The ninth episode of Season 1 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox on July 25, 2005. In that episode, the final three had to make bread while sleepwalking and saw their families for the first time since their arrival, not knowing their fates were in their hands.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Jessica was relieved to survive her second elimination in a row and was now a part of the final three, making her very happy. Champagne bottles were waiting for them on the table as Ralph toasted to the contestants who were eliminated. On the patio, Jessica felt she was keeping up with Michael and Ralph than Elsie was and felt they were always a team since the beginning. Ralph was glad to have Jessica still around as she poured her heart into work every day and never giving up. After a few drinks, Jessica went to bed drunk, something Ralph thought was due to her height. Ralph followed her while Michael was still up.
Bread making[]
At 4 AM, the phone rang in the dorms, Michael picked it up, and Ramsay told him to get his two teammates and himself in the blue kitchen immediately for an emergency. When Michael told them, Ralph and Jessica did not believe him and tried to convince him to go to bed. Eventually, an impatient Ramsay sent Sous Chef Scott to the dorms to get them, and his presence finally convinced Jessica and Ralph that it was serious. They rushed to put their jackets on and went downstairs, with Ralph not knowing what was in store for them. Even though Ramsay knew what time it was, he reminded them that Hell’s Kitchen was in high demand as they opened in 15 hours. Also, their local baker could not provide them with their bread for that night’s service, so Ramsay decided they would do it themselves as it was part of being in the culinary business.
After the debriefing, Ramsay left as Sous Chef Scott told them that it was a simple recipe to follow before leaving himself. Ralph laid out a plan for them to work around, but Jessica was still a little drunk, so she did not know what was going on. While Ralph and Michael organized the bread-making process and ran the ovens, Jessica stood around doing nothing but yawning and then laying down on the counter. Even though she did not want to give up, Jessica was very tired from the day she had, and Ralph informed them that it was getting close to ten to 6 AM, and they would not finish for another hour. Michael decided to send Jessica to bed because she would be more of a hindrance. Two hours later, Jessica returned to the kitchen ready to help, but Ralph and Michael were almost done. Although Ralph understood Jessica’s exhaustion, he knew there was no rest in a restaurant. Michael felt that even without Jessica, they were still able to complete their job.
Individual challenge[]
After baking the bread, the final three went back to sleep and were woken up two hours later by Sous Chef Mary-Ann playing a triangle. Once downstairs, Ramsay asked Jessica how was the bread experience, and she said it was fun despite not helping that much. When Ramsay asked Michael what time they finished, the latter believed they walked out of the blue kitchen around 7:45 AM. Then, Ramsay reminded them that in eight hours, they were opening for service and declared for that night's dinner service, each of them was going to come up with a unique dish that reflected themselves. Also, the customers would determine their lives in Hell's Kitchen depending on that dish alone.
Afterwards, Ramsay explained the Perfect Soufflé Challenge, something he was looking forward to as he believed any restaurant should serve one. After a quick demonstration, each contestant had 10 minutes to create a unique perfect soufflé dessert, including a selection of fruit toppings. As the challenge began, Ralph immediately thought of a chocolate hazelnut mint soufflé, while Michael was still tired from the bread baking that he forgot the steps. Jessica knew how touchy a soufflé could be as it depended on the egg whites being appropriately prepped. Eventually, time was up, and everybody had their soufflés ready. Afterwards, Ramsay asked for the soufflés as they would be placed in the oven for baking.
After 15 minutes of baking, Ramsay took the soufflés out of the oven and started with Jessica’s raspberry mint soufflé. Not only did it look spongy, but it was the worst soufflé Ramsay ever tasted. Ramsay enjoyed Ralph's chocolate hazelnut mint soufflé for the taste, but he told him to put more egg whites to lift it better. Finally, Michael's chocolate raspberry soufflé was criticized for its lack of sugar. After deliberation, Ramsay declared Ralph the winner, and he was happy that he was able to step it up a gear after laying low in the previous challenges.
Reward[]
Because Ralph won the challenge, Ramsay said his reward was choosing the protein each chef would cook for their inspirational dish. The choices were beef, chicken, and tuna. Ralph was disappointed by the reward as it seemed low-key after all the other rewards in the past, but he chose beef. Michael chose tuna, and Jessica was left with chicken. After, Ramsay reminded them that the dishes that night would decide their fate in Hell’s Kitchen.
Before service[]
Immediately afterwards, the final three went into the red kitchen to plan their inspirational dish with the resources they had on hand. Sous Chef Scott told Michael to try and break out of the norm, and the latter decided to go simple with sesame crusted big eye tuna with roasted vegetables and lobster riced pialov. Ralph finally realized the advantage he had for winning the challenge as filet mignon was the biggest seller in the restaurant since the beginning. On the other side, Jessica was not sure of what to do with her chicken and asked Sous Chef Scott many questions as she wanted his professional opinion. Jessica revealed that she never made chicken before and hoped she was making it worth her while, before announcing her chicken stuffed with goat cheese, herbs and wrapped in prosciutto.
Once the final three had their dishes finalized, they began prepping for that night’s service. Michael wanted to dig deep and find the gear he has yet to hit, while Ralph felt so much adrenaline in his body that sleep was not important now. Later that night, Ramsay had the final three lined up, noting it has been a long day and understanding they were all tired. Ramsay reminded them how the customers were judging their dishes for that night’s service while he was judging them on their performance in the kitchen, using those factors to decide on the final two. Lastly, Ramsay reminded them that their goal was to complete a fully booked dining room, as it was something they all wanted.
Dinner service[]
The menu that night featured Ralph’s filet mignon, Michael’s sesame tuna, and Jessica’s stuffed chicken breast. Also, the chefs were managing a station alongside their own dishes with Michael on appetizers, Ralph on garnish, and Jessica on desserts. On their first order, Ramsay told them it was their night, but unknown to the final three, he has secretly invited their families to dine in that night’s service. These included Michael’s wife and in-laws, Jessica’s mother, sister, and girlfriend, and Ralph’s fiancée, mother, and uncle. Ramsay reminded Jessica how she was going to work on both her chicken dish and the desserts.
A half-hour into dinner service, Michael managed to get the kitchen to a strong start by sending many appetizers out. Now moving onto entrées, Ralph had his filet ready, but Jessica said she needed a minute her first chicken dish. So, Ramsay sent the other dishes waiting on the hot plate back, and Jessica knew she was at fault for that, apologizing to her teammates for that mistake. Then, Jessica admitted that she never steamed a dish before and just wanted to wing it as Ramsay said that chicken was supposed to be easy. Meanwhile, Jean-Philippe went to greet the families of the contestants in the dining room. When their orders came in the kitchen, Ramsay only mentioned to the contestants that VIPs were in the dining room, without any further information. With everybody’s entrées on fire for those tickets, Ramsay urged Michael to become more assertive as it was the night to do so.
An hour into service, the final three’s dishes received mixed reviews in the dining room as, while Ralph and Jessica’s dishes were well-liked, Michael’s was not. When orders of desserts came in, Jessica was having a hard time keeping up with the orders because she was concerned about her chicken dish. As Jessica struggled, Michael and Ralph were sending out the entrées to the hot pass. When the individual dishes came to the contestants' families, Ralph's beef and Michael's tuna were well received. Still, when Ralph's fiancée tasted Jessica's chicken, she spat it out. Back in the kitchen, Jessica struggled with the desserts, leading Michael to take her chicken dish over to continue sending out the entrées. On their next order, Ralph had a little communication problem with Michael as he did not know what the filet temperatures were, and Jessica failed to deliver a proper time for her desserts, leading Ramsay to lose his patience. Jessica finally said five minutes for the soufflés, but even though she asked for help, Ralph said he could not due to the flow of entrées. As Ramsay kept calling out more dessert orders, Jessica was getting frustrated and said she was trying her best. However, Ramsay was not happy with Jessica’s attitude and felt she was not good enough. Then, Jessica slipped and dropped a plate before asking Ralph to switch with her. However, Ralph said he could not, and Jessica said it was not her night, fearing they would not complete service unless she got some help.
Two and a half hours into service, Jessica sent unacceptable soufflés to the pass. She was forced to break a cardinal rule by asking Ramsay if he could help her. Ramsay categorically refused as he was running the pass and refused to shut the restaurant down for her sake. Jean-Philippe went into the kitchen to Jessica, telling her to believe in her team, before being kicked out of the kitchen by Ramsay as he had a dining room to run. After, Ramsay asked Jessica for a clear explanation over what was going on with desserts, and she said she would try to get some out while she worked on the soufflés. Jean-Philippe went to the contestants' families in the dining room to try and buy Jessica some time for the soufflés. As ticket orders began to dwindle, Ralph compared it to the New Year’s Eve countdown of the next millennium. When it came down to the last ticket, all three chefs became excited and wanted to finish as quickly as possible. When Ralph served the final main course, he joined Jessica and Michael on the dessert. Michael was desperate to complete a service and was getting nervous as customers began to get restless. When Jessica opened the convection oven to check on the soufflés, Michael told her not to, making her feel the latter was demeaning. Together, the final three completed the desserts and completed service. As service ended, the narrator listed whose order was the most popular. Ralph's filet mignon was the most popular out of the three with 42 orders, followed by Jessica's chicken with 34 orders, and Michael's tuna came last with 26 orders.
Post-mortem[]
When the final three were lined up, Ramsay mentioned they had a Hell’s Kitchen’s first by completing a fully booked dining room, high fived them in celebration, and, most important, no food came back. After stating that he was a very proud man, Ramsay brought the final three back to earth, saying that one of them would go home.
As they were clearing down, Jessica felt she did good and felt it was a good thing everybody was ordering chicken. Michael and Ralph met on the patio, with the former worried as his tuna dish was not a big seller compared to the others. Despite that, Michael wanted Ralph to go home as he was his biggest threat so far. Later that night, the final three met up in the living room and agreed that their time in Hell’s Kitchen had been tough but fun all at once. Jessica said she was a fighter as she would keep coming back from anything, while Michael called it his toughest service yet.
Elimination[]
Once downstairs, Ramsay told the final three that he had a feeling they would do well that night and was happy with their performance. So, Ramsay gave the final three a surprise, inviting Michael’s wife and in-laws, Jessica’s girlfriend, her mom and her sister, and finally, Ralph’s fiancée, his mom, and his uncle. After a heartwarming reunion, Ramsay revealed that each family completed a comment card, unaware that their decision would influence the chefs' stay in Hell's Kitchen. Each family member told the dish they enjoyed the most. Much to Ralph’s shock, they all loved Michael’s tuna dish, giving the latter a 3-0-0 lead and the former asking them to take the knife out of his back. For Jessica’s family, her girlfriend liked the tuna, her sister liked the chicken, and her mother liked the filet, giving Michael the lead 4-1-1. Finally, for Michael’s family, both his wife and father-in-law liked the filet, but his mother-in-law liked the tuna. In the end, Michael got the highest score with five votes for his tuna, followed by Ralph's filet mignon at three votes, and Jessica's chicken only got one vote. So, Jessica was eliminated. While Ramsay admitted that Jessica’s performance was not as good as the men, he told her she did an amazing job in the competition, deemed her strong, clever, feisty, and never short of a word, before telling her how proud he was. Then, Ramsay told her to go by the front door with her family, as she deserved it. Jessica received a retrospective montage of her run during her exit interview.
After Jessica and her family left, Ramsay congratulated Michael and Ralph for standing before him as the finalists in Hell’s Kitchen and reminded them that they were one step closer to winning their own restaurant. After, Ramsay allowed them time with their family, and as they did so, Ralph knew the only way he could beat Michael was to be stronger and perfect, while Michael felt the former had no chance against him as he would not rest until he won.
Ramsay's comment: "Now we're down to the final two. This is it! And the fascinating thing about these two guys is they're both equally as good as one another, and this is where they have to now separate, put everything they've learned from Hell's Kitchen, and show me what they're made of. That's what I'm looking for!"
Trivia[]
- This is the only time a third placer was eliminated over votes on a dish. This is also the only time the final black jacket service did not involve a running the pass segment.
- This features one of the rare times Ramsay did not issue a punishment to the losers outside of the Signature Dish Challenge (in its Season 1-5 incarnation), Elimination Challenges, and the Finale Challenges.
| Hell's Kitchen Season 1 Episodes |
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| Day 1 • Day 2 • Day 3 • Day 4 • Day 5 • Day 6 • Day 7 • Day 8 • Day 9 • Day 10 |