Don Savage

“

Everything's bigger in Texas, especially the portions.

”

Hometown/Residence	Houston, TX
Occupation	Cafeteria Chef
Statistics
Signature Dish Challenge Score	0 out of 1
Challenges Won	1
Services Won	1
Times as BoW/Announcer	0
Times Nominated	2
Placement	15th
Episode Eliminated/Withdrew	15 Chefs Compete

Donald "Don" Savage was a contestant on Season 10 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 15th place.

Season 10

Episode 1

Main article: Episode 1001 - 18 Chefs Compete

The eighteen chefs arrived to Hell's Kitchen via SUVs and police escort, and as they walked in, Sous Chef Scott told the chefs he shaved his head to prove his commitment to Ramsay and showed a picture of him with a full head of hair, before deciding to shave the chefs' heads. After two chefs got their heads shaved, really Sous Chef Scott's friends, the latter was about to shave Danielle's head until Ramsay stopped him and told her to get back in line. He told the chefs to get in the kitchens to cook their signature dishes.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Don was the first person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay and went up against Robyn. He hoped to impress Ramsay and felt confident about his chances, before presenting his southwestern saltimbocca. After tasting his giant portion of one, Ramsay coughed and had Robyn try it. He was asked how cumin he added, to which he replied half a teaspoon. Ramsay asked Robyn if she wanted to spit her bite to which she agreed. Ramsay brings a trash can and did so. The spice was considered too powerful, and he lost that round to Robyn. The blue team lost the challenge 3-5, and they were punished by cleaning up both kitchens.

During dinner service, Don was on the meat station with Chris. He was not seen much, but Guy felt he was in his own world for not contributing and wandering around. The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Clemenza considered him for elimination due to being the weakest chef overall, and for not doing anything that night, which Brian agreed. However, he argued that he had no chance to do anything that night, and was backed up by Tavon.

Don was the blue team's second nominee for elimination, with Tavon as the first. However, he was not called down as Ramsay found his nomination crap as he didn’t do anything wrong that night, and was spared from elimination because Royce was called down instead. While being dismissed, he was ecstatic for Ramsay calling out his teammates for trying to send him home.

Episode 2

Main article: Episode 1002 - 17 Chefs Compete

During the Scallop Challenge, Don was not seen during the scallop gather and was paired up with Clemenza. They were seen bringing up only one attempt, Ramsay rejected it for not matching his standards. The blue team lost the challenge 2-6, and they were punished by cleaning up the ice from the front entrance, prepping prawns for the following night’s service, and drinking a scallop shake. During the punishment, he was disgusted by the scallop shake.

During dinner service, Don was on the pizza station. At the start of service, he worked on his pizzas in a slow pace, Royce tried to interject, and Ramsay told the former not to finger the dough. After calling Ramsay intimidating, he sped up a little, but served a pizza that was burnt on the top and raw on the bottom, with Ramsay asking how the fuck he managed that before showing the men the dish. Patrick called him a dumbass for failing to make a seven-inch pizza, and Ramsay refused to go down on a pizza. Despite that, he got his refire accepted.

Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, Don admitted how confused he was that things went south so badly, and compared it to a bomb blowing up. Justin considered him for elimination for struggling on the pizzas, but Chris defended him.

Don was not nominated for elimination, and while being dismissed, he was tired of losing and wanted to win either a challenge or a service.

Episode 3

Main article: Episode 1003 - 16 Chefs Compete

During the Immigrants Lunch Service Challenge, Don was on the grilled cheese station with Patrick. He was not seen at all, the blue team lost the challenge, and they were punished with hard labor at Ballona Wetlands.

During dinner service, Don was made waiter. At one point, he was struggling to spell the word appetizer, and when he did send it up, Ramsay sarcastically congratulated him for passing sixth grade. The blue team won the service.

Episode 4

Main article: Episode 1004 - 15 Chefs Compete

The next day, a group of dogs was let loose in the dorms, and their loud barking woke up the chefs. When Sous Chef Scott gave them overalls to put on, Don said that he was old McDonald due to being old, his name being Donald, and was going to a farm.

During the Creative Lamb Challenge, Don was paired with Clemenza on the lamb chop, they were the first pair from the blue team to have their dish be judged by Ramsay, and went up against Tiffany and Danielle. Then, Clemenza presented their herbed crusted grilled lamb with a roasted cauliflower feta melt, but Ramsay compared the lamb chop to Steven Tyler’s ear lobe and handed Clemenza the herbs as they were not needed. However, Ramsay did praise the mustard and feta combination as mouth melting, and after a tough decision, they tied the round with Tiffany and Danielle. The blue team eventually won 3-2 and were rewarded with a VIP trip to the Hollywood Park racetrack, and when Clemenza asked for some cash to gamble, Ramsay gave them $100 to use and asked them not to spend it on hot dogs.

During dinner service, Don was on the meat station with Royce. When Brian burnt the refire for the cod, he said that the latter was way under a pile of shit. On the next order, he was clueless over what pan the Wellingtons went on, and Guy said he was wearing 17 seat belts due to him driving the bus. Then, he sent up his Wellingtons, and despite Royce’s concerns, they were deemed perfect. On the next order, when he sliced his steak, Royce announced that it was raw. However, he ignored Royce, and sent the raw steak up, with Ramsay calling him Dumbo after showing the men. As he felt he was shitting himself in fear, he kept calling out one minute on the refire, irritating the men as Ramsay told him he has said that for the past three minutes like a fucking idiot. When he sent up the refire, they were medium-well, and after berating him for keeping him waiting for that, Ramsay kicked him out of the kitchen. After making it back to the dorms, he argued that there was a lot of shit going on in the kitchen, yet he was getting hounded by Ramsay for not being good enough.

Both teams were named joint losers and were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, Clemenza accused him of being lost that night, but the latter argued that he only had one problem that night and felt fish was the station that brought them down that night. However, he was also considered by Patrick and Guy.

Don was the men’s first nominee for elimination, with Brian being the second, and they joined Roshni and Danielle from the red team. During his plea, he said he had a lot to offer the men, but when Ramsay asked him why the men nominated him, he felt that they wanted to step up, only for Ramsay to feel they wanted him to step out of the way instead. He was eliminated for his poor performance on meat, and not having his head in the game after four dinner services. During his exit interview, he said he originally hoped for Ramsay to love his food and knew he was more of a perfectionist than what he showed.

Ramsay's comment: "Everyone in Hell's Kitchen starts at the bottom. Unfortunately, Don stayed there."

Nomination History

Week 1	Nominated
Week 2	Safe
Week 3	Win
Week 4	Nominated

Post Hell's Kitchen

• After his appearance on the show, Don became Executive Chef at Saint's restaurant until it permanently closed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, which makes his current career unknown.

Trivia

• At age 44, he is the oldest of his season.
• He is the only contestant to this date who was not called down by Ramsay at the opening night elimination after being nominated.
• Chef Ramsay's comment on Don's elimination is quite similar to his comment on Emily's (Season 8) and JP’s (Season 13).
• At 15th place, he is the lowest ranking contestants to have one of their nominations voided.

Quotes

• (About his signature dish) "Everything's bigger in Texas, especially the portions."
• (About the scallop shake) "Scallop shakes? (gags) Ice cold, shitty three-hour old scallops? Horrific."
• "I'm old, I'm Donald, and it looks like I'm going to a farm. I'm Old McDonald!"
• (After being eliminated) "I thought that I would be able to come out here and, you know, that he would just love my food. And you know, I thought I was more of a perfectionist, um, than I was."

Gallery

• Chef
• Dishes

Don's Intro Spot

Don in Blue Jacket

Don's Confessional

Danielle, Roshni, Brian, and Don Nominated

Don Eliminated

Don's Signature Dish (Episode 1)

Don and Clemenza's Creative Lamb Dish (Lamb Chop) (Episode 4)