Denine Giordano

“

At this point, my strategy will stick to me being about me.

”

Hometown/Residence	Philadelphia, PA
Occupation	Culinary Student
Culinary Education	Art Institute of Philadelphia
Statistics
Signature Dish Challenge Score	3 out of 5
Challenges Won	2
Services Won	1
Times as BoW/Announcer	0
Times Nominated	2
Placement	16th
Episode Eliminated/Withdrew	16 Chefs Compete

Denine Giordano was a contestant on Season 13 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 16th place.

Season 13

Episode 1

Main article: Episode 1301 - 18 Chefs Compete

While the chefs were on their way to Hell's Kitchen, the bus pulled to Pacific’s Cinerama Theatre as Ramsay wanted to show them an inspirational video before going to Hell's Kitchen. Denine was one of the eight chefs shown receiving their acceptance invitation. After Ramsay revealed the prize of the season, he asked all the chefs to cook their signature dish.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Denine said that she felt the pressure of cooking her dish in front of a live audience. She was the first person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay and went up against JR. She made an inside out chicken parm, and while Ramsay was a little concerned about the weird concept and prayed that it would not turn his stomach inside out, he praised the chicken for being delicious along with the sauce, and she scored 3 points out of 5. The red team won the challenge 24-23, and they were rewarded with a dinner at the Hotel Bel-Air cooked by Wolfgang Puck. When she learned the blue team's punishment, she asked the men if they could fluff her pillow.

During dinner service, Denine served prawn scampi tableside. She was not seen much, the red team won the service, and she was extremely happy by that.

Episode 2

Main article: Episode 1302 - 17 Chefs Compete

After getting woken up by lifeguards, Denine complained that she has not pissed or brushed her teeth yet, after calling it hell. During the Geoduck Challenge, she was not seen during the first part, but in the second part, she was paired with Janai. Together, they got at least one of their dishes accepted. The red team won the challenge 16-15, and they were rewarded with a day on an 80-foot luxury yacht with Ramsay, much to her surprise and excitement.

During dinner service, Denine was on the fish station with Katie. She did not get any response from Janai about time, which annoyed her. Then, she sent a raw lobster tail, causing Ramsay to ask what was wrong with her. While working on the red team's third attempt on the first ticket, she tried to communicate with Janai but did not receive a proper time once again. When she sent her appetizers, both her scallops and lobster tail were raw. While working on entrées, she sent a raw salmon, and a fed-up Ramsay kicked the women out of the kitchen. Back in the dorms, she took the blame for the raw salmon. Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two people each for elimination. During deliberation, she was considered by Roe, Katie, and Jennifer, but said that her poor performance was a fluke, and promised to come back from her breaking point.

Denine was the red team's second nominee for elimination, with Janai as the first, and they joined Sterling and Fernando from the blue team. During her plea, she said that she owned up to her mistakes, and called her poor performance a fluke, but Ramsay immediately said that his eleven-year-old daughter could cook salmon with her eyes closed. She survived elimination, and while going back to the dorms, she said that the red team was dead to her.

Episode 3

Main article: Episode 1303 - 16 Chefs Compete

Back in the dorms, Denine was pissed that she had to look at her teammates who threw her under the bus and refused to be near them, adding that her strategy was to care only for herself. The next day, Ramsay called her and Sterling down, and she was asked to take off her jacket, but she received a new jacket for the next challenge.

During the Jacket Challenge, Denine asked for the vinegar, and a reluctant Roe showed her where it was, and said that it was only a burger she was making. She was the fourth person from the red team to compete and went up against JR, who she won against. Despite that, the red team lost the challenge 4-6, and they were punished by taking in deliveries of 500 pounds of coffee, grinding them by hand, and prepping both kitchens for the next service. She was frustrated that the red team was slowly falling apart but felt that she at least redeemed herself for scoring a point. During the punishment, she did not do any grinding, and she refused to help as she claimed to have not been responsible for the red team's loss, before walking out, much to Kalen’s anger.

During prep, Denine did not know where things were for the garnish station, much to Kalen and Jennifer's annoyance. After deciding to prep the appetizer station, she caused a fire but managed to cover it. During dinner service, she was on the meat station with Kalen. When she asked to help Kalen, she was rejected. When the red team was working on Wendy Williams' table, she sent a chicken that Ramsay considered dryer than a camel’s asshole in a desert storm. That was the final straw for Ramsay, who proceeded to kick the women out of the kitchen. The red team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination.

During deliberation, Denine was considered by Kalen as she could have sunk the red team further if she would have cooked the Wellingtons and lamb for the first table. When she tried to convince that she got pushed aside, Kalen responded that she did not even step up to help despite that. Despite blaming Kalen and La Tasha as their raw food got the women kicked out, and refusing to be nominated again, the rest of the red team agreed with Kalen, and she angrily left.

Denine was the red team's second nominee for elimination, with Kalen being the first. During her plea, Kalen blamed her for being the reason service went badly due to her inexperience, but she responded that she had more potential and that the damage she made was not as big as Kalen’s. In the end, she was eliminated for being nominated twice in a row, her string of poor performances, and lack of improvement. During her exit interview, she bitterly hoped that the women would underestimate the men as they did to her. Ramsay gave no comment on her elimination, and she did not receive the coat hanging and burning picture sequence until the following episode, during the recap.

Nomination history

Week 1	Win
Week 2	Nominated
Week 3	Nominated

Post Hell's Kitchen

• After her appearance on the show, Denine was a Sous Chef at Iovine Brothers Produce.
• Later on, she became Executive Chef at Mercer Cafè Navy Yard until February 2023.
• She is currently a Team Lead Sales Coordinator at Holman.
• She got married in November 2021, and had a son in April 2022.

Trivia

• She and Katie are the youngest of the season, at age 23.
• She is the first contestant to score a 3 out of 5 in the new format of the Signature Dish Challenge.

Quotes

• "At this point, my strategy will stick to me being about me."
• (About Ramsay's fake elimination) "Are you kidding me? Like, last night wasn't enough, you have to put me through that twice?"
• (After being eliminated) "They couldn't even use my cooking against me, they used my lack of experience. They are a bunch of bitches, and I hope to God they underestimate those boys like they've underestimated me because they are gonna get smacked on the fucking face."

Gallery

• Chef
• Dishes

Denine's Intro Spot

Denine in Red Jacket

Denine's Confessional

Janai, Denine, Sterling, and Fernando Nominated

Denine and Kalen Nominated

Denine Eliminated

Denine's Signature Dish (Episode 1)

Denine's Jacket Dish (Burger) (Episode 3)

External links

• Denine Giordano on Twitter