The second episode of Season 18 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox, on October 5, 2018. On that episode, risotto was the main dish, one team showed their lack of experience on opening night, and one chef made a shocking reveal at elimination.
Individual challenge[]
Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay announced the person they were saying goodbye to was Sous Chef Jocky, much to the chefs' shock. However, Ramsay clarified he was only calling for the latter to come down. Sous Chef Jocky came out wearing a kilt, which Ramsay took a moment to peak under much to the chefs' bemusement, and it was announced the someone they were saying goodbye to was the lobster risotto from the menu. That shocked everybody as Bret commented that the lobster risotto had been a staple menu item since the start of the series. After, Ramsay announced the Creative Risotto Challenge and told the chefs that they have the chance of having their signature risotto dish on the menu that season. Roe knew how big that was as it meant Ramsay saw them as a higher level of chefs. Also, Ramsay revealed that the winner of the challenge would be getting a special advantage never seen before, and Marino pushed out a cart with a card encased in a glass case. Ramsay introduced the Punishment Pass, a one-use advantage allowing somebody to be exempted from the losing team's punishment and join the winning team on their reward, but warned them to use it wisely. After hearing that, Heather said she would never have to drink another fish milkshake again if she had that.
Each chef had 45 minutes to cook their risottos with a wide selection of proteins to choose from, but Gizzy decided to go for a vegetarian risotto instead. In the blue kitchen, Bret told Sous Chef Jocky about his asparagus and shrimp risotto and how he cooked that dish five times a week before believing that he could not lose that challenge as he lived for risotto. However, Kevin got annoyed by Bret's boasting and wanted to see if the latter could prove his talk. In the red kitchen, Mia was confident on her risotto as it was the first dish she learned how to cook in culinary school, while Sous Chef Christina was concerned about Chris cooking a pork belly in a short amount of time. In the blue kitchen, Trev was confident about his dish and wanted his risotto featured on the menu. Eventually, the chefs got their risottos cooked and plated on time, and Kanae said that she wanted to win the punishment pass just in case she had to eat testicles in the future.
For the judging, Ramsay announced that Sous Chefs Christina and Jocky would be sampling each risotto from both teams and pick the top four from each of them. Roe liked that idea as it could be to her benefit, and Heather presented her roasted carrot and parsnip purée risotto before expressing dismay over her dish's color and commenting how blank Sous Chef Jocky's stare was. Then, Bret presented his tomato seafood rotto risotto and explained to Sous Chef Jocky that rotto was broth in Italian. In the red kitchen, Jose presented his uni and crab risotto and felt confident in his dish as, despite coming from Puerto Rico, his cooking was beyond his culture's food. After, Chris presented his pork belly risotto with a soft-boiled egg, but Sous Chef Christina questioned his decision to place his stuff off to the side of his risotto. Trev presented his lemon and leek risotto and arrogantly said that he would not change one thing about his dish, while Scott was confident about his risotto and was ready for some feedback. Then, Jen showed Sous Chef Jocky her under the sea risotto but tasted it along with him. That led Heather to believe that Jen did not taste her dish earlier and annoyingly remarked that they were being held at the highest degree that season.
After, Ramsay came back and asked Sous Chef Christina who the first rookie was that would present their dish. Sous Chef Christina called up Chris' name first, and while he was shocked by that, he presented his pan-seared pork belly risotto. While Ramsay commented that it did not look like a traditional risotto, he praised the flavor for having a nice punch and called it a great start. Then, while Trev wanted his name called up, Sous Chef Jocky called up T 's name instead, and Heather called the latter her biggest completion as they were both runners-ups before. T presented her scallop risotto with leeks and tomato relish, and despite Ramsay commenting on how he did not like relish overall, he felt that it worked on her dish and deemed it better than Chris' dish. After, T commented that she was back in her element and knew what Ramsay wanted. Then, Gizzy was named the second rookie to be called up and presented her vegetarian risotto, leading Roe to comment that the rookies do not understand that their dish may be on the menu for that season. Despite T believing that a vegetarian dish could not beat her out, Gizzy's dish was praised for being delicious and lifting the palate, she beat out T, and she called it validating. Roe was the second veteran to be called up and presented her carrot turmeric ginger risotto. However, Ramsay said that the rice was a tad too crunchy, and Roe failed to beat Gizzy. Then, Mia's sweet pea and basil risotto with crispy pancetta was deemed very good by Ramsay, and she beat out Gizzy for the lead, leading the latter to comment that Mia was proving to be a force to be reckoned with. After, Ariel 's speck pepperino risotto failed to dethrone Mia as it was not good enough, and that shocked Kevin as Ariel was a strong chef back in Season 6, leading him to wonder if the veterans were weak, or that the rookies were that good of chefs. Sous Chef Christina announced Scott as the final rookie in her top four, and he believed that she saved the best for last. However, his blistered tomato risotto with parmesan cheese and butter, while tasting good, failed to dethrone Mia. Bret and Trev were hoping that their dishes were good enough for the top four for the final veteran, and Sous Chef Jocky announced the former as the final veteran up, bumming Trev out in the process. After, Bret presented his grilled shrimp and charred asparagus tip risotto with a seafood tomato broth, and Ramsay sent him back in line after tasting it. While Ramsay confirmed that Bret and Mia's risottos were the best dishes of their respective teams, he gave the former the win, and Bret got emotional as the win was for his parents, before knowing that he made them proud.
Before service[]
After the challenge, Ramsay reminded Bret that not only would his risotto be featured on the menu for the rest of the season, he also won the punishment pass as the latter grabbed the entire case. However, Kanae was not too upset that Bret won the pass as he would need it a lot, implying that the veterans would lose the rest of the challenges. While being dismissed, Mia was bummed that she lost but knew that her dish was perfectly cooked. Back at the dorms, Bret's emotional boasting annoyed the rookies, with Chris and Scott mocking him in the confessionals, and the latter and Gizzy telling Bret to calm down.
Later that day, Sous Chef Christina called the dorms and told everybody to come down to the red kitchen. The veterans decided to walk down as a group immediately, but the rookies were still at the dorms taking their sweet time. Heather deemed it a huge rookie mistake and said the veterans would not give the rookies any pointers. That pissed Sous Chef Christina off, who had to go into the hallways to call them, and neither she nor Sous Chef Jocky was happy about the rookies' entrance. After, the Sous Chefs went through the menu items for that year, which included demonstrations on how to prep them, but Trev did not write anything down as he was a trial and error guy and wanted to let his food do the talking. Later, the veterans began prepping for the opening night while Sous Chef Christina told the rookies to use the veterans' arrogance to their advantage. Sous Chef Jocky caught Trev improperly prepping the Wellingtons in the blue kitchen as he marked them before wiping on the egg wash and scolded him for not paying attention earlier. However, Trev arrogantly argued that he did not work hard for seven years just to get yelled at for an improperly prepped Wellington. After prep, Ramsay gave both teams some last-minute reminders as Kevin said that he had some eagerness for opening night, while Motto wanted to prove himself even though he was scared, and Kanae wanted to beat the veterans that night. After, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell's Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Don Mclean, Annie Wersching, Kyle Schmid, and Courtney Sixx were in attendance that night. Besides Bret's risotto being added onto the menu, a shrimp and pasta appetizer was served tableside by Roe and Scotley. The veterans received their first order, and T wanted to showcase her leadership skills as she could burn, while Bret tasted it for T before saying that the world would taste the dish he served to clients and his friends. However, Ramsay rejected the risotto as it had more of a cheese taste than tomato, told T to lay off on the cheese, and told Bret to be near her for the first couple of orders as it was his dish. In the red kitchen, the rookies received their first order, and Gizzy felt that they had some awesome energy around them before wanting to have them go for all the wins. However, Scott sent up shrimp that was only enough for one order as he thought he heard one instead of two earlier. When Scott asked Ramsay what he needed, the latter yelled that he needed the other shrimp for the second risotto before being forced to send out one complete risotto out. However, Scott argued that he was confused about what Ramsay wanted and suggested that the latter slow down before sending out six shrimp even though he only needed three more for the other order, much to Ramsay and Sous Chef Christina's annoyance. Then, Ramsay caught Scott cooking more shrimp when he already had them out, but the latter revealed that he was cooking them for tableside. However, Ramsay reminded Scott that tableside was Scotley's responsibility, much to Motto's disbelief, and Ramsay took Scott to Scotley to prove his point, much to Scott's embarrassment. In the blue kitchen, T got her refire accepted, and the veterans were moving onto their next ticket. While Trev knew that Ramsay was not looking for arrogance, but for a leader, he ignored Jen's warning about his scallops being lightly colored. Indeed, Trev's scallops were sent out in the pan without being drained, and they were raw as well before Ramsay ordered him to get a grip. Despite being frustrated, Trev got his refire accepted, and both teams were able to push out appetizers.
One hour into service, the rookies were moving onto entrées. Jose wanted to take the lead on fish and claimed he was on his A-game, before wanting to show Ramsay that he was a silent killer. However, Jose's halibut was raw, and a pissed Ramsay showed it to the rookies before warning Jose and Scott to either get a grip or they would be kicked out through the front door and scolded the two for acting like idiots instead of professional chefs. Ramsay destroyed the raw halibut and said he needed a halibut cooked. After Kanae told Jose to get it together, the latter got his refire accepted, and they sent out their first order of entrées. In the blue kitchen, Ariel knew that she had fewer nerves compared to last time, but Bret sent out a lamb that he already sliced when it was not his place, much to his dismay as it was cooked perfectly. After Ramsay and Sous Chef Jocky lectured Bret not to cut the lamb, the latter profusely apologized while sending up his refire, with Heather telling him to get over it. Despite that, Bret's refire was accepted. In the red kitchen, Mia was confused about what was fired, and Chris tried his best to keep track of what was sent out. Then, Mia told Ramsay that her duck could take 10 minutes as she only had one of the two cooked, and the latter caught Chris writing down notes instead of helping Mia out. After, Mia complained that Chris was trying to act like Ramsay despite not getting the orders correct, as the latter broke Chris' pencil and ripped up his notes. In the blue kitchen, Heather and Kevin feared that Jen's pork was overcooked, but the latter was confident about her pork as she sliced one earlier and was annoyed by everybody micromanaging her. However, while Jen sent up the pork, she forgot the sauce and argued that she did not know where it was. Despite that, the sauce was sent up on time, and the veterans continued to send out entrées.
One hour and a half into service, Mia and Chris got their meat entrées accepted, but on the following order, the latter failed to call back the order as he forgot the halibut as he was not used to Ramsay's system yet. Then, the rookies all struggled to get the right order called out together (two halibut, two pork, a lamb, and a beef in seven minutes), and Scotley hoped to bounce back. However, Mia sent up raw lamb, and after Ramsay called the rookies out for their fragmented service, he berated Scott for being lost, Chris for writing things down, and said that the only thing missing on the lamb was its wool. After Ramsay said that he would rather cook alone with Sous Chef Christina, he kicked the rookies out of the kitchen and asked them to nominate two people for elimination. While going back to the dorms, Mia knew that while her raw lamb got the rookies kicked out, she argued that other mistakes happened before hers. In the blue kitchen, the veterans were on their final ticket, and Roe said that the Veterans won that night before feeling that the rookies were beginning to realize where they were on the totem pole.
Post-mortem[]
Back at the dorms, Scotley accused Scott of being lost that night, and while the latter owned up to his mistake, he also wanted to prove why he deserved to stay. With Scott as the first nominee, Kanae asked who the second nominee was, and Motto suggested that they nominate the entire fish station, meaning Jose and Scott, as they had the most problems that night. Kanae and Gizzy reluctantly agreed that Jose made mistakes that night despite being a strong chef, but the latter argued that meat also messed up that night along with fish. After Gizzy asked one of the people on meat to own up to their mistake, Mia nominated Chris for not communicating with her on orders, but he sarcastically commented that her job was to cook and not listen to Ramsay. However, Kanae defended Chris by arguing that he was not the sole person to keep up with the tickets and that both should have paid attention.
Elimination[]
Kanae announced Scott as the rookies' first nominee for elimination and Chris as the second. While Ramsay agreed with the choices, he said that he also wanted to hear from Jose as well and called the three men down to the front. During their pleas, Ramsay accused Jose of dropping his head and disappearing, but the latter argued that he was a driven person despite his slow start and wanted to compete at 120%. Then, Ramsay asked Scott if that was him at his best, but the latter argued that it was not, before stating that he knew beef pretty well, leading Ramsay to sarcastically commenting that Scott should be a butcher. Despite that, Scott argued that he wanted to prove what he had, and when Ramsay asked Chris what happened that night, the latter admitted that he got confused and mixed up. Then, Chris revealed that he got into an accident earlier that year which damaged 90% of his face and received a concussion that affected his memory, but he proclaimed that he still had the fire inside him. While Ramsay felt bad for Chris, he told the latter to fight back. After, Ramsay sent Chris and Jose back in line and eliminated Scott for being confused all night and failing to back up his impressive resume. Before Scott left, Ramsay told him that the good news was he could open his restaurant the following night. During his exit interview, Scott admitted that his ego was bruised and that he closed down his own restaurant to compete.
After Scott left, Ramsay dismissed the chefs, and Chris revealed that he never told anybody about his accident earlier because he did not want to make any excuses. At the same time, Jose said that he wanted to make Ramsay proud. Then, Roe claimed that the veterans had more knowledge than the rookies and that there were only seven left to take down.
Ramsay's comment: "Scott remembers working with some of the biggest named chefs in the world, but whether they would remember him is another matter entirely. I know I won't remember him by tomorrow."
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title refers to the departure of the signature lobster risotto dish from the menu, with it being replaced with Bret's risotto after the Creative Risotto Challenge.
- This episode marks the latest instance where the blue team won the first dinner service.