Episode 2302 - The Flame Game

The second episode of Season 23 on October 3, 2022. In that episode, flambéing was the main cooking technique, both teams were a disaster on opening night, and one chef ratted out their teammate at elimination, only to be the first one sent home.

Intro[]

Continuing from where the previous episode left off, Ramsay uses a flamethrower to perform a ceremonial lighting of the Hell's Kitchen pitchfork in front of the chefs and the press. Ramsay then tells them they're upping the ante on the rewards and punishments, and introduces the season's Punishment Passes.

Individual challenge[]

Ramsay then brings out the flamethrower again to reveal the day's challenge revolves around flambé and they have 40 minutes to create a dish centered around it. Brandon's determined to get the Punishment Pass after their previous loss. Whit gets stuck with the salmon after arriving last to the table. Brittany decides to take a big risk by making a chicken balante. Magali and Amber are overwhelmed by the amount of fire in the kitchen. Whit ends up burning her salmon and is forced to take the skin off and improvises by taking a pineapple and making a teriyaki mix to make up for the removed skin. All chefs successfully bring their plates up to pass.

Ramsay then requests the teams to select the three best dishes on their team for him to judge. The women passes on Ann Marie's for being undercooked, and Amanda thought Brittany's was poorly plated. Despite the removed skin, most of the women found Whit's salmon dish to taste good, and also liked Magali's halibut and Meghan's steak dishes. For the men, Egypt tries to fight for his food to go up, but the others have mixed opinions on it. When Ramsay asks Egypt what dishes should go up, he hesitates out of disappointment for his dish not being chosen. The first chosen for the men is Brandon, who brings up his sea bass with vinagrette with yuzu. Next is Joe, who presents his salmon and apple fennel puree. Though Ramsay praised Joe's salmon, he does feel Brandon had the better dish. The third dish is Michael's, who presents pan-seared chicken with orange sarak. Though Ramsay felt the dish was done well, he ultimately selects Brandon to receive the first Punishment Pass.

For the women, the first dish selected was Meghan's hanger steak with Johnny Walker black with mushrooms and a cauliflower puree, which Ramsay found exceptional. Ramsay noticed she didn't smile after the compliment, but Meghan acknowledges she's know to have RBF (resting bitch face). The next chosen is Magali with her tequila flambéed halibut and bok choy. Though Ramsay enjoyed the dish, he still felt Meghan's is better. Last up is Whit, who presents her salmon with pineapple whiskey with brown sugar and a caramelized pineapple. Ramsay acknowledges he usually doesn't pair pineapple with salmon, but felt it worked in this scenario. Despite the tough call, Ramsay awards Whit the Punishment Pass.

Ramsay then requests Brandon and Whit to select the worst two dishes from their teams, telling them someone may be eliminated. Whit selects Ann Marie and Brittany. Brittany presents her Asian chicken enchilada balante with corn crema featuring tequila and sarak orange. Ramsay felt the garnish could've used more but liked the alcohol on the corn. Ann Marie presents her Canadian whiskey flambé carrot with a carrot ginger puree. Ramsay felt the dish was great and questioned why it was in the bottom. When Ann Marie says her teammates thought it was underdone, Ramsay disagrees and sends both of them back in line.

Brandon selects Shant's and Egypt's dishes. Egypt presents his pork tenderloin with a rosemary brown butter finished with bourbon. Ramsay felt the dish was cooked beautifully. Shant presents his hanger steak flambeed in crown royale whiskey. Ramsay enjoyed it and was surprised to see both dishes in the bottom. Considering how even the bottom choices had great food, Ramsay decides not to eliminate anyone, but expects to see the same level of quality for dinner service.

Before service[]

At the dorms, Egypt talks with his teammates on how he's determined to present his dish as the top option, saying he has a great palette and flavors on his dishes. Michael and some of the other chefs are exasperated by Egypt's ego.

Sous chefs James and Michelle present the chefs with their new knives provided by Ramsay and provides tutorials on the dishes for the night. As the chefs prepare their stations, Ramsay orders Marino to open up Hell's Kitchen on the East Coast for the first time.

Dinner service[]

The night's menu features Ramsey's most popular dishes from the other Hell's Kitchen establishments and a tableside flambé of a kobe ribeye appetizer prepared by Kyle and Brandon from the blue kitchen and Meghan and Brittany from the red kitchen. Ramsay delivers the first order of appetizers to the red kitchen. Ramsay catches Amber putting the scallops too soon on the order. When she attempts them again, they end up cooked on one side and raw on the other, stalling the order. In the blue kitchen, Corbin angers Ramsay by bringing up a watery carbonara before Shant brings up a proper one. In the red kitchen, Amber brings nine scallops instead of the ten requested, messing up the flow once again. Back on the blue side, Ramsay catches Shant adding water to the risotto, slowing down Uri's lobster in the process. As Shant prepares his second attempt, Egypt warns him it's bland and undercooked, but Shant brings it to pass anyway. Ramsay angrily brings it back and tells him to put more salt in.

The women move on to entrees. Magali struggles with the timing and cooking of her salmon, but doesn't request help from her teammates. Ramsay finds Hannah's duck is beautiflly while Magali's salmon is soggy and raw. In the blue kitchen, Egypt is concerned about Michael's lamb being crusted and cooked on time. When it's brought up to pass, Ramsay brings them back in the storage room, showing that the cooking on the three lambs is inconsistent. Despite Michael's issues with Egypt micromanaging him, the two work together to bounce back and deliver entrees. In the red kitchen, the salmon is once again poorly done and Ramsay orders another do over.

Magali manages to get her salmon out on the third try. For the next entree order, Egypt tries loudly communicating times with his teammates to mixed results. For the next entree order on the red side, Ramsay catches Hannah poking holes in the chicken and tells her to stop. On the blue side, Ramsay reaches his breaking point when Egypt and Joe fail to cook the wellington and fish properly, kicking them out of the kitchen and telling them to come up with names for elimination. The red team ends up following suit after Hannah brings up overcooked chicken, with Ramsay enraged their first night on the East coast went so poorly.

Post-mortem[]

The women acknowledge that the fish station had the most problems of the night and unanimously nominate Amber and Magali. Magali also nominates herself, deciding to take ownership to demonstrate her leadership skills. The other women warn her not to tell Ramsay she put herself up. Amber nominates Magali and Hannah, acknowledging her team doesn't want to hear her out, but plans on revealing everything to Ramsay.

For the men, Corbin and Shant argue over who should take responsibility for the apps. With Corbin acknowledging his first dish was bad but he bounced back right away. Shant shifts the discussion towards meats, as he believes proteins were the main reason they got kicked out. Michael takes responsibility for his mistakes, while Egypt says his wellingtons were only messed up by the inconsistent waiting times before asking who they should nominate.

Elimination[]

Ramsay said he felt like he was working with first-year culinary students rather than head chefs. Amanda nominates Magali and Amber from the women for their failures on fish station. For the men, Uri nominates Michael for the undercooked proteins and Shant for the slow start on appetizers. Michael acknowledges he had an off-day, but showed Ramsay in his signature dish he knows how to cook lamb. Shant discusses how he bounced back and had no support from Corbin on the station, saying he was more focused on fixing his mistakes. Corbin disagrees, mentioning how he started rocky and came back strong.

Magali vows to bounce back and no longer have terrible performances in the future. Amber claims she's a fast learner and that she's done a lot better. When Ramsay asks Amber who the weakest chef on the team is, she believes Magali is the weakest for being the only member on the team that expressed she was willing to go up, earning irritable looks from her teammates in the process. Magali argues she put herself up because she owns up to her mistakes and prides herself on not blaming anyone else for her mistakes. Ramsay sends Magali and Michael back in line, leaving it down to Amber and Shant.

Ramsay decides to eliminate Amber for her performance. During her exit interview, Amber expresses she thought she wasn't the worst cook on the team, but did feel overwhelmed. She felt if she was given more time, she would have pulled it together and is disappointed she didn't get the chance to showcase her potential to Ramsay. Ramsay tells the chefs to get themselves together, otherwise he may have to eliminate more than one chef at a time. Shant's determined to prove to his team he's not the weakest link. Michael is motivated to become a better chef and show Ramsay he made the right decision in keeping him there. Magali is excited to stay and vows to unleash her full potential.

Ramsay's comment: "Amber's inability to cook or even count scallops was all I needed to know that I couldn't count on her to be my next head chef."

Trivia[]

• Title Reference: The title refers to the Flambé Challenge and a take on the noun "The Blame Game".
• This episode marks the first time that the first nominees from both teams on opening night are not eliminated.
• This episode marks the first time since Season 14 where no male contestants get eliminated on opening night.
• The episode was delayed in the Florida and Georgia markets due simulcast coverage of the Thursday Night Football game between the Buccaneers and Falcons.

References[]