| “ | Everybody's trying to fucking get rid of me, but you know what? I still put out better food than everybody standing there! | ” |
Clemenza Caserta Jr., simply known as Clemenza Caserta, was a contestant on Season 10 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 5th place.
Season 10[]
Episode 1[]
- Main article: Episode 1001 - 18 Chefs Compete
The eighteen chefs arrived at Hell's Kitchen via SUVs and police escort, and as they walked in, Clemenza said he would do whatever it takes to win. Sous Chef Scott told the chefs he shaved his head to prove his commitment to Ramsay and showed a picture of him with a full head of hair, before deciding to shave the chefs' heads. After two chefs, who were really Sous Chef Scott's friends, got their heads shaved, the latter was about to shave Danielle's head until Ramsay stopped him and told her to get back in line. He told the chefs to get in the kitchens to cook their signature dishes.
During the Signature Dish Challenge, Clemenza commented that he might be too big for a plate based on his size, Ramsay commented that a tray could work better. In the middle of Guy and Tiffany's round, he started coughing, and when Ramsay asked if he was okay, and he said he was good. However, he began to cough even more, causing Ramsay to ask if he was really okay. Ramsay asked him if he wanted to sit down, Patrick asked if he was all right and called him a mess, Ramsay started to get worried about him as he continued coughing, and Robyn even asked if he was going to have a heart attack. Ramsay asked him if he wanted to see a medic, but he replied that he was good and that in spite of his overweight physique, he still worked 14 to 16 hours a day and will spin circles around everyone else. He was the ninth and final person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay and went up against Christina. He revealed that he is from Staten Island and been cooking for 18 years, before presenting his stuffed veal chop with truffle infusion. While Ramsay praised his dish for being beautifully cooked and seasoned, he said he could taste a large amount of truffle aroma. He revealed he put truffle oil which Ramsay criticizes and lost that round to Christina. The blue team lost the challenge 3-5, and they were punished by cleaning up both kitchens. During the punishment, he was frustrated that his dish would have been perfect if it wasn't for using the truffle oil.
During dinner service, Clemenza was on the fish station with Justin. At one point, Royce was confident about his spaghetti, but as he used to work in a pasta company years ago, he knew it was raw. To his horror, Royce sent up crunchy spaghetti. The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, he asked who the two weakest links of the men were, before saying that despite Royce being the weakest of that night, he felt that overall, Don was the weakest for not doing anything that night, before asking who would be better between the two.
He was not nominated for elimination.[1]
Episode 2[]
- Main article: Episode 1002 - 17 Chefs Compete
Before the Scallop Challenge, Clemenza complained that the ice piles and the buckets were the last things he wanted to see as it meant fun and games were over. After both teams collected their scallops, he warned the women to watch out as the men were ready to go. He was paired up with Don, and they were seen only having one attempt ready. However, Ramsay rejected it for not matching his standards, leading him to realize how tough that challenge was. The blue team lost the challenge 2-6, and they were punished by cleaning up the ice from the front entrance, prepping prawns for the following night’s service, and drinking a scallop shake.
During dinner service, Clemenza was on the poultry station. After being forced to eat Chris' overcooked scallops, he was annoyed as he spent yesterday picking scallops from ice, and was now eating poorly cooked scallops because of the former. Later, he sent up an overcooked steak, Ramsay angrily reminded them that he was opening a steakhouse in Las Vegas, gave him back the steak, and the men were kicked out of the kitchen. Both teams were named joint losers and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, he got irritated when Royce, who was close to thirty, had to be shown how to make mashed potatoes.
He was not nominated for elimination.[2]
Episode 3[]
- Main article: Episode 1003 - 16 Chefs Compete
During the Immigrants Lunch Service Challenge, Clemenza was at the pizza station with Justin. After Royce served a cobb salad with mushrooms, he called the former an idiot for struggling on something simple. When he tried to help Royce out, the latter was not appreciative, but Justin put a hold on the two arguing. Despite that, he and Guy were able to get the salads accepted. Later, he was confident as, a native of New York, he ate a lot of pizzas in his life, and that his parents owned a pizzeria. However, despite feeling that it was up to his alley, he sent up a raw pizza, Ramsay called it a joke, and a stunned Justin asked how he could fuck up a pizza when it took two seconds to cook. Despite that, his refire was accepted. The blue team lost the challenge, and they were punished with hard labor at Ballona Wetlands. During the punishment, he felt they needed Paul Bunion to help them cut a huge tree down.
During dinner service, Clemenza was on the meat station. At one point, he was happy things were finally going smoothly for them, but on entrées, he called out inconsistent timings for the first order. Despite that, he managed to serve beautifully cooked lamb, with Ramsay not only urging him to keep the bar rose, but threatened to burn him if he dropped it. On the marines order, he discovered that his Wellingtons were not cooked all the way through, forcing the men to start over. Then, he said he needed three minutes, but Sous Chef Scott asked why he was slicing his Wellingtons now as it would bleed out the ends. Even worse, he only had two Wellingtons left to cook at his station and went looking for more. Later, he sliced into an overcooked Wellington, and it was his last one before being forced to tell Ramsay. After Ramsay called it a joke, he ordered James to take him to the marines table and tell them the incident, before offering them New York striploin as a replacement. Fortunately for him, the marines agreed to the change, and the men began refiring their now revised order. The blue team eventually won the service.[3]
Episode 4[]
- Main article: Episode 1004 - 15 Chefs Compete
Back at the dorms, Clemenza felt the men needed the win that night as the women lost a chef before the entire blue team agreed to win the next challenge. The next day, a group of dogs was let loose in the dorms, and their loud barking woke up the chefs, confusing Barbie. Once up, Sous Chef Scott gave them overalls to put on.
During the Creative Lamb Challenge, Clemenza simply walked to his sheep and grabbed a collar, frustrating Patrick, and despite the blue team having one ingredient shorter than the red team, he was confident their ingredients were better. After Guy cut himself, he grew worried as it meant the cut was that serious, but when it turned out to be a cut on his finger, he told Guy to not act like a bitch. He was paired up with Don on the lamb chop, they were the first pair from the blue team to have their dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against the pair of Danielle and Tiffany. He presented their herbed crusted grilled lamb with a roasted cauliflower feta melt, but Ramsay compared the lamb chop to Steven Tyler’s ear lobe and handed him the herbs as they were not needed. However, Ramsay did praise the mustard and feta combination as mouth melting, and after a tough decision, he gave both pairs the win.
The blue team won the challenge 3-2, they were rewarded with a VIP trip to the Hollywood Park racetrack, and when Clemenza asked for some cash to gamble, Ramsay gave them $100 to use, and asked them not to spend it on hot dogs. During the reward, he felt happy that they finally won a challenge, and got to relax for once, before using the $100 to bet on a horse that wore blue. However, the horse lost, and he claimed he could have run faster than the horse if somebody dangled a piece of prosciutto in front of him.
During dinner service, Clemenza was on the appetizer station with Justin. After Brian served a raw cioppino, he got annoyed as it was not a hard dish to make. When Brian struggled on the cod, he and Sous Chef Scott got annoyed it was wasting food. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, he accused Don of being lost that night, before considering the latter and Brian for elimination.
Clemenza was not nominated for elimination, and after Don's elimination, he welcomed Roshni as a new teammate.[4]
Episode 5[]
- Main article: Episode 1005 - 14 Chefs Compete
Back at the dorms, Clemenza reassured Brian that they believed in him.
During the Mexican Cuisine Challenge, Clemenza did not expect 40 gazillion balls to come bouncing at them. He made the burrito, was the second person from the blue team to have his dish judged, and went up against Danielle. He made a Mexican-Italian burrito, it was praised for thinking outside of the box, and he won that round over Danielle. Before Roshni presented her dish, he wondered how good it would be if she pulled out the win against her former teammates.
The blue team lost the challenge 2-3, and they were punished by prepping for Mexican Night, which included making both the salsa and the tortilla by hand, and eating tripe for lunch. During the punishment, Clemenza loved the tripe, but when he asked Patrick a question, the latter ignored him. That irritated him as Patrick wanted to be the blue team’s leader, but the latter argued he was trying to figure something out.
During prep, Clemenza wanted to hold back on the shouting and swearing for Roshni. During the Mexican Night dinner service, he was on the appetizer station with Justin. After Guy served a cold ahi tuna, he told the former to get it right as he was just pan-searing tuna. Then, when Guy sent up poor steaks, he was frustrated as he knew the former could cook steak because they all done it a million times before. When he brought up his pork, he forgot a portion and needed two more minutes on it, irritating Ramsay. Then, Justin decided to walk the pork up despite his protest, and sure enough, it was raw, and it led to Ramsay kicking the two men out of the kitchen. As they left, he angrily told Justin that the pork was not ready and asked how fucking dumb the latter could be as Justin admitted to his mistake. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, he said they all should be mortified for failing on an easy service, and felt that the blue team needed to be accountable for their actions.
He was not nominated for elimination.[5]
Episode 6/7[]
- Main article: Episode 1006 - 13 Chefs Compete Part 1
- Main article: Episode 1007 - 13 Chefs Compete Part 2
Back at the dorms, a frustrated Clemenza yelled that they have all been frazzled the last couple of services, and suggested they all wake the fuck up, man up, and wanted to win the next day as he refused to do another punishment. After, he knew the blue team needed to take a breather, and felt that Royce was not going to become the leader yet as the internal struggle of the team would cause them to lose. The next day, he saw Royce flirt with Kimmie, and told him to focus.
Before the Fashion Night Planning Challenge, Clemenza to looked at both the 50's model and the jello, even though he felt a person would have problems if they focused on the jello more. After the judges came out, Ramsay told him to put his tongue back in his mouth before calling him an antelope. He was part of a trio with Guy and Royce, and during the cooking, he suggested to the two about an outside the box puttanesca sauce for the swordfish dish. Despite feeling that Royce was all smoke and mirrors, he agreed with the latter to add broccolini to their dish. When Guy was slow on the potatoes, he grew concerned. After Tiffany and Barbie revealed their dish that had fried eggplant on it, he, who liked fried eggplant, knew it was not what the fashion people were looking for. When the score was tied at one each, he felt the blue team had a chance to win. The trio was the final team from the blue team to have their dish judged and went up against the pair of Kimmie and Robyn. Guy presented the trios swordfish seasoned with chili, paprika, and saffron, and after mentioning that they represented Italy and Spain, it complimented Ina Soltani as the two countries were her biggest influences. Amanda Che herself liked the mussel and clam’s idea as it resonated with her as a swimwear designer, and after tasting the dish, the judges deemed it delicious despite wanting the presentation to be refined and leave out the sauce. The trio scored that round over the pair of Kimmie and Robyn, and the blue team won the challenge 2-1. The blue team was rewarded with a $1000 shopping spree at the M. Fredric boutique along with a wine tasting excursion at the Rosenthal Estate. During the reward, he said that it could not get better than food and wine.
The next day, at 5:15 AM, the chefs were sound asleep, except for Clemenza as he woke up early, and decided to get everybody up as he had his dish on the menu that night. As an annoyed Robyn told him to shut up and get his ass back in the bed, Brian complained about the shouting as well. During prep, he made sure the blue team was organized, but an annoyed Brian told him to take a breath and reminded him they were still a team, while Justin did not see the big deal of his dish as the puttanesca sauce was just a simple tomato sauce, leading to some frustrations. Before service began, he decided to cook four portions of scallops before the doors had open, with a shocked Ramsay asking why he was doing that.[6] As those four portions were now wasted, Justin asked him what the fuck he was doing, Patrick felt he would get sent home immediately, and an angry Ramsay asked him if he wanted to go home. He admitted it was his mistake but said that none of his teammates said a fucking word despite watching him do it.
During the Fashion Night dinner service, Clemenza was on the fish station. While he, Justin, and Roshni got their first orders out, he soon got overloaded on scallop orders, making a worried Brian fear it would get nasty. When he brought up the final serving of scallops to complete the appetizer course, but they were overcooked and rubbery., and complained there was only so much space he could work with, had six pans firing, and asked if Ramsay wanted him to cook two more pans on his ass. Knowing that he was getting frustrated, Guy went to help him out, but after the Fashion Night producer came up to the pass about a time to start the next show, Ramsay ordered the two to speed it up. After Guy served overcooked scallops, the two announced two minutes on the refire, but they were saved by Brian's help. On the second course, he asked Royce to double-check his swordfish count, which the latter said 17, and the blue team seemed to be in sync and focused as he felt focused while Patrick felt there should be no problems he could have on his own challenge dish. Unfortunately, one of his swordfish was overcooked and rubbery to the point of sticking to the tray, dismaying Roshni as he was screwing up that night, and when he struggled to find a tray for the refire, Justin called him a lost cat. Patrick walked the refire up, it was accepted, and while he admitted to being frazzled, he knew how to bounce back. When the blue team was cleaning up, he felt that he served half the diners that night and was proud of himself. However, Ramsay discovered a tray of eleven wasted swordfish, dismaying both Roshni and Brian, and asked Royce why he cooked that much. Royce claimed that he told him to cook 16 plus 1, but he angrily retorted that the former told him 17 and asked what the fuck was wrong with his brain. After, an angry Ramsay ordered the two men to trash the swordfish with Royce holding the trash bin and him throwing the fish into the bin.
The blue team lost the service, Ramsay reminded Clemenza how he cooked four servings of scallops before service even began as his teammates watched him, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Patrick considered him for elimination, but while that angered him, Patrick used the scallop hold up as his deciding factor. However, he argued there was only so may scallops he could cook at a time, and felt he was an easy target despite being responsible for serving half the dining room that night. Royce also considered him, feeling he was the kid who would be sent to the corner in kindergarten for coloring outside the line, and the rest of the blue team unanimously agreed. However, he refused to believe he was the weakest chef on the blue team as he pulled his weight. Then, he suggested Patrick as a nominee for not helping when fish got hit the most, despite helping everywhere else, but that irritated the latter as he felt he was vocal that night.
Clemenza was the blue team's first nominee for elimination, with Guy as the second. During his plea, he felt he had been an asset to the blue team since the beginning based on challenge performances, but then, Ramsay asked the safe blue chefs who they felt should go home that night. All of them said his name, but that angered him as he played 100% that night, gave it all every single time despite chasing animals and digging up trees, and never once stopped to let his guard down, before calling out his teammates for trying to get rid of him despite putting out better food than them all. Afterwards, Ramsay told him that despite a bad night, he had done well in the competition before asking if he was done, but he said he was nowhere close to being done. In the end, Ramsay called up his name, but sent him back in line, with the red team giving him a standing ovation after being impressed with his passionate plea as Robyn high fived him on his way back. After Guy's elimination, Ramsay told him to use his passion, and while being dismissed, he felt he had more love from the red team than his own teammates.[7]
Episode 8[]
- Main article: Episode 1008 - 12 Chefs Compete
While going back to the dorms, Clemenza felt he had no friends on the blue team, but said it was all fucking good as he was not there to make friends, he was there to win. Then, Patrick told him that he never doubted his heart, but he knew the former was a kiss ass as he voted for him before but was willing to take in the compliments until he won.
The next day, both teams came downstairs to find silver domes waiting for them at the pass, and when Ramsay asked Clemenza if he was ready to fight back, he said he was. During the Dome Challenge, he grabbed guinea hen for his dish and was confident about his protein. He was the second person from the blue team to have his dish judged and went up against Barbie. He made a herbed roasted guinea hen with marinated grilled zucchini and saffron grilled mashed potatoes, and while were praised for looking great, Anita Lo felt the spices were overpowering and needed a little restraint. So, he scored 5 stars, and he disappointingly said that the day went on. When Royce's dish was revealed to have a long piece of hair in it, he got disgusted and asked the former why he would serve a dish with hair in it to a two Michelin star chef.
The blue team lost the challenge 29-30, and they were punished by cleaning up the dorms and prepping for that night’s dinner service. During the punishment, Clemenza said the place smelled like ass due to being very filthy, felt like Suzy Homemaker, and would rather get a pedicure than do their punishment. Later, the blue team began prepping both kitchens, and he, who was tired of getting beat down, was ready to rock and roll as he wanted to beat the red team at dinner service.
During dinner service, Clemenza was on the appetizer station with Brian. After receiving their first order, he knew his teammates were looking for an excuse to send him home but was ready to cook. Unfortunately, he sent up chewy pasta, Ramsay said that it was not rocket science, and Justin said he never saw somebody fuck anything up so badly. Despite that, he got his refire accepted. After Roshni sent up both raw Wellingtons and overcooked steaks, it irritated him and Ramsay as it was their first table. Now forced to start over, he decided to help Roshni out before she brought down the kitchen. After multiple mistakes, the blue team was kicked out of the kitchen, and while heading back to the dorms, he was aggravated that the blue team lost again.
The blue team lost the dinner service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Patrick nominated Clemenza and Brian for their problems on appetizers. While he got pissed by that and called it insanity, Patrick said that it took a long time to get their first table out. Then, he agreed with Brian to nominate Patrick and Roshni as the latter bombed on meat in an epic way.
Clemenza was the blue team's second nominee for elimination, with Brian as the first. However, Ramsay did not agree to those choices as appetizers did not cause the stumbling block, and he himself was as confused as Ramsay was. As such, they were not called down to the front, and he survived elimination. When Ramsay asked the blue team who should go home, he said Roshni, citing only working with her for two days.[8]
Episode 9/10[]
- Main article: Episode 1009 - 11 Chefs Compete Part 1
- Main article: Episode 1010 - 11 Chefs Compete Part 2
Back at the dorms, Clemenza felt his team was afraid of his talent and that was why he was always put up for elimination, but was still standing strong with Brian. The next day, he saw a giant gold sheet in the dining room, and while claimed it was a new car, he retracted it before admitting he had no idea what it was.
During the Creative Steak Challenge, Clemenza was paired up against Robyn, their ingredients were rib eye, parsnips, sweet corn, broccoli, and bacon, and he was left very happy as he feared about a curveball ingredient like blueberries. During the cooking, he knew he would be the last chef to plate his rib eye, due to the thickness of the steak, but knew his timing would be perfect and called himself fast for a fat guy. However, Justin felt he was moving too slow to his liking, and feared that the rib eye was raw. He himself was growing nervous as he also felt his rib eye was raw, there was nothing he could do about it, and hoped for the best on his dish. He was the final person from the blue team to have his dish judged, was nervous about his dish as he did not have a lot of time to finish it, before presenting his pan-seared rib eye with glazed charred corn relish and fried parsnip. While Ramsay felt the steak was slightly undercooked, he praised it for tasting delicious and felt he did the dish justice despite missing two more minutes of cooking. He scored that round over Robyn, the blue team won the challenge 3-2 and called himself the fucking Mack daddy.
The blue team was rewarded with a shopping spree at Sur la Table and lunch at Comme Ca. After hearing that, Clemenza felt he was in a chef’s dream. When the men left for their reward, they were shocked at the size of beef the women were struggling to carry, and he felt it was kind of funny as it was the women’s turn to get the bad punishments. During the reward, he called himself a kid in the candy store, and bought a lot of stuff, with Justin taking notice. At Comme Ҫa, David Myers welcomed the men, he was stoked to have a nice lunch and felt the men bonded.
During prep, Clemenza felt Justin was micromanaging everybody, before telling him to shut up unless he needed help. When Kimmie accidentally burned her hand on hot oil, Ramsay ordered him to take her to the medic.[9] During the Family-Steak Night dinner service, he was on the garnish station and cooked the pizzas. At the start, he said he had experience cooking pizzas due to growing up in a pizzeria and was enjoying himself by tossing the dough around before getting his pizzas out. When Brian was doing funny voices, he had no idea what the former said due to speaking Spanish and had enough with his jokes. Eventually, he, Justin, and Brian were the only men left in the kitchen, and after they got their ticket out, they were called in to help the women out. However, after the red team got kicked out of the kitchen, the three men were left to cook the remaining tickets. Both teams were named joint losers, although Ramsay thanked him for his strong performance, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, he agreed with Brian to nominate Patrick and Royce.
Clemenza was not nominated for elimination, and after Patrick's elimination, he welcomed Robyn as a new teammate. While being dismissed, he hoped that Robyn’s hate toward the red team would work for them.[10]
Episode 11[]
- Main article: Episode 1011 - 10 Chefs Compete
During the Craps Challenge, Clemenza rolled an H, and he picked heirloom tomatoes as it was something they could work with. However, he got dismayed when Justin picked daikons. Justin presented the blue team's charred chicken roulade with dragon fruit vinaigrette, edamame purée, and daikon-dragon fruit sushi roll. Ramsay praised the sushi roll for tasting delicious, the purée for being nailed despite being a tough one to pull off but criticized the chicken for tasting dry due to Royce’s decision to slice the chicken too early. The blue team won the challenge, and they were rewarded with a day in Las Vegas, staying in the Paris Hotel in a high roller’s suite above the prized restaurant Gordon Ramsay Steak. During the reward, he was excited about what was in store.
During dinner service, Clemenza was on the fish station. At one point, he felt the blue team was on a roll after their challenge victory, but sent up scallops that were not properly drained, which Justin deemed unacceptable at this stage of the competition. Despite feeling frustrated, he got the refire accepted. After mistakes from Royce, Ramsay gathered everybody minus Robyn into the back-pantry room, order them to have a meeting, and if none of them got a grip and an attitude change, they could fuck off. Later, Ramsay showed the blue team his weirdly colored cod, and Brian accused him of not getting the hang of fish due to being confused, lost, and check out. After noticing his dirty jacket, Ramsay accused him of cooking like both a donkey and a slob before asking if he was ready to go home, but he said he was not. Eventually, the red team was called in to help the blue team out.
The blue team lost the service, with Ramsay comparing Clemenza’s performance was compared to a car crash, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Brian and Royce considered him for elimination, but that angered her as he had more fire in him, before considering Royce and Brian for elimination. After a three-way tie occurred, he called it the craziest night ever.
Clemenza was named the blue team's second nominee for elimination, with Royce as the first. During his plea, Ramsay told him that he served more food on his jacket than he did to the diners, but he felt he had been on top of performances every day until having a mindfuck on the scallops that night. While Ramsay felt he was done, he disagreed. In the end, Ramsay ordered both down to the front and told them to take off their jackets. After Royce's elimination, Ramsay called him disappointing as he expected a lot more from him but gave him a clean jacket and told him to stay clean for one service. After he went back in line, Ramsay pointed out to the chefs that they started with eighteen of them and were now down to nine. While being dismissed, he thought he was done, but was glad he was given a second chance and it was do or die.[11]
Episode 12/13[]
- Main article: Episode 1012 - 9 Chefs Compete Part 1
- Main article: Episode 1013 - 9 Chefs Compete Part 2
Before heading back to the dorms, Ramsay compared Clemenza’s dirty jacket to a tepee and that somebody could sail across the Atlantic with it, much to everybody’s humor. Fearing that she may go home next, Robyn asked him to do her a favor and lead the blue team now as she needed somebody in her corner and had no problem kissing somebody’s ass. However, he said that it would take a lot to pull the wall over his eyes after everything he has seen.
During the Blind Taste Test, Clemenza laughed when Brian called the turkey he tasted dry. He was the third person from the blue team to compete and went up against Tiffany. He got none of his ingredients correct and scored 0 out of 4. The blue team eventually won the challenge 7-6, and they were rewarded with a day at Raging Waters with the whole park to themselves. During the reward, he was seen doing a handstand and was the only chef not interested in Brian's suggestion on one of the larger slides.
Later that day, a truck horn blared, annoying Tiffany as she thought the red team was done with delivery day. However, Barbie opened the box to reveal a tablet, and after pressing play, it opened a prerecorded message from Ramsay. Then, Ramsay announced that he was giving both teams a chance to have their own menus for the following night’s service, and gave them one hour to create a menu with three appetizers, three entrées, and three desserts. Clemenza’s red snapper suggestion was shot down, leaving him to feel that Justin and Brian were running the blue team. During prep, he accidentally spilled sauce on his jacket, dismaying Justin, and remembering Ramsay’s comments from the previous elimination, he left prep to clean his jacket, but that pissed Brian as there was a lot of prep work to do. When Ramsay looked at the blue team's dishes, his quail was raw with a lot of bones, and as he was about to be eliminated immediately, he promised to fix the dish up.[12]
During dinner service, Clemenza was on the fish station. At one point, he did not respond to Justin's callbacks, making the latter nervous along with his slow movement, but he said he did not need to be talked at as he got his halibut accepted. However, he got confused about what was coming out next just when Justin told him, but while the latter was annoyed by that, he argued that it was hard to listen due to Justin’s yelling. Then, he brought up one sea bass when two were on order, much to his confusion, and after Ramsay accused him of stop and starting due to not having the balls to admit to dragging a bass, he argued that he had another sea bass cooking. However, there was clearly no other fish being fired, Ramsay called him a lying bastard, and as Justin refused to lose, he ordered him to help Robyn on desserts and have Brian cook the fish. After Justin had a meltdown on timings, he told the former to take responsibility for his actions throughout the night. Later, he was caught eating some of the desserts by Ramsay, and eventually, the blue team got kicked out of the kitchen due to multiple mistakes. While going back to the dorms, he was befuddled that they got kicked out for their own menu, before arguing with Justin over the fish problem as the latter felt he did nothing wrong.
Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, a hurt Clemenza said they all busted their asses to get so close to the finish line only to fall flat on their faces. Then, he debated between Robyn, who he did not want to work with, and Justin, who he feared, before picking the former as he did not want to nominate himself. However, both Justin and Brian nominated him for elimination, but he argued he did not deserve to be nominated.
Clemenza was named the blue team's second nominee for elimination, with Robyn as the first, and they joined Tiffany and Barbie from the red team. However, when Brian mentioned how he got beaten during prep, he found it ridiculous. During his plea, Ramsay reminded him about lying to him and throwing the entire blue team under the bus for the final two tickets, but he argued he did not lie and felt he had the least amount of problems on the blue team that night. He survived elimination.[13]
Episode 14[]
- Main article: Episode 1014 - 8 Chefs Compete
The next day, both teams came downstairs to see Ramsay standing in front of a giant map of the United States of America, and Clemenza noticed that some states had iconic ingredients on them, before predicting something was going to happen. During the Southern Cuisine Challenge, he went up against Barbie, and their dishes were catfish and collard greens, although he asked what the fuck collard greens were. He was the first person from the blue team to have his dish judged, and after Barbie's dish received praise, he grew worried. He made a New York styled catfish Poi boi with bacon braised collard greens, but while the collard greens were praised for coming through with the bacon, Tanya Steel felt the catfish was undercooked. He lost that round to Barbie, and the blue team lost the challenge 1-3. They were punished by prepping for Southern Night which included baking fresh bread and churning butter, which he did not want to do. During the punishment, he called bread making more annoying than the butter, before snacking on them to Justin’s frustration.
During the Southern Night dinner service, Clemenza was on the garnish station. At one point, he got irritated when Brian sent up burnt catfish and got frustrated when Robyn's chicken was raw. As he knew the blue team had to wake up, he and Justin argued over refiring the items as the latter did not want a full explanation. After several mistakes, the blue team got kicked out of the kitchen, and he was mortified about doing the walk of shame yet again. Back at the dorms, he and Justin accused Robyn of being all over the place that night. When the red team got kicked out of the kitchen, he tried to comfort Kimmie. Both teams were named joint losers and they were asked to nominate one each. During deliberation, he said it was either Brian or Robyn for his choices as they both fucked up that night.
Clemenza was not nominated for elimination, and while being dismissed, he knew Robyn had to be flawless, or else she was gone.[14]
Episode 15[]
- Main article: Episode 1015 - 7 Chefs Compete
While going back to the dorms, Clemenza felt that Robyn was very close to being eliminated that night, knew that she had to bounce back in the next dinner service, and told her to get her head out of her ass. While a stressed Robyn felt she could have gone home that night, he reassured her that he had been in her position before.
During the Relay Challenge, Clemenza went up twice for the blue team. On round two, but spent more time trying to put his apron on than cooking, irritating Robyn as she wanted him to move faster. Then, he ignored the risotto and worked on garnishes, much to Robyn’s annoyance. After Robyn burned her first cod, he tried to keep calm as it would be Justin and himself who would finish for the blue team. On the final round, he could not understand Justin’s instructions due to the latter speaking too fast. When the risotto round was up, he compared the red and blue team's dishes to a football looking pile of shit and a frisbee looking pile of shit respectively. When it was revealed that the blue team's risotto was crunchy, he knew he should have cooked it from the start, but blamed Justin for not starting it. On the cod round, Ramsay noticed that he forgot the damchee broth, much to Robyn’s annoyance as it was a bad choice to pick him last. On the lamb round, he was confident the blue team had it, but Ramsay criticized the lamb dish for having a disgusting sauce. As neither team scored a point on either dish, Ramsay named both teams joint losers in the team challenge. Everybody was punished by cleaning up the front of the restaurant and detailing the SUVs. During the punishment, he got annoyed by Robyn's bossy attitude and told her to shut the fuck up.
During dinner service, Clemenza was on the appetizer station. When the blue team was working on their first order, he did not respond to a time Ramsay wanted until prompted. As he not to feel the pressure, he sent up strong lobster capellini to Ramsay’s approval. On the next order, he had to cook five risottos for a six top, but as Justin felt that it was too much for one person, he offered to help the former out. He rejected it, only to send up three pans with three different colors and Ramsay lectured him to cook in one pan for an order that big as the blue team reminded him as well. Despite that, he got the refire accepted. Later, he tried to get the blue team refocused after Justin and Robyn argued about her placing garnishes in the oven. The blue team lost the dinner service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, he nominated Brian and Robyn, but the former and Justin nominated him. However, he pointed out that it was a two-way tie between himself and Brian on nominees and did not believe he deserved to be up for elimination.
While the blue team named Robyn as their first nominee for elimination, Clemenza and Brian were tied as the second. Frustrated by that, Ramsay called the entire team down, and during his plea, he said he has been a team player 100% and learned from his mistakes. After, Ramsay asked both him and Justin to take off their jacket, only to give them black jackets due to their performances throughout the competition, therefore surviving elimination. While being dismissed, he felt like Arnold Schwarzenegger now that he had a black jacket.[15]
Episode 16[]
- Main article: Episode 1016 - 6 Chefs Compete
While going back to the dorms, Clemenza said how great it was to wear a black jacket, and wanted to laugh, cry, and scream. Back at the patio, he and Justin talked about their wild ride so far as they knocked out two-thirds of the competition, and both agreed it was time to go for the jugular.
The next day, Clemenza took notice of Ludo Lefebvre and Quinn Hatfield next to Ramsay, along with three covered domes, before wondering what would be under those domes. When tasting Hatfield's seafood pasta, he knew it was not pasta. During the Taste It Now Make It Challenge, he was paired up with Dana. As the chefs tasted the dish, Ramsay reminded him not to eat it all, even though he felt that they were all eating it like six hungry people who were just left out of prison. They used veal, prosciutto, white bean, horseradish, and maderia in order to recreate Ramsay's dish. They were the first pair to present their dish. They won the challenge as they got all but the horseradish correct. They were rewarded with a trip to Silverwood lake to have a gourmet picnic and drive on their own jet skis. During the reward, the two went on the jet skis as Dana wanted to smoke him out on the water, while he called the experience awesome. Once the two drove their jet skis to the picnic, he was in awe of Dana's bikini as the two toasted to their win.
Before dinner service, Ramsay revealed that the black jackets were facing off against a team of returning runner ups, shocking everybody as Clemenza wondered who they were. After seeing Kevin, he called him a force to be reckoned with and knew it was a dream team being formed before hoping the black jackets were on their A-game. During prep, he and Christina were confident they could take the runner ups.
During dinner service, Clemenza was on the dessert station and served as a floater. At one point, Robyn asked him for help in order to catch up, but he cooked spaghetti not on order, and when Ramsay told him to stop and called him a big man out of control. Then, Ramsay angrily asked both him and Robyn how he could cook something not on order, and after Dana called it an embarrassment, Ramsay accused the two of being out of control. Despite Robyn arguing against it, Ramsay was not convinced and asked the two if they wanted to go home. After he blamed Robyn for telling him what to do with no direction, he sarcastically thanked her for him getting yelled at. Later, Ramsay told Dana to ask for help and she reluctantly let him cook the scallops. However, Justin was not confident in his abilities to cook scallops, and his fears came true as he sent up boiled scallops, frustrating Dana as he was supposed to help her, not fuck her.
The black jackets lost the service to the runner ups, Clemenza got pissed as he hated to lose, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Dana nominated him for sending up raw scallops, but he felt the former should be nominated for making fish slow that night.
Clemenza was named the second nominee, with Robyn as the first. During his plea, Ramsay asked him if he was done, but he disagreed, claimed he was 110% ready to go despite being up four times, but Ramsay felt it was six instead. After much thought, Ramsay called up his name, shocking everybody, only to send him back in line, therefore surviving elimination. After Robyn's elimination, while he promised to step it up for him and the team, Ramsay doubted that he could see him in Vegas, but he could change his mind if he was hungrier than ever. While being dismissed, he was really bothered by Ramsay’s comment but felt it added a spark under his ass.[16]
Episode 17[]
- Main article: Episode 1017 - 5 Chefs Compete
Back at the dorms, Clemenza claimed that being nominated again lit a spark in his ass, and warned the rest of the chefs that he was coming back with a vengeance.
The next day, he liked the fact Ramsay cooked them chicken parmesan but felt he could cook a better chicken parmesan than the former could. During the Cooking School Challenge, Clemenza taught Ms. Teen USA 2008 winner Stevi Perry. They were the final pair to have their dish judged, Perry called him a great teacher, and he claimed that he had marinara sauce flowing through his vein. However, while Ramsay praised the chicken, he felt the marinara sauce needed to be blended down further as it tasted very clunky, although he argued that it was a classical attempt on marinara. He lost the challenge to Barbie but was excited when Ramsay announced the next service was Italian Night. When Barbie had to pick somebody to join her, he admitted that he did not want to spend time with Barbie on either a reward or a punishment.
Clemenza was punished by prepping for Italian Night, and during the punishment, he could not envision Barbie and Justin hanging out. Later, he claimed that a true Italian artist could make great pasta, but got annoyed when Christina and Dana struggled to roll out their dough, telling the two to crank harder. However, he started to feel fatigued and wondering if it would be an all-nighter. When Justin made spaghetti, he was seen spitting out his bite.
During prep, Clemenza said that this service was more important than any other as he claimed the Italian Stallion was coming, although Dana was concerned he was pounding the chicken too thin. However, he ignored Dana’s warnings, frustrating her as Mr. Italiano made the chicken breasts too big of portions, even telling Sous Chef Scott about them. That shocked Sous Chef Scott as none of the chicken were like that the day before, and angrily showing him his mess, he announced that half of their chicken was ruined. While he admitted to fucking up prep, he felt he was going to kick ass during dinner service.
During the Italian Night dinner service, Clemenza was on the appetizer station with Barbie. As service began, Ramsay urged him to shine the most that night, and the latter confidently told him to bring it the fuck on. Unfortunately, he could not recall the first order of appetizers as he did not pay attention, and an annoyed Christina told him to pull it together before telling him the order, two risottos, and two flatbreads. When Christina noticed that he needed help on the flatbreads and was completely disorganized, she grabbed a cutting board to help, even warning him to step up or step off. Despite that, he got his flatbreads accepted, even though Ramsay had no idea how he could work disorganized and produce perfect food. Then, he once again did not hear the callout, due to speaking, and after Ramsay accused him of not being interested, Barbie got frustrated as Ramsay ordered him to call out the order himself. After Ramsay accused him of being in the shit, and when Barbie struggled on risottos, he decided to help and jumped in to help Barbie on the risotto. However, the two argued over when to send it up as Barbie wanted it gone, but he felt it was too watery. Afterwards, he decided to let Barbie sink herself and sent up the liquid risotto that had an over cheese taste. On their final order of appetizers, he and Barbie were confident they could do it, Ramsay wagered a hundred dollars that they would not get it correct. As predicted, he picked the shrimp slowly, and Justin called it the most difficult thing he ever saw as there was a table waiting for food for a long time.
After service, Ramsay asked the final five to name one person or elimination. During deliberation, Clemenza told Justin that Barbie was the worst performer of that night as she had to instruct her on the risottos every time and was not being heard, but the latter still wanted him gone as he was sick of cleaning up his messes. Once everybody regrouped, Barbie voted for him, while he voted for her. Then, the two argued about their poor risottos and he not being listened to, and felt that he was in danger of going home on the one night he should have excelled on Italian Night.
Clemenza was one of two people considered for elimination as the final five could not agree on one person, so Ramsay decided to call him and Barbie down to the front. During his plea, Ramsay said that it was the seventh time he was nominated, and out of his 50% of his stay, he had always been out in front of him. While he knew he had shining moments throughout the competition, he knew his performance that night was not great but added that he kept fighting. After listening to their pleas, Ramsay asked about the lack of synergy between the two, but while Barbie said that she could not trust him due to his disorganization, he reminded her about the risotto incident as the two continued to plead their cases. In the end, he was eliminated for his string of inconsistent performances and consecutive nominations, but Ramsay praised him for his effort. During his exit interview, he received a retrospective montage. Ramsay gave no comment on his elimination, and he did not receive the coat hanging and portrait burning sequence.[17]
Episode 19/20[]
- Main article: Episode 1019 - 2 Chefs Compete
- Main article: Episode 1020 - Winner Chosen
Clemenza was one of the eight chefs that came back for the final dinner service. Despite feeling that he was the best chef left to pick after Dana and Barbie, he was surprised when Christina picked Patrick as she never worked with the former before. Then, he disappointingly had no idea what the thought process was anymore after Justin picked Royce. He was Justin's final pick, after Barbie, Brian, and Royce, and was the final pick overall. He was not happy that he was overlooked by many people.
Back at the dorms, Clemenza did not listen to Justin, much to the latter's frustration. While Justin wanted him to understand that it was his life on the line, he got insulted when he felt the former was discrediting his work and did not have anything he had to prove, while Brian called him dead weight.[18] Eventually, a frustrated Justin told him to leave if he did not want to perform in the final service, and he was about to walk out of the meeting, but Justin managed to stop him, told him that he did focus in his own way, but wanted him locked down. Despite being pissed that he was not in the final two, he did not want to leave Justin and told the latter how he felt he could have gone a step further if he did not get eliminated. However, Justin told him that they were past that now, but he felt he could do it and hoped for Justin to win as the latter wanted him to surprise him during service.
The next day, Clemenza did not join his team at the patio, instead of waiting in the kitchen, wanted to go home and wanted somebody to get him, so Justin came to get him as he wanted him to get focus and motivated. During prep, Justin discovered a smoking oven from his station, revealing that the crostini burnt. That horrified both Brian and Barbie as Justin called it a disaster, was pushed to get the refire up when he moved slowly and was accused of breaking down. To the relief of Justin, he got the refires ready thanks to Brian’s help.
During dinner service, Clemenza was on the appetizer station. At one point, he interrupted Justin when the latter was trying to call out the order. After calling him a disaster, Justin and Ramsay discovered that the salmon was all raw, with the latter calling it ridiculous and even accused him of sabotaging Justin. While he said life could be a dick, he knew he had to step up his game in the back seat, and got his refire accepted. Justin eventually lost the finals to Christina.[19]
Nomination History[]
| Week 1 | Safe |
|---|---|
| Week 2 | Safe |
| Week 3 | Win |
| Week 4 | Safe |
| Week 5 | Safe |
| Week 6 | Nominated |
| Week 7 | Nominated |
| Week 8 | Safe |
| Week 9 | Nominated |
| Week 10 | Nominated |
| Week 11 | Safe |
| Week 12 | Nominated |
| Week 13 | Nominated |
| Week 14 | Nominated |
Post Hell's Kitchen[]
- After his appearance on the show, Clemenza worked at his family restaurant Stuzzi since 2012, until it closed down in June 2018.[20]
- He co-hosts a show on Blog Talk radio called Chewing the Fat with Rob Burmeister.
- He owns a food truck called Little Italian Truck and does a number of cooking events and dining experiences.
- He competed on season 8 of Cutthroat Kitchen, in the episode "Carne Diem", where he was eliminated in the second round.
- He was offered a chance to return to Season 17 as an All-Star but turned down the offer due to health issues.
- He made an appearance on another Gordon Ramsay show, Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back as a diner on Season 3 Episode 2 - "Blend on Main."
Trivia[]
- He holds the record for the most nominations throughout the season, with seven, and is tied with Autumn (Season 7), Sabrina (Season 8), Elise (Season 9), and Scott (Season 12).
- He is the second Italian contestant of Hell’s Kitchen following Salvatore (Season 7).
- He is the ninth contestant, and second male contestant to be nominated consistently throughout the black jacket phase, following Jessica (Season 1), Virginia (Season 2), Andrea (Season 5), Suzanne and Ariel (both from Season 6), Trev (Season 8), Jennifer and Elise (both from Season 9). He is also the third, and the first male contestant, of this bunch who didn't make it to the semi-finals.
- He is the fourth black jacket contestant to be eliminated after being nominated by Ramsay, following Elsie (Season 1), Ben (Season 5), and Van (Season 6).
- He is part of a three-way tie for the most consecutive dinner service losses, with nine, and is tied with Justin and Brian (both also from Season 10).
Quotes[]
- "I maybe a little, I maybe a lot overweight, but I still work 14-16 hours a day, I will spin circles around you."
- "Chef Ramsay doesn't like fat guys, but I think I'm gonna surprise him, 'cause I've been doing this for eighteen years and I may even be better than him."
- "Everything on that fucking thing was perfect, except for the fucking truffle oil, man!!"
- (About Royce) "Really? 30 years old, all the experience, someone has to show you how to make mashed potato? Come on, man."
- "Everybody's trying to fucking get rid of me, but you know what? I still put out better food than everybody standing there!"
- "I come from New York City and let me tell you something, I grew up in a pizzeria, got a little experience to say the least!! In all honesty I was kinda enjoying myself!!"
- (When Justin tried to bring unready pork to the pass) "Justin, don't put out the fucking pork. Don't put out the pork, it's not cooked. Don't put out the pork, it's not cooked. Don't put out the pork, it's not cooked. Don't put out the pork, it's not cooked."
- "You gotta love Brian, you gotta just love him (laughs)."
- "Anyone can make pasta, but a true Italian artist can make real good pasta!!"
- "WOW! Woah this is pretty cool!! Hmmm!! Dana is in this bikini and it's just this little bikini, I'm just like mwah Fagibella Belisimo Dana. Beautiful."
- "My fatass sat on a pile of snow picking up scallops. And now I am sitting like a jerk off eating these things because you can't pan sear a scallop, what are you fucking kidding me?"
- (After being eliminated) "Hell's Kitchen, without a doubt, is the hardest thing I ever had to do. It's been up and down and high and low. But I fought through it. I've been up for elimination more than anybody. People thought I was down, people thought I was out. I just kept coming and coming and coming back. To get kicked out on Italian night is embarrassing, but coming to Hell's Kitchen has definitely put some spark back into me. I know I'm going to the top."
Gallery[]
.png "Clemenza's Confessional (Blue Jacket).png (297 KB)")
,_Barbie_(S10),_Clemenza,_and_Robyn_(S10)_Nominated.png "Tiffany (S10), Barbie (S10), Clemenza, and Robyn (S10) Nominated.png (301 KB)")
.png "Clemenza's Confessional (Black Jacket).png (322 KB)")
.png "Clemenza's Confessional (Returning Chef).png (1.29 MB)")
.png "Clemenza and Don's Creative Lamb Dish (Lamb Chop).png (218 KB)")
.png "Clemenza's Dome Dish (Guinea Hen).png (252 KB)")
.png "Clemenza's Creative Steak Dish (Ribeye).png (270 KB)")
.png "Clemenza's Southern Dish (Catfish and Collard Greens).png (267 KB)")
External links[]
Clemenza Caserta on Instagram
Clemenza Caserta on YouTube
References[]
| Hell's Kitchen Season 10 |
|---|
| Staff |
| Gordon Ramsay (Head Chef) • Scott Leibfried (Blue Team Sous Chef) • Andi Van Willigan-Cutspec (Red Team Sous Chef) • James Lukanik (Maître d'hôtel) |
| Contestants |
| Robyn Almodovar • Justin Antiorio • Chris Carrero • Clemenza Caserta • Patrick Cassata • Dana Cohen • Roshni Gurnani • Tavon Hubbard • Tiffany Johnson • Barbie Marshall • Brian Merel • Danielle Rimmer • Don Savage • Briana Swanson • Guy Vaknin • Royce Wagner • Kimmie Willis • Christina Wilson |