The sixteenth episode of Season 13 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX, on December 17, 2014. On that episode, Bryant and La Tasha participated in their final challenge, picked their brigades 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 fifteen episodes, mentioning what happened, and who got eliminated when.
Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay told La Tasha and Bryant to start working on their menus, before dismissing them. La Tasha was excited that she was in the finals, and said that it was what she was working towards her entire life, while Bryant was speechless. Back in the dorms, they found champagne along with notepads to work on their menu items, and a letter that told them they would be heading down to Palm Springs. After celebrating, Bryant and La Tasha got to work on their menus, with Bryant knowing that it would determine the rest of his life, so he decided to keep his items simple. On the other side, La Tasha decided to take more risks with flavors that she never worked with before. After several hours of work, they went back upstairs as the weight of the final service began to weigh in. La Tasha teared up overseeing a picture of her deceased grandmother and knew that she could do it, while Bryant knew that he gave everything to be a better husband and father by working two jobs, and wanted to win.
The next day, Bryant and La Tasha left Hell’s Kitchen for Palm Springs, and flew in a private jet. At Palm Springs, they met Marino, who served as their tour guide. The three of them were watching the sights as they were relaxing at the Parker Palm Springs. La Tasha said that it was nice to let off some stress, but knew that there was more work left. After, Bryant and La Tasha flew back to Los Angeles, and met a stewardess, who told them to wait at a lounge as the car was not ready yet. When she came back, the walls fell down to reveal a live audience in the hanger, with Ramsay waiting on the stage. Arrived on it, the two finalists noticed their loved ones in the audience, and Ramsay explained that the audience was there to watch them compete in their final challenge.
Final challenge[]
For the Final Tasting Challenge, Bryant and La Tasha had one hour to cook five dishes, which included a cold appetizer, a hot appetizer, and three entrées that featured beef, chicken, and fish. La Tasha wanted to win the challenge to make her parents proud of her, while Bryant knew that his family was his biggest inspiration after seeing his daughter clap for him. Eventually, the two had their dishes cooked and plated in time.
Before judging, Ramsay decided to reveal to Bryant and La Tasha the chefs that would be helping them during the final dinner service. The returning chefs included Ashley, Frank, Fernando, Sterling, Santos, Roe, Jennifer, and Sade, and Ramsay revealed that the winner of the challenge got the first pick of their brigade. That made La Tasha more determined to win as she did not want Frank on her team. Some Michelin Star chefs were invited as guest judges, rating the dishes on a scale of 1-10, and the person with the highest score would win. The cold appetizer round was judged by Randy Lutz. La Tasha’s creamy avocado bisque with butter poached lobster and spicy mango salsa was praised for having a nice texture, but Lutz felt that it could have used more lemon, and she scored 8 points. Bryant’s grilled peach burrata salad was praised for being delicious, but he only scored 7 points as it lacked creativity, making it 8-7 for La Tasha. The hot appetizer round was judged by Josiah Citrin. La Tasha’s mushroom risotto with five-minute egg was praised for having a good flavor, and scored 8 points. Bryant’s Cajun seared prawns were praised for having a nice balance of sweet and acidity, he scored 9 points, and the score was tied at 16. The fish entrée round was judged by Matthew Kirkley. La Tasha’s Chilean sea bass with bacon braised char was praised for being beautiful, but criticized for tasting salty due to the bacon, and she scored 7 points. Bryant’s pan-seared halibut with edamame succotash was praised for the succotash component, but Kirkley felt that it needed more salt, he scored 8 points, and the score was 24-23 for Bryant. The chicken entrée round was judged by Dominique Crenn. La Tasha’s herb crusted chicken was heavily praised for being sexy, and she scored a perfect 10. Bryant’s airline chicken breast with cream collards was criticized for being dry, he scored 7 points, and the score was 33-31 for La Tasha. Finally, the beef entrée round was judged by David Lefevre. Bryant’s chipotle coriander ribeye and chimichurri sauce were praised for its components, and he scored 8 points. La Tasha’s pan-seared rib cap with horseradish crème fraîche and cabernet sauce was criticized for having too many flavors. Despite that, she scored 9 points, and La Tasha won the challenge 42-39.
Scoring[]
| La Tasha | Bryant | ||||
| Round | Score | Total | Round | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | 8/10 | 8 | One | 7/10 | 7 |
| Two | 8/10 | 16 | Two | 9/10 | 16 |
| Three | 7/10 | 23 | Three | 8/10 | 24 |
| Four | 10/10 | 33 | Four | 7/10 | 31 |
| Five | 9/10 | 42 | Five | 8/10 | 39 |
| Results | 42-39 | ||||
Team select[]
For winning the challenge, La Tasha got first pick of her brigade for the final dinner service. While Santos believed that he would be the first pick, La Tasha picked Sade as she was consistent from the start of the competition. Bryant picked Jennifer as his first pick, and she felt that he made the right decision as she believed she was the strongest chef. La Tasha picked Roe as her second choice, and while she knew that the latter had a lot of ups and downs, she did bounce back a lot. For his second choice, Bryant picked Sterling, with the latter being surprised as they did not get along when they were on the blue team together. La Tasha picked Fernando as her third choice, and while she was confident in his abilities, her belief wavered when he tripped going up to the stage. Bryant picked Santos as his third choice, but the latter was pissed as he was passed over by the other chefs. That left Ashley and Frank as the last possible choices. La Tasha immediately chose Ashley for her final pick, and Bryant was left with Frank. The latter admitted that he was not surprised being picked last due to his miserable performance in his last service, and Bryant admitted that he would have picked Ashley also, if he had the chance.
Before service[]
Returning back to Hell’s Kitchen, La Tasha knew that her brigade could follow her lead, and gave what each of them would be doing the next day. However, Sade got concerned as the garnish station would be packed due to the multiple items on La Tasha’s menu, and Ashley’s suggestion of removing some elements was rejected. La Tasha continued to reject some of her teammates' suggestions as she wanted her menu done her way, and a concerned Ashley decided to take a live and learn attitude. Meanwhile, Bryant took in suggestions from his team and was getting excited about the next day.
The next day, the chefs began prepping for service, but Frank managed to burn the nuts needed for Bryant’s dish, which the latter called crazy. Later, La Tasha and Bryant got sample dishes ready for Ramsay to look over. While Bryant’s dishes were praised for having great effort and flavoring, Ramsay felt that La Tasha’s dishes looked imbalanced, and she panicked when he gave criticism on her dishes. Ramsay told La Tasha to rein in her dishes and inform her team about the changes, which she did.
Before service began, La Tasha and Bryant changed into their head chef jackets, and Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Margaret Cho, Aisha Tyler, Tory Belleci, Sharon Lawrence, Traci Bingham, and the finalists' loved ones were in attendance. La Tasha got the first ticket, but Roe sent two portions of corn for the scallops which La Tasha said was too little for her, and she said that she was going to keep her standards high. In the blue kitchen, Bryant pushed Frank for the first appetizers, and refused to let him ruin his easy menu. In the red kitchen, Fernando sent his scallops, but La Tasha told him to flash cook one of them as it was still raw. Fortunately, Fernando got it fixed, and La Tasha was able to serve her first table. While she said that she really felt like a boss, she complained that Fernando was slow on scallops, but he was able to deliver perfect ones to the pass. In the blue kitchen, Bryant told Frank that they have not served any dishes in the first ten minutes, and was getting nervous over the latter’s messy and disorganized performance. While Santos told Frank to calm down, he also knew that he was stupid, and Jennifer added that he had no idea what was going on. Moments later, Ramsay told Bryant that Frank’s prawns were overcooked, and he decided to switch Sterling to hot appetizers, and Frank to garnish, as Ramsay told the latter to wake up.
One hour into service, La Tasha’s team began working on entrées, but after Fernando said that he needed six more minutes on the sea bass, Ramsay asked Ashley if her pork was already cooked. Ashley said that it was, and La Tasha saw that Fernando already cooked the sea bass. That caused Ramsay to accuse Fernando of sabotaging La Tasha, but despite him arguing against it, he was still slow, leading Ashley to remind him that he got picked before her. It got more confounded when Sade had to rush on her garnish after Fernando’s poor call, but refused to let La Tasha sink. In the end, La Tasha was able to send her first tables of entrées. However, the blue diners were starting to get restless over the wait. Fortunately, Sterling was able to get the appetizers out as he wanted to step up for Bryant, and the latter called him his rock, before starting to work on entrées. In the red kitchen, La Tasha was determined to make up for lost time, and kept a close eye on Fernando, who sent raw salmon. After, La Tasha demoted Fernando to hot appetizers, and moved Roe to fish. In the blue kitchen, Bryant told Frank that his garnishes tasted burnt, and warned him that he was very close to being kicked out, while complaining that his menu was supposed to be easy for the latter. In the red kitchen, Roe’s salmon was accepted, and La Tasha continued to push her team as she was so close to winning. Food continued to leave because of strong performances by Ashley and Roe.
Two hours into service, Frank continued to slow down the momentum on garnish, which Jennifer called unreal, and he did not give proper times to his teammates. Refusing to let his team run him any longer, Bryant kicked Frank out of the kitchen, and relocated Sterling to the garnish station. While Frank was not happy about being kicked out, both kitchens were pushing their entrées, and service ended on a high note. While clearing down, Ramsay told Bryant that kicking out Frank was a smart move.
Post-mortem[]
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay told the two finalists that they have made his decision almost virtually impossible to make, and that he needed time to think over his decision. After saying goodbye to their team, Bryant and La Tasha went back to the dorms, though Bryant told that while Frank was a good person, he was not a great chef.
Back in the dorms, Bryant knew that he could be leaving with $250,000, while La Tasha said that she really wanted the head chef position. Back in his office, Ramsay looked over the finalists' performances throughout the competition, along with their performance that night.
Winner announced[]
Later, Ramsay called the dorms and asked Bryant and La Tasha to meet him in his office. Ramsay apologized for taking too long as a lot happened in the competition, praising La Tasha for being rock solid and never being nominated, saying that she belonged in the kitchen. Then, Ramsay praised Bryant for finishing stronger than the rest of the chefs, and that he was born to cook. After much thought, Ramsay said that he made his decision, and asked them to stand in front of a door each. After Ramsay’s countdown, both of them turned their handles, but only La Tasha’s door opened.
La Tasha became the winner of Hell’s Kitchen, and won the Head Chef position at Gordon Ramsay Pub and Grill at Caesars Atlantic City, with a salary of $250,000, therefore making Bryant the runner-up. While disappointed by his loss, he knew that he worked very hard, and congratulated La Tasha for winning. La Tasha was in shock over winning, asked if it was a dream, before asking that if it was, nobody should wake her up, and called it the most incredible moment in her life. During the celebration, Ramsay asked Frank what happened during service, talked to La Tasha’s parents, and Bryant received a standing ovation.
Ramsay's comment: "La Tasha has all the right ingredients to be a great chef. She's creative, a strong leader, has great attention to detail and has an outstanding palate. But the thing I love most about La Tasha is her determination. I know that she's ready for the challenge of being my head chef in Atlantic City and I couldn't be happier."
Trivia[]
- This marks the final time a finalist kicked out a chef during the finale.
- This marks the first time the finalists were re-introduced to their eliminated chefs before the Final Tasting Challenge.