The sixteenth episode of Season 14 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox on June 9, 2015. In that episode, Meghan and T competed in their final challenge, picked their brigades for the final dinner service, and one of them was named 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, the mysterious person was revealed to be Christina from Season 10, much to T and Meghan’s surprise. Ramsay explained that she was there to give the two of them advice for the final dinner service before revealing that it would be done at Las Vegas. After, Ramsay told the two to pack as they were leaving in an hour. When going back to the dorms, T carried Meghan all the way there, was still in shock that she was in the final two. Meghan said that she almost swallowed her tongue in shock before calling it the best Vegas trip ever. After gathering their things, Meghan and T met Christina next to a limousine at the front entrance, and they left for Las Vegas.
At Vegas, the three women toured around the area in a limousine. T wondered if she had done anything good in her life to be in Vegas with Christina, and they soon arrived at the Paris Hotel. Once Meghan and T got to their room, the former found it sparkling. T was still dumbfounded over being here. They found food on the table along with portfolios to use for their menu ideas. After, the two spent the remainder of that night working on their menu items. The next day, Meghan and T arrived at Gordon Ramsay Steak to meet with Christina, and the former was amazed at how sexy and sleek the restaurant looked. After giving them a tour of the restaurant, Christina recalled how she had a lot of adrenaline during her final dinner service. She told them how it was not on who finished first but who had the most creative menu and reminded them that they were now in a position to motivate people, which was a big thing for Ramsay. That gave T a newfound inspiration and declared that she was going to rock.
Later that night, Meghan and T returned to Los Angeles and found a chauffeur waiting for them. The two found out that not only were they riding in Ramsay’s own Rolls Royce, but they were heading to his own house, with Meghan asking if anybody would pinch her. At Ramsay’s house, Meghan and T were welcomed by his wife Tana and his daughter Tilly, the former found it very inviting, and the latter called it neat. After, the four gathered at the family room and toasted for making it far in the competition. While Tilly was sent off to find Ramsay, Tana decided to give Meghan and T a house tour. But, when she led them to the backyard, they were greeted by a live audience and Ramsay waiting for them. After Ramsay admitted that it was not his actual house, he announced their final challenge.
Final challenge[]
For the Final Menu Challenge, Meghan and T had one hour to create five dishes: a cold appetizer, a hot appetizer, a fish entrée, a chicken entrée, and a beef entrée. After changing into their chef jackets, Meghan and T got to work cooking their dishes, and the latter decided to keep her dishes simple like how she would back house. Meanwhile, Meghan said that she needed to win the challenge, and while she acknowledged T as a strong chef, she declared that the latter was going down. Eventually, the two had their dishes cooked and plated on time.
Each dish would be judged on a scale of 1-10, and the chef with the most points would win. The cold appetizer round was judged by Anna Kelly. T’s mock fish & chips with tuna, lotus chips, and avocado mousse was deemed delicious by Kelly, while Meghan’s toasted scallop carpaccio with a citrus vinaigrette was deemed nice fresh but criticized for not having enough seasoning. So, Meghan received 7 points, and T received 8 points, making the score 8-7 for T. The hot appetizer round was judged by Hubert Keller. Meghan’s miso-marinated abalone was praised for having the sauce work well with the dish. In contrast, T’s rosemary lamb and grilled vegetable tubule were praised for combining the two components and deemed a great dish. After T’s dish received 8 points, Meghan’s dish received 9 points, and the score was a 16-point tie. Nancy Silverton judged the fish entrée round. While Meghan’s bacon-wrapped trout was praised for being delicious, Silverton criticized her decision to leave the skin on the trout. Then, T’s seared red snapper with polenta cake was praised for having the right amount of heat and not being too spicy. After T’s dish received 9 points, Meghan received 8 points, and the score was 25-24 for T. Nancy Oakes judged the chicken entrée round. T’s pan-roasted chicken and creamy lentils were deemed a professional dish along with being delicious. In contrast, Meghan’s roasted chicken and terra root risotto were deemed lovely and appetizing. So, both received 9 points, and the score was 34-33 for T. Finally, the beef entrée round was judged by Wolfgang Puck, which excited Meghan as she was a big fan. T’s pan-seared filet with blue cheese butter and assorted mushrooms was praised for having the beef cooked well. In contrast, Meghan’s New York striploin with sweet corn purée and chimichurri sauce was cooked perfectly as well. After, both received 8 points, and T won the challenge 42-41.
Scoring[]
T | Meghan | ||||
Round | Score | Total | Round | Score | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
One | 8/10 | 8 | One | 7/10 | 7 |
Two | 8/10 | 16 | Two | 9/10 | 16 |
Three | 9/10 | 25 | Three | 8/10 | 24 |
Four | 9/10 | 34 | Four | 9/10 | 33 |
Five | 8/10 | 42 | Five | 8/10 | 41 |
Results | 42-41 |
Team select[]
After, Ramsay announced that it was time for Meghan and T to choose their brigades, and called up Alison, Adam, Christine, Josh, Randy, Nick, Milly, and Michelle. For winning the challenge, T got the first pick of the drafts, and she picked Milly. He was honored to be picked first before saying that he would put it all on the line. After Meghan picked Michelle as her first choice, T picked Nick as her second choice, and Meghan picked Alison as her second choice. For her third choice, T picked Adam, Meghan picked Josh as her third choice, and the latter said that it was his time to have her back after she had his all season. That left Christine and Randy as the last possible choices, and T picked Christine as her final choice as she knew having Randy would hurt Meghan. Because of that, Randy was automatically Meghan’s final choice.
Before service[]
Back at Hell’s Kitchen, T told her team about station placements and went through the menu with them. While Nick considered T an underdog, he thought that the menu was solid and believed that she had stepped up her game. Meanwhile, Meghan Looked for a missing page from her portfolio. While her chefs were stunned by the high-end dishes, Josh confirmed that they supported Meghan to win.
The next day, the chefs began prepping for service. Meghan told her team to ask questions if they did not understand her. While Meghan was concerned about preparing for a service of a lifetime, she was confident that her menu would taste amazing before chiding Josh for leaving his pot unattended and having it boil over. In the red kitchen, T found out the Christine did not toast the ravioli on time and felt that her team was not working together at the moment, as it was her life on the line. Before service began, Ramsay called Meghan and T to his office and gave them their Head Chef jackets. After a quick change, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
In addition to the final two’s families, Robert Englund was in attendance in the dining room. At the same time, Tiffani Thiessen and Lisa Loeb dinned at the red and blue chef’s table, respectively. Both kitchens got their first orders and began working on them, with Meghan saying that she wanted her service flawless. While Michelle was happy to have been Meghan’s first choice, she knew how aggressive the latter could be and got concerned that it could drive the team. After, Meghan rejected Michelle's scallop carpaccio for lacking relish, much to the latter’s frustration. In the red kitchen, T was confident that Christine always had strong starts on appetizers. Still, Christine sent under portioned salads to the pass, much to Nick’s annoyance as it was not a great way to start service. Despite that, Christine’s second attempt was accepted, and T was able to send out her first order. In the blue kitchen, Michelle’s refire was accepted, allowing Meghan to push out food as well. Now moving onto entrées, Adam was determined to push it out for his team, but T saw that the rib cap felt raw and told him to focus. However, Adam’s second attempt was raw again, and he got dismayed over shitting the bed on them. After Ramsay warned T that she was dying, she urged Adam to pick it up, but Ramsay felt that things were going slow. Realizing that she was at a critical point, T decided to relocate Adam to garnish and put Nick on meat, even though the former felt he was not that bad on meat.
In the blue kitchen, Meghan’s team moved onto entrées, and she was determined to make sure every detail was seen. Then, Meghan told Alison about reworking her garnishes, but the latter felt that if the former did not trust her work, they would struggle, with Ramsay lecturing Meghan to let the food come to her and not hover over her chef’s stations. While Randy brought up his chicken, Josh was slow on fish but managed to get it up on time, and food was leaving the blue kitchen. In the red kitchen, Nick’s rib cap was accepted, and he said that he did not want T to fail. However, Adam told T that he had no idea what was going on with garnish and that he was better on meat, but Nick felt that the former was in the weeds. Then, T told Nick to help Adam on garnish, causing the former to call it musical stations. In the blue kitchen, Randy’s chicken was raw. Alison was stunned as it was a time to be at their best. Meghan felt that most of Randy's chicken was overcooked before ordering him to make new ones. Due to that, the blue diners were waiting impatiently for their food.
T told Christine to trade places with Nick on garnishes in the red kitchen but was then waiting on her truffle mac. However, Christine’s truffle mac was lacking liquid. T was annoyed that Christine was screwing her on both sides and decided to move everybody around to make sure Christine and Adam were driving. In the blue kitchen, Randy was still struggling on the chicken refire. Meghan found out that he put the sliced chicken in the oven, which Josh knew was unacceptable as it would cause the chicken to dry out. After lecturing Randy on putting the sliced chicken in the oven, Meghan got annoyed by his slow speed. She told Michelle to go on meat while demoting Randy on dessert. While that irritated Randy, he decided not to say anything as it was Meghan’s kitchen. T has lost all confidence in Christine’s abilities in the red kitchen but decided to be quiet about it as it might affect her confidence. After serving the chef’s table, T’s team was close to completing service. At the same time, in the blue kitchen, Michelle’s chicken was accepted, and Meghan felt that it was a good move to change stations. Eventually, both teams pushed to get service completed. While T admitted that her service was not perfect, she was glad that they pushed hard. Meghan admitted that, win or lose, she learned a lot in the competition.
Post-mortem[]
With both teams lined up, Ramsay told Meghan and T that they had made his decision very hard, said that he had a lot to think about, and told them to head back to the dorms.
Back at the dorms, Meghan said that despite knowing she had the heart and the drive, she wanted to prove to herself she was a badass before calling T a beast and was happy to have gone up against her in the finals. Then, T believed that while technique could be taught, a person’s heart could not and believed that her passion would allow her to win. Back at his office, Ramsay looked back at the final two’s performance throughout the competition and their performance during dinner service.
Winner announced[]
Later, Ramsay called the dorms and told T and Meghan to head down to his office. Once there, Ramsay praised Meghan for her strong performances in both challenges and services, stating that she was born to work in a kitchen. Then, he told T she was an outspoken leader in the kitchen, and more importantly, thrived under pressure. After, Ramsay had the two stand in front of a door each. After nervously waiting for Ramsay’s countdown, both turned their handles, but only Meghan’s door opened.
Meghan 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 T the runner-up. T took her loss gracefully, felt that going up against Meghan was an honor, and was thankful for the experience before congratulating the latter on her victory. Meghan was happy she got to share her victory with her mother, even breaking into tears describing it. She thanked her teammates for working with her and hanging her portrait on the Wall of Fame.
During the celebration, Ramsay asked Michelle and Josh if they would be interested in competing again sometime, which the two took into consideration, Michelle told Meghan about a pastry chef opportunity, and Ramsay joked with the chefs over the wake-up times. Then, Ramsay asked the chefs what their favorite challenges were, Josh said the Blind Taste Test, Meghan said the Taste It Now Make It Challenge, and Ramsay jokingly asked her what her favorite punishment was. After, Ramsay said that his favorite challenge was getting Cameron’s jacket, with the chefs joking about the latter’s statement that he was intimidated by Ramsay, with Milly claiming that they talked about it every day.
Ramsay's comment: "Meghan has every quality I look for in a head chef. She is passionate, determined and has an amazing palate. But most importantly, Meghan is a born leader who makes every chef in the kitchen better. Talent like hers comes along very rarely, and I have no doubt she'll be a great success in Atlantic City."