The sixteenth episode of Season 15 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox on April 29, 2016. In that episode, Ariel and Kristin 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.
Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay told Ariel and Kristin that he wanted them to enjoy their milestone and revealed that he arranged for them to stay in the presidential suite at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. Also, they had a chance to meet the Executive Chef of BLT Steak and Season 9 winner, Paul, for questions on the final service. Heading up to the dorms to pack up, Kristin called her situation cool, and Ariel said that there was nobody else that she wanted to compete against in the finale other than Kristin. Arriving at the Biltmore Hotel, Ariel and Kristin were greeted with champagne and a surprise visit from their loved ones. Ariel stated that she missed her family a lot, especially her little sister, as they lost their father. After some time together, Sous Chef Christina dismissed the families as Ariel and Kristin had to work on their menus, and the two worked well into the night.
The next day, Kristin met up with Paul for a one on one session. He told her that their final dinner service would be their biggest as her brigades would be responsible for her success and gave her a duck on a pond analogy. Kristin felt that she needed somebody that was in her position to talk with as she felt alone now. Then, Paul told Ariel that her menu should be something her brigade could execute properly, keep her attitude in check, and think of the bigger picture. After, Ariel and Kristin received a makeover, and Paul took them to the roof for a drink, only to find Ramsay waiting for them. After toasting to the finals, Paul departed as Ariel and Kristin received a helicopter ride around Los Angeles. During the tour, Kristin was speechless as she was in a helicopter with Ramsay. At the end of the tour, the helicopter circled at the USS Iowa. Ariel and Kristin saw a huge crowd on board the ship, with Ramsay revealing it was where they would be competing in their final challenge.
Final challenge[]
For the Final Menu Challenge, Ariel and Kristin had one hour to cook five dishes, including a cold appetizer, a hot appetizer, a fish entrée, a chicken entrée, and a beef entrée. Ariel felt she was stronger than Kristin as she was the opposite of classic compared to the latter and that her menu represented herself. Meanwhile, Kristin felt everything was chaotic but felt she trusted her skills due to her strong palate, even though the crowd was distracting her. Eventually, Ariel and Kristin were able to cook and plate their dishes on time.
Before the judging, Ramsay revealed that the five judged were part of the ESquared Hospitality Group that owned BLT Steak, each would rank the dishes on a scale of 1-10, and the person with the highest score would win. The cold appetizer round was up first, and Executive Chef Clifford Crooks was up first to judge. Kristin’s wagyu beef tartare with brioche, soft poached quail egg and baby arugula salad was deemed excellent, and Crooks felt that the egg was perfectly cooked. Then, Ariel’s cold citrus lobster salad with purple Romanesco, crosnes, and blood orange vinaigrette was praised for being striking. Still, while Ariel scored 8 points, Kristin scored 9 points, making the score 9-8 for Kristin. On the hot appetizer round, Executive Chef Chris Macchia was up to judge. While Ariel’s savory mushroom cheesecake was praised for being seasoned well, Macchia felt that the portion size was bigger than he would have liked. Then, Kristin’s ricotta and chive ravioli were criticized for being a bit salty despite having a good execution. After Ariel scored 9 points, Kristin scored 8 points, and the score was tied at 17. On the fish entrée round, Executive Chef Manuel Trevino was up to judge next, and while Kristin’s sea bass with pork belly and brown butter sauce was criticized for having undercooked pork belly, it was praised for being flavorful. Then, Ariel’s mustard dill salmon with asparagus was deemed very well. So, Kristin scored 8 points, Ariel scored 9 points, and the score was 26-25 for Ariel. On the chicken entrée round, Executive Chef David Craine was up to judge. Kristin’s chicken breast with carrots and cheddar grits was deemed beautiful and juicy, even though Craine felt that the skin was not as crispy as she wanted it to be. Then, Ariel’s herb garden chicken with carrot purée was deemed a fabulous idea but criticized for lacking the juiciness of Kristin’s dish. So, Kristin scored 9 points, Ariel scored 8 points, and the score was tied at 34. On the final round, the beef entrée round was up next, and the President of the ESquared Hospitality Group, Keith Treyball, was up to judge their dishes. Kristin’s grilled ribeye with gorgonzola potato purée, broccoli rabe, and roasted mushrooms was praised for delivering the sauce’s taste. In contrast, Ariel’s medium-rare hanger steak with poached fingerling potatoes and Thumbelina carrots was deemed delicious but criticized for the sauce being too sweet. After a tough decision, Kristin scored 8 points, Ariel scored 7.5 points, and Kristin won the challenge 42-41.5. Kristin was happy as she won a challenge from a steak restaurant manager and felt that it was the momentum she needed to keep moving forward.
Scoring[]
| Kristin | Ariel | ||||
| Round | Score | Total | Round | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | 9/10 | 9 | One | 8/10 | 8 |
| Two | 8/10 | 17 | Two | 9/10 | 17 |
| Three | 8/10 | 25 | Three | 9/10 | 26 |
| Four | 9/10 | 34 | Four | 8/10 | 34 |
| Five | 8/10 | 42 | Five | 7.5/10 | 41.5 |
| Results | 42-41.5 | ||||
Team select[]
After the challenge, Ramsay announced that it was time to pick their brigades, and welcomed back Joe, Chad, Jackie, Frank, Dannie, Manda, Jared, and Ashley. Because Kristin won the Final Tasting Challenge, she had the first pick of the drafts and picked Ashley as her first choice, with the latter happy to be there for Kristin. Then, Ariel picked Jackie as her first choice, but Kristin claimed that she could see it backfiring for Ariel before declaring that it was not her problem. However, Jackie declared that team Ariel was going to kick ass. Then, Kristin picked Frank as her second choice, Ariel picked Manda as her second choice, Kristin picked Joe as her third choice, and Ariel picked Dannie as her third choice. That left Chad and Jared as the last possible choices, but in the end, Kristin picked Chad as her final choice, leaving Jared as Ariel’s final choice.
Before service[]
Returning to Hell’s Kitchen, Ariel and Kristin reviewed with their brigades over what was happening with their menus. Kristin told Frank that she wanted a hard sear on her ribeyes. At the same time, Ariel’s quick description of her menu items had her brigade confused. Dannie compared it to Ramsay’s speed over ticket calling and Manda mocking it with gibberish.
The next day, both teams came downstairs to begin prepping for service, and Jackie asked Ariel a question about seasoning before she did so. However, Ariel said she trusted Jackie’s instincts and was ready to kill it, but Jared imagined that her smiles would go away and that she would go back to her nagging ways. In the red kitchen, Kristin told Frank to set a mental time for the steaks, but he annoyingly said that her attitude was what caused people to kill themselves or kill said person. After prep, Ramsay, Ariel, and Kristin asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Johnny Gill, Dave Stewart, Larenz Tate, and the final two’s loved ones were in attendance that night. After calling out her first ticket, Ariel said that she was laying her trust in people she picked for that night and hoped that they would rock it out. However, Manda was caught prepping four lobster salads when it was supposed to be two lobster salads and two octopus salads. Still, Ariel reminded her of what was on order and told her to stay focus.
Twenty minutes into service, Kristin received her parent’s ticket, and Frank was confident as he always flourished on meat. However, Frank’s duck was still cold in the middle, Ramsay reminded Kristin to pay attention, and an annoyed Ashley said that Frank needed to get his head out of his ass. Despite that, the refire was accepted thanks to Ashley, and both teams were pushing out appetizers. In the blue kitchen, Ariel called out the first entrée order, and while Dannie was hoping to provide a great service for the former, she also did not want to be there again. Then, Dannie’s pork chops were cold, she argued that she was only human, and Ariel decided to flip a table with two hanger steaks on order, which Ramsay deemed a smart move. In the red kitchen, the red team was working on entrées as well. Still, Joe’s coleslaw stunk of garlic and lacked seasoning, and Ramsay chewed out the former for screwing up the easiest station. Despite that, Joe’s refire was accepted, and entrées were leaving the red kitchen. In the blue kitchen, Dannie’s refire was accepted, but on their next ticket, Jackie decided to cut the sea bass into pieces as most of them were not the same size. Ariel caught Jackie doing that, said that she was killing her, and reminded her to cook what the customers were paying for. Despite that, Jackie’s sea bass was accepted, and the order was sent out to Ariel’s family. In the red kitchen, Kristin called out the following order. Still, nobody responded to her, and Ramsay reminded Kristin to take charge of the situation. Knowing that she worked too hard to get to the finale, Kristin called out the order again with authority, and that time, the red team called back the order.
Two hours into service, one of Ariel’s customers found out that her pork chop was undercooked, and Marino sent back the pork to Ariel, much to her dismay. While Dannie sent up the refire to the pass, Ramsay and Ariel found it to be overcooked, he accused Dannie of not caring, and Jackie was worried that the former was going to flip out. Then, Dannie argued that she never asked to come back after Ramsay asked for the best from her and walked out of the blue kitchen. Jackie informed Ariel of what just happened, the latter was annoyed that Dannie left over one comment from Ramsay and that she was cooking only one meat entrée that night, and Manda was upset that Dannie did that as it was Ariel’s career on the line. After, Ariel assigned Jackie to the meat station, and the pork chops were leaving the blue kitchen. In the red kitchen, Chad’s salmon was raw. Kristin asked Ashley to help him out on fish, and she knew that it was a service to help Kristin win the competition despite the struggles. Fortunately, Ashley’s refire was accepted, and both teams were able to push out their remaining entrée orders. While Kristin wished that some things would have been different that night, she knew that they were able to push through it and finish strong, while Ariel was proud of herself even if she won or lost.
Post-mortem[]
While the chefs were clearing down, Ramsay told Ariel and Kristin that they both hung in there and never gave up despite the ups and downs. Then, Ramsay dismissed the two back to the dorms so he could make his decision, and they said goodbye to their brigades as they went upstairs.
Back at the dorms, Ariel deemed it a good fight, and no matter what, she was proud of what she accomplished that night. Meanwhile, Kristin claimed that her heart was still racing, and while she was proud of herself, she was anxious over what the results would be. Back at his office, Ramsay reviewed what he saw that night, along with Ariel and Kristin’s performances throughout the competition.
Winner chosen[]
Ramsay called Ariel and Kristin and told them to go to his office immediately. When they got to his office, Ramsay called Kristin a late bloomer in the show’s history but praised her for being dominated after that, while praising Ariel for being outspoken since the start of the competition, along with her creativity and attention to detail. Then, both stood in front of a door, both knowing that it would open if they were the winner. After Ramsay’s countdown, both turned their handles, but only Ariel’s door opened.
Ariel became the winner of Hell’s Kitchen and won a head chef position at BLT Steak in Bally’s at Las Vegas with a salary of $250,000, therefore making Kristin the runner-up. While Kristin was overwhelmed about losing, she deemed it a turning point in her life and career and was proud that she grew some much in the competition. Ariel was in tears over winning the competition and believed that new opportunities would open the doors for her future. Ariel called it awesome before hanging her portrait on the Hell’s Kitchen Wall of Fame. During the credits, some never seen footage of the chefs goofing off and dancing were seen.
Ramsay's comment: "Right from the very beginning, Ariel let her presence be known. She was always outspoken, but she backed up her confidence with her cooking. Creative, talented, and unique, she is an out-of-the-box thinker who will make a great head chef at BLT Steak."
Trivia[]
- This is the final episode to use the "X Chefs Remaining" based titles. From the next season onward, the show will start using original titles.