Aaron Song

“

I'm Aaron. Oh, you already know my name because it's on my shirt!

”

Hometown/Residence	Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Occupation	Retirement Home Chef
Statistics
Challenges Won	0
Services Won	1
Times as BoW/Announcer	0
Times Nominated	0
Placement	10th
Episode Eliminated/Withdrew	10 Chefs Compete

Aaron Song (November 19, 1959 - November 30, 2010) was a contestant on Season 3 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 10th place. On November 30, 2010, he unfortunately passed away as a result of diabetes complications.

History

• Constestant
• Guest

Season 3

Episode 1

Main article: Episode 301 - 12 Chefs Compete

The twelve new aspiring chefs were heading down to Hell's Kitchen in SUVs, while getting to know each other on the ride. Once they arrived at Hell's Kitchen, Jean-Philippe introduced himself, but before he could go into how he and Ramsay met, the latter appeared and told the former to cut the crap. Afterwards, Ramsay ordered the contestants to cook their signature dishes.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Aaron was final person to have his signature dish judged by Ramsay, and surprised the latter with his cowboy appearance. Ramsay if he brought his horse, and he claimed it was parked outside, with Ramsay saying he has never seen an Asian cowboy before. He made a finger food platter, but while Ramsay liked it, he said there were too many things on the plate.

Before dinner service, Aaron struggled to make the ice cream in the blue kitchen and was starting to feel stressed, but Rock came to help him. During the briefing, Ramsay asked him how he was feeling, but he broke down crying. While Ramsay tried to calm him down, Jean-Philippe stalled the waiting diners outside the restaurant. Eventually, he calmed down as he knew he could do it.

During dinner service, Aaron was on the meat station with Josh. He sent up his first order of chicken, but it was black on the bottom. As he tried to redo the chicken, he felt useless as he could not do anything correct all day while Ramsay ordered him to wipe off his snot. Later, he started to get dizzy and left for a while, but an unsympathetic Brad wanted him to get better at cooking and felt that he gave up when he walked outside. Ramsay checked on him at the back, but he refused to quit as the former tried to calm him down. Josh took over the meat station but found out that all of the meat he cooked was ruined, leaving the men with no meat to continue service. A dismayed Sous Chef Scott asked how they could be out of meat if they have not served any.

During the post-mortem, Ramsay asked Aaron how he was feeling, and he claimed he was feeling a lot better. The blue team won the service, but while being dismissed, he felt he dodged a bullet, hoping for the best if his body held up.

Episode 2

Main article: Episode 302 - 11 Chefs Compete

Back at the dorms, the men expressed concern for Aaron's health problems in service, but he reassured them that he was alright. However, his comment on under eating caused more concern, and he secretly knew he was the weakest link on the men, knowing he must suck it up for the team.

Before the Dover Sole Challenge, Aaron started to cramp when he was carrying his bucket along with Eddie, much to the latter's concern. He sat out because he felt dizzy, but at the same time, it evened the teams at five members each. The blue team lost the challenge 8-9, and they were punished by prepping all the Dover soles and both kitchens for the next service. During the punishment, Bonnie told him to get better and take care of himself as he slept for four hours until he came back. However, he was still dizzy and aching from his cramps. He contemplated quitting the competition due to his poor health, but Brad called bullshit as it would leave the men down a member. So, he was convinced to stay, with Rock knowing that the most important mission was supporting him through the next dinner service. Afterwards, the men had a group hug.

Later that night, Aaron confided to Julia about his standing with the younger men as they knew more than him, but she told him not to worry about the men's experience. Before dinner service, Brad named him the one to serve and clean Dover Soles tableside. One hour before service began, he went out to the dining room to meet with Ramsay and Jean-Philippe. Even though Ramsay tried to give Aaron a pep talk, he continued to black in and out during the talk, eventually sitting down due to stress. Fortunately, he bounced back, and Ramsay told him to come out of his shell, even though he was still cloudy.

During dinner service, Ramsay spotted Aaron talking with the diners instead of being at his station and told Jean-Philippe to get him out of there. After receiving Vinnie's Dover Sole, he prepared to serve it tableside but was very slow at deboning the fish, taking fifteen minutes for one fish and leaving it cold for the customers. Later, his deboning was not going well as many customers found tiny bones in the Dover Sole. When Jean-Philippe told Ramsay that, the latter called him over and told him to concentrate when he claimed that he could not see the bones due to the poor lighting. After several mistakes, Ramsay kicked the blue team out of service, accusing him of failing to filet a fish. The blue team lost the service, Ramsay reminded he how he shook hands with everyone in the dining room like the President of the United States, and he apologized for failing that night. Rock was named the "Best of the Worst".

Aaron was not nominated for elimination, even though he was really surprised by that decision.

Episode 3

Main article: Episode 303 - 10 Chefs Compete

At 5:58 AM the following day, a group of navy officers and army soldiers woke the teams up and ordered them to get dressed. Aaron was cramping again and needed Rock and Brad helped him get dressed as they refused to leave a man behind. During the Army and Navy Service Challenge, he started off at the omelet station. Despite having the confidence to cook breakfast food, his omelet pan caught fire and threw two burnt orders in the trash. His poor performance on omelets was slowing momentum, causing Brad to name him the blue team's weakest link. Josh and Brad took over his station, but he was seen going silent and accidentally dropped a pan of bacon, further putting the men behind.

The blue team lost the challenge, and they were punished by doing KP duty, which included prepping a thousand pounds of potatoes and onions. During the punishment, he collapsed due to the stress of moving the bags into the kitchen, much to his team's concern. They called the medic over, and Josh was scared for him as he was sent to the hospital in an ambulance. The following day, at the hospital, he received a phone call from Ramsay, and learned that he could not return to Hell's Kitchen because of his health, much to his disappointment. Ramsay gave no comment on Aaron's departure, and he received the coat hanging and burning picture sequence immediately after the phone call.

Nomination History

Week 1	Win
Week 2	Safe
Week 3	Hospitalized

Season 4

Episode 3

Main article: Episode 403 - 13 Chefs Compete

During the red team's reward, Aaron made a cameo, where he was a customer at the Saddle Ranch Chop House. When the team and Ramsay entered the restaurant, he was riding the rodeo, and greeted Ramsay and the red team, giving all of them big hugs. Ramsay mimicked his crying before the opening night on the previous season, but he declared there was nothing to cry about now. After, he wished a good day to everybody and left, and Vanessa compared him to a big teddy bear.

Season 6

Episode 1

Main article: Episode 601 - 16 Chefs Compete

Aaron made another cameo appearance during the opening of that season, and gave a rule to the contestants about what not to do. He said that he was so excited for his first dinner service, and then, a clip of him crying when both teams were lined up minutes before service was shown. Finally, he revealed the final rule "There's no crying in Hell's Kitchen".

Post Hell's Kitchen

• After his appearance on the show, Aaron became a celebrity chef. He also gave cooking demonstrations and worked with the Salvation Army to teach veterans how to cook. He was also a spokesperson for Henry's Farmers Markets, before passing away in November 2010.

Trivia

• He is the second contestant who withdrew from the competition for health reasons, following Larry (Season 2).
• He was the second Asian-American contestant to compete on the show, following Wendy (Season 1), and the first male Asian-American contestant to compete on the show.
• He is the first contestant to be medically removed who received the coat hanging and burning picture sequence on the episode that he left.
• He was the first ever contestant to reappear in the show after departing that was not a winner. However, he is not the first to reenter the competition as that title would go to Robert (Seasons 5 and 6) three years later.
• He is the second contestant in his season who was never nominated for elimination, following Larry (Season 2).
• By nearly two decades, he was the first oldest contestant of that season, at 48 (but passed away at 51 few years later).
• He and Bonnie (also from Season 3) are the first two contestants from the state of California.

Quotes

• (To Ramsay when he jokingly answered about the horse) "I left it parked outside, chef."
• (Out of breath) "Hehe, I knew I shouldn't have worn this outfit!"
• (To Chef Ramsay) "I'm cracking up right now...…"
• (While crying) "I can't believe I'm cracking up right now!"
• (Greeting the customers) "Hi, welcome to Hell's Kitchen. I'm Aaron. Oh, you already know my name because it's on my shirt!"
• (After withdrawing) "I feel disappointed. I mean I've worked almost 40 years in the kitchen, for what? Guess I'm coming home."

Gallery

• Season 3
• Guest

• Chef
• Dishes

Aaron's Intro Spot

Aaron in Blue Jacket

Aaron's Confessional

Aaron after collapsing

Aaron medically evacuated

Aaron's Signature Dish

• Season 4
• Season 6

Aaron in Season 4

Aaron in Season 6