda annoying and felt she was doing everything to gain attention.

Team Challenge[]

The next day, the chefs came downstairs to find a live band playing in the dining room, with Jared identifying the guitar player as Steve Vai and called him a legend. After the performance, Ramsay introduced the chefs to Vai, with Joe remarking that the latter has played with a lot of big names such as Meatloaf, White Snake, Dine and Dave, saying it was awesome to see him in person, while Manda called him hot. Ramsay explained that while it was always amazing to hear music from a big band, a single instrument by a talented player could produce the same results before having Vai do a guitar solo. After Vai and his band left, Ramsay explained that music and cooking went hand in hand as one great influence could turn something into a spectacle no matter how many numbers were used, and introduced the Ingredient Number Challenge. Each team would create five dishes with a varying number of ingredients used, one dish containing seven ingredients, one dish containing six ingredients, one dish containing five ingredients, one dish containing four ingredients, and one dish containing three ingredients.

Both teams were given 40 minutes to cook their dishes, and each of them had the same types of proteins to work. While the blue team worked out who was doing what on paper, the red team had a communication breakdown as most of them wanted to make the three-ingredient dish. Ariel was forced to use seven ingredients. Chad decided to crust his ahi tuna in black garlic in the blue kitchen, despite Jared suggesting that he rinse it off as it might be too powerful. In the red kitchen, Jackie’s I can’t attitude started to annoy Ariel, and Ramsay told her to stop panicking. Then, Jackie asked Kristin for help on plating as she was not good at that aspect. In the blue kitchen, Joe decided to taste his lobster to make sure it was not overcooked and wanted to jazz it up as he never made lobster fancy. Eventually, the chefs got their dishes cooked and plated on time.

The sea bass round was up first, Manda and Kristin were up, and the former presented her five ingredients pan-seared sea bass with sweet potato purée, crispy leeks, sautéed mushrooms, and white win glaze. Ramsay praised the dish for having a good cook on the sea bass and deemed it delicious. Then, Kristin presented her five ingredients pan-seared sea bass with braised kale, Israel couscous, and roasted carrots, and it was praised for having a beautiful cook. After a tough decision, Manda scored that round, the blue team led 1-0, and Jared was surprised how much Manda was killing it lately. The hanger steak round was up next, Ariel and Frank went up, and the latter presented his six-ingredient hanger steak with Romanesco purée, roasted potato, grilled eggplant chip, and sautéed chard. However, Ramsay criticized the dish for not being cooked properly and laughed over Frank’s decision to scatter the potatoes all over the plate before telling him that he expected more. Ariel’s seven ingredient hangar steak with sweet potato, baby eggplant hash, and Brussel sprouts mixed with lemon was deemed great, she scored that round, and the score was tied at 1. Jackie was happy about it and even claimed that Ariel could have no legs and still pull it off. On the lobster round, Joe and Jackie were up, and the former presented his three-ingredient warm lobster salad with corn and couscous. However, Ramsay criticized the dish for looking like the size of a prawn, and when he asked Joe where the lobster was, the latter admitted that he tasted it, leading Ramsay to remind Joe that it was a cooking challenge, not an eating challenge. While Ramsay felt ripped off, he did praise the dish for tasting beautiful and having a nice flavor. Jackie’s three-ingredient butter-poached lobster tail with roasted Romanesco and roasted corn sauce was deemed a great job, she scored that round, and the score was 2-1 for the red team. Jackie was proud to have nailed her dish, and Ramsay suggested to Joe that he eat a bigger breakfast next time. Chad and Ashley were up on the ahi tuna round, and the former needed to score that round to cause a tie. Still, Chad was confident about his dish. Ashley’s four-ingredient sesame seed crusted ahi tuna with broccoli, leeks, and mushrooms were praised for having a beautifully cooked tuna, and the crust did not overpower the taste. Chad’s four-ingredient black garlic tuna tataki with olive oil and black garlic sauce with lemon was compared to poop on a plate by Ashley and was heavily criticized for being doused in garlic. That annoyed Jared as he warned Chad earlier. So, Ashley scored that round, and because the score was 3-1 for the red team, they automatically won the challenge.

Scoring[]

* Jared and Dannie's dishes were not judged due to the challenge ending prematurely.

Reward[]

The red team was rewarded with an action-packed surprise. While going back to the dorms, Jackie thanked Kristin for helping her plate her dish before being ecstatic about finally winning something. When the red team got to their location, Marino greeted them and revealed that they would be playing paintball, which Ashley called the coolest thing ever. During the reward, Jackie was in the zone in the game, but Dannie called her crazy, and Kristin remarked that nobody should ever give Jackie a gun.

Punishment[]

The blue team was punished by participating in delivery day, with Ramsay reminding Joe that he could burn off his lunch. During the punishment, Manda was aggravated as her dish was one of the best of that day, and Jared asked for somebody to murder him after seeing the amount of ice they had to carry. Later, Joe complained he was done taking in deliveries, and Manda complained that she was soaking. Still, Frank was irritated she was organizing while the men were doing the heavy lifting, even stating that it was why he hated working with women. Then, Manda did something which hurt her back a lot and went to the bathroom without her teammate’s knowledge, with Joe being pissed as she was supposed to help him prep. That left Manda uncertain of what to do, and she feared her injury could take her out of the competition. However, Manda decided not to sit out as it might lead to her elimination and decided to suck it up before heading back to the blue kitchen.

Before service[]

Later that day, the red team came back from their reward, and both teams began prepping for service. While Ariel wanted to do a chest bump before service began, Dannie warned them that she might steamroll them, and Ashley did not want her fake boobs to pop.

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay remarked that he could smell the positivity and wanted that night’s service to be their comeback. So, Ramsay had everybody repeat the phrase I will not suck three times, and after, he asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner Service[]

Garcelle Beauvais was in attendance that night. Before receiving their first ticket, Frank asked Manda to get more motivated. While Jared classified himself as a chef that could cook seafood, Ramsay caught him flipping scallops off the heat, resulting in the scallops sticking to the pan and ripping. After telling Jared that he should go to the dining room for a smoke, Ramsay pulled him out to the dining room, lectured him on that mistake, and ordered him to go outside for some fresh air. Meanwhile, Chad took over the fish station, and appetizers were leaving the blue kitchen. Dannie asked Kristin to take over the pizzas in the red kitchen as she was not comfortable with them. Still, Ariel remarked that if Dannie was not comfortable on any station, she had no place being the head chef at BLT Steak. Then, Dannie went from six to seven minutes on her risotto, and Ariel remarked that the latter’s arrogance level did not match her production level. After, Kristin decided to take over appetizers as Dannie was not feeling confident and took the lead for the red team.

Forty minutes into service, Jared returned to the kitchen just as the blue team was working on entrées, and Manda told him not to rush her as she could not move fast that night. However, Jared was unsympathetic about Manda’s injury and told her to keep it to herself, while Frank said that he would have sent Manda home if she was a marine. Then, Manda’s steaks were all raw due to being overwhelmed on meat, and Ramsay ordered one of the blue chefs to help her out. However, Frank refused to help Manda as she already proved to be weak, and Joe went to help her. In the red kitchen, the women pushed out appetizers thanks to Kristin’s leadership and were beginning to work on entrées. While Ariel asked Dannie to run to the oven to check on her chicken, the latter poked the chicken instead of cutting the thinker sides until Ariel did it for her. Despite Dannie saying that she and Ariel worked well together due to having a strong respect for each other, the latter was annoyed by her partner’s sluggish performance over the elementary aspects of cooking, even stating that her 13-year-old sister knew how everything worked. In the blue kitchen, Manda’s refire was accepted, but Jared did not speak up when Ramsay asked for the arctic char, along with Chad’s question. Because of that, Ramsay had Chad and Jared sit at the chef’s table, scolded the two for not communicating despite being next to each other, and ordered them to talk through their problems. After, Chad and Jared talked through their problems and went back to their respective stations. In the red kitchen, Jackie was vocal with Ariel on times as she knew communication was key at Hell’s Kitchen but was struggling on garnish as she needed four more minutes despite the fact Ariel and Ashley’s entrées were ready. When Ramsay found out, he reminded Jackie that they should never be waiting for garnish.

One hour and 20 minutes into service, Chad and Jared’s communication has improved, and they were able to send out their food. However, Manda was confused about the VIP's orders, and Joe discovered that her chicken was still raw. When Manda told Ramsay that she needed five or six minutes on the refire, he sent her to the pantry room, berated her for not communicating despite being swamped, and suggested that she leave the competition. However, Manda argued that she wanted to get through this and finish service. While a very reluctant Ramsay agreed, he gave her ten minutes to use Joe and Frank for help, or else she would be eliminated on the spot. With a newfound determination, Manda got her refire accepted, became more vocal with Chad, and refused to go home. In the red kitchen, the women were looking to finish strong as Ariel refused to lose another service. Then, Ariel’s steak was accepted, and she admitted that being in the kitchen was where she wanted to be as she was never accepted elsewhere in her life. Eventually, both teams were able to complete their final orders.

Post-mortem[]

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay remarked that one team communicated very well and one team that refused to talk before naming the red team the winners. After telling the blue team that they made their own service harder, Ramsay asked them to nominate two people for elimination.

During deliberation, Frank said that he hated losing but wanted to get nominees done without any argument as it was nothing personal. Chad remarked that communication was their biggest issue, and while he recalled how he and Jared were singled out for not communicating, he felt that there was somebody else that had the same problem, referring to Manda, to which Jared agreed. Then, Manda considered Chad and Jared for elimination, while Frank considered Manda and Jared for elimination. However, Jared argued that he did not have one fish returned that night and remarked that Frank closed his ears that night, with Chad saying that it hurt them badly. However, Frank deemed Jared a sorry human being and called it very sad that he blamed him for his own mistake. Then, Jared told Manda that even if she was in pain, she should have spoken up and asked for help, and Chad did not want to play the pity card on her. However, Manda argued that it was her first time on meat and broke into tears as she was trying her hardest but was not getting respect from her teammates. That left Joe as the final vote, but he was stumped over who to nominate. However, Joe did not care if it was not him, as Manda believed that the blue team would be weaker without her.

Team switch[]

Before asking for the nominees, Ramsay told the blue team that had they communicated that night, they would have had a stronger service as the red team had. Frank announced Manda as the blue team’s first nominee and Jared as the second. During their pleas, Ramsay told Manda that she had a rough night, and while she admitted that it was not her best night, she stated that she cooked her heart and soul and that cooking was everything for her before restating that she came into the competition to make her family’s life better. Then, Jared said that he was a strong leader and the only one that communicated during prep, challenges, and services and was doing everything he could. After a tough decision, Ramsay called Chad to the front, asked him for his jacket. After saying that Chad has lost his confidence, Ramsay hoped he could regain it in the red team. Then, Ramsay called Dannie forward and told her that she was going to the blue team.

After joining their new teams, Ramsay warned Chad that he was getting one last chance as, while he started strong, his time was running out quickly. After, Jared and Manda were sent back in line, and the chefs were dismissed. Chad knew that he was on his last chance and believed that with the red team on the up and up, he could not wait to be part of that. Then, Manda knew that she could be a good cook and a strong leader, and while her back might slow her down, it would not slow down her determination. Then, Dannie was in shock over being transferred to the blue team, but she declared it a new start and felt that she might look good in blue.

Ramsay's comment: "Chad desperately needs to regain his confidence, and Dannie is desperate to be a leader. Hopefully, their new teams will bring out the best of both of them."

Trivia[]

• With this episode, Season 15 ties with Season 7 with the most team switches in a season, with three.