The eighth episode of Season 18 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX on December 7, 2018. On that episode, a special Sweet 16th party took place, one chef nearly left the competition due to medical problems again, and one team dominated over the other at dinner service.
Intro[]
Back at the dorms, Trev was disappointed that Scotley was not eliminated during the Cook For Your Life Challenge, was tired of the latter's alpha male attitude, and said that it was a cooking competition, not a competition for the person with the largest huevos. However, Bret accused Trev of not wanting Scotley due to the latter's skills, but Trev argued that he did not want Scotley due to his attitude. Later that night, Bret and Mia were eating dinner in the kitchen, but the former's loud behavior rubbed the latter the wrong way, even when it led to Bret giving a lecture on how northeastern people call things the shit, much to Trev and Ariel's amusement. However, Mia believed that Bret was an idiot if he was not going to change his behavior.
Team challenge[]
The next day, both teams came downstairs to see Ramsay and the staff, where he said that a chef's love of cooking came when they were young and told them to imagine when they made their first dish ever. After, Marino pulled up a monitor showing the chefs as teenagers, with Kanae from her Homecoming photo, Scotley saying that Trev's photo made him look like a white Steve Urkel, a husky sized Motto, Roe sporting braces and a seashell necklace, Scotley in his Snoop Dog phase, Heather 's graduation photo, Jose with a bit of his beard starting to grow, Ramsay thinking that Ariel was dodging the paparazzi in her photo, and a picture of Mia from her 15th birthday. After, Ramsay showed pictures of the staff which included Sous Chef Jocky in his school attire, complete with a kilt, and Marino in high shorts, but the latter soon got revenge by showing some pictures of Ramsay in his teenage years, and even though Bret noticed that Ramsay's hair never changed, Mia said that she would have been crushing hard on him if she was a 15-year-old girl again. After, Ramsay explained that their guest fell in love with cooking at a young age, before introducing his youngest daughter, Tilly Ramsay, into the dining room, with Scotley noticing the similarities between the two, and Ramsay revealed that the dining room would be closed to the public because, for tonight's service, they will be hosting Tilly's Sweet 16 birthday party. For the Tilly Sweet 16 Planning Challenge, both teams had to create a tasting menu that would be featured in that night's service, with Tilly having complete control over what she wanted, though Motto knew that she knew her food well due to growing up in the food industry, and the team with the most dishes added onto the menu would win the challenge.
Both teams had 45 minutes to create two appetizers and three entrées, which included a vegetarian option. As both teams laid out what they were cooking, Trev admitted that he was not looking forward to cooking for millennials and wondered if he was getting old. Meanwhile, Ramsay and Tilly were at the office discussing what the latter wanted that night. Tilly asked Ramsay not to swear that night and having each of her guests receiving a personal-sized four-layered cake each, with Ramsay commenting that she just gave him an idea for a punishment. Back at the kitchens, Roe wanted to plate her pesto in the shape of a T for Tilly, and Bret decided to do a pasta dish because he said kids love pasta. Eventually, both teams got their dishes cooked and plated on time.
The appetizer round was up first with Motto and Scotley from the red team, and Kanae and Roe from the blue team, presenting their dishes. Roe's pan-seared scallops with pesto were praised for the pesto plating's creativity, but criticized for the combination of ricotta cheese with the scallops, and her dish was not chosen. Then, Motto's ahi tuna appetizer was praised for the presentation screaming fun, Tilly loving the sauce, and his dish was added onto the menu, giving the red team a 1-0 lead. While Ramsay noted that Kanae's Asian-inspired kebabs were risky as not all teenagers liked them, Tilly liked them enough to put them on that night's menu, tying the score up at 1 each. Then, Scotley's scallops cruet was praised for tasting fresh, but Tilly admitted that it was not her favorite of the appetizers, and Scotley's dish was not added on the menu, with the score remaining 1 point each. On the entrée round, Bret, Jose, and Trev from the red team, and Ariel, Heather, and Mia from the blue team presented their dishes. Trev's broccoli and bok choy masala was praised for the coconut flavor and not being overly spicy, while Mia's creamy mushroom frichese with toasted tofu was praised for the presentation, and Tilly commenting that mushrooms were her favorite vegetable. In the end, Mia's dish was chosen over Trev's, the score was 2-1 for the blue team, and downed Trev commented that trying to impress a 16-year-old girl never worked for him. After, Jose's fish and chips with sweet potato fries and mango moho easily won out, making the score a 2-point tie, while Heather's filet mignon and red onion jam was also put on the menu, making the score 3-2 for the blue team. On the final round, Bret presented his baked ziti, but while he was confident that Tilly would love it, it was criticized for being too heavy, meaning that the blue team automatically won the challenge. However, both Ramsay's wanted to taste Ariel's sweet potato haystack on top of a chicken, it was praised for tasting delicious, and they added it onto the menu, ending the challenge 4-2 for the blue team.
Scoring[]
Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
Dish | Score | Total | Dish | Score | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Appetizers | 1 0 |
1 1 |
Appetizers | 0 1 |
0 1 |
Entrées | 0 1 0 |
1 2 2 |
Entrées | 1 1 1 |
2 3 4 |
Results | 4-2 |
Reward[]
The women were rewarded with a day at a Malibu mansion and received ice cream from an artisan food truck, exciting Mia as she loved ice cream. During the reward, Ariel called the mansion insane and would like to throw a party at the place, while Kanae said that her episode of "Cribs" beat out Mariah Carey's episode. When the ice cream truck arrived, Mia got one of everything.
Punishment[]
The men were punished by baking four-layered personal cakes for Tilly's guests and setting up a mobile photo booth that included origami-styled flowers. After hearing that, Trev complained that he had only left the restaurant once before and believed that he would turn out like Quasimodo.
During the punishment, Motto felt the pressure of making sure they get their punishment done perfectly for Tilly, while Jose struggled to try and fold the flowers with the instructions, and Bret asked if he could have a lifeline so he could ask his 10-year-old daughter for help, with Scotley coming to help him out. Then, Bret started to feel poor as he was sweating profusely and complained that his heart was beating hard. Due to Jose's concern, the medic was called over to the patio, and he decided to call 911 for the paramedics. That dismayed Bret as he still remembered how he was forced out of Season 14 due to a back problem and wanted his problem to stop so he could continue in the competition. Despite the paramedics' concern that Bret should go to the hospital, the symptoms went away, and Bret refused to leave. However, the paramedics had him sign a release form and urged him to call them if it happened again as Bret returned to the red kitchen to continue the punishment.
Before service[]
Later that night, women came back from their reward, and both teams began prepping for Tilly's Sweet 16 birthday service. After, Ramsay had both teams lined up, reminded them how important that night was for him, and said that he wanted to be happy at the end of that night. After, Ramsay asked Marino to open the doors for Tilly's Sweet 16 birthday party.
Dinner service[]
Thomas Barbusca was in attendance that night, and in addition to the classic menu, the challenge-winning dishes were also featured that night. The women received their first order, and Kanae knew that there was a lot of pressure to make sure that service that night went perfectly. However, Kanae sent up poorly sliced ahi tuna, with Ramsay comparing it to dog chew, and that he has seen better tuna from takeout. After, Heather decided to take over Kanae's job of slicing the tuna, sarcastically thanking the latter for that, and the refire was accepted. In the red kitchen, Scotley was confident that he could cook a risotto without any help, and after the Cook For Your Life Challenge the previous night, he wanted to redeem himself. It paid off as his risottos were accepted, he called it not a fluke, and both teams were pushing out appetizers after Kanae bounced back. Now moving onto entrées, Roe felt comfortable being on meat as she had strong performances in the past and deemed herself the meat queen. However, Roe's New York striploin was not only improperly seared, but it was cold in the center. In the red kitchen, Motto admitted to loving the adrenaline rush of service, and both his and Jose's entrées were accepted, with Scotley saying that the two veterans needed to step it up as the rookies were a force to be reckoned with.
One hour into dinner service, Roe was pushing on her refire, and even though Heather admitted to being nervous about the former, she hoped to gain back some momentum. However, Roe's refire was raw once again, a pissed Ramsay brought the women into the pantry, and he showed them that there was raw fat still on the steak. After returning to the kitchen, Roe was concerned that she would ruin Tilly's night and that it was the worst night to make a mistake. Despite that, Roe finally got the third attempt accepted. In the red kitchen, Bret felt that he experienced an anxiety attack earlier that day and was glad he did not leave again as he wanted to make Tilly's night a perfect one. However, Bret sent up a bowl of sweet potato fries that had burnt pieces in there, and while an annoyed Motto told the former not to sell them if they were going to be sent back, Bret quickly got the refire accepted. In the blue kitchen, Sous Chef Jocky rejected Mia's fish for not having enough batter on them, and her refire came out raw. That caused an annoyed Heather to call their situation ridiculous as Ramsay commented that all the fish needed was its head and tail before heading back to the river. In the red kitchen, Scotley asked Trev how much garlic he was putting into the spinach, but the latter ignored him as he felt that Scotley was talking at him and not to him. However, Scotley's warning came true as Trev's spinach was rejected for having too much garlic, and the latter felt that he disappointed Ramsay.
One hour and a half into dinner service, the women received Tilly's table. While Ariel knew that they started out rough, she did not want to disappoint Tilly and give her a night to remember. However, Ariel's halibut was raw, and this dismayed her as she already had a cooked halibut ready to go but brought the wrong pan out by mistake. That mistake was the final straw for Ramsay, who, after criticizing the women for their off timings during the last five tables, kicked them out of the kitchen and ordered them to name two people for elimination. After, Ramsay asked the three male rookies to head into the blue kitchen and finish up the remaining tickets, and the three managed to get the orders out perfectly. While clearing down, Ramsay praised Motto and Jose for their best performances yet, and the latter commented that he felt good finishing up the women's orders for them. At the end of the night, Tilly thanked the men for a great night.
Post-mortem[]
Back at the dorms, Mia felt very disappointed that the women screwed up on Ramsay's daughter's birthday party as it was not the night to mess up. When Heather asked where to start, Ariel bluntly said that Roe's raw steaks, Mia's fish and chips problems, and her own raw halibut were the order of what went wrong that night, but Mia argued that Kanae also had problems with the ahi tuna earlier that night. Kanae refused to let that slide and believed that Mia was trying to push aside her own mistakes. Then, Mia considered Roe and Kanae for elimination, but the latter, Heather, and Ariel each considered Roe and Mia for elimination. However, Roe refused to go down like that and considered Mia and Ariel for elimination as, despite a slow up on meat, she felt that fish had more problems on that and told Ariel to own up her own mistakes. However, while Ariel accepted her mistake, she felt that Roe deserved to go up more than her, leading to a bickering match between the two.
Elimination[]
Heather announced Roe as the women's first nominee for elimination, with Mia as the second. During their pleas, Roe said that she never gave up and wanted to finish that night, and when Ramsay asked Mia if she was in over her head, she retorted that Kanae failed to get her batter done correctly during prep, hence why she struggled that night. However, Kanae argued that she did make the batter when prep began, with Heather backing her up and accused Mia of lying to save face. Then, when Ramsay asked the two nominees why they thought they were better than the other, Mia said that she communicated with her team and took responsibility for her own actions, while Roe said that she was stronger than the former. In the end, Roe was eliminated for her poor performance on meat, despite having stronger nights on that station before. During her exit interview, Roe took her elimination with grace and was proud she did not give up that night. She also knew that her mistakes overshadowed her good aspects that night.
After Roe left, Ramsay congratulated the men for a job well done that night while commenting that the women had the opposite that night. While being dismissed, Bret felt that the women's bickering would be beneficial for the men now and that the women would be divided. Simultaneously, Mia argued that she was not playing the blame game, as she felt she did not deserve to be nominated. However, Kanae believed that Mia had a chip on her shoulder and thought that it would weigh her down in the end.
Ramsay's Comment: "Last time she was here, Roe was a tour de force at the meat station. But tonight, her performance left me as cold as a raw New York strip."
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title refers to Tilly Ramsay celebrating her Sweet 16 Party in Hell's Kitchen.