The tenth and eleventh episodes of Season 1 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox, on August 1, 2005, as a double feature. In those episodes, Ralph and Michael designed their own restaurants, chose their brigade for the final service, and one of them was declared the winner of Hell's Kitchen.
Intro[]
The episode began with a recap of the first nine episodes of the season, mentioning what happened and who got eliminated.
Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay told Ralph and Michael that the real work was about to begin as one of them would win their very own restaurant, before giving the two some appreciated time with their respective families. Michael was happy to see his wife as she instantly reassured him, while Ralph had a great feeling to see his family again due to the lack of contact. Eventually, the loved ones left Ralph and Michael, with the latter having no idea what the next day could bring.
The next day, Ralph and Michael met on the patio, discussing how they each wanted to win. Michael said he worked to the bone and fought through ten people to get to the final two with the same dream as himself and said he wanted a restaurant after all the sacrifices he made. Ralph felt like a million dollars and wanted a restaurant himself.
New restaurant design[]
Afterwards, the phone rang in the dorms, and Ralph answered Bonsoir. Ramsay told him to get in the dining room with Michael in two minutes, and when they hung up, Ramsay mocked Ralph's Bonsoir by calling him a stupid idiot. Two minutes later, the finalists sat down at a table and had a chat with Ramsay. He congratulated the two men for making it to the final two after a long and hard journey, and their biggest test was about to begin. Then, Ramsay noted Michael’s calmness throughout the competition but told him that there would be a day where he must become assertive, telling him to unleash the beast. For Ralph, Ramsay said he was very ballsy and gusty but felt he moved too quickly for his liking. When Ramsay asked the final two who was going to win, they each believed they would win. After the chat, Ramsay made them stand up, one on each side of the restaurant, and a huge white blanket came down from the ceiling, splitting the restaurant in half. Ramsay announced that this was their final test, as their respective halves would serve as their own restaurants for the final dinner service. The finalist had to design their dream restaurant, write and create their own menus, and run the kitchen like Ramsay would head to head. Michael said he was waiting for a test like that to happen as it would show them who had the skills to run a restaurant. At the same time, Ralph felt he had an advantage over the former as he was going to pull out all the stops to win.
Ralph and Michael had 56 hours to transform the dining room into their own restaurant. To give them some help, Ramsay provided the two with four important people of Hell’s Kitchen. The first was John Janavs, the designer and architect of Hell's Kitchen, who would help them design their restaurants. The second was Jean-Philippe, who would help them figure out the style of service they wanted. Finally, the Sous Chefs were available to help with their menus. Michael took the red kitchen, and Ralph took the blue kitchen.
The final two spoke with Janavs over their ideal restaurant designs. Ralph wanted a party like them for his restaurant as he wanted his customers to have a good time. He also wanted a mirror on the wall as a message for sharing. On the other side, Michael wanted to keep his restaurant plain-looking as he believed in a less is more theme, along with private booths. After talking with Janavs, Michael said it was hard to try and get all his ideas out of his head and onto paper, while Ralph felt the customers were going to enjoy his décor. For Jean-Philippe, Michael wanted both male and female servers in black trousers, but the former deemed it a little sad to have a unisex mentality. Ralph was the opposite, wanting a clear difference between the men and women servers in terms of uniforms, but Jean-Philippe asked him if he wanted the women in leggings.
After speaking with Janavs and Jean-Philippe, the construction crew began remodelling the dining room into the final two’s restaurants. In the dorms, the final two began working on their menus, and Michael immediately wrote down the dishes he wanted. Ralph wanted to focus on traditional dishes but put them in an Italian theme. At 9:13 PM, the final two went to bed early while the construction crew was still working on the redesigns, trying to get them ready for the final dinner service. The next day, Ralph noticed that his restaurant design was starting to take shape, but noticed that the curtains were missing, and he still had to get everything else ready. Michael felt the reality of the changes hitting him as the process was amazing for him. Then, Janavs told Ralph that the wallpaper company made a mistake on order, and they have less than needed from them. The best Janavs could do was to order from Pennsylvania and try to get it in by midnight. When Ramsay spoke with Janavs, the former expressed concern in the final two’s styles, feeling that Michael’s restaurant looked too cold and too contemporary, but Janavs said they were balancing out with the warm color of the wood. For Ralph, Ramsay felt it was becoming a modern bistro steakhouse despite having a 1920’s decor, but Janavs felt the former was trying to balance out the old with the new. Although Ramsay expressed nervousness in the planning of the final two, Janavs reassured him that he would be a lot calmer the next time he sees the restaurants.
Final challenge[]
Later that day, at 2 PM, Ramsay called up the final two and told them that the one thing he looks for in a new restaurant is a signature dish, the dish people would go to from across the globe. When Ramsay asked them what their signature dishes were, Ralph said his dish was a Porterhouse steak for two people Italian style, but Ramsay told him to look on the practical side as there was the chance only one customer wanted the dish. For Michael, his signature dish was a braised short rib ossobuco with roasted red garden yams. After hearing that, Ramsay asked the two to cook them their signature dishes.
As the final two cooked their dishes, Ralph explained that a porterhouse steak was the Cadillac of beef cuts, while Michael wanted the short rib to be rewarded with great flavors. After cooking their dishes, Ramsay tasted their dishes. He felt Ralph’s dish had a masculine steak but wanted something a little more inspiring, and on the other end, he felt Michael’s dish was fine and nimble. However, Ramsay revealed that a chef should not cook for themselves, but for the customers. Rather than tasting them himself, Ramsay would take them out to the streets and have the public judge the dishes for the Final Signature Dish Challenge.
Ramsay took the final two to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and explained the rules. They would stop a few people, have them taste the dishes, and see what they liked the most. The chef with the most votes would win an advantage. During the challenge, Michael believed that he could make up for the lack of Ralph’s charisma with his flavors alone, which became apparent when more people voted for his dish. Refusing to lose another challenge, Ralph became like a salesman, trying to sell his food and telling that his food was better than Michael's. However, Ramsay knew Ralph only did that out of panic and told him to let the customers enjoy it without the pressure. However, Ralph’s strategy worked as he was in the lead 6-5, but it did not last as the customers liked Michael’s more. One of the customers stated he liked Michael's dish more but liked Ralph more as a person before giving his vote to the former. At the end of the day, Michael won the challenge 12-6, but Ralph felt the former had an unfair advantage as he compared the dish to street food, unlike his own dish that was supposed to be served in a dining room. However, Ralph did not care as he was going to win the next day.
Scoring[]
| Ralph | Michael |
| 6 | 12 |
| Results | 12-6 |
Restaurant design continuing[]
When both finalists returned to Hell's Kitchen, they met John Janavs again, who told them that the workers were doing great. Ralph felt that the hurry was going to go away from his original design, while Michael felt that the progress of his restaurant was going well. After, they returned to the kitchen to work on their food.
Practice service[]
Later that night, Ramsay reminded Ralph and Michael that they were running their kitchens from the pass, calling out orders, and maintaining the quality of the food for their final dinner service. So, Ramsay decided to do a practice service for Ralph and Michael to feed the restaurant's construction workers, and where both would run the hot plate. Ramsay urged the final two to treat this as their own restaurant.
Michael was up first to run the pass but expressed nervousness going into Ramsay’s shoes. When Michael received the first order, he was not loud enough when calling out the ticket, and Ralph believed he would have the edge over the former due to the lack of vocalness. Ramsay told Michael he was not reading the dictionary at bedtime and had to be loud. Michael acknowledged his downfall, as his politeness towards the other contestants in the past was something he had to rethink about when running the pass. A few minutes later, Michael told the line that they looked like old people fucked, making Ramsay laugh as he never expected something like that from the former. However, Michael learned the lesson very well as his newfound assertiveness sparked energy to the kitchen.
Ralph was up next, and on his first ticket, he already seemed very confident and charismatic, calling it second nature. Ramsay praised Ralph for this, but Michael secretly sabotaged the risotto by deliberately forgetting to put the crab in, wanting to see what would slip past Ralph. Ralph failed to spot Michael’s sabotage, and the latter was amused that the former failed to see it. Also, Ralph was calling Jean-Philippe Jean-Pierre, frustrating the latter to the point of wanting to murder him. Construction workers started to complain, and a risotto came back with Jean-Philippe telling Ralph about the missing crab. Ramsay told Ralph he had to taste everything, and the latter told Michael about his supposed mistake. Despite that, Ramsay reminded Ralph that he should have noticed that mistake from the start and acknowledged it as a clever move from Michael for making the latter look stupid. Also, Ralph was about to serve salmon that looked broken, but despite Ramsay’s disapproval over the tactic, the former sent it out anyways.
After service, Ramsay was not impressed and detected many flaws from both contestants. Michael was reminded that he must run the staff and not the other way around, while Ralph was criticized for poor quality control. Ramsay warned the two that if they ran the kitchen the next day like they did that night, it would not be a good night for either of them. Ralph acknowledged that it was his fault for not noticing the crab initially and thanked Michael for the screw-up. When both got back to the dorms, Michael decided to do some soul searching and become more like Ramsay. So, Michael repeated all the insults Ramsay made to the other contestants in the past, much to Ralph’s amusement as he knew the former was a soft-spoken person. Michael was worried about yelling at the chefs but knew it would be an issue the following night if he did not. He went outside to the billboard and told Ramsay he would defy his expectations.
Restaurant design finish[]
The next day, Ralph and Michael got down in the dining room to see the progress of their new restaurants. Ralph compared it to game 7 of the World Series, the Super Bowl, and the Kentucky Derby rolled into one event. At the same time, Michael said that he had everything he needed, but the only thing left was to work his ass off. Ralph was delighted by his restaurant and was told by Janavs that the wallpaper problem had been solved. On the other hand, Michael felt that Janavs did a good job on the construction, only for the latter to tell him the booths were not there yet. Also, the beige color of the stairs' base would not match the color of the booths, so Michael agreed to switch the color from beige to red.
Team selection[]
When the finalists came back in the kitchen, Ramsay noticed how they had their arms around each other, reminded them about the final dinner service, and how one of them was going to win. Ramsay revealed that the last detail they had to do was their kitchen staff, and he handpicked each of them to come and help. As it turned out, Ramsay invited some of the eliminated chefs to come and cook for the final dinner service. Dewberry was the first who entered the room, followed by Wendy, Andrew, Jimmy, Elsie, and finally Jessica. As each chef came back, a clip of their time in the competition was shown. These included Dewberry nearly quitting during the second dinner service, Wendy forgetting the potatoes during opening night, Andrew arguing with Ramsay during the opening night, Jimmy getting chewed out during the first black jacket service, Elsie having a breakdown during the second black jacket service, and Jessica struggling in the second black jacket service
Because Michael won the final challenge, his advantage was the first pick of his brigade. Michael’s first pick was Jessica, which infuriated Ralph because he felt Jessica was his closest friend, hence why the former picked her. Ralph selected Andrew as his first pick, despite the times they butted heads in the competition, and Michael picked Jimmy as his second pick. However, Ramsay noticed how down Elsie looked as based on her performance, she should have been either finalist's first pick. Ralph picked Wendy as his second pick and explained that while Elsie stayed longer and was good at challenges, he feared her head was not in the game, and it could hurt him. Michael picked Elsie as his last, but she felt a little insulted over being his last pick and was very bitter. That left Ralph with Dewberry as his final pick by default, but the latter was not angry about being picked last because he expected it and planned to do his best for Ralph. The only thing Dewberry asked Ralph not to do was put him on meat, recalling his disastrous performance on it during opening night.
Before service[]
Once the teams were assembled, Ralph and Michael took them aside to explain their menus. As Ralph explained his game plan, Andrew admitted to having a little bit of envy towards the former and was not feeling comfortable being around him after everything that happened. For Michael, he stated he would have preferred professional cooks instead of returning teammates but had to deal with what he had. While Michael told his teammates about the menu, Jimmy expressed his support in the former. Still, Jessica wanted to be on Ralph’s team instead due to their strong friendship. Afterwards, Michael hoped for Dewberry to become Ralph’s handicap.
As the returning chefs got changed into their chef jackets, Ralph showed his team a list of rules they should follow and had them read them for inspiration. However, Ralph did have a concern with his team as Andrew could get all over the place, Wendy could crumble under the line, and still remembered how Dewberry nearly walked off the line at one point. Ralph needed them to be strong as it was his career on the line. In the red kitchen, Michael told his team that his dream was in their hands, only for Jessica to knock over a cooling rack while carrying a chicken. As both kitchens began prepping for service, Art Director Helen Harwell told Michael that his booths were in, to his great relief.
Later, Jean-Philippe came to Ralph's kitchen, but when the latter called him "Jean-Pierre" again, he got fed up and warned him that he would kill him if he said it again. Jean-Philippe told Ralph to come to the dining room and meet his dining room staff. Ralph named his restaurant Frank & Lulu's, referring to his dog's name and his friend's dog's name, feeling they felt the name for his steakhouse. Then, Michael met his staff and named his restaurant Lola Pop, referring to his wife's pet name that he gave her.
An hour and a half before service, both kitchens worked furiously as the dining room was getting its final touches. While peeling artichokes, Andrew accidentally cut his thumb. He showed his injury to a disgusted Wendy, went to see a medic, and was taken to the hospital. Andrew did not like that as he wanted to be back in time for service and refused to let Ralph down. Sous Chef Scott informed Ralph about the incident, much to the latter’s dismay as they were one man down now. When Ralph went to see Ramsay in his office, he declared that being a man down, he would run the pass and the garnish station at the same time. Ramsay was not a fan of that idea, though, especially as they have not even begun service.
After that, Ramsay changed the subject by looking at Ralph's restaurant to see the design and the staff. Ramsay felt that the atmosphere was warm and deemed the theme beautiful and rich. When Ralph introduced his staff to him, Ramsay said the men were looking smart and dapper, but the women were looking like grannies, which they felt so as well. For Michael's dining room, Ramsay liked its setting and vibe, remarking that it was a lot like California. For the staff, he was confused as to why the women were dressed like guys but deemed it sexy, only to call the men servers ballerina.
Fifteen minutes before the doors open, Ralph’s team was trying to pick up the slack with Andrew missing, but the latter managed to return on time. He was hugged by Wendy and gave Ralph a high-five, to the latter's relief. Andrew explained that he received four stitches from the cut and said there was no way he would miss service. After, Ramsay gathered Michael and Ralph to the front of the pass, expressed proudness in what they did to the restaurant, and that it was their night to shine. Ramsay revealed he would be in the kitchens, shadowing them as it was their kitchens and restaurants.
Dinner service[]
As service began, Michael and Ralph, now sporting head chef jackets, gave their teams a pep talk before giving each other a big hug. When Michael called his first ticket, his team did not answer immediately, so he had to tell them he needed an answer. In the blue kitchen, Ralph was the opposite as his team responded to his first order. In the red kitchen, Jessica was confused about which order of lobster was what, and Michael was forced to restart his order. Jimmy noticed that Michael was getting lost and confused, resulting in mixed-up orders, and Ramsay noticed that the red team was cooking as individuals instead of a team. Despite that, Michael was sending out appetizers, and the customers received them well. Wendy realized she did not have enough pans on the appetizer station in the blue kitchen and got confused about Ralph’s order. Seeing Wendy getting confused, Ralph decided to help her out, but that meant spending more time on her station than the hot plate, which Ramsay noticed. Fortunately, Ralph had a backup plan, an antipasto appetizer served tableside.
One hour and 15 minutes into dinner service, all of Michael's customers have received their appetizers, but one discovered a piece of plastic in her salad. When it came back, Michael threatened to kill Elsie if she did it again. After, Jessica, still angry at not being on Ralph's team, refused Michael's authority by snapping back at him, causing an argument between her and Elsie. Michael had to calm the situation down and told Jessica to stop bickering and listen to him. In the blue kitchen, the customers enjoyed the food, and Ralph started to send out entrées. However, Ralph caught Dewberry putting fish stock in the spaghetti when he was not supposed to. Then, Dewberry began to feel faint and warned Ralph that he was about to pass out. After Dewberry splashed some water on his face, he felt very hot and stressed to the point of seeing stars. Then, Jean-Philippe told Ralph that despite the food being great, the service had to go faster on the entrées. Still feeling hot and weak, Dewberry left the kitchen to sit down, but Ralph told Sous Chef Scott that he was unsure if the former would make it, especially as he did not want to see Dewberry die. Andrew went to the back store to check on Dewberry, who was sitting down and pushed him to go through service. When Dewberry returned to the kitchen, stating he would not leave, Ralph held him the list of rules to follow. Dewberry knew Ralph wanted him and managed to bounce back with a properly cooked sea bass. Ralph called Dewberry his rock of Gibraltar, but the latter jokingly said he would instead be called Brad Pitt's wife. That joke made Ramsay and Sous Chef Scott laugh, but Ralph felt Dewberry had some issues.
Three hours into service, Ralph managed to get more than half of his entrées out successfully, while Michael pushed out entrées at a fast pace. When an undercooked steak returned in the red kitchen, Michael told Jimmy to refire one quickly and was not happy about it. However, Michael knew that the mistakes were starting to make him more assertive, which worked well for the red kitchen. In the blue kitchen, Dewberry was slow on the ravioli, to Ralph’s annoyance, but both he and Michael were using Ramsay’s leadership to great effect. Jimmy managed to get his refire accepted, and Ramsay noticed that Michael finally got his act together. Afterwards, both kitchens started to send out desserts and had a great finish. After all the tables were completed in both the dining room, Michael was congratulated by Jessica, who said the menu was easy to execute, and Dewberry was given a big kiss by Ralph. Then, a table came up to praise Michael for his work, and he gave out an explanation on how the dish worked.
Post-mortem[]
After both teams were lined up, Ramsay told Ralph and Michael that they had every right to feel proud and was about to announce the winner. However, Ramsay said he was not ready and had to study the comment cards from the customers to help him make his decision. Also, Ramsay revealed that because Michael wanted a restaurant in Los Angeles, every customer in his restaurant was from Los Angeles. Because Ralph wanted a New York Steakhouse, every one of his customers was from New York. Afterwards, Ramsay dismissed Ralph and Michael back to the dorms, and they said goodbye to their team.
Michael and Ralph congratulated each other as they made their way back to the dorms, knowing that their fate was in Ramsay’s hands. Ralph believed he might win, given that he was a little stronger than Michael, but the latter felt he deserved to win, given he was representing the new generation of chefs and that he pushed himself in service. After discussing their night on the patio, they split off to different rooms, each hoping that they would be the winners while talking to the photos of their loved ones.
Winner announced[]
Moments later, Sous Chefs Scott and Mary-Ann came to the dorms, put blindfolds on Michael and Ralph, and told them to put their hands on their back so they could lead them to Ramsay's office. Once there, Ramsay congratulated them for making it far and that he witnessed two very outstanding performances. After saying how close it was, Ramsay said he had to rely on the comment cards more than ever and asked the customers if they would return to their restaurants. After counting the votes, Ramsay declared that one of the two restaurants received a 90% return business, and the other one got 94%. After that, he asked both to stand in front of a door and said that only the winner's door would open. After waiting nervously for Ramsay's countdown to end, both finalists turned their handles, but only Michael's door opened.
Michael became the winner of Hell's Kitchen and won his very own restaurant, making Ralph the runner-up. Ralph took his defeat graciously, saying that he had no reservations against his performance and felt he did not lose entirely. Michael felt like he was in control for the first time in his life and that he proved himself to become the head chef he was destined for. While celebrating, Ramsay told Michael that he had an exceptional talent and gave him a big offer. Ramsay invited Michael to come back with him to London to train under him and eventually become a world-class chef. While blown away, Michael accepted the offer as it was an opportunity of a lifetime, and when he does open his own restaurant, he would be better.
Ramsay's comment: "Ralph was great tonight, but Michael deserved to win because his creativity and standards are simply on a higher level, and I accomplish my goal of turning an unknown into a master chef, and that has to be the perfect way to close Hell's Kitchen, tonight. And I'm fucking out of here!"
Trivia[]
- This is the only time the Running the Pass Service was held as a dress rehearsal for the final two. In the following seasons, it was held as the final black jacket service.
- This features the first same-sex final two and the first all male final two in the show's history.
- Interestingly, Michael's sabotaging Ralph during the dress rehearsal would inspire Ramsay to do it in future Running the Pass Services.
| 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 |