Adam Pawlak

“

I don't even care, man... I'm a savage.

”

Hometown/Residence	Milwaukee, WI
Occupation	Executive Chef
Statistics
Signature Dish Challenge Score	4 out of 5
Blind Taste Test Score	1 out of 4
Challenges Won	5
Services Won	3
Times as BoW/Announcer	1
Times Nominated	1
Placement	9th
Episode Eliminated	Blind Taste Test
Images of Adam Pawlak

Adam Pawlak was a contestant on Season 19 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 9th place.

Season 19

Episode 1/2

Main article: Episode 1901 - Welcome To Vegas

Main article: Episode 1902 - Shrimply Spectacular

The season begins with the eighteen new chefs arriving at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas as Ramsay wanted them to see the first official Hell's Kitchen Restaurant. Marino greeted the chefs at the front doors and took them inside the restaurant. As the chefs drank champagne, they got to know each other as Adam knew that Amber was a dedicated chef from Chicago and could not wait to go up against her. Eventually, Ramsay came in, explained the Hell's Kitchen Restaurant was built on the show's eighteen-season legacy, and revealed that it was one of the highest-grossing restaurants in America. Ramsay revealed that he brought them to the restaurant for inspiration because the winner of that season would become the Head Chef at the brand-new Hell's Kitchen Restaurant in Lake Tahoe. Ramsay admitted they would not be competing in the real Hell's Kitchen restaurant due to the demand, so they would be going to Los Angeles to compete.

The chefs returned to the bus to head to the airport as Marino handed out the tickets, and once arriving at the strip, they see a helicopter revving up, with Ramsay taking it and flying off. After some time, the chefs were called in for boarding, but as the chefs walked through the doors, they found themselves standing inside the restaurant. Then, Ramsay appeared in his chef jacket, revealed that for the first time in the show's history, Hell's Kitchen would take place in Las Vegas and had some performers do some shows for the chefs. While the chefs could not do any of the tricks they saw, they reaffirmed that they could indeed cook to Ramsay.

Before the Signature Dish Challenge, Ramsay asked Adam, calling him ZZ Top due to his look, to say the name of the challenge, and he correctly said it. He was paired up against Jordan, they were the final pair to play for their ingredients, but before that, Ramsay asked him when the last time was he trimmed his beard. He said he trimmed it before he left, and Ramsay waned him to be careful as the long length was a fire hazard. He and Jordan received rack of lamb,  mushrooms, and polenta as their ingredients. During the cooking, he was not worried as he cooked the best chefs in the country and cooked the strongest in Milwaukie. Ten minutes left, he revealed that he watched 99% of the show before competing and felt he could do anything Ramsay asked him to do. He was the eighth person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay and presented his lamb with black garlic polenta. It was praised for being cooked beautifully and scored 4 points.

The blue team won the challenge 28-27, and they were rewarded with dinner at Gordon Ramsay's Steak with Ramsay himself joining them and riding on the High Roller. During the reward, Adam felt that he and Declan were bonding due to being strong chefs off the bat. Later that night, he and Declan were still up talking about how Eliott pulsed the brown rice for his dish. He felt that there were people in over their heads.

During the Creative Shrimp Challenge, Adam made a shrimp linguine dish, but Sous Chef Jason was stunned that he only used one shrimp for his dish. He lost the challenge as he was not called up as one of the top three chefs from the blue team.

During dinner service, Adam was on the fish station with Declan. He was not seen much, except for serving a polenta and shrimp tableside. After Drew and Peter were kicked out of the kitchen, he was reassigned to meat alongside Marc. Although they got the refired meat accepted, the rest of the blue team were kicked out after Cody served soggy fries. The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination.

He was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 3

Main article: Episode 1903 - Hell Caesar!

During the Caesar Salad Challenge, Adam was seen getting two of his attempts accepted. Although the red team was ahead of them, he warned them that the men would not stop. The blue team lost the challenge 8-10, and he gave a deadpan celebrating cheer for the women. They were punished by prepping and peeling Scotch quail eggs for Ramsay's Caesar salad dish as it would be featured in that night's service. During the punishment, he and Declan made a "that's what she said" joke in response to Drew breaking an egg, and later, he had ten eggs peeled.

During dinner service, Adam was on the garnish station. He was not seen that night, and the blue team won the service.

Episode 4

Main article: Episode 1904 - Wedding Bells In Hell

During the Wedding Brunch Service Challenge, Adam was on the avocado toast station. At one point, he deemed their start a poor one after Declan moved too slow for Ramsay's liking. Later, he expressed dismay as he felt Josh was doing every steak cooking technique minus the one Ramsay was looking for. The blue team lost the challenge, and they were punished by making 1600 cupcakes for the wedding couples. Back at the dorms, Marc told him to stop smoking, and during the punishment, he said that he hated baking and did not want to bake 1600 cupcakes. After Josh ruined the purple cupcakes with pearls, he feared that Declan would flip.

Before dinner service, Ramsay announced that Drew would not be returning after leaving for the hospital days ago, and Adam welcomed Amber as a new teammate. However, he got mad when Amber said she was not used to losing, reminding her that the blue team won the previous service. During dinner service, he was on the appetizer station with Josh. He was not seen that night, both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each.

He was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 5

Main article: Episode 1905 - Hell Starts Taking Its Toll

While going back to the dorms, Adam dreaded another speech from Marc as the latter accused the blue team of playing politics and proclaimed that he would be the one left standing after the clouds were gone.

During the Mexican Cuisine Challenge, Adam cooked alone because the blue team had an extra person, and he decided to cook the enchiladas. While grabbing his ingredients, he grabbed beef. The blue team lost the first part of the challenge, and they were given 40 minutes of cooking time. During the cooking, he said he was going to blow everybody away with his enchiladas. He was the first person from the blue team to have his dish judged and went up against the pair of Kori and Mary Lou. Although he, a Milwaukee red-headed person, was the farthest away from Mexican food compared to Kori, he felt he had it. He presented his flank steak enchilada with cotija and onion. Aarón Sanchez thought the presentation was fantastic, and after tasting it, he called it a great example of where Mexican food is going, with Ramsay praising him for showing individual character. He scored that round over the pair of Kori and Mary Lou. When the score was tied at two each, Aarón asked him and the pair of Nikki and Syann to bring up their dishes again for the tiebreaker, and he said that any praise he got from the former was validation. Ramsay said that both dishes were elevated in the right way, and Aarón expressed proudness that there were chefs who took his culture seriously, causing him to shed tears of joy. In the end, Aarón told him that he had the best dish of the night, and the blue team won as a result.

The blue team was rewarded with a spa day at the Voie, located at the Paris Hotel. During the reward, he called the setting perfect for them, even saying that he would have left if the red team won instead.

During dinner service, Adam was on the meat station with Cody. After Josh had to clean out the butter from his pan, he told him to calm down as people at home can cook a fish like that with ease, and his New York striploin came out perfectly. Later, he felt that Peter was getting frantic, especially when the latter called out six minutes for the garnish when he only needed four. Although both teams were named joint winners, Ramsay asked both teams to nominate one person each. During deliberation, he considered either Josh or Marc for nomination.

He was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 6

Main article: Episode 1906 - Metal & Marina

During the Modern Italian Cuisine Challenge, Adam chose to go up against Nikki, and their dish was chicken saltimbocca. During the cooking, he found Cody's risotto to be burnt, but the latter felt that the toasting would add a nice texture, telling him that he will still serve it despite his reservations. He was the fourth person from the blue team to have his dish judged and presented his pan-seared spinach and pistachio stuffed chicken with tagliatelle. It was criticized for the pasta component, with Vinny Dotolo telling him that he should have dropped that for a better dish, but despite that, the flavors were on point, and he scored six guitars. The blue team won the challenge 33-28, and they were rewarded with riding in muscle cars with professional drivers and eating an Italian meal at the Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant. During the reward, he called their feast worth the win.

During the Italian Night dinner service, Adam was on the meat station with Marc. After Ramsay called out their first order of entrées, he told Josh to get the Wellington garnish ready, but the latter did not respond to him or Marc. Later, he told Amber to put her salmon on the heat now, but she refused as she felt it did not need six minutes to cook. However, Ramsay told Amber to do so if he told her that, but while he tried to repeat that, she snapped at him not to talk to her. That annoyed him as they were not here to babysit each other. The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, he suggested nominating Amber and Marc and said that if he had the latter as a boss, he would walk out the door and go to another restaurant.

He was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 7

Main article: Episode 1907 - A Pair Of Aces

During the Protein Identification Challenge, Adam was paired up with Declan, they were the final pair from the blue team to compete, and they grabbed the squab and snapper tacos. They grabbed venison and halibut, but that was incorrect, and their second attempt, goat and cod, was wrong as well. Then, they grabbed ostrich and monkfish, which was incorrect, while their quail and snapper pairing was half right. However, they brought back the snapper per most of the blue team's suggestion, and their next attempt, catfish and squab, was half right, and they only had a minute to find the correct fish protein. Cody screamed at them to grab the snapper again, but they grabbed monkfish instead, and it was incorrect. With that, time was up, and the blue team lost the challenge as they failed to beat the red team's 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

The blue team was punished by deshelling crab and prepping them for crab cakes for that night's service. Back at the dorms, Amber confronted Cody, Adam, and Declan for having a team meeting without her, but they argued that they were just having a smoke, and he felt she had to be fully on the blue team if she wanted to succeed. During the punishment, Cody asked what would happen if the blue team lost another teammate that night, but he knew another woman would join them. Then, he decided to stay silent as he did not find the conversation meaningful and said he was not here to make friends. When the red team came back from their reward, Syann started to flirt with him, and he remarked that big black women liked him.

During dinner service, Adam was on the fish station. He was happy to be on fish as he wanted to drive out of a station that usually crashed and burned, but he had his back against his scallops when he went into the fridge. Ramsay chewed him out for that, and when he walked the scallops, they were disgusting, frustrating Declan as he wanted one service where they were on point. Ramsay warned him that if he turned his back on food, he would produce shit, but while he had no excuse, he got his refire accepted and sent to a table of drag queens. Later, he was waiting to see Amber prove herself. The blue team won the service after completing the red team's orders.

At elimination, Adam saw how pissed Ramsay was when the latter came down from his office. While being dismissed, he felt that everyone on the red team was weak before deciding to knock them off one by one.

Episode 8

Main article: Episode 1908 - Crapping Out in Hell

During the Craps Challenge, Adam rolled C, and after a long thought, he picked carrots, dismaying Declan. During the cooking, he felt that the pork was the main component of the dish as there were many ways he could cook it, but he warned Amber not to kill her pork. After seeing that Kori forgot to remove the vein from her monkfish, he compared it to a brain. He was the fourth person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay and presented his five-spiced pork chop with celery root purée. He scored a perfect 5 for being extraordinary. The blue team won the challenge after a tie at 19 each, and they were rewarded with high wire lessons with Absinthe and a special lunch at Nobu. As the blue team left to change, he was excited to leave the restaurant, and during the reward, he called Nobu a Michelin Star-rated sushi restaurant.

Later that day, Ramsay gave Cody the responsibility of interviewing the blue team and naming two nominees. Back at the dorms, Cody told Adam that Amber suggested nominated him, but that made him feel that she was crazy. He argued that he has strived in dinner service while Amber has struggled ever since she moved to the blue team and told Cody that if he put him up for elimination, it would make him look stupid in front of Ramsay. He was not nominated by Cody and did not have to participate in the Cook For Your Life Challenge. Back at the dorms, he and Declan discussed Amber's chances and how she tended to tear up while under pressure while also feeling that Marc had no chance.

Episode 9

Main article: Episode 1909 - Blind Taste Test

Back at the dorms, Cody reminded Adam that he could have been in Amber's shoes that night, but he believed that he would not have gone home if that did happen. Although Cody warned him not to get cocky, he felt that he was already in the top two of the competition as he was making everybody think he was not a threat until it was too late. The next day, both teams relaxed at the dorms, where he called Declan an Irish baker for wearing his bandana.

During the Blind Taste Test, Adam was the second person from the blue team to compete and went up against Kori. He could only get green beans, and Declan received the ice cream and chocolate sauce dunks. During Amber's turn, he only got the ice cream dunk. The blue team won the challenge 10-8, and they were rewarded with a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon and an overnight stay at the Caesar Palace's private villa. During the reward, he saw Hoover Dam from the helicopter.

During prep, Marc asked Adam questions about the procedures for fish that night. During the Steak Night dinner service, he was on the garnish station. At one point, he walked up Marc's lobster tail, but on entrées, Cody tried to talk to him on timings, only for him to ignore the latter. That irritated Cody as he should be the most talkative due to being on garnish, and Ramsay was getting frustrated by the lack of communication. Later, Marc had him help with his fried egg, but he caused it to come out burnt, angering Declan.

The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Adam considered Cody for elimination for the misread order being sent up, but the latter considered him for not leading. Declan agreed as he felt he was an island that night and not answering Cody, but when he argued that he was making a million things that night, Declan reminded him that everybody was doing the same. Marc reminded him about how he burned an egg for him, but he argued that his problem that night was helping Marc out when he had things to do himself. However, Amber felt that his lack of communication meant he did not want to be a part of the blue team, which irritated him.

Adam was named the blue team's second nominee for elimination, with Marc as the first. During his plea, he believed that he both was passionate and a spine for the blue team since the start, arguing that it was the only night where he had a hiccup in service and felt that he could have communicated well if he focused properly. However, Ramsay asked him how he could run a brigade of twenty-five people if he could not be vocal on garnish. He was eliminated for his lack of communication on garnish, as Ramsay thought he would have shined that night instead of backing off. During his exit interview, he felt that he was a great asset to the blue team despite messing up on the wrong night, and although he was disappointed in Ramsay's decision, he did respect it.

Ramsay's comment: "Adam started off the competition strong. But unlike his beard, Adam stopped growing."

Episode 15/16

Main article: Episode 1915 - What Happens in Vegas...

Main article: Episode 1916 - Hitting the Jackpot

Adam was one of the seven chefs that returned for the final dinner service. He was Kori's third pick, after Declan and Jordan, and was followed by Marc.

During prep, Adam offered the team a shot before service. During dinner service, he was on the fish station. While most of the team responded for appetizers, he stood around and said nothing, leaving Declan to accuse him of being overconfident and spacey. While Declan got his risotto up to the pass, he was late with the shrimp but felt that Kori should not worry about it as they were cooking food. However, his shrimp were missing their heads, and he could not find them, much to Ramsay's frustration. So he had to refire the shrimp, and Kori told him not to lose his head over the missing shrimp heads. Fortunately, he got his refire accepted, and Kori served her first table of appetizers. After service, he felt Kori did a great job and felt they all did a fucking great job tonight as she signed his menu. Kori eventually won the finale over Mary Lou.

Nomination History

Week 1	Safe
	Safe
Week 2	Win
Week 3	Safe
Week 4	Win
Week 5	Safe
Week 6	Win
Week 7	Safe
Week 8	Nominated

Post Hell's Kitchen

• After his appearance on the show, Adam opened three restaurants: Egg & Flour Pasta Bar, Egg & Flour Bay View, and E & F Pizzeria, all of which have excellent and positive reviews.
• He opened his first restaurant just five days after filming ended, and he also won Best Chef Milwaukee 2019 and 2020.
• He helped open several successful restaurants.
• On February 28, 2023, he competed against Declan (also from Season 19) on Food Network's Superchef Grudge Match.

Trivia

• He is the third contestant from the state of Wisconsin, following Suzanne (Season 6) and Russell (Season 8).
• He and Amber are the second pair of contestants that knew each other before coming onto the show, following Gizzy and Scotley (both from Season 18).
• He is the eleventh contestant, and seventh non-black jacket contestant to be eliminated on the first time being nominated, following Jimmy (Season 1), Garret, Keith (Season 2), Giovanni (Season 5), Elizabeth (Season 9), Kimmie (Season 10), Michael, Anthony (both from Season 11), Alison (Season 14), and Dana (Season 17).
• According to himself on a YouTube comment section, he acknowledged his "Kori speaks Mexican" comment from the Mexican Cuisine Challenge on Episode 5 as a microaggression.

Quotes

• "I know Amber. She is a decorated Chef in Chicago. She knows how to run a brigade and she knows how to cook. I can't wait to go up against her."
• "I don't even care, man... I'm a savage."
• (About cooking in the Mexican Cuisine Challenge) "Kori is from Mexico, she speaks Mexican, and I'm from Milwaukee with a red beard and tattoos. I'm the farthest thing from a fucking enchilada, but I know I got this."
• (Alluding to Syann) "Big black women love me for some reason, I don't know."
• (After being eliminated) "Tonight was the one time I slipped up. It was just the wrong time to slip up. I felt like I fought my ass off here, and I did a lot of great stuff. I was a huge asset to the blue team. I'm just disappointed in Chef Ramsay's decision, but you know, in the end, that's, uh... it's his call."

Gallery

• Chef
• Dishes

Adam in Blue Jacket

Adam's Confessional

Adam during Blind Taste Test

Adam and Marc Nominated

Adam Eliminated

Adam as Returning Chef

Adam's Signature Dish (Episode 1)

Adam's Shrimp Dish (Not Judged) (Episode 2)

Adam's Mexican Dish (Enchilada) (Episode 5)

Adam's Modern Italian Dish (Chicken Saltimbocca) (Episode 6)

Adam's Craps Dish (Episode 8)

External links

• Adam Pawlak on Instagram