“ | I dread the day I walk out that door. | ” |
Cynthia "Cyndi" Stanimirov was a contestant on Season 11 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 4th place.
Season 11[]
Episode 1/2[]
- Main article: Episode 1101 - 20 Chefs Compete Part 1
- Main article: Episode 1102 - 20 Chefs Compete Part 2
When the chefs arrived in Los Angeles, Ramsay surprisingly told them to meet him in Las Vegas. Arrived there, they were greeted by showgirls, got on a double-decker bus for a tour of the city, and during the ride, Cyndi was excited to see a picture of herself on the Caesars Palace welcome board big screen. After that, the chefs got tricked in believing they would go on a Las Vegas 4D experience. However, they arrived in front of a live audience, where Ramsay was waiting for them.
During the Signature Dish Challenge, Cyndi said she was not working in an environment like that, and that safety was important for her. She was the seventh person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Michael. Despite her steak being deemed delicious, she lost the round to Michael, but the red team eventually won the challenge 5-4.
They were rewarded with a night out in Las Vegas, meeting Celine Dion, and get VIP tickets for the latter's show. Arrived in the presidential suite, Cyndi noticed the woman with sushi on her body, and was amazed, saying it was absolutely nothing she ever dreamed of. When she entered Hell's Kitchen after the reward, she declared she was dreading the day she would walk out that door, and later, she was annoyed by Gina manipulating a puppet, as she said she was acting like a 2-year-old.
The next day, during prep, Cyndi acknowledged that the red team was screwed because of Gina's confused state.[1] During dinner service, she was on the meat station with Jessica. When the red team moved on to entrées, she was concerned about Jessica being fresh out of culinary school, and believed it could turn to a disaster. When Jessica took more than three minutes to slice her lamb, she asked how much of an amateur she was, but when it was accepted for being perfectly cooked, she was impressed and told that Jessica could cook some meat despite that. Near the end, the red team pushed themselves to finish service strong, and she was extremely proud of completing it. The red team won the service.[2]
Episode 3[]
- Main article: Episode 1103 - 19 Chefs Compete
The next morning, some soldiers from the US army came in Hell's Kitchen, went to the dorms, and gave a very brutal wake-up call to the chefs by screaming and yelling to get up. When the teams were challenged to climb up the wall, Cyndi decided to take responsibility for lifting her teammates over, along with Nedra. The red team managed to get 31 lobsters in their bucket, compared to the blue team's 37, but fortunately for them, that was only the first part of the challenge. That amused her as she was convinced the men could not cook for shit, and the women could not lose the second part of the challenge.
During the Lobster Cleaning Challenge, Cyndi was paired with Susan. They scored the second point for the red team, and near the end, they scored another one. The red team won the challenge 11-8, and they were rewarded with a day on an 85-foot luxury yacht, a master sushi chef preparing them lunch, and a massage. While everybody was enjoying their sushi lunch, she said that it was the most gorgeous day possible, the day was unbelievable, and concluded by saying that the red team was having complete momentum and that they would not stop anytime soon.
During dinner service, Cyndi was at the dessert station. She was not seen much, except on Mary's first attempt at the risotto, where she was dismayed by the amount of white wine in it, saying it was basic stuff. The red team was eventually kicked out of the kitchen after a lot of mistakes. 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 1104 - 17 Chefs Compete
The next morning, all the chefs went outside for the next challenge and saw Ramsay, dressed in a running suit, and a lot of runners waiting in front of a start/finish line. That worried Cyndi as she did not know if they would have to run a marathon, while adding that she could not do that. During the HK3K Service Challenge, she checked Mary's run, but was worried when a lot of time passed before she could get any news. When Mary finally passed her first checkpoint, she was relieved and told her to just keep going. Later, she expressed worry when Dan arrived in the blue kitchen while Mary was still not finished. During service, she was not seen much, except when she motivated the team while Danielle was slow to end the fries, the red team eventually won the challenge, and were asked to go help the blue team finish their entrées.
They were rewarded with a day at Temecula Valley's Wine Country for wine tasting and making, and flew on a private jet to get there. Arrived at the private jet, Cyndi declared that Ramsay knew how to make them feel like VIPs, and during lunch, she reminded her teammates that they really got together.
During dinner service, Cyndi was responsible for serving Greek salads tableside. She was not seen much but managed to be in perfect synchronization with the appetizers at Kristi Yamaguchi's table. The red team eventually lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people. During deliberation, she agreed with Susan about considering Danielle and Jacqueline, while reminding that all of Danielle's Wellingtons were overcooked. Later, she noticed that Danielle was screaming, but was missing that passion when sinking, and after, was hesitating for the second nominee.
She was not nominated for elimination.[4]
Episode 5[]
- Main article: Episode 1105 - 16 Chefs Compete Part 1
Back in the dorms, Cyndi was still not over Jacqueline's pink chicken incident.
During the Protein Identification Challenge, Cyndi was paired with Susan, and they were the second pair to compete for the red team. When the women went downstairs after the blue team was finished, Ramsay revealed them the time to beat, which was 10:33, and she wondered what took them so long, adding that if the red team would not beat that time, they would be pathetic. On their turn, they landed on the chicken tacos, she said she was just throwing things in her mouth trying to taste things, and they got chicken on their first attempt. On Jessica and Nedra's turn, she was nervous and stated that they should guess what was there fast. The red team won the challenge 6:37-10:33, she was very proud to have won four consecutive challenges, and wondered what was wrong with the men, adding that if she was one of those, she would beg for a sex change.
They were rewarded with a day at Malibu, in a $15M beach house, as well as getting there in convertibles. During the reward, Cyndi tried the wakeboarding activity with Laird Hamilton, she fell while she was on her knees, and struggled to get back on her board, leading Amanda to compare her to a baby on the raft.
The next morning, when both teams were asked to get downstairs, Cyndi declared she was not ready for anything as it was still very early in the morning. During breakfast service, she was on the omelet station. On the first ticket, her eggs were stuck to the pans, and she struggled to get them out. She acknowledged that they had to come out of the gates quickly and that they had to keep the momentum going, and Ramsay asked the red team to wake up after she gave two minutes. Later, she and Ja'Nel rallied and served food at a good pace, and near the end, she acknowledged that in order to win, they had to send the pancakes in the following ten seconds.
The red team lost the service as they failed to complete their tickets before the blue team, and they were asked to nominate two people. During deliberation, Cyndi considered Jacqueline, saying that if the pancakes were properly done, they would have killed the blue team, and Nedra, which infuriated the latter.
She was not nominated for elimination.[5]
Episode 6[]
- Main article: Episode 1106 - 16 Chefs Compete Part 2
Back in the dorms, Cyndi told the red team that all they had to do was execute.
During dinner service, Cyndi was on the garnish station. She was not seen at all, but after a lot of mistakes, the red team was kicked out of the kitchen. Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two people each. During deliberation, she commented about the last raw pork and acknowledged that if it was not for that, they would have completed service.
She was not nominated for elimination.[6]
Episode 7[]
- Main article: Episode 1107 - 15 Chefs Compete
Back in the dorms, Cyndi compared Mary to a cat as she had nine lives.
The next day, both teams went in the dining room, where Ramsay introduced the Chinese Dish Creation Challenge, along with the Samurai statue that was placed there. When the countdown began, everybody ran to the plate of fortune cookies that was in front of the statue, but when they arrived, it started moving, making everybody flinch and laugh. Then, Sous Chef Andi brought the red team's basket of giant fortune cookies that would be carried with chopsticks, and during the first part, Cyndi was worried as she saw that most of the dishes only had four ingredients when five were needed. So, she decided to help Ja'Nel and Jacqueline by shouting out ingredients that were laying on the table, without much success.
During the second part, Cyndi was paired with Mary, they worked on the dumplings course, and she was dismayed that there was no rice for any of the dishes, while acknowledging that Ja'Nel and Jacqueline dropped the ball. She was the fourth person from the red team to have her dish judged, her honey soy dumplings were praised for being sweet, sour, and spicy, and she won the round over Ray. The red team lost the challenge 3-4, and they were punished by cleaning both kitchens for the next service, as well as making pot stickers and steam dumplings from scratch, and eating balut eggs for lunch. During the punishment, she called it tedious, and declared that she did not like punishments.
During dinner service, Cyndi was at the dessert station. She was not seen much but was also dedicated to serving the chef's table. Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate their two weakest chefs each.
She was not nominated for elimination.[7]
Episode 8[]
- Main article: Episode 1108 - 14 Chefs Compete
The next morning, both teams went to the dining room, and they were taken outside by Ramsay, who introduced the Farm Animal Challenge. During the first part of the challenge, Cyndi was the sixth person from the red team who entered the pen, and she chose a duck and risotto combination. During the second part, she volunteered to drop her dish because she was not enough confident in it, along with Jacqueline.
The red team won the challenge 3-2, and they were rewarded with a day at the Aquarium of the Pacific, as VIP guests. During the reward, Cyndi participated in the penguin feeding activity, along with Mary and Nedra.
When both teams were lined up before the service, Cyndi was disappointed that the blue team would be cooking for Ramsay's family as the red team had their shit together, unlike the men. During the Family Night dinner service, she was on the pizza station. She was not seen much, and after the red team served all of their tickets, they were asked to go over to the blue kitchen to help the men out, and the service was completed.
The red team won the service by a mile.[8]
Episode 9[]
- Main article: Episode 1109 - 13 Chefs Compete
The next morning, both teams went to the dining room, where Ramsay introduced the Steak Creation Challenge, and during the challenge, Cyndi was the first person from the red team to have her dish judged. She served her wild mushroom dusted Porto house with black garlic, thyme, and rosemary butter, which was perfectly cooked, and praised for the nice flavors, but she lost the round to Jon, much to her disappointment as she hoped to have at least tied the round.
The red team won the challenge 4-3, and they were rewarded with a day by the pool at the Wilshire Hotel, with a 360 degree view of Los Angeles, as well as a manicure and pedicure. While being dismissed, Cyndi praised the red team's streak of challenge and service wins, and called it amazing.
During the Steak Night dinner service, Cyndi was on the garnish station. She was not seen at all, but she was kicked out of the kitchen for whatever reason, along with Jacqueline, Amanda, and Nedra, and she was very furious about being kicked out for no apparent reason. The red team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people. During deliberation, she considered Amanda as an obvious nominee for not being confident to cook meat.
She was not nominated for elimination.[9]
Episode 10[]
- Main article: Episode 1110 - 12 Chefs Compete
Back at the dorms, Cyndi reminded Amanda how she packed her bags after being ejected from service. The next day, a picture of her as a teenager holding a trophy was seen, and she called it hysterical.
During the Quinceañera Planning Challenge, Cyndi explained that Mary was doing the chicken, and asked Amanda how she was feeling. She cooked the hot appetizer, was the second person from the red team to have her dish judged, and went up against Barret. She made fried cheese ravioli, and it was praised for the cheese coming out and being hot and melting. After Barret's dish was revealed to have hot sauce in it, she asked if the boys even listened, and won that round over the former. When the score was tied at 2 each, she explained that it was close and still had a fighting chance. The red team won the challenge 3-2, and they were rewarded with a trip to Knott's Berry Farm.
During the Quinceañera dinner service, Cyndi was on the meat station. After Nedra dropped the tuna refire due to bumping into Amanda, she annoyingly told the latter to get her station under control. Later, she sent up her ribeyes to the pass, but they were raw to the point Ramsay felt they still had their fucking horns on and angrily ordered her to send him the perfect ones after she revealed there were more in the oven. Despite that, her refire was accepted. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, she was considered for elimination by Mary, but felt she has been a leader since she came, and was not the dead weight for the red team, but challenged them to put her up as she was going to fight.
Cyndi was named the red team's second nominee for elimination, with Amanda as the first, and they joined Barret and Zach from the blue team. During her plea, she acknowledged that it was her worst performance yet, but promised that it would never happen again, when Ramsay asked her if she gave a shit, she said she gave a huge shit. After Amanda's elimination, Ramsay announced he was not done yet, and the episode ended as a cliffhanger.[10]
Episode 11[]
- Main article: Episode 1111 - 10 Chefs Compete
Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay felt that there was a downward spiral trend from Cyndi, but when she begged Ramsay to take her word that she was not on a downward spiral, she was sent back in line, therefore surviving elimination.
During the Presentation Challenge, Cyndi opted for sea bass, briefly fell over, and quickly recovered. After Ramsay announced that the chef with the best dish from the winning team would be featured in People’s Magazine, she called it globally huge. She was one of three chefs from the red team to make it to the second round, was the second person from the red team to have her dish judged, and made fennel crusted sea bass with honey cherry vinaigrette. It was praised for a surprisingly good taste, and she scored 90 points in total. After Mary's dish received praise, she was confident the former could win it for the women. The red team won the challenge 269-257, and they were rewarded with a photoshoot for Star watch and received Vitamix blenders. During the reward, she was excited to see what she would look like as she never wore makeup before, and was impressed over her makeover.
During the Private dinner service, Cyndi got dismayed when Nedra poured cold water into the pot as they needed a rolling boil to cook the pasta, and called it the biggest rookie mistake she saw in her cooking career. When the water was not boiling fast enough, she was forced to cover it with another pot to speed it up, but when Ramsay discovered the situation, he angrily demanded foil to cover the pot so it would boil in thirty seconds. She was in charge of the loup de mer course and was able to get her course out without any problems. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate one each. During deliberation, she felt it was a choice between Susan and Nedra, but the latter refused to go up even though she called the pasta mistake an amateur move.
She was not nominated for elimination.[11]
Episode 12[]
- Main article: Episode 1112 - 9 Chefs Compete
Back at the dorms, Cyndi hoped Nedra would not hold that night against them.
The next day, at 4:50 AM, the chefs were sound asleep as Sous Chefs Andi and James came into the dorms and woke them up with air horns and pots. While that startled Nedra and Anthony, the chefs were ordered to head downstairs, although Cyndi wanted to put some pants on before going down. Once downstairs, Ramsay announced that both teams would create their own menus for that night’s service, and she took it as a compliment as it meant Ramsay trusted them enough to have their own dishes featured instead of his. As the red team worked on ideas, she got concerned when Nedra suggested a gumbo as if they did not have a good menu, they were screwed.
During prep, despite Cyndi feeling that they were all doing multiple things, she noticed Nedra only doing the gumbo very slowly. When Ramsay looked over their menu items, he asked the them what the first problem they could see, and while she felt it was the gumbo, angering Nedra, it turned out it was not. During dinner service, she was on the fish station with Nedra. As the red team began cooking their first order, she knew they had to have a great service that night after Ramsay tore up their menu earlier. Despite Ramsay telling Nedra to give her something to do as she had nothing, the latter did not until Susan spoke up. Later, she announced that she needed five minutes on the branzino, but Ramsay asked her why she did not drop it earlier, and she admitted that she had no hot pans. As she knew she was dragging her team down on fish, she sent up her branzino to the pass, only for Ramsay to find out it was raw, much to her frustration as she knew it was raw in her gut. Fortunately, the refire was accepted.
The red team won the service, but their celebration was cut short as Ramsay called the dorms and told Mary to bring the entire team down to his office, making Nedra nervous as she did not know what to expect. There, Ramsay told the red team that he wanted them to have a meeting and decide who was joining the blue team after elimination as he wants that person to be both a fighter and a leader who could whip the men into shape. As everybody wanted to move into the blue team, they drew a name from a hat, and Cyndi's name was chosen. Not only did she say blue was her favorite color, but she could not wait to see the men’s face when they find out she was joining them.[12]
Episode 13[]
- Main article: Episode 1113 - 8 Chefs Compete
Continuing from the previous episode, an irate Ramsay sent the red team back into the red kitchen and gave them two minutes to discuss who was going into the blue team, yelling that he did not ask them to pull names out of a hat like a fucking game show. Both Cyndi and Susan did not want to go if Zach was in the blue team as the latter was certain he was going to be eliminated. She said goodbye to Nedra as the latter was reassigned to the blue team.
During the International Cuisine Challenge, Cyndi went up against Anthony, and they landed on Greece, with their ingredients being Kalamata olives, yogurt, pine nuts, feta cheese, and grape leaves. She said she loved Greek food and that she could work with it. During the cooking, she told Susan to pick something and go with it after the latter annoyed everybody with her open thoughts. Then, Susan struggled to figure out how the rice cooker worked, with her feeling the former was treating it like R2D2. She was the third person from the red team to have her dish judged and presented her stuffed chicken roulade with orzo salad. It was deemed delicious and seasoned beautiful, she scored that round over Anthony, and was confident they had it in the bag. The red team won the challenge 3-1, and they were rewarded with a $2,000 shopping spree at Kitson, lunch at Mr. Chow’s, and brand new cookware. During the reward, she was happy she did not go into the blue team.
During dinner service, Cyndi was on the meat station. She was not seen much, but multiple mistakes from the red team got them kicked out of the kitchen. As they left, she said “fuck me”, while Ramsay retorted “fuck me? How about fuck you” in response as she asked how they were making these stupid mistakes. Back at the dorms, she asked Ja'Nel what happened to her as she was running the kitchen well in the past before falling hard that night, but the latter had no explanation as she was ashamed of her performance. With both teams kicked out, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe to shut down both kitchens. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate one each. During deliberation, she deemed Ja'Nel’s night a bad one.
She was not nominated for elimination.[13]
Episode 14/15[]
- Main article: Episode 1114 - 7 Chefs Compete Part 1
- Main article: Episode 1115 - 7 Chefs Compete Part 2
Back at the dorms, Cyndi was surprised Nedra failed on appetizers as the latter was number one on that station in the red team, and praised Mary for standing up to Zach.
The next day, Cyndi was picked to compete in the Touch Challenge and went up against Anthony from the blue team. On the first ingredient, egg, she said it felt gross to the touch and that it could be anything, but got it correct, along with polenta. On their final ingredient, oysters, she asked what the hell Ramsay put in the bowl as it felt like snot, and lost to Anthony 2-3. However, it was not the actual challenge. During the Blind Taste Test, she was the third person from the red team and went up against Jon. She got cheddar and parsnip correct, and the red team won the challenge 7-6. They were rewarded with a seafood lunch at Nobu in Malibu and horseback riding at the Santa Monica mountains.
During the King of the Hill Challenge, Cyndi said she loved working outside the box and wanted to bring it hard. When Susan's lamb came out raw, she told the former to step it up as she cannot hold her hand in an individual challenge. She was the final person to have her dish judged by Ramsay, knew everything was at stake and presented her pan-seared halibut and succotash. Before tasting her dish, Ramsay recalled her tri-colored filet dish but noticed she went somewhere different with her dish. While Ramsay praised the fish, Jon wanted to see something wrong, which came true when Ramsay felt the sauce was a little too creamy. As Ramsay struggled to make a final decision, she was confident she was going to win.[14] However, she lost the challenge to Jon, and while she was disappointed that she lost by an edge, she felt Ramsay was seeing her as a front runner, and planned to edge out everybody in the end.
During prep, Cyndi smelled something burning, which was the bermante smoking on the flat top in the blue kitchen thanks to Jon. During dinner service, she was on the appetizer station. While she and Mary were getting appetizers out, on their next order, the latter was late on the lobster tails. While Mary apologized for the wait, she blamed her for not communicating with her as Ramsay told her to wake up and talk to Mary. She apologized as she knew Mary had to cook a garnish for her risottos, and asked what the fuck was wrong with herself. Despite that, the table was sent out. Later, Ramsay took notice of the mess she was making and told her to keep the risotto in the pan before accusing her of working like a dirty pig. Then, she sent up the risotto, but there was not enough for the six ordered, and Ramsay accused her of slowing down and dragging the kitchen with her. While she wanted to slap herself in the backroom for that, the VIP table received their appetizers, and the women were halfway through the rest of their course. When the red team was working on desserts, she told Susan to stop flirting with Jeremy Sisto and help her with desserts.
The red team won the service, but Ramsay asked them to name a volunteer to move into the blue team. During deliberation, Cyndi did not want to deal with Zach for being fully arrogant, and when it was decided that Ja'Nel was going over, she feared the latter was going into a black hole. After Anthony's elimination, she said goodbye to Ja'Nel.[15]
Episode 16[]
- Main article: Episode 1116 - 6 Chefs Compete
Back at the dorms, Ja'Nel told Jon and Zach she was excited to work with them, but that commented dismayed Cyndi as she wished they kept the former and sent somebody else to the blue team, referring to Susan.
During the Relay Challenge, Cyndi was on the first round and decided to break down the chicken as it needed the most time to cook, before searing off the lamb. On the fourth round, she accidentally left the halibut in the pan for too long and it burned on one side, and during the fifth round, she realized she forgot to tell Susan to sear the chicken. When Mary failed to plate their chicken, and it came out dry, she could not look Ramsay in the face after he called it a fucking disgrace. On the halibut round, she presented the red team’s dish, but Ramsay called it a mess as it looked like it was dropped from the ceiling. In addition to the over sear on one side, it tasted burnt as well.
The red team lost the challenge 0-2, and they were punished by taking in deliveries of potatoes and onions, prep them for the Los Angeles Mission, and prep both kitchens for that night’s service. During the punishment, Cyndi started growing short of breath, which Mary took notice of before leaving to get some water for her. After seeing her like that, Sous Chef Andi called the medic over, and Susan grew worried for her. She told the medic that her chest was tightening up and feared she would leave the competition. Fortunately, she recovered enough to join Susan and Mary again despite being lightheaded and refused to leave from an asthma attack during her second punishment. As the red team peeled potatoes, Mary complained she was going to have nightmares over the sound, while she claimed she bought hers already peeled.
During prep, Cyndi was still not feeling well, called it the toughest service yet due to her exhaustion, but said she would still be working and reassured her teammates she can do it. During dinner service, she was on the fish station. As the red team went through on appetizers, she got confident about their chances on entrées but was caught cooking the sea bass and Ramsay reminded her not to cook them until appetizers were complete. When Ramsay asked Mary why she was doing that, the latter said she did not know why and told her to hold off. On their final order on appetizers, they were waiting on her lobster tail for the risotto, but she sent up an overcooked lobster tail, Ramsay tossed it, had it ricochet of the wall, and Susan said they could not make stupid mistakes when black jackets were on the line. While Mary tried to help her on the refire, it came out raw that time, leading Ramsay to bring the red team into the pantry room, which Mary knew was not a good thing. Ramsay warned her that she was screwing the red team’s standards, and told her to slow standard and increase the standards. Calling it a swift kick in the ass, she got her third attempt accepted and refused to give up. Later, she got her sea bass accepted.
While both teams were named joint winners, Ramsay asked them to nominate one person each. During deliberation, Cyndi knew Ramsay was looking for an MVP, not the most improved, and said despite her hiccups, she was the strongest chef. However, Susan could not see her like that anymore based on the mistakes the former made, but she claimed that if it was not her herself, Mary and Susan would have been long gone. Mary nominated her as she expected a lot more based on her experience, but she argued that she could open a restaurant if she left, while Mary could barely work a line.
Cyndi was named the red team's nominee, but Ramsay questioned that decision and asked her who she felt the weakest chef was. She believed Mary was, but received a vote from Susan. However, she was not called up to the front, as Ramsay chose to call down Susan, and survived elimination.[16]
Episode 17/18[]
- Main article: Episode 1117 - 5 Chefs Compete Part 1
- Main article: Episode 1118 - 5 Chefs Compete Part 2
The next day, Ramsay revealed there was one more thing he had to cover before turning their attention to the video screen next to him. Cyndi had no clue what they were watching, but wanted to watch with intensity. She revealed a video message from her mother and sister, making her feel good to hear from them. Soon after, she reunited with them, and was in happy disbelief. She explained how they were not in black jackets yet, but her sister reassured her that she had it, making her happy how much they care about her. Before business could take place, she begged Ramsay not to eliminate one of them with their families in the restaurant as it would be humiliating, however, Ramsay revealed that all five of them were getting black jackets. As such, she cried for the first time since competing, despite revealing that she was a big cry baby back home, and was the third person to receive her black jacket.
After changing into their black jackets, Ramsay revealed that from now on, the challenges were individual, and Cyndi called it an amazing accomplishment, before saying that her new goal was winning the competition. Before announcing the challenge, Ramsay revealed that the reward would have one person spend the afternoon with their loved ones, and she called it the best reward she heard. During the Pressure Cooker Challenge, she got pork roast, but knew it would be a difficult challenge. During the cooking, she wanted to use squash, took notice of Mary’s tongue out as it meant the latter was very focused, and saw it totally fly that day before telling the latter to put it in before she drooled all over her food. After Jon burned his lamb, she was surprised to see him crumbling. Near the end of cooking, she felt her pork has not rested properly. When Nancy Silverton and Lesley Barger Suter came into guest judge the challenge, she knew the two women were experts, before knowing that they could not look like amateurs. She was the third person to have her dish judged, and wanted to win a challenge by herself. She made a pork roast with acorn squash purée and fig compote, but while the dish was praised for the flavoring, it was criticized for an off-putting color on the pork, and an unappealing presentation as Ramsay felt it was carved 5 hours ago. After, she scored 7 stars, to her dismay as it was not even the halfway.
Cyndi lost the challenge to Mary, and was punished to help with Tree People which included digging up holes, slashing brushes and shoveling mulch. In addition, they were also forced to participate in recycling day. During the punishment, Cyndi and Susan cleaned out a hillside, but was getting sore from the work. Then, she and Susan claimed that they saw something big crawl out of the Earth.
Later that evening, Ramsay called the dorms and asked Mary to bring everybody downstairs immediately.[17] There, Ramsay told them they would be facing off against a team of former champions. When Season 6 winner Dave appeared, his presence intimidated the final five as Cyndi recalled how much of an animal the former was with only one working arm, and now they had to face up against him with two working arms. When the final five talked about station assignments, both her and Susan wanted to be on meat as she felt she was better there than the later, and then, suggested they make Susan a floater as the latter was the weakest out of the five, and did not want to go down because of Susan. Ja'Nel agreed with that idea, and after, she put the former on appetizers, Mary on garnish, and Jon on fish. However, Susan refused to be a floater and felt she was having an ego trip, but reluctantly decided to let the decision stand as the former hoped she was ready the following night, or else it was game over.
During dinner service, Cyndi was on the meat station. When Mary tried to be a leader, the latter's loud voice made her ears almost bleed. She was seen getting entrées out, but on their final order, she was juggling lamb and Wellingtons, before discovering that the latter were raw. Susan, who wanted to be on meat, noticed that she was having issues with her timings, and Ramsay told her not to scorch the lamb. After, Susan wanted her to get their final ticket out as they had a chance to beat returning champions, and she got her dish out. As they finished before the champions, she felt they finished strong, but one customer felt her lamb was too raw for her liking, and Jean-Philippe brought it back to the red kitchen. While she wanted a break, she felt her clock was ticking away, while Jon wanted to win. However, her refire was raw and bloody, and Mary begged her to get it together. While she was dismayed to have made an amateur mistake in a black jacket, she brought up her third attempt to success.
The black jackets lost the service as they received a 93% approval rating under the champion's 95%, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Mary considered Cyndi for elimination, but while she disagreed with that notion, Mary reminded her about the raw lamb even though she did not want to see anybody go home. However, she felt they were looking for an excuse to send her out, and told Ja'Nel that it almost felt Susan was running appetizers more than her.
Cyndi was named the second nominee, with Susan as the first. However, she argued that Susan and Mary were the weakest chefs as they should not be looking for the most improvements, but instead they should look for a leader, even though Susan called her a weak chef. During her plea, she was not ready to give up her black jacket, and that Ramsay only saw her weak points. When Ramsay asked her what was different from her over Susan, she felt she was more well-rounded. She survived elimination, and while being dismissed, she felt the competition would get dirtier and that Ramsay said he was going to take her jacket off her cold dead body.[18]
Episode 19[]
- Main article: Episode 1119 - 5 Chefs Compete Part 3
Back at the dorms, Mary lets out her frustration how she has been called the weakest chef two nights in a row and having her growth ignored by her teammates, but when Cyndi reminded her that she was not even up fighting for her spot, Mary retorted she could have been. While Susan tried to sympathize with Mary’s dilemma, she retorted that Ramsay was looking for the MVP of the black jackets, not who had the most improvements.
The next day, Ramsay showed the final five a covered dome containing an entrée for them that was making its way into more 5-star restaurants, but Cyndi could not guess what it was as she never ate in 5-star restaurants. During the 10 Portions Gourmet Burger Challenge, she explained how she liked burgers, decided to make an American wagyu burger with bourbon-glazed onions, and wanted a big fucking burger before believing that Susan and Ja'Nel would do a dainty burger. As the judges tasted her dish, David Rosoff liked the amount of meat placed in her burger. She lost the challenge to Jon, but he picked her to come on his reward, which she called awesome. They went to the dtox Day Spa, and during the reward, she called the ambiance incredible and tranquil and took notice of Jon's facial movements and noises. After, she and Jon celebrated not being at Hell’s Kitchen doing the punishment.
During dinner service, Cyndi acted as a floater, and when Antonio Sabato Jr. came into the chef's table, she took the order, and was not nervous as, despite Sabato Jr.’s attractiveness, he was not her cup of tea. When Ramsay asked for the lobster, she ended up staring at Ramsay until Mary sent it up. Despite that, the order was accepted, and she served the VIP’s their appetizers. Later, she got stunned when Mary sent up a slider with no patty, and when the refires were dry, she dreaded the thought of getting kicked out in black jackets. After service, Ramsay asked the final five to name two people for elimination. During deliberation, she was dismayed over how badly they performed but knew she was not going home as she had a strong performance. She was disappointed in Mary for serving poor Dover sole, and accused Ja'Nel of tripping over the pressure.
Cyndi was not nominated for elimination, and while being dismissed, she commented that there were only two people in her way for the finals and was going to bring the heat.[19]
Episode 20[]
- Main article: Episode 1120 - 4 Chefs Compete
Back at the dorms, Cyndi took Mary's claims about not being a weak chef with annoyance, still deemed the latter as a weak chef, and come the next day, Mary would sink instead of swim.
The next day, Cyndi was paired with Ja'Nel on a puzzle challenge, and commented that it was not long ago when she herself did a puzzle. However, she felt Ja'Nel was not working with her on the puzzle, but the latter called it harder that it looked. While they lost to the pair of Jon and Mary, it was not the real challenge, and Ramsay announced the Taste It Now Make It Challenge, much to her excitement. During the challenge, she cooked both venison and buffalo at the same time, even though she was 95% sure the cut was the former, and ended up using venison as her protein. She also used butternut squash purée and turnip. During the judging, she called it hard when Ramsay gave her no feedback. She won the challenge as she got all but the purée correct, and was happy to finally win a challenge by herself.
Cyndi was rewarded with a $1000 shopping spree at Sur la Table and lunch with Ramsay at his own Fat Cow restaurant in Los Angeles. During the reward, she took notice of the moving truck outside for the punishment, and said hanging with Ramsay was the reward of all rewards. At Sur la Table, Jean-Philippe joined her, even revealing he had Ramsay’s private expense card with him for the shopping spree, and she wanted to give her mom a mixer for all she has done for her. At the Fat Cow, she called herself the luckiest girl in the world to have Ramsay two feet away from her and eat with him, before asking what more could she do. Ramsay suggested that she steps out of her comfort zone, and she knew she has not been as vocal as she could have been, before promising to do so that night. Later, she came back from her reward, but Mary was not in the mood to look at her purchases as they needed help.
Before service began, Cyndi was surprised when Ramsay announced that he was eliminating two chefs at the end of service. During dinner service, she was on the appetizer station. As orders kept being called, she felt she had over four pans of risottos being fired, but was multitasking to Ramsay’s praise. After, she got her risottos accepted, and felt she deserved to be in the final two, before stepping up as the first chef to run the pass. Despite feeling she was a strong leader and could get vocal, nobody responded to her call out when she read the order, and Ramsay told her to talk to them like a chef and not as she did at the dorms. Thankfully, her second attempt proved successful, but unknown to her, Sous Chef Andi sent up a risotto with crab instead of lobster, and despite feeling she had it, she plated the risotto without knowing it was incorrect. However, Ramsay told her the mistake, forcing a refire, and she asked why she could not have tasted crab. Despite that, food was leaving the kitchen, and she ended her performance as a “good but not great” ranking. During Ja'Nel's turn, she sent up bland capellini twice, and Ramsay reminded her how she started off strong on appetizers before accusing her of trying to sabotage Ja'Nel. She argued she was not sabotaging Ja'Nel, and got her third attempt accepted. During Jon's turn, the former accidentally called for a Wellington without pork on it due to Jean-Philippe's incorrect ticket, and she knew it could not be done as the prosciutto was already wrapped in before service began, and sarcastically asked if he wanted them to crack one open and take out the prosciutto. During Mary's turn, the former rejected her risotto, but she got the refire accepted. After seeing Mary's strong performance, she now saw the former as a strong competitor.
After service, Ramsay asked the final four to come up with a plea on why they deserved to be in the final two. During deliberation, Cyndi and Jon admitted how hard that night was as she felt some people would be delusional on how good they were on the pass, but she herself felt she deserved to be in the final two. Then, she reminded Ja'Nel of her going down under pressure like in the previous service, but the latter accused them of having tunnel vision as everybody else sent up poorly made food that night, and was frustrated how they were targeting her out of only one mistake. After, she hoped for Ramsay to see it their way and send Ja'Nel home.
When the final four came downstairs, Ramsay asked them why they deserved to be in the final two. Cyndi said she had been a competitor since the start and met the bar Ramsay rose. However, she was named the first person not going into the final two and was therefore eliminated. Before leaving, Ramsay praised her fantastic attitude and that she was born to cook. During her exit interview, she received a retrospective montage of her time on the show. Ramsay gave no comment on her elimination, and she did not receive the coat hanging and portrait burning sequence.[20]
Episode 21/22[]
- Main article: Episode 1121 - 2 Chefs Compete
- Main article: Episode 1122 - Winner Chosen
Cyndi was one of the 10 chefs that returned for the final dinner service. She was Ja'Nel's first pick and the first pick overall, with the latter reasoning that she has worked with her before, felt she was a strong chef who could work fast, with her victory in the Taste It Now Make It Challenge being used, and she was happy to have been picked first as it meant it was a close decision. She was followed by Susan, Zach, Amanda, and Ray.
Back at the dorms, Cyndi brought up that three of the four items were grilled, which led to Ja'Nel feeling that her team was testing her decision, but wanted her menu to please the customers. Then, she was not sure about beef cheeks for an entrée as nobody from her city would order a dish like that, and Susan commented that she never saw that on a California menu before.[21] Eventually, Ja'Nel left after growing frustrated with her team disliking her menu, and she told the team to give her space. When Ja'Nel came back and told them they were sticking with the menu, she disagreed with the menu but was ready to help Ja'Nel win as she had been a team player since the beginning.
During prep, Cyndi asked how they got stuck with two idiots, referring to Ray and Zach, while Susan feared they had two bad apples in the bunch. Near the end of prep, she warned Ja'Nel that their noodles were half frozen. During dinner service, she was on the appetizer station with Ray. When nobody responded to Ja'Nel's callout, she asked them to as she had her back on her big night. Later, she helped Susan get her refire accepted, and when Zach and Amanda had a communication breakdown, she told them to get it together. Ja'Nel eventually won the finale over Mary.[22]
Nomination History[]
Week 1 | Win |
---|---|
Week 2 | Safe |
Week 3 | Safe |
Week 4 | Safe |
Week 5 | Safe |
Week 6 | Safe |
Week 7 | Win |
Week 8 | Safe |
Week 9 | Nominated |
Week 10 | Safe |
Week 11 | Win |
Week 12 | Safe |
Week 13 | Win |
Week 14 | Nominated |
Week 15 | Nominated |
Week 16 | Safe |
Week 17 | Eliminated |
Post Hell's Kitchen[]
- After her appearance on the show, Cyndi was an Executive Chef at Bison & Bourbon before becoming General Manager at Noga Restaurant.
- She is currently General Manager of Red Hook Lobster Pound in Brooklyn, New York.
Trivia[]
- She currently holds the record for the most rewards in a single season, with 12 to her name, 11 of which she won and 1 of which was shared.
- She and Mary (also from Season 11), are the only contestants to date to win 11 challenges.
- She is the thirteenth contestant to be picked as a guest for a prize during the black jackets, following Michael (Season 1), Virginia (Season 2), Jen (Season 3), Corey (Season 4), Robert (Season 5), Jay, Holli (both from Season 7), Gail, Russell (both from Season 8), Elise, Tommy (both from Season 9), and Justin (Season 10).
Quotes[]
- "I dread the day I walk out that door."
- (About the HK3K) "Holy fucking shit. There are runners lined up and are we gonna have to run a marathon? I can't do that".
- (About their challenge winning streak) "4 in a row, completely undefeated, I don't know what the fuck is wrong with these guys. If I was on the guys team right now, I would be begging for a sex change."
- (About Jessica) "Who would have thought? Girl can cook some meat!"
- (After getting kicked out) "Fuck Me."
- (After not scoring with a good dish a second time) "Can't we both get a point? You're killing me Chef Ramsay!"
- (After being eliminated) "I really came into the competition with a lack of confidence. Even though I got beat up and knocked down, I didn't give up. I didn't falter under pressure. I was able to rise above and give everything, my whole heart, my whole soul. Winning all the challenges and winning dinner service was great. I know that I gave everything that I had throughout this competition. I came here not knowing if I was a chef, and I'm leaving here knowing that I am absolutely a chef."
Gallery[]
External links[]
Cynthia "Cyndi" Stanimirov on Instagram
References[]
Hell's Kitchen Season 11 |
---|
Staff |
Gordon Ramsay (Head Chef) • James Avery (Blue Team Sous Chef) • Andi Van Willigan-Cutspec (Red Team Sous Chef) • Jean-Philippe Susilovic (Maître d'hôtel) |
Contestants |
Gina Aloise • Ray Alongi • Jacqueline Baldassari • Barret Beyer • Danielle Boorn • Amanda Giblin • Nedra Harris • Susan Heaton • Michael Langdon • Jessica Lewis • Jeremy Madden • Mary Poehnelt • Anthony Rodriguez • Christian Rosati • Sebastian Royo • Dan Ryan • Jon Scallion • Cyndi Stanimirov • Ja'Nel Witt • Zach Womack |