Hell's Kitchen Wiki
Advertisement
This page is move protected.

The first episode of Season 19 of Hell's Kitchen aired on October 21, 2020 in the UK and on January 7, 2021 in the US. In that episode, the eighteen new chefs arrived at Las Vegas, visited the real Hell's Kitchen Restaurant, the Signature Dish Challenge was turned on its head, and conflicts began to rise in one team.

Intro[]

The season begins with the eighteen new chefs arriving at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas as Ramsay wanted them to see the first official Hell's Kitchen Restaurant. Mary Lou could not believe she was in Las Vegas, expressed a lot of mixed emotions, and revealed that the last time she was in Las Vegas was when she turned twenty-one and saw the Chippendales. Marino greeted the chefs at the front doors and took them inside the restaurant, with Marc feeling pumped to compete as it was a dream for a person like himself to come from the South Bronx to be one of the eighteen chefs in the competition. As the chefs drank champagne, they got to know each other as Amber revealed that she trained in the Cordon Bleu in France, worked under several famous chefs, and claimed she was ready to compete. Adam knew that Amber was a dedicated chef from Chicago and could not wait to go up against her. Then, Cody revealed that people disliked him for his cocky attitude but felt confident and had no fears. Eventually, Ramsay came in, starstrucking both Declan and Mary Lou, with the latter wanting to touch Ramsay to make sure he was real. Ramsay explained that the Hell's Kitchen Restaurant was built on the show's eighteen-season legacy and revealed that it was one of the highest-grossing restaurants in America. Ramsay revealed that he brought them to the restaurant for inspiration because the winner of that season would become the Head Chef at the brand-new Hell's Kitchen Restaurant in Lake Tahoe. Peter remarked that Lake Tahoe was a fantastic place due to the scenery. When Ramsay revealed the $250,000 cash prize in addition to the prized spot, Declan said he wanted to win so he could become a quarter millionaire. Ramsay admitted that they would not be competing in the real Hell's Kitchen restaurant due to the demand, so they would be going to Los Angeles to compete.

The chefs returned to the bus to head to the airport as Lauren was ready to prove she was not a ditzy blonde. As they drove to the airport, Marino handed out the tickets, and once arriving at the strip, they see a helicopter revving up. Drew hoped they got to ride in one, but Ramsay took it and flew off, with Peter calling him 007. As the chefs went into the airport, Nikki was pinching herself as she could not wait to board the plane. After some time, the chefs were called in for boarding, and Kori was trying to hold her excitement as she wanted to show Ramsay who she was. However, as the chefs walked through the doors, they found themselves standing inside the restaurant, much to Fabiola 's confusion. Then, Ramsay appeared in his chef jacket, confusing Mary Lou as she saw him fly off in a helicopter. Ramsay revealed that Hell's Kitchen would take place in Las Vegas for the first time in the show's history and had some performers do some shows for the chefs. As they watch them, Syann called it a culinary circus while Drew got dizzy from the roller skate performers. While the chefs could not do any of the tricks they saw, they reaffirmed that they could indeed cook to Ramsay. Afterwards, a teaser of this season's moments was shown.

Signature Dish Challenge[]

Before beginning the challenge, Ramsay introduced the Sous Chefs for that season. Leading the red kitchen was Season 10 winner Christina, stunning Lauren as she admired the former a lot. Sous Chef Christina said she hated to lose and wanted to keep her red kitchen winning streak strong, although Cody disagreed with that. Then, Ramsay revealed that the blue team's Sous Chef was Season 7 runner-up Jason, with Marc saying he respected the former a lot. Sous Chef Jason said he did not want the men to lose as he refused to lose again. After the Sous Chefs left, Ramsay explained that every season began with one challenge and asked Adam, calling him ZZ Top due to his look, to say what it was. Adam correctly noted that it was the Signature Dish Challenge, and Ramsay asked the chefs what their signature dishes would be. Amber said she would do a New York striploin, Jordan said she was doing roasted sea bass, Kori said she was doing a chilli Reano stuffed with shrimp and scallops, and Syann said she was making a fried cauliflower steak. Ramsay said that doing a vegetarian dish for a signature dish was a brave move, and Syann wanted it to knock off both Ramsay's socks and shoes. Then, Declan said he was making pan-fried cod, Marc said he was making a Chicaronca, and Cody said he was making a Japanese fried chicken. After hearing the dishes, Ramsay announced he was changing things up as none of them were making their planned signature dishes, upsetting Jordan as she had planned for nothing. Because they were in Las Vegas, Ramsay said he wanted to gamble on their abilities, with Kenneth taking notice of the big slots machine. While Kenneth said he was not a gambler, Cody was down for it. Ramsay explained that one chef for each team would go head to head on the same ingredients they receive from the slots machine containing protein, vegetables, and starch.

Mary Lou and Eliott were up first, and after the former pulled the lever, she said she was confident with anything except for rice. Mary Lou and Eliott received salmon, Brussel sprouts, and brown rice, upsetting Mary Lou. Then, Marc and Brittani receive pork chop, asparagus, and quinoa, pleasing the former as Puerto Ricans cook pork like pros. Lauren and Drew receive halibut, spinach, and fettuccine, Kori and Kenneth receive chicken, eggplant, and orzo, and Cody and Syann land on filet, cauliflower, and yam. Syann was happy as she was initially going to make cauliflower for her dish, and Ramsay jokingly suggested that she stay in Vegas due to her luck. Afterward, Peter and Amber land on ribeye, beets, and potatoes, making the former confident as he compared it to pulling things out of his fridge. Nikki and Declan received New York striploin, corn, and couscous, while Josh and Fabiola get scallops, swiss chard, and Jasmine rice, making the latter feel stoked as she dealt with seafood a lot. Jordan and Adam were the final pair to spin, but before doing so, Ramsay asked Adam when the last time was he trimmed his beard. Adam said he trimmed it before he left, and Ramsay waned him to be careful as the long length was a fire hazard. Jordan and Adam received rack of lamb, mushrooms, and polenta, with the former saying that she cooked her wife a rack of lamb on their first date.

With all the chefs having their ingredients, they had 45 minutes to cook their signature dishes, with Ramsay reminding them that this was their first team challenge. As the challenge began, Adam was not worried as he cooked for some of the best chefs in the country and cooked with some of the strongest in Milwaukie. Drew promised Sous Chef Jason that they would not lose, while Declan said he knew many tricks despite being an old dog. In the red kitchen, Nikki clumsily moved around the kitchen as she struggled to plug in a blender, and the cap flew away from her and struggled to open a fridge. Nikki revealed that she only cooked for two years and had no training in culinary school, but she picked up as much as she could and felt she could prevail. Syann felt confident in her dish, while Mary Lou asked Fabiola if rice was a two to one ratio. Mary Lou said that she was terrible at cooking rice and was distraught at receiving brown rice as it took 35–40 minutes to cook. In the blue kitchen, Eliott decided to blitz the brown rice and coat it around the salmon and hoped Ramsay appreciated his creativity. Thirty minutes left, Kenneth felt that the energy in the blue kitchen was crazy as they were all communicating and having fun, comparing it to being in a family. In the red kitchen, Kori was confident in her dish but wondered what Kenneth was doing as she wanted to outshine the latter.

Meanwhile, Kenneth had his dish cooked and plated when there was 20 minutes left and decided to clean the plate for the presentation. However, Marc was confused about Kenneth's early finished and asked if the latter were the Michael Jordan of challenges or if this would end poorly. Ramsay called Kenneth over, which dismayed Cody, and Ramsay reminded Kenneth that it was not a race. However, Kenneth said he was confident, but Marc hoped that the former put out a great dish. Ten minutes left, Adam revealed that he watched 99% of the show before competing and felt he could do anything Ramsay asked him to do. Eventually, everybody had their dishes cooked and plated on time.

Before tasting the dishes, Ramsay revealed that he would be judging each dish on a 1 to 5 rating, and the team with the most points at the end was the winner. First up were Nikki and Declan, with the former trying to balance out the confident and anxious parts. Before tasting her dish, Ramsay asked Nikki where her passion came from. Nikki revealed that she was initially a brain injury specialist and did kitchen work as an extra paying job, but she decided to quit her original job and follow her passion. Nikki presented her charred grilled New York striploin with Mexican street corn couscous, pickled red onions, and truffled chimichurri, and Ramsay awarded her four points for being delicious. Then, Declan revealed that he moved from Dublin to America four years ago and was an Executive Chef in Washington. Ramsay asked Declan what his nickname was, and the latter said it was Big D, much to everybody's humor. Declan's pan-seared New York striploin with Israeli couscous had a beautiful presentation, a perfect cook, and a strong flavor profile. So, Ramsay awarded Declan the first perfect five of the night, and the men led 5-4. On the second round, Syann revealed that she was a cruise chef and that she got her inspiration from her recently deceased grandfather, claiming he was her guardian angel. Syann presented her scotch marinated filet mignon with deep-fried cauliflower and sweet potato mashed, but Ramsay said there were bits of raw cauliflower in the deep-fried bites. After complaining about feeling like he was in a shit creek, Ramsay gave Syann two points. Then, Cody was confident that his dish would become a signature of his own, but his filet with poached yams and oven-roasted cauliflower was criticized for looking like a mess, much to Lauren's humor as she was annoyed by Cody's arrogance. Despite having great flavors, Cody received three points for the bad presentation alone, and the men led 8-6.

Kenneth was confident about his dish on the chicken round and revealed that he worked as both a personal chef and a food service director for a Montessori charter school. Ramsay reminded Kenneth of how he finished his dish when there were 20 minutes left, something he had not seen in a decade, and reminded him he was not looking for the Usain Bolt of cooking, with Declan agreeing with Ramsay. Kenneth's pan-seared chicken with eggplant, endue sausage and orzo was criticized for a scorched chicken, and Ramsay felt bad for the children the former fed. So, Kenneth scored a one, and Cody thought that the rest should have helped the former more. Before Kori presented her dish, she explained that her family was her inspiration and spent time in Mexico before returning six years ago. Kori showed her yogurt marinated chicken breast, and Ramsay praised it for cutting like butter as she cooked it when there were 20 minutes left, with Ramsay telling Kenneth to take note of that. Kori scored 4 points, and the women led 10-9, with Jordan glad to have Kori on her team for now before she beated her later. On the halibut round, Lauren said she was called Flawless Lawless due to her looks and presented her pan-seared halibut in a spicy arrabbiata sauce. Ramsay liked how the fish glistened but felt there was too much pasta on the dish, and Lauren received three points instead of a 4. Drew then presented his halibut with pesto sauce, but Ramsay had him and Lauren taste the pasta, and both agreed that it lacked salt. So, Drew scored 2 points, and the women led 13-11. On the salmon round, Ramsay asked Mary Lou about her purple hair, and she revealed that she dyed her hair thanks to her mother, who was a hairstylist, before adding on that it was pink before. Mary Lou's blackened salmon with rice pilaf was criticized for lack of seasoning, especially for raw rice on the plate, with Ramsay forcing Mary Lou to eat the rice to her embarrassment. With that, Mary Lou received two points, dismaying her as she did not want to be seen as a weak link. Then, Eliott presented his rice encrusted salmon, but Ramsay was not happy that he removed the skin and gave him a generous two points, keeping the women in the lead by 15-13.

On the lamb round, Adam's lamb with black garlic polenta was praised for being cooked beautifully and scored 4 points, while Jordan's miso lamb was praised for being delicious but criticized for looking stuck together. So, Jordan scored three points, and the women led 18-17. In the next round, Peter's Cuban spiced ribeye scored 4 points while Amber also scored four points as her balsamic honey and Dijon ribeye was praised for a beautiful cook with Ramsay showing it to everybody. With that, the women led 22-21, and Amber was proud to have worked hard for that four. Fabiola's scallops and coconut cream rice scored a strong three on the scallop round, but Josh's scallops with braised kale were criticized for having burnt kale, and he scored 2 points, leaving the score 25-23 for the women. On the final round, Ramsay opened both Brittani and Marc's domes to see their pork dishes, heavily impressed with their presentations. Brittani revealed her pan-roasted pork chop with brown butter rosemary baste and was confident about her pork chop due to being from Kentucky. However, Ramsay discovered that the pork was overcooked and dry, giving her two points, causing her to swear. For Marc, his butter-basted pork chop looked juicy, and he said that he knew his pork due to being Puerto Rican. As Marc needed a 4 to tie or a 5 to win, Ramsay pointed out that Declan was the only one that scored a perfect five of the night so far. However, Marc scored a perfect five as well, the men won 28-27, and he knew he made a statement on the first day. Cody felt that their victory was well deserved and that the women should be worried.

Scoring[]

Red Team Blue Team
Chef Score Total Chef Score Total
Nikki 4/5 4 Declan 5/5 5
Syann 2/5 6 Cody 3/5 8
Kori 4/5 10 Kenneth 1/5 9
Lauren 3/5 13 Drew 2/5 11
Mary Lou 2/5 15 Elliot 2/5 13
Jordan 3/5 18 Adam 4/5 17
Amber 4/5 22 Peter 4/5 21
Fabiola 3/5 25 Josh 2/5 23
Brittani 2/5 27 Marc 5/5 28
Results 28-27

Reward[]

The men were rewarded with dinner at Gordon Ramsay's Steak with Ramsay himself joining them, and Kenneth said it could not get better than that. Also, they would ride on the High Roller. As the men left for their reward, they walked past the women as Drew arrogantly said by Felicia to them as they would eat dinner with Ramsay. During the reward, Eliott could not believe this was happening and felt he was looking down from his own body. Drew asked Ramsay why he pursued cooking, and the latter said it was based on both a knee injury that cost him his soccer career and trying to support his family due to the hardships they faced from his mother's divorce and his brother's heroin addiction. After hearing that, Marc sympathized with Ramsay as he grew up in the streets of the Bronx, his mother had him when she was 14 years old, and he called himself a fighter for trying to come up with cash. As Ramsay pointed out that Declan was the first European contestant, the latter wondered if all of this was real as he could not wait to tell his friends.

Later that night, the men went on the High Roller, which Kenneth called amazing. Josh felt that the men were fired up as Cody liked not being in the women's shoes right now. Adam thought that he and Declan were bonding due to being strong chefs off the bat, while Marc tried to give the men communication advice. Josh noted Marc's energy and felt he was trying to become the leader, but thought it was all talk.

Punishment[]

The women were punished by cleaning the Caesar Palace's fountain and Amber felt that most of her teammates scored low twos', before wanting to weed out the weaklings first. As the women put on their work overalls, Lauren was embarrassed by their look as they did not look hot.

During the punishment, Sous Chef Christina gave the women their cleaning supplies and jobs for cleaning the fountain and berated them making her look like a dick in front of her restaurant. Kori knew that Sous Chef Christina had every right to be pissed at them because they humiliated her in front of the restaurant she helped open. As the women cleaned the fountain, crowds of people came by and took pictures of them, causing Mary Lou to ask if she was an animal. Jordan made a bright spot of their situation that they got to clean the statues of hell, making Fabiola and Mary Lou laugh. However, Amber was not happy that the three were not taking the punishment seriously, and Sous Chef Christina called them out for making light of their situation.

Individual challenge[]

Later that night, at 11:30 PM,  the women completed their punishment and were back in their bedroom studying the menu. Jordan recalled how Sous Chef Christina called her out on having fun on the statue, but Amber was on the Sous Chef's side and sarcastically asked what they were doing. Amber felt some people did not deserve to be in Hell's Kitchen and told Jordan that she should have treated the punishment as it was. However, Jordan told Amber to relax as they were trying to have fun. Meanwhile, most of the men went to bed except for Declan and Adam, who talked about how Eliott pulsed the brown rice for his dish and how the latter needed to go. Adam felt that there were people in over their heads, while Declan felt that Kenneth and Eliott would leave first.

At 1:45 AM, most of the men were awakened by Kenneth's loud snoring and Drew offered five dollars to anybody who stabbed him. The next day, everybody was up as Ramsay called the dorms. Cody answered, and Ramsay told him to bring everybody outside. Once outside the front entrance, Ramsay said that he would do something he has never done before, revealing that he had some friends delivering something to them. Suddenly, they hear a helicopter coming towards them as Eliott felt that something would go down, while Lauren had no idea what was in store for them. Then, somebody from the helicopter kicked a crate off, but the episode ended as a cliffhanger just before it hit the ground.

Trivia[]

  • Title Reference: The title refers to the Hell's Kitchen restaurant moving locations from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
  • This marks the third and final time the chefs were unable to cook their planned Signature Dishes.
  • This marks the latest instance where the blue team won the Signature Dish Challenge
  • This episode marks the introduction of Jay (Season 7) as Sous Chef.
  • This marks the first time the show was filmed in Las Vegas.
Hell's Kitchen Season 19 Episodes
Welcome To VegasShrimply SpectacularHell Caesar!Wedding Bells In HellHell Starts Taking Its TollMetal & MarinaA Pair Of AcesCrapping Out in HellBlind Taste TestThere's Something About MarcSink or SwimThere's Magic In Hell?It's Time!Snuggling with the EnemyWhat Happens in Vegas...Hitting the Jackpot
Advertisement