Episode 1019 - 2 Chefs Compete

2 Chefs Compete
Season	10
Episode	19
Airdate	September 4, 2012
Episode Guide
Previous	4 Chefs Compete
Next	Winner Chosen

The nineteenth episode of Season 10 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX on September 4, 2012. In that episode, Christina and Justin went to Las Vegas, competed in their final challenge, and reunited with their old teammates.

Elimination

Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay named Christina the first finalist. While surprisingly stunned by that, Christina hugged him in response. Then, Ramsay told Justin and Dana that they each had great highs in the competition. Still, because there was only one spot left, the former was named the second finalist, and Dana was eliminated. Before leaving, Ramsay urged Dana to keep her head up high as she had an extraordinary palate and allowed her to keep her jacket. During her exit interview, Dana received a retrospective montage.

Ramsay did not comment on Dana’s elimination, and she did not receive the portrait burning sequence.

Intro

After Dana left, Ramsay congratulated the finalists, and Christina wanted to jump on the table in celebration. After reminding the two that one of them would become the head chef at Gordon Ramsay Steak, Ramsay warned them that their next 48 hours would be difficult. He asked them to come up with a winning menu with four appetizers, four entrées, and three desserts.

While going back to the dorms, Justin was shocked that he made it to the final two over sixteen other chefs and that he had one more person to beat to win. After the two celebrated with champagne, they went straight to work on their menus. Justin hoped his father would be proud of him as in the past, he did not think he was cut out to become a chef. Meanwhile, Christina wanted herself on the menu as she cooked her entire life, learned a lot from her mother and grandmother, and hoped it would pay off. The next day, the final two woke up, and Ramsay called the dorms, asking the two to be at his office, making Christina nervous as they had a lot of work. At his office, Ramsay told the two that while it was important they go through their menu items with the Sous Chefs, Andi and Scott were not at Hell’s Kitchen, dismaying Justin as it was a blow to the stomach. Instead, Andi and Scott were waiting for them at Las Vegas, surprising the two as Ramsay wanted their meetings poolside in private cabanas. That made Justin happy as he wanted a day of relaxing.

After a quick pack up, the final two met Ramsay on board their private jet, and Christina called spending time with him and on a jet amazing. When Ramsay told the two to enjoy themselves after their long journey, Christina knew she came a long way after dealing with the red team's drama, putting her heart on each dish, and growing stronger at each service. After, Ramsay gave the two presents, revealing their head chef jackets. Justin said it meant a lot to get one due to his journey as he was very focused since the start, became more confident after every challenge, and felt he found his voice. Before landing, Ramsay asked the two who would win, and they said themselves.

Arriving in Las Vegas, Christina and Justin headed down to the Paris Hotel for some hand massages until the Sous Chefs arrived. However, Justin felt awkward sitting in a robe while Sous Chef Scott was in his chef jacket. Still, Sous Chef Scott was happy the former Justin was wearing shorts. After the Sous Chefs went through the menu items with the final two, Ramsay gave them one last surprise in the form of their loved ones; Christina’s mother and girlfriend and Justin’s parents. Justin was excited after figuring out it was not a mirage, and Christina said having her mom and girlfriend there for lunch was what she needed. Before leaving, Ramsay said he had arranged for VIP tickets at a Vegas show for everybody. As everybody relaxed, Justin felt his parents were very proud of making it far in both the industry and the competition. Then, Christina called it a nice break as it reminded her of what she left behind to compete.

Later that night, the final two and their loved ones met up with Ramsay to see the show. However, Christina was uncertain if all of this was happening right now as Ramsay rarely made it easy for them. Ramsay revealed that they would be watching Penn and Teller, although Justin knew that there was no time to relax as Ramsay always had a trick of his sleeves. One of Penn and Teller's tricks was the classic body saw trick, and afterward, it was revealed that Ramsay served as the legs. After, Ramsay turned the spotlight on Christina and Justin as it was time for their final challenge. However, Christina did not want to cook in front of people and wondered if she took an idiot pill to think she would relax, while the latter called Ramsay out of his mind.

Final challenge

For the Final Tasting Challenge, Christina and Justin had to cook five items from their menus before judges Ramsay invited, which Justin deemed a point of no return. After changing into their chef jackets, they had one hour to cook their dishes. As the two raced into the kitchen, Christina felt her nervousness turn into competitiveness and refused to lose. The final five had to make a salad, a seafood appetizer, a ribeye, a filet, and a fish entrée. Knowing that it was the final challenge, along with the knowledge Justin was going to bring out what he had, while Christina tried to keep it simple. In contrast,Justin went balls to the wall. As the challenge continued, Christina knew cilantro was potent but wanted to trust her instincts, while Justin did a salad with different techniques. Fifteen minutes left, Christina wanted her filet to have some richness and mouth melting. At the same time, Justin felt his ribeye dish was his strongest dish. Eventually, the final two had their dishes cooked and plated on time.

For the first round, Francois Payard came to judge the salad round. Justin was shocked the former was going to eat his dish, even comparing it to a high school basketball player meeting Michael Jordan. Justin presented his charred heirloom tomato salad with feta cheese crumble, compressed watermelon, and baniels vinaigrette. Payard praised the dish for being fresh and a nice summer salad. After, Christina presented her grilled asparagus and fried egg salad with baby arugula and freshly shaved peperino. Payard deemed the dish very nice and simple but felt a lot of vinegar for his liking. So, Justin scored that round, giving him the lead at 1-0. Michel Richard came to judge on the seafood appetizer round, making Christina nervous as he was her idol before presenting her coconut shrimp ceviche. Unfortunately for her, Richard got dismayed when she mentioned cilantro as he hated that herb. Despite that, he praised the dish for being well seasoned. That made Christina sigh in relief as it meant she was still in it. After, Justin’s Ecuadorian-styled poached shrimp ceviche was praised for being delicious, he scored that round and led 2-0. While Christina was not happy she got her ass beat in front of her idol, Justin thought he would make a clean sweep because if he got one more round, the challenge would end in his favor. For the fish entrée round, Julian Serrano came to judge, and Christina presented her pan-seared halibut with purple potato purée and grilled spinach. Serrano praised the flakiness of the dish, along with having a good flavor and balance. While Justin’s Dover sole with duck fat fingerling potatoes and wild asparagus was praised for the flavors, it was criticized for having an overcooked fish. After Christina scored that round, Justin led 2-1, and she felt it was her fight back. On the ribeye round, Stuart Gilles came to judge. Christina’s port wine ribeye was deemed nice and visually perfect for a steakhouse setting. Justin arrogantly felt it was too old school before presenting his charred pimatizi ribeye with beer-battered onion rings. However, while Gilles praised the combination of the flavors, Christina won that round, scoring a two-point tie. On the final round, Wolfgang Puck came to judge the filet round, which made Justin shocked in disbelief as everybody knew who the former was. Then, Justin’s charred filet mignon with butter-poached lobster and glazed carrot jue was praised for the charred component. After Christina presented her pan-roasted filet with veal bone marrow and gorgonzola mashed potatoes, she hoped Puck loved her dish. Puck deemed it not bad and mentioned he loved both dishes, but after a tough decision, he gave Christina the point for the taste alone, and she won the challenge 3-2. While Christina felt great after the victory, she knew it was not over yet as it was back to business the next day. At the same time, Justin warned Christina to watch out as he was more determined than ever.

Scoring

Justin			Christina
Round	Score	Total	Round	Score	Total
One	1	1	One	0	0
Two	1	2	Two	0	0
Three	0	2	Three	1	1
Four	0	2	Four	1	2
Five	0	2	Five	1	3
Results					3-2

Team selection

Returning to the airport, Ramsay announced that there was one more thing they had to do before returning to Hell’s Kitchen. However, Christina hoped it was nothing too crazy. As the private jet’s doors lowered behind Ramsay, he announced it was time to pick their brigade as Dana, Barbie, Clemenza, Robyn, Brian, Kimmie, Royce, and Patrick came out of the jet. Christina called it the most difficult decision she had to make as her team could either sink her or lead her to victory, while Justin was getting into the zone as he did not want to pick somebody tired. After welcoming back the returning chefs, Ramsay reminded them that Christina and Justin were now relying on them. However, Robyn commented that she was not surprised it was those two in the finale, but at the same time, she was not going to cheer.

Because Christina won the previous challenge, she got the first pick of the drafts, and she deemed it crucial as it also meant she would not get the final pick. Christina named Dana as her first pick, and the latter said it was an obvious choice because they were best friends, while Justin picked Barbie as his first pick. While shocked that he was not Justin’s first pick, Brian did not hold anything against the former as he was happy to be back, while Barbie was not surprised as she had been the best chef on meat that season. Despite Clemenza feeling that he was the best chef left to pick after Dana and Barbie, Christina picked Patrick as her second pick. Although Clemenza was surprised as Christina never worked with Patrick before, she claimed she felt the latter was a natural leader. For his second pick, Justin picked Brian, and he was happy to be on the former’s team as they were on the same page. Then, Christina picked Kimmie as her third pick due to the latter’s experience with meat. Although Robyn felt she should have been picked over Kimmie, she was used to being the outcast by now. After a tough decision, Justin named Royce as his third pick due to the latter’s hunger as he was not smiling, disappointing Clemenza as he had no idea what the thought process was anymore. Still, Justin felt Royce needed to prove something. That left Robyn and Clemenza as the final picks. Still, Christina had difficulty picking one of them as Robyn has been dramatic since the start, and Clemenza was not a quick performer on top of being sloppy. Justin was getting nervous as he might get Robyn and did not want the drama. Ultimately, Christina named Robyn as her final pick. While Justin was left with Clemenza, the latter was not happy that many people overlooked him.

Before service

Returning to Hell’s Kitchen, Christina and Justin took their brigades to different spots at the dorms. Justin knew he had a lot to talk about to his team as it was his life on his hands. Meanwhile, Christina went over the menu with her team. After mentioning a dish that had both scallops and risotto on the same plate, Dana got dismayed as they already had many problems with the two dishes in the past. When Christina revealed that she asked for a 14 oz bone-in veal chop, Kimmie asked what she was thinking as it was enormous. While Christina called it intense to have her fate in the hands of her team, she completely trusted them and told them she was thinking of Vegas now. For Justin, he went over the menu items as well, but Clemenza did not listen to him, much to his frustration. While Justin wanted Clemenza to understand that his life was on the line, the latter got insulted when he felt the former discredited his work and did not have anything he had to prove. At the same time, Brian called Clemenza dead weight. Eventually, a frustrated Justin told Clemenza to leave if he did not want to perform in the final service. Just as Clemenza was about to leave, the episode ended in a cliffhanger.

Trivia

• This marks the first time the final brigade selection was done outside Hell's Kitchen.