Monique Booker

Monique Booker was a contestant on Season 14 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 14th place.

Season 14[]

Episode 1[]

Main article: Episode 1401 - 18 Chefs Compete

On the bus ride to Hell's Kitchen, Monique made an insensitive remark when she asked Alison if she had a native language or spoke Rasta, much to T’s annoyance. When the chefs arrived at Hell's Kitchen, the doors were locked, and they noticed that Ramsay was on the roof. Then, he revealed that they would have to jump onto an air mattress from the roof to show if they were 100% committed. While she was more eager to jump after seeing Enrique and Ruth doing it, Ramsay revealed that it was not necessary as those two were stunt people, and asked the chefs to cook their signature dishes.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Monique was the last person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay and went up against Bret. She prepared what she called Mo's Pasta, but when Ramsay asked her how she made the marinara sauce, she revealed that she used jarred sauce, causing Ramsay to spit his bite out. Then, she argued that Ramsay should have told her not to use pre-made sauce, but that annoyed everybody, and she scored only one point. The red team lost the challenge 28-31, and they were punished by resetting the dining room for the opening night and sealing confirmation letters in envelopes. Back in the dorms, when she voiced out that they would beat the men on a regular night, T reminded her that they have yet to beat the men at the moment, and how she served Ramsay jarred sauce while arguing about it. During the punishment, she did not appreciate Alison's leadership, and when she said that it sucked sealing invitations, T reminded her that if she had made her own sauce, they would not be doing that.

During dinner service, Monique was on the meat station with Christine. At one point, Meghan discovered that her oven was off the entire time, and later, she served raw lamb and dry pork. The red team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people.

Monique was the red team's first nominee for elimination, with Chrissa being the second, and they were called down with Christine. During her plea, she revealed that the oven was off the entire time, before admitting having put the meat in the said oven. Then, she said that she was stronger than Christine as the latter fell apart, and stronger than Chrissa because she had no confidence. She survived elimination, and while being dismissed, she declared she was not going anywhere.^[1]

Episode 2[]

Main article: Episode 1402 - 17 Chefs Compete

Back in the dorms, Monique believed that their emotions were getting in the way of the service, but after Alison bluntly told her that she should have been the one eliminated, she said that she did not care. When the chefs received a wake-up call from multiple alarm clocks at 5 am, she said that she would rather prefer Ramsay yell at her all day than listen to the cuckoo clock.

During the Crabs Challenge, Monique was in a boat with Sarah, Alison, and Mieka during the first part, and they were seen grabbing a cage that had no crabs in it. During the second part, she was paired with Christine, and they were seen getting two of their attempts approved. The red team won the challenge 10-7, and they were rewarded with a trip to Scottsdale, Arizona, traveling through cactus trails by horseback, and a dinner at the Four Seasons Resort. During the reward, she struggled to get on her horse as she hated them, and during dinner, she believed that their victory was the confidence boost they needed.

During dinner service, Monique was on the appetizer station with T. At one point, she was offended when T did not want the hot appetizers to sink the kitchen as she knew how to make them, and accused the latter of having a big personality and a big mouth. Later, she claimed that she could feel Mieka’s nerves. The red team eventually won the service.^[2]

Episode 3[]

Main article: Episode 1403 - 16 Chefs Compete

The next day, Monique complained about the noise Sous Chef James made to wake them up, saw Ramsay on top of an arctic stage, and asked if she was back home, before asking what they were about to do. During the Alaskan Fish Challenge, she annoyingly told Meghan that the fish was dead when the latter freaked out over it. She was paired with Mieka during the first part, and they were seen struggling on finding the salmon head. They were the second pair from the red team to have their dishes judged, and they went up against Josh and Michael. She made a pan-seared salmon with grilled asparagus, and while it was praised for having a nice color, she did not score for the red team. They eventually won the challenge 3-1, and they were rewarded with a trip to the Manhattan Beaches, and surfing lessons from Anastasia Ashley.

During dinner service, Monique was on the fish station with Alison. Despite believing that her scallops were fine, Ramsay saw that they were rubbery, and ordered the red team to touch them. Then, she called out Alison for making a bitch move by outing her for the scallops, and she called her and her accent stupid. After the red team was kicked out of the kitchen, she was pissed and said that she wanted to punch some bitches. Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two people each.

She was not nominated for elimination.^[3]

Episode 4[]

Main article: Episode 1404 - 15 Chefs Compete

During the American Classics Challenge, Monique was paired with Sarah on the spaghetti, and her dish was not chosen to be judged. The red team won the challenge after a tiebreaker at 4, and they were rewarded with a trip to Long Beach, and a ride on the historic American Pride yacht.

During the Family Night dinner service, Monique was on the meat station with Mieka. Despite being confident as she has been on meat before, she sent undercooked Wellingtons, and Ramsay accused her of not caring. Despite that, she managed to get her refire accepted.

The red team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Monique argued that she got her shit together, but T yelled that she did not, and was considered by the latter and Alison. When the red team planned on also nominating Sarah in order to get rid of Monique, the latter argued that she would not give up.

Monique was the red team's first nominee for elimination, with Sarah being the second. After Michelle gave the reasons why those two were nominated, she called it crazy. When Ramsay asked for her opinion, she revealed the red team’s strategy, and that she knew it was his decision in the end. During her plea, Ramsay called her performance dreadful, but she told him that she was growing stronger every day. She survived elimination, and while going back to the dorms, she called the women delusional and declared that she was not going home.^[4]

Episode 5[]

Main article: Episode 1405 - 14 Chefs Compete

While going back to the dorms, Monique declared that she was fucking done with the red team as, despite feeling that Ramsay was seeing something in her, her teammates were not. When Meghan tried to ask her what her problem was, she refused to be open as it was a competition, and the entire red team left her alone, with T deeming her as a lost cause.

During the International Cheese Challenge, Monique competed against Nick, and their dish was grilled cheese. During the cooking, she decided to keep her dish simple and hoped Ramsay would like it, but Alison felt that it was not very creative. She was the first person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay and presented her grilled cheese sandwich that had mild cheddar, brie, and an heirloom tomato slice. However, Ramsay criticized the dish for having more bread than cheese and lacking creativity, and she lost the round to Nick. The red team eventually won the challenge 5-4, and they were rewarded with a trip to Marina Del Ray and a Jet Ski activity on the ocean.

During dinner service, Monique was on the garnish station. Despite Meghan and T asking her for a time, she did not appreciate, and when she brought her spinach, Ramsay found out that not only was it cold, but it was lacking seasoning, and ordered the red team to taste it. Later, she sent up her garnish refire, but Ramsay saw that the eggplant was raw and bitter, and an annoyed T called her performance a shit show. After, Meghan came to help her, and it was because of her help that she was able to send perfect garnishes.

The red team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, T called Monique out as one of the three people that sunk the red kitchen, but when she argued that Christine should be nominated as a reality check, Alison retorted that she herself could not cook half of the menu items and that she would have struggled even more without Meghan.

Monique was the red team's first nominee for elimination, with Sarah being the second. During her plea, she told Ramsay that the red team would yell at her despite doing what they told her to do, that Christine should be nominated for being the reason the red team was kicked out, and was confused as to why she herself was nominated. Then, she denied being the weakest link and said that she wanted to be with Ramsay. In the end, she was eliminated for her string of poor performances, not improving from her mistakes, and the red team making it clear that they did not want her around any longer. During her exit interview, she believed that the red team had it out for her since the beginning, refused to change her ways if given a second chance, and denied being the weakest chef.

Ramsay's comment: "Monique acted like she was the victim, but the real victim was anyone who had to eat her food tonight." ^[5]

Nomination history[]

Post Hell's Kitchen[]

• After her appearance on the show, she returned to her old job at Rialto and became a Lead Line Cook for ‎Compass Group. She is currently an Executive Chef of Meals & Moe, a meal prep delivery company in Greater Boston.

Trivia[]

• She is the fifth contestant who used pre-made food for her signature dish, following Rock (Season 3), Salvatore (Season 7), Jonathon (Season 9), and Mike (Season 12). She is also the second who did and talked back about it, as well as the first female contestant who did.
• She is the seventh contestant to survive the opening night elimination as the first nominee, following Joanna (Season 3), Bobby (Season 4), Raj (Season 8), Jeremy (Season 11), Sandra (Season 12), and Aaron (Season 13).
• She has been compared to Mike (Season 12) by fans, as both of them used pre-made food for their signature dishes, both were disrespectful to their teammates, and both were eliminated after being nominated twice in a row.

Quotes[]

• (To Alison) "So do you have your own language, or is it just Rasta?"
• (To Chef Ramsay about her signature dish) "It's just from a jar."
• "I don't think there's anything wrong with canned sauce. Unless you're from fucking Italy and you're, like, born as an Italian, you're not gonna be making your sauce from scratch all the time."
• (To the red team after losing the signature dish challenge) "Like, on a regular night, we're gonna whoop their ass, the guys aren't that great!"
• "Oh, what?! Thank you, fucking baby Jesus. Oh, my God, my heart was beating so fast. Fuck you guys (the red team), I'm still mad at you for putting me up there too."
• (About Alison's respond to chef that she cooked the scallops on the fish station) "Like, what a bitch move. I can't stand Alison. Your accent's stupid, your makeup's stupid, you're stupid."
• (About Bret) "I thought he was gonna cry!"
• (To the red team just before Mieka being eliminated) "Holy shit! That's what you guys get for putting her (Sarah) and fucked up there."
• (After survived elimination over Mieka) "Yo, these bitches are delusional. Is this a game? Is this even fair? Fuck you bitches, not when it comes to me going home. I'm fucking tired of this shit!"
• (After being eliminated) "Clearly these bitches didn't like me since day one. I wouldn't do anything different, because I'm not gonna change who I am to make these bitches happy. We're not here to like each other. We're here to bang out dinner service and get shits done. There's no way I'm the worst cook here like, are you serious? It's so fucking stupid that I'm standing here right now."

Gallery[]

• Chef
• Dishes

Monique and Cameron's Intro Spot

Monique in Red Jacket

Monique's Confessional

Christine, Chrissa, and Monique Nominated

Sarah and Monique Nominated (Episode 4)

Sarah and Monique Nominated (Episode 5)

Monique Eliminated

Monique's Signature Dish (Episode 1)

Monique's Alaskan Fish Dish (Salmon) (Episode 3)

Monique's International Cheese Dish (Grilled Cheese) (Episode 5)

External links[]

• Monique Booker on Instagram
• Monique Booker on Twitter

References[]