Richard Mancini

Richard Mancini was a contestant on Season 12 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 9th place.

Season 12[]

Episode 1[]

Main article: Episode 1201 - 20 Chefs Compete

The twenty new chefs rode on a bus on route to Hell's Kitchen and during this time they had the opportunity to get to know each other. Upon arrival, they were greeted by Jean-Philippe who walked the chefs into Hell’s Kitchen, only to walk into a service already going on with the food receiving positive comments and Ramsay expressing that the chefs in the kitchen were doing a splendid job. That confused the chefs, and once the service ended, Ramsay approached them and welcomed them. Ramsay explained that he did a soft opening to showcase the chefs what his expectations were, and asked if they could perform a service like the one they saw. Everybody promised they would, and Ramsay revealed that the winner would become a Head Chef at one of his restaurants, but first, they had to survive Hell’s Kitchen in Los Angeles, a place he deemed the capital of entertainment. Shortly after, patrons of the restaurant began putting on a performance. Afterwards, Ramsay announced it was time for the Signature Dish Challenge.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Richard said that although he was one of the eldest chefs, he was not intimated by the chefs younger than him. He was the fifth person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Melanie. He made a pan-roasted sea bass, but while was deemed delicious, he lost that round to Melanie. The blue team lost the challenge 4-5, and they were punished by resetting the dining room ahead of the opening service.

During dinner service, Richard was on the dessert station. He was not seen that night, and the blue team were kicked out after multiple mistakes. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, he called Gaurav's finger incident a disaster.

He was not nominated for elimination.^[1]

Episode 2[]

Main article: Episode 1202 - 19 Chefs Compete

Back at the dorms, Beth started flirting with Richard over a chicken breast as she called him cute. However, Gabriel Gabriel laughed at Beth’s flirting, and while he said he liked the latter, he felt she was out of control.

The next day, at 4:33 AM, the chefs awoke to the sounds of dirt bikes reviving in the dorms, and Sous Chef Andi told the chefs to meet Ramsay outside. During the Basics Relay Challenge, Richard was paired up with DeMarco, they were the first pair from the blue tea, to compete, and their task was to peel and devein a dozen shrimp. As he struggled to pedal his tricycle, Mike compared him to a Russian bear. While DeMarco peeled, he deveined the shrimp, they got their first attempt up to Ramsay, and they got them all accepted. However, he struggled to get his tricycle moving until DeMarco gave him a push. The blue team won the challenge 5-4, and they were rewarded with a trip to San Francisco, ate lunch with Ramsay at Epic Roasthouse, and went on a VIP trip around San Francisco on Segway’s.

During dinner service, Richard was on the meat station with Gabriel . At one point, he expressed annoyance at Scott for rushing Gabriel for no reason. Later, Gabriel had him walk the refire, but it turned out raw, and it was the mistake that led the blue team getting kicked out. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each.

He was not nominated for elimination.^[2]

Episode 3[]

Main article: Episode 1203 - 18 Chefs Compete

The next day, at 5:45 AM, the chefs were woken to the sound of pigs squealing and a farmer yelling very loud, much to Richard’s annoyance. During the Potato Challenge, he was seen during part one as Gabriel yelled at him to dig at a certain location. The blue team won 100-90. During part two, he was chosen as one of the top five, was the first person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Jessica. He made an Irish Colcannon stuffed with crab and mascarpone cheese, it was praised for smooth potatoes and a fully folded crab, and he scored four points. The blue team eventually lost the challenge 16-18, and they were punished by cleaning the livestock out in the pen.

During dinner service, Richard was on the garnish station with Jason. He was not seen much, except for annoyingly telling Mike to help Chris out. The blue team were kicked out after multiple mistakes. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate three each.

He was not nominated for elimination.^[3]

Episode 4[]

Main article: Episode 1204 - 17 Chefs Compete

Back at the dorms, DeMarco screamed out his confidence, but when Richard had Jason demonstrate, the latter screamed louder.

Before the Lobster Ravioli Challenge, Ramsay gave the chefs a demonstration on how to make the dish, and Richard said that while everybody has their way of doing things, it seemed easier when watching Ramsay demonstrate. He was paired up with Ralph, and they were seen getting three of their attempts accepted. The blue team eventually lost the challenge 9-10, and they were punished by cleaning up the pennies worth $200,000, as well as clean and prep both kitchens for that night’s service. During the punishment, he told Mike to answer Anton's question after the latter rudely told Anton off.

During the Steak Night dinner service, Richard was on the garnish station. He called out four minutes for his crab cakes, and was confident he could get food out as he has been cooking for 30 years. He brought the crab cakes, but Ramsay said that they were cold. Jason said that crab cakes were so simple to cook that even a monkey could do one, and was dismayed that he failed to check them before sending it up to the pass. After, Ramsay warned the men about the dire consequences if they send up one more cold dish, and while Mike asked how long for crab cakes, he replied they were ready. Anton told him to pierce the crab with his knife, and afterwards, he said they were ready. However, Ramsay revealed that the crab cakes were stone cold again, that prompted him to send him and Ralph to the dining room to eat their mistakes and told Jean-Philippe to give the two chardonnay’s for drinks. As the two ate their mistakes, he hated getting berated as he was too old for it, but Ramsay told him to sit back down and eat. Then, Jean-Philippe told him and Ralph that while he knew they wanted to return to the kitchen, they could not unless they finish eating. He wanted to go back to the kitchen, but Ralph said they had to finish their drinks first. Afterwards, the two came back in, Ramsay called out the men's first entrée order, and he thought they would be good if they could get the filets out. Eventually, the women were called in to help them, but while he said they were good, Ramsay reminded him that he served stone cold crab cakes twice and said he did need help as Joy told him to take the help as it would help get out the kitchen faster.

The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Chris felt Richard was the second problem of that night for the cold crab cakes, but he reminded him and Anton about their raw steaks.

Richard was not nominated for elimination, but when Ramsay asked why the men had little faith in Mike, he said it was because the latter was playing both the hiding and finger pointing game since day one.^[4]

Episode 5[]

Main article: Episode 1205 - 16 Chefs Compete

Back at the dorms, Richard felt that Mike tried to sink whoever he was with, which the rest of the men agreed.

During the Creative Memory Challenge, Richard was paired up with Anton, and they were seen matching potatoes and fingerling potatoes. After the men had their sides matched with the proteins, he and Anton had too many starches. They cooked the chicken, they were the first pair from the blue team to have their dish judged by Ramsay, and they went up against Melanie and Rochelle. They made a seared and baked chicken with capellini and cherry wine vinaigrette sauce, although Melanie compared it to diner quality. Even though Ramsay said the dish did not look pleasant, he felt it had great flavor, and both pairs scored that round. The blue team eventually lost the challenge 2-3, and they were punished by harvesting fresh honey, making 100 pounds of honey taffy, and drinking sardine shakes for lunch.

Back at the dorms, the men gathered at the patio as Rochelle knew they were all there to make a life for themselves, and Anton wanted to know why they were all there. Richard said he wanted to prove he could still hang with the young guys despite his thirty year experience. The next day, the chefs witnessed a wedding ceremony, but he snarkily commented that the honeymoon phase would be over in a couple off weeks as he himself was happily divorced.

During the Wedding brunch service, Richard was on the lobster scrambled egg station with Gabriel. On the men's final ticket, they were waiting on him and Gabriel for the scrambled eggs as he told the latter to make more as their initial batch was not enough. When Gabriel announced it could take five minutes, Ramsay was in disbelief, and ordered him to help cook the scrambled eggs as that way they would be twice as fast instead of twice as slow. Despite bring up his eggs first, they were of inconsistent servings, and the women got their order out first, therefore losing the service. As the men finished their order, Jason called him and Gabriel useless idiots, and the blue team was asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, DeMarco considered him and Gabriel for elimination for holding the men up.

Richard was not nominated for elimination, but Ramsay decided call him up to the front alongside DeMarco and Gabriel. During his plea, he felt his experience should allow him to stay, but Ramsay reminded him that he and Gabriel cost the men the win hands down. He survived elimination, and while being dismissed, he warned that he would explode if nobody else took responsibility like he did.^[5]

Episode 6[]

Main article: Episode 1206 - 15 Chefs Compete

The next day, Ramsay asked both teams to name a leader for the following service. During the deliberation, Richard said it was either between Jason or Anton as the men’s leader, but when Gabriel nominated himself, he asked the latter how he could lead if he could not cook. Anton was named the blue team's leader, but he got offended when the former claimed he had greater experience.

During dinner service, Richard was on the garnish station. He was not seen much, except for sarcastically calling Anton Super Chef, and the blue team won the service.^[6]

Episode 7[]

Main article: Episode 1207 - 14 Chefs Compete

During the Gourmet Pizza Challenge, Richard was paired up with Anton, and he felt they were the perfect pair as he was from Chicago, the latter was from New Jersey, and they were both Italian. Later, he went over to Ralph’s station for assistance, but when the latter said he had no idea how to cook a pizza, Richard called him a moron. He and Anton's pizza was chosen for judging, they were the final pair from the blue team to have their dish judged, and went up against Melanie and Sandra. They made a Mediterranean pizza with sautéed hot pepper, smoked salmon, and a sweet balsamic topping, Wolfgang Puck was intrigued with the amount of ingredients, and after he and Ramsay tasted it, they scored 7 points. The blue team won the challenge 15-12, and they were rewarded with a trip to the rooftop of the Andaz Hotel in Sunstet Strip, and received yoga lessons. During the reward, he asked if he looked like a yoga guy.

During the Italian Family Night dinner service, Richard was on the fish station with Anton. While Anton had his scallops ready, he did not, but got the refire accepted. After Ralph sent up raw lamb with a piece sliced thinly, he asked the former if he wanted Ramsay to lose his mind. The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination.

He was not nominated for elimination.^[7]

Episode 8[]

Main article: Episode 1208 - 13 Chefs Compete

Back at the dorms, Richard told Ralph to shut the fuck up and leave it alone, believing that the latter needed to relax fast.

Before the 160th Sorority Anniversary Planning Challenge, Richard complained that he did not need the loud cheering from the sorority girls. He did not present a dish, the blue team lost the challenge 1-2, and he accused the blonde committee member of not knowing what hands down meant. They were punished prepping for the 160th Anniversary service.

During the 160th Sorority Anniversary dinner service, Richard was on the garnish station. At one point, he got his appetizers accepted, but grew frustrated when Scott did not respond to Gabriel's calls for a time. Then, Scott walked the ribeye’s without telling either him or Gabriel, forcing the two to rush their garnishes, but despite that, he got the green beans up on time. The blue team won the service.^[8]

Episode 9[]

Main article: Episode 1209 - 12 Chefs Compete

During the Dome Challenge, Richard grabbed lobster, egg noodles, and chorizo for his dish. However, he had a hard time figuring out what to do with the chorizo as his lobster and sauce were already finished. He was the second person from the blue team to have his dish judged, and went up against Rochelle. When Rochelle revealed that it was her first time cooking lobster, he was confident that he had it. He made a lobster and chorizo cream sauce over pasta, but while it was praised for taking an outdated concept into a flavorable dish, he lost that round to Rochelle, making him pissed as he felt his dish was a winner and hated losing. When it came down to Scott and Sandra, he hoped that the men won as he was tired of losing, but the blue team lost the challenge 3-4.

The blue team was punished by doing the waiting staffs chores, and during the punishment, Richard complained about the heat the steamer was giving off, before telling off Gabriel for a snarky comment. Anton felt that his age was starting to show as he was moving slowly during the punishment, while he said that he was too old to be doing chores compared to the country club he ran.

Later that day, Ramsay announced that he would be doing individual evaluation reports. Richard was the eighth chef to have his evaluation, and when Ramsay asked him if he was a garnish chef or a head chef, he felt he was growing stronger every day, and wanted to show Ramsay was a head chef. Due to being named the weakest chef by the blue team, he was forced to compete in the Cook For Your Life Challenge against Jessica from the red team. He argued against that, and during the cooking, he was not scared as he was going to stay, and the fools who put him up were going to see him at the end. The men continued to give him support as he knew that despite his age, he had more stamina than the younger chefs as he was on his feet all day. Despite never working on appetizers yet, he knew how to cook a risotto, but Scott feared that he dropped the risotto too soon. When he got to plating, Anton was concerned about his plating skills as his previous dishes looked terrible. Before the judging, he knew his pride and ego were on the line as he did not want to be eliminated. When it was revealed that Jessica left a toothpick in her lobster tail, he was shocked. He was the second to present his dishes. The scallops were praised for a nice sear and cook, while the risotto was criticized with an overpowering cheese taste and being a minute overcooked, leaving Jessica to believe that his time was done. However, the halibut was praised for a perfect crust, and a delicious sauce, but criticized for a little too much spice. After the judging, he hoped that the scallops and halibut were enough to ensure his safety. Before Ramsay could announce the eliminated person, the episode ended as a cliffhanger.^[9]

Episode 10[]

Main article: Episode 1210 - 11 Chefs Compete

Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay said that Richard made some mistakes he did not expect, but collectively, it was a good job as he was not scared about his fate. He was named the winner of the challenge. While going back to the dorms, the men congratulated him for winning, but he was still mad that his teammates deemed him the weakest chef, felt he had more energy than the younger chefs, and said fuck you to his team.

The next day, the chefs went to Ramsay's gastropub to take a tour around the restaurant, and take a look at the menu for Gastropub Night. At one point, Ramsay asked Richard to pass along some menus to everybody to show them the base items and daily specials, and when he asked if they could take a menu back home, and Ramsay said he could, even snarkily offering him toilet paper if he needed to use the bathroom.

During the Gastropub Night dinner service, Richard was on the appetizer station with Jason. At one point, he tried to calm down an argument between Anton and Jason before Ramsay shut it down. When the red team were sent in to help, he complained that he did not need the women’s help as he was ready to go. Eventually, the blue team were kicked out of service, they were named the losers, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination.

He was not nominated for elimination.^[10]

Episode 11[]

Main article: Episode 1211 - 10 Chefs Compete

Back at the dorms, Richard and Rochelle understood Gabriel's decision as they had to fight for their spots now.

During the Creative Pork Challenge, Richard was the first person from the blue team to participate in part one, and they won the first challenge. He picked pork tenderloin, and decided to go up against Rochelle. He was the second person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and made a stuffed pork loin. It was praised for having nice flavor, but criticized for having too much stuffing, and he lost that round to Rochelle. The blue team eventually won the challenge 3-2, and they were rewarded with an indoor skydiving experience and brand new Vitamix blenders. As the men left to change, he felt great to win as it meant going outside the restaurant and see people, before adding on that they needed it.

During dinner service, Richard was on the meat station. When Anton tried to blame Scott for confusing him, he did not believe that, and asked Anton how Scott fucked him up. Then, he sent up perfect Wellingtons, but because Gabriel sent up cold mushrooms, they were forced to start over, frustrating him as that meant he had to do it all over again. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each.

Richard was not nominated for elimination, and later, he said goodbye to Anton and Scott as they were reassigned to the red team, and welcomed Rochelle and Sandra as new teammates.^[11]

Episode 12[]

Main article: Episode 1212 - 10 Chefs Again

During the King of the Hill Challenge, Richard was not seen in the dark room, was the seventh chef to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and made an unknown dish. It was criticized for missing salt, and he did not dethrone Rochelle. The blue team won the challenge, and they were rewarded with a day at Le Spa at Sofitel in Beverly Hills. During the reward, he called the spa beautiful and luxurious.

During the Charity Night dinner service, Richard was in charge of the duck ragu tortellini, and when Angie Harmon came in, he was smitten as she looked smoking hot despite being in her forties, and anybody who disagreed had a problem. During his course, he had his tortellini up on the pass, but the blue team was disorganized come plating as everybody needed more tortellini on their plates, and Gabriel ran out after dropping one to the floor by mistake. To make things worse, the three extra ones were overcooked to Ramsay’s dismay, and he was forced to plate four tortellini for each plate instead of five, leaving Gabriel embarrassed that they had to move food around to stretch their limit. Then, Ramsay noticed that there were thirteen plates out instead of twelve, and when Gabriel admitted to putting out the plates, he said it was not hard to count to twelve. After Sandra was caught breading her lamb before cooking them, he called it ridiculous. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, Gabriel nominated him for the poor tortellini course, with Rochelle agreeing that their table got jipped on the tortellini, but he nominated Sandra and Gabriel for elimination.

He was not nominated for elimination.^[12]

Episode 13[]

Main article: Episode 1213 - 9 Chefs Compete

The next day, Sous Chef James entered the dorms with two delivery people and gathered both teams to the living room. After, the delivery people began to rap out a message from Ramsay, revealing that the packages they had were two blank menus, and that they had one hour to create their own menu for that night’s service. When the blue team worked on their menu, they agreed on wild mushroom risotto and crab cakes as Richard knew they were items Ramsay liked, but he and Gabriel asked Rochelle for her input. During prep, Ramsay chewed out Rochelle for sending up a burnt crab cake for the demo, and he called it a stupid ass mistake.

During dinner service, Richard was on the garnish station. Ramsay pushed him for a crab cake, but he refused to send out cold food, walking it up and being in Ramsay’s way. Then, the crab cake was revealed to cold as he felt he was better than that, but Ramsay got more annoyed when he started a refire in a dirty pan, reminding him that he was the most experience chef on the blue team. However, his refire was accepted, but on entrées, the blue team were waiting on his garnishes for the surf and turf which caught on fire. An annoyed Jason felt that he was making too many mistakes by now, and Ramsay pulled him aside to remind him abut the garnishes. However, Gabriel sent up stone cold filet, and he asked how Ramsay was pushing him for the garnish when the filet came out raw. On their next order, he could not find the Brussel sprouts, Gabriel got annoyed over waiting on him, and then, he served only one Brussel sprout to Jason’s annoyance as Ramsay ordered Rochelle to help him out. However, he said he did not want any help.

The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Jason considered Richard for elimination, but when Rochelle left the room for a bit, he agreed with Gabriel that she should be nominated based on her emotional breakdown earlier.

Richard was named the blue team's first nominee for elimination, with Gabriel as the second. During his plea, he said he came to work for Ramsay and would do anything to perform a perfect service, before commenting how his passion never wavered. He was eliminated for his poor performance on garnish and failing to live up to his experience. During his exit interview, he said that at forty eight years old, he was supposed to be there as he kept up with chefs that were half his age, but refused to pout and cry as he would do his run all over again at forty nine years old.

Ramsay's comment: "Richard had more experience than anyone here. But it's not experience I'm looking for, it's talent." ^[13]

Nomination History[]

Post Hell's Kitchen[]

• After his appearance on the show, Richard competed on the episode "Get Rich or Die Frying" of "Cutthroat Kitchen".
• Richard released a line of pasta sauces and offers catering and private chef services. He also helped launch Primo restaurant.
• Richard participated in Reality Rally in 2018.^[14]

Trivia[]

• He is the oldest of his season, at age 48.
• He participated in the first ever Cook For Your Life Challenge, and is the first contestant ever to have survived it.
• He did not return for the last dinner service of the season as supposed to, so Chris took his place.

Quotes[]

• "I don't like getting belittled or berated. I'm too old for that shit!!"
• (while watching a wedding) You know he's all smiles today, give him a couple of weeks, I think the honeymoon's over. Nah, I shouldn't say that. I guess there's a lot of people whose happily married. I just happen to be one of the people that's happily divorced."
• (About Beth) "Don't get me wrong, I like Beth, she's a sweetheart. But, oh shit! It's just out of control!"
• (About Gabriel nominating himself as team leader) "Gabriel, I mean come on, "I wanna lead! I wanna lead! I wanna lead!" What do you wanna lead? You can't cook! What the fuck you gonna lead?"
• (After the red team won the sorority challenge 'hands down') "'Hands down'?! Are you fucking kidding me?! Do you even know what hands down means? That means it was without even a doubt."
• (During Cook For Your Life) "Because I'm older, people are gonna question your stamina, but I bring more energy than some of these younger guys do. I'm in the kitchen all day long; I'm on my feet all day long. It don't bother me, I live for that shit!"
• (After Anton tried to blame Scott for his mistake) "Scott got you all fucked up? How did Scott get you all fucked up?"
• (After being eliminated) "I'm 48 years old. I wasn't supposed to be here, and I did everything anybody else who was 28 did, as good or better. I wanted to be there at the end, but am I gonna go pout and cry about it? Fuck, no! It's been a great experience. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'd do it at 49 and really piss people off! (laugh)"

Gallery[]

• Chef
• Dishes

Richard's Intro Spot

Richard in Blue Jacket

Richard's Confessional

DeMarco, Richard, and Gabriel Nominated

Richard in the Cook For Your Life Challenge

Gabriel and Richard Nominated

Richard Eliminated

Richard's Signature Dish (Episode 1)

Richard's Potato Dish (Episode 3)

Anton and Richard's Creative Memory Ingredient Dish (Episode 5)

Anton and Richard's Pizza (Episode 7)

Richard's Dome Dish (Lobster) (Episode 9)

Richard's Cook For Your Life Dishes (Episode 9)

Richard's Creative Pork Dish (Pork Loin) (Episode 11)

Richard's King of The Hill Dish (Episode 12)

References[]