The third episode of Season 16 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX on October 7, 2016. In that episode, ostrich was the main ingredient, one chef threatened to quit the competition, and another lied about an injury during service.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Johnny felt Ramsay made the right decision getting rid of Genaro. He was glad to see Genaro gone and hoped that it would lead the men in the right direction. Later, Andrew felt very low about losing two services in a row, but Johnny wanted to forget about it. Meanwhile, Jessica openly boasted how the women were schooling the men and how they worked as a team, before proclaiming that she wanted the men all gone. However, an annoyed Koop called Jessica stupid, and Johnny angrily asked why she would rub their defeat in their face as they still had to live together in the same dorms. When Jessica continued to rub the women’s victory in the men’s faces, an annoyed Johnny told her to stop talking to him for the rest of the season. While Wendy called the men salty bullies over the fact that they lost, Andrew told Jessica to shut up as he hated her and even claimed that she gave aspirin a headache. Those comments led a tearful Jessica to wonder if the men really hated her or if they were just intimidated, but Wendy told her to move on.
Team challenge[]
The next day, the chefs came downstairs to find giant eggs on the dining room floor, and Ramsay asked if any of them cooked with an ostrich egg. When nobody said that they did, Ramsay explained that one ostrich egg was the equivalent of a dozen chicken eggs, but Heather wondered how big a bird could be to come out of an egg that big. Then, Ramsay revealed that they were not actually cooking with ostrich eggs, but instead, they would be cooking with ostrich meat, even though Jessica felt that it was even worse news. For the Ostrich Meat Challenge, each team would be cooking with four of the most popular cuts of ostrich, top loin, ground meat, oysters, and pearl. Shaina admitted that she never knew ostrich was red meat. Each chef would cook eight dishes based on those cuts, and to collect their remaining ingredients, each team would have to crack one egg at a time and place their ingredients on the board.
Each team had four minutes to collect their ingredients, and after Paulie and Gia smashed their eggs open, the latter complained about the amount of gunk that came out of it. As they were breaking the eggs, Koop said that it felt fun to do so and loved the fact that some bitch server would clean it up later, while Johnny compared the egg yolks to a bomb going off. When the red board was filled up, Gia was forced to swap out one of their ingredients, but she got annoyed when the women told her what to swap out. Eventually, the chefs gathered their ingredients on time.
The chefs had 40 minutes to cook their ostrich dishes, but due to the imbalance on both teams, Heidi, Kimberly, and Heather have to work on their own top loin dishes. At the same time, Johnny was responsible for both of the ground meat dishes for the men. Johnny already had plans for a deconstructed burger and chilli. At the same time, Jessica was confused about what to do as she never worked with ostrich before. Ten minutes left, Johnny was confident as he cooked burgers back home and believed that he would kill that challenge. In the red kitchen, Wendy accidentally sliced the pearl on her cut. Not only was it bloody, but she also felt that it was overcooked. Eventually, the chefs cooked and plated their dishes on time.
David McMillan and Frederic Morin were invited as guest judges, and Ryan called it awesome to have two renowned chefs taste her food. The ground meat round was up first, and Ryan’s Indian spiced ostrich meatballs with whiskey sauce were deemed beautiful, along with it being praised for having flavors that worked well, despite McMillan feeling that there could have been more sauce. After, Devin was smitten by Ryan’s look and praised her features. Then, Shaina’s ostrich chilli with sweet corn was praised for its presentation but criticized for having a lot of fat on top. After, Johnny’s deconstructed Hawaiian bacon burger with grilled pineapple and bok choy was criticized for being badly conceptualized, and his chipotle chilli was deemed dry and boring, with Morin calling it kid’s food. In the end, Ryan’s dish was deemed the best, she scored that round, and the women-led 1-0. Andrew was disappointed in Johnny as it should have been in his alley due to his background with burgers. On the top loin round, while Kimberly’s pan-roasted top loin with pomegranate demi-glaze was praised for being beautiful, Heather’s top loin medallions with purple cauliflower purée were criticized for looking like a generic-looking steak. Heidi’s grilled orange and thyme top loin was criticized for having a lot of blood on the plate, with Ramsay saying that it looked like she slaughtered the ostrich. On the blue side, Koop’s stuffed and seared top loin was praised for being tender and fresh, while Aaron’s spaghetti with seared top loin medallions was criticized for looking like a dish McMillan’s twelve-year-old would make, much to Gia’s amusement. After a tough choice between Kimberly and Koop’s dishes, the former won out that round, and the women-led 2-0. On the oyster round, either Andrew or Paulie needed to score to keep the men in the running, with the latter deeming Jessica an idiot and accused Gia of not knowing her elbow from her ass. Jessica’s pan-seared oysters with creamy polenta and rot veg mix were praised for being tender and simple, while Gia’s ostrich skewers with an orange and black garlic barbecue sauce was criticized for no spice or acidity. Then, Andrew’s pan-seared oyster cut with a red wine reduction was criticized for being too simplistic, while Paulie’s Asian-themed oyster over rice noodles and vegetables was deemed delicious. After a tough choice between Jessica and Paulie’s dishes, the latter won that round, and the score was 2-1 for the women. The pearl round was the last one up, Devin was confident about his dish, but while his pearl with mushroom duxelle and sautéed carrots was criticized for reminding Morin about a 90’s hotel meal, it was deemed a standardly good dish. Then, Aziza’s pan-seared pearl with polenta and fried spinach was praised for having a nurtured meat despite McMillan not being a fan of deep-fried greens, while Matt’s grilled ostrich with caramelized carrots and Hawaiian Pico de gaio was criticized by Morin for looking like a party of three that hated each other, much to his irritation. Finally, Wendy’s herb and garlic pearl with roasted vegetables was praised for well-cooked meat, and in the end, the judges deemed her dish the best of that round, giving the women the win at 3-1. Wendy was happy that she made her grandmother proud and was even more proud that she showed up the men.
Scoring[]
Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ryan Shaina |
1 0 |
1 1 |
Johnny | 0 0 |
0 0 |
Kimberly Heather Heidi |
1 0 0 |
2 2 2 |
Koop Aaron |
0 0 |
0 0 |
Jessica Gia |
0 0 |
2 2 |
Andrew Paulie |
0 1 |
0 1 |
Aziza Wendy |
0 1 |
2 3 |
Devin Matt |
0 0 |
1 1 |
Results | 3-1 |
Reward[]
The women were rewarded with a zip lining experience at Big Bear Lake and got to fly in a private jet, much to Wendy’s excitement as she was already flying high. During the reward, Heidi was happy to experience her first time on a private jet, while Gia claimed that she always knew she would fly in one. During the zip line trip, Shaina was trying to do her best to balance herself, Heidi asked if she could dot the starfish, and Wendy felt that there was fire coming from her back.
Punishment[]
The men were punished by taking in deliveries of raw pine nuts, prep them for the following service for pesto, and clean up the goo and eggshells from the dining room. An angry Matt said to forget about the competition, felt that the judges did not know what they were talking about and did not want to hear people degrade him any longer.
During the punishment, Marino was not happy to find the mess on his carpet and said it looked like a war happened before noticing Matt was not with them. That angered the men as Aaron said they had to do the punishments together, and he went to find Matt in the dorms. However, Matt angrily claimed that he was going to pack up and leave the competition, but when Aaron told him to do the punishment, Matt refused to do so. That led to annoyed Aaron telling Matt to go home if he was too cool for the competition. When Aaron came downstairs, he told Marino about Matt’s decision to walk out, and an annoyed Paulie called Matt a poor team player, even refusing to help out if the latter was on fire.
Back at the dorms, Sous Chef Aaron summoned Matt to meet with Ramsay at his office, but while walking past the men, Johnny wondered why he did not have his bags on him. At Ramsay’s office, Matt felt that the men were not getting fair treatment and that he cooked his dishes to what was asked of them. However, Ramsay reminded Matt that the judges he invited were going to call their decision as they saw fit and said that he would not stop him from doing so if he were not feeling up to competing any longer. Matt said that he did not want to quit, and Ramsay reminded him that he would experience some highs and lows in the competition before reminding Matt that it was up to him how to succeed. After leaving, Matt was grateful that Ramsay saved him from walking out and taking his life to the next level before. However, when Matt apologized to the men for his actions, Johnny berated him for leaving them to do most of his work, only for Matt to remind the latter of his poor dishes. That made Johnny relish the chance he could put Matt up on the chopping block and knew that everybody on the men would listen to him about that.
Before service[]
The next day, both teams began prepping for service, but a tired Gia did not help the women, much to Wendy’s annoyance. When Gia argued that she was not in the mood to do prep work, an annoyed Heather told Ryan she would not mind losing service if it meant getting rid of Gia. After prep, Ramsay gave both teams some advice for that night’s service and asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
A rock shrimp pesto tagliatelle appetizer was served tableside by Andrew and Jessica. Despite Koop being concerned about where Matt’s head was and even threatening to nominate him if they lost service once again, he served too much risotto despite it tasting delicious. In the red kitchen, Shaina felt confident with Kimberly on her station, but the latter felt that scallops were not easy to cook, especially to Ramsay’s standards. Then, Kimberly’s scallops were overcooked, and Heidi remarked that while the former was the fish queen, it was for raw fish only. Despite that, Kimberly got her refire accepted, and orders from the red kitchen were leaving. Paulie sent up scallops in the blue kitchen, but Ramsay informed the men that they were raw and forced him to feel them.
One hour into service, the women were working on entrées, but Gia was a little scared sending up her lamb, and Wendy was secretly hoping that they were raw so they could get Gia out. However, Gia’s lamb was deemed perfect, and the women were serving entrées. Paulie sent up burnt scallops in the blue kitchen, and despite Ramsay trying to make the former look good, he was getting fed up. Paulie admitted that he was out of practice as he was a head chef himself, and Matt, refusing to see another dinner service go down, decided to help Paulie out. Thanks to Matt’s help, Paulie’s third attempt was accepted. In the red kitchen, Gia brought up her lamb, but it was overcooked, and an annoyed Kimberly declared that they were ready to get Gia out. Devin was slow on the chicken in the blue kitchen as he refused to serve it raw, but Matt reminded him that they had to complete service together. Despite that, Devin’s chicken was accepted.
Two hours into service, Gia sent up her refire despite being scared. However, Ramsay horrifyingly saw that Gia’s Wellingtons were improperly sliced, noting that he had never seen that in the show’s history before, but Gia revealed that she nearly cut her finger off doing it. When Ramsay found out, he called for the medic and asked Gia to show him her cut, much to Wendy’s annoyance, and Heather complained that she did not want blood over everything. However, Ramsay could not see the cut as there was no blood on Gia’s finger, and after deeming her a drama queen, the medic came by only for her to rudely say that nobody needed a medic. In the blue kitchen, Matt and Devin worked towards the men’s final two tickets, and Andrew felt that they were getting stronger and jacked up that night. However, Ramsay discovered that Aaron’s mashed potatoes were burnt, and while Devin hoped that they would not get kicked out as they were close to the end, the men were forced to sit at the chef’s table and eat the mashed potatoes. After Ramsay ordered the men for a refire, Johnny refused to lose to a pot of burnt mashed potatoes and wanted to finish service. Back at the dining room, Marino discovered that Jessica’s tagliatelle was overcooked, and while she began a refire, he brought it to the red kitchen for Ramsay to see. After, Ramsay called Jessica back into the red kitchen, and despite her arguing that it was a fluke, Ramsay had everybody taste the pasta before revealing that not only was the salmon raw, so were the Wellingtons. As a result, Ramsay kicked the women out of the kitchen, much to Kimberly’s shock as they did very well in the past two services. Before leaving, Ramsay gave Kimberly the rejected entrées and asked the women to nominate two people for elimination. In the blue kitchen, the men were able to complete service for the first time that season, and Andrew was happy that they did not get kicked out again.
Post-mortem[]
Back at the patio, Shaina asked Gia what happened on the lamb, but while she argued that she was a team player on other nights, Kimberly reminded Gia that meat sucked that night and caused a domino effect. However, Gia claimed that even with Kimberly’s sorry ass scallops, and Jessica’s poor performance, everybody was ganging up on her for the lamb. When Shaina asked who the second nominee would be, Jessica volunteered herself as she thought it was a respectful thing to do, and the women agreed with Gia and Jessica as the nominees. However, Jessica was pissed that nobody else volunteered themselves for elimination and decided to pack her stuff up if she was eliminated. Still, Wendy felt it was a defeatist attitude, and Shaina tried to urge Jessica to get it together. Then, Shaina asked the women if they were serious about nominating Jessica over one poor pasta dish, and Heidi agreed with Shaina as there were some problems with fish that night, with Gia saying that Kimberly should go home. Meanwhile, Kimberly urged Jessica not to give up as Ramsay would most certainly send Gia home, but the latter reminded her that fish messed up as well, leading to a fierce argument between the two.
Elimination[]
Before asking for the nominees, Ramsay deemed the women’s performance a big step backwards. Heidi announced Gia as the women’s first nominee and Jessica as the second. During their pleas, Ramsay asked Jessica to explain why she was nominated over one mistake, but she revealed that she nominated herself out of shame. While Ramsay told Jessica that nominating herself was not a good sign, she argued that she did it because she did not want any more arguing during deliberation. However, Heidi told Ramsay that they were not even arguing when that happened and believed that Jessica had no fight left. That led to Ramsay asking Jessica if she was done, but she said she was not and did not want any arguing as she lived with that growing up. Then, Gia claimed that she was a hard worker and ready to help out with no attitude, but Kimberly disagreed with that notion and told Ramsay that Gia did have an attitude that night, along with not helping out more. Despite that, an agitated Gia refused to go home without a fight despite what Kimberly said and revealed that Jessica already packed her bags. That caused a dismayed Ramsay saying that he had one chef that was ready to go home and another that faked an injury. After a tough decision, Jessica was eliminated for self-nominating herself and packing up her bags, which Ramsay deemed signs that were not worthy of becoming a head chef. During her exit interview, Jessica argued that Gia should have gone home instead but admitted that her downfall was self-nominating herself.
After Jessica left, Ramsay warned Gia that she dodged a bullet. While being dismissed, Kimberly believed that Gia had no talent and that she should have gone home before saying that she would not trust the latter running a fruit stand. Then, Andrew proclaimed that the men were on the way out of the hill, while Gia was happy to be around despite her teammate's complaints.
Ramsay's comment: "A chef who can't handle confrontation is like a boxer who doesn't want to get hit. Jessica just threw in the towel."
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title refers to the chefs smashing fake ostrich eggs to gather their ingredients. It is also a pun on the phrase, "the joke's on them."
- This marks the only time a chef was eliminated after being on tableside that night.