The sixth episode of Season 19 of Hell's Kitchen aired in the UK on November 11, 2020 and in the US on February 11, 2021. In that episode, Italian cuisine was the main theme, dinner service had a strict time limit for a Las Vegas show, and one person did not celebrate their birthday in a great way.
Intro[]
Before dismissing the chefs, Ramsay told the chefs to get some rest because come the next day, he was taking them up a level. Marc said he was done arguing with the blue team because it turned them against him and promised to start over. However, Declan warned Marc if he was arguing with them, then the blue team would not yell, but the latter said he wanted to work well with them.
Team challenge[]
The next day, both teams were getting ready for the day as Josh asked the red team to throw the challenge for him as today was his birthday. Everybody wished Josh a happy birthday as Amber refused to let the blue team down for him, and then Ramsay called. He told Nikki to bring everyone downstairs, and when they came downstairs, they saw a rock band playing London Bridges. While Declan was confused by the appearance of that, some of the women, Mary Lou, Lauren, and Kori rocked out. After the band finished performing, Ramsay introduced them to Spandex Nation, Las Vegas’ number one cover band that could take any traditional song and turn it into a rock song. With that said, Ramsay introduced the Modern Italian Cuisine Challenge, which has each chef go head to head against somebody from the other team to modernize classic Italian dishes. To start, Ramsay asked Lauren who she wanted to go up against, and she picked Josh, the latter feeling confident as he had a birthday look that day. Afterwards, Josh went to pick up a guitar from the side, smashed it against an amp, and handed the card to Ramsay. The dish was revealed to be lobster ravioli, making Lauren stoked as she loved that dish. Then, Declan chose to compete against Mary Lou, claiming that Big D was coming, and she smashed a guitar to reveal chicken parmesan as their dish. Then, Adam went up against Nikki, and she smashed open a guitar to reveal chicken saltimbocca, while Kori chose to compete against Marc as he smashed open veal Milanese. Jordan went up against Cody as he claimed seafood risotto as their dish, meaning that Amber and Syann were the last pairs to compete against each other. Syann smashed their guitar to reveal tortellini.
After Spandex Nation left, both teams had 45 minutes to cook their dishes, but Syann was not used to making pasta from scratch, even though she had premade dough on her station. Instead, Syann grabbed wonton wrappers and hoped it would be to her advantage. In the blue kitchen, Cody asked Sous Chef Jason if he played any musical instruments, but the latter commented that he only played the spatula and the tongs before revealing that he has kept his blue hair for twenty-three years, something Cody admired. In the red kitchen, Jordan felt that cooking a risotto in 45 minutes would be a challenge and tried to push herself to cook it, while Lauren needed Mary Lou’s help on the pasta machine as she only used on twice before. Despite Lauren calling herself a fast learner, Jordan was surprised that the former never rolled pasta before despite claiming to have a lot of experience. In the blue kitchen, Adam found Cody’s risotto burnt, but the latter felt that the toasting would add a nice texture, telling the former that he will still serve it despite Adam’s reservations. Eventually, both teams had their dishes cooked and plated on time.
Joining Ramsay for the judging were Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, making Cody a little nervous. The trio would judge each dish on a 1-3 guitar rating, and the team with the most point would win the challenge. The lobster ravioli round was up first as Josh presented his lobster mousse agnolotti stuffed with asparagus and spinach purée. While Shook liked the dish’s flavors, he found the mousse to be firm, while both Ramsay and Dotolo found the pasta to be too dense. So, Josh scored three guitars, dismaying him as that was not how he wanted to start his birthday. Then, Lauren presented her lobster ravioli stuffed ricotta cheese with gorgonzola, mushroom, and sundried tomato cream sauce. While Dotolo called it a no-no to put seafood and cheese together, he thought it worked, and Lauren scored a perfect 9. The red team led 9-3, and she felt proud. In the second round, Kori presented her artichoke and veal Milanese, but it was criticized for getting lost in the flavors and not being fried enough, earning her three guitars. Marc’s Macadamia nut-crusted port wine marinated veal chop Milanese was praised for being moist, he scored eight guitars, and the red team led 12-11. On the tortellini round, Amber presented her asparagus and ricotta tortellini. It was praised for looking beautiful, along with having a lovely broth, and Shook said he would love to have that dish in a restaurant. With that, Amber scored a perfect 9, and afterwards, Syann brought up her seafood wontonlini. However, saying the word wonton shocked Ramsay as he had made fresh pasta dough for Syann and asked her why she did not use pasta. Syann explained that she wanted to bring some flair to the dish, but the judges were confused by the dish as it was not a tortellini dish, and all Shook could taste was melted cheese. Syann scored three guitars, with Ramsay telling her that she was lucky there were no zeros on a guitar pedal, and the blue team led 20-15. That left Syann to regret her decision to use the wonton wrapper. On the fourth round, Nikki’s crispy fried and mushroom stuffed chicken roulade was criticized for tasting dry but praised for the prosciutto crisp, earning her six guitars. Adam’s pan-seared spinach and pistachio stuffed chicken with tagliatelle were criticized for the pasta component, with Dotolo telling him that he should have dropped that for a better dish. Despite that, the flavors were on point, Adam scored six guitars, and the blue team led 26-21. On the seafood risotto round, Jordan presented her arancini risotto, but it was criticized for being undercooked, and she scored four guitars. However, Jordan disagreed with the judge’s opinion as she would have cooked it longer if it were undercooked. For Cody, his seafood risotto in a Northern Spain style was praised for perfectly cooked seafood but criticized for an unappealing texture on the rice, nearing the point of undercook. Cody scored four guitars, and the blue team led 30-25. Declan presented his cornmeal breaded chicken parmesan on the final round, but it was criticized for tasting dry, and he scored three guitars. The last person up was Mary Lou, and she needed a perfect 9 to give the red team the win. Mary Lou explained that her chicken parmesan had a sauce made of grilled tomatoes with balsamic and sugar in it, hoping they would call it phenomenal, but the judges could only call it interesting. While Mary Lou hoped she could win it, she only scored three guitars as, despite having a perfectly cooked chicken, the sugar ruined it for them. With that, the blue team won 33-28.
Scoring[]
| Blue Team | Red Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh | 3/9 | 3 | Lauren | 9/9 | 9 |
| Marc | 8/9 | 11 | Kori | 3/9 | 12 |
| Amber | 9/9 | 20 | Syann | 3/9 | 15 |
| Adam | 6/9 | 26 | Nikki | 6/9 | 21 |
| Cody | 4/9 | 30 | Jordan | 4/9 | 25 |
| Declan | 3/9 | 33 | Mary Lou | 3/9 | 28 |
| Results | 33-28 | ||||
Reward[]
The blue team was rewarded with riding in muscle cars with professional drivers and eating an Italian meal at the Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant. As they went back to the dorms, an excited Cody exclaimed how pumped he was about the reward, while Declan said he was a speed freak back in Ireland. During the reward, Declan was salivating over the drive and told the driver Mike to go mental on them, while Marc prayed he, Declan, and Josh would come out alright. As the trio went on their drive, Declan called it a ride of his life. At lunch, Adam called their feast worth the win, while Declan was delighted by the size. As the blue team ate up, Josh felt that they were getting together as they toasted not only their victory but to his birthday.
Punishment[]
The red team was punished by making handmade pasta, prepping tomatoes, and making pesto. While going back to the dorms, Jordan knew the team lost together, but the judge’s criticisms about her dish still angered her. While Kori tried to calm Jordan down, the latter snapped they should all leave her alone. During the punishment, Nikki called it grueling as it was time-consuming, while Kori felt she would get Popeye forearms after making the pesto.
Before service[]
After the punishment, the red team was cleaning up the red kitchen before prepping for service. Syann reminded Jordan that they were the top six chefs of the red team to make the latter feel better, but Jordan struggled as she felt the need to drink despite being six months sober. Kori told Jordan that she must promise not to break her sobriety over this competition no matter what. Jordan tearfully promises Kori that she would remain strong, even after the latter, and Syann pledged to kick her ass if she did.
Later that evening, both teams finished prep as Ramsay took them outside the kitchens, leading Kori to wonder if there was a twist waiting for them. Ramsay had them look at their kitchen and turn around to see Penn and Teller in the bar area, with Declan saying he was a big fan of their work. Penn revealed that they and Ramsay have teamed up that night as their audience would eating at Hell’s Kitchen first before heading over to see their show. Then, they did a demo of their performance as Teller faked the chefs by gouging his eye out with a fork and Penn explaining how it works, with Declan calling it his next party trick. After Penn and Teller left, Ramsay said that he promised the duo they would have an excellent service, and after sending both teams back to the kitchen, Kori knew that they had to get the guests to the show on time. Then, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen for Italian Night.
Dinner service[]
Frank Pellegrino JR and Robert Earl dined in the red and blue kitchen’s VIP tables, respectively, while Kid Hollywood ate in the dining room. For Italian Night, there was a choice to order off a special Italian-themed menu instead of the regular menu. As the blue team received their first order, Amber was ready to prove to Ramsay that she could cook fish, but she accidentally dropped a piece of scallop onto the ground when she moved the pan. So, Amber cooked another piece while Cody was confused about her frazzled performance. While Amber got the scallops up to the pass on time, she also served a raw lobster tail, which upset her as it was a stupid mistake for an experienced chef like herself. Ramsay deemed the fish station the blue team’s Achilles heel, but Amber got her refire accepted.
Forty minutes into dinner service, Jordan was still upset about the challenge results, but she tried to clear her head for the moment, only to cause a fire on her flat top. While Kori put her spaghetti in and said she needed four minutes, Ramsay revealed that Jordan put her scallops in earlier despite needing two minutes of cooking. Jordan admitted that she did not talk to Kori before dropping her scallops, and an angry Ramsay tossed the scallops into the trash bin. In response, Jordan left the kitchen despite Kori telling her to tough it up, but the former decided to go back and try to bounce back while proving to everybody she was not an idiot sandwich. While Mary Lou offered to help Jordan out, she could tell by the latter’s raised eyebrow she was in no mood to talk. Despite that, Jordan got her scallops accepted, much to her relief, and both teams were pushing out appetizers. Ramsay told the blue team to keep up the momentum and called out their first order of entrées. Adam told Josh to get the Wellington garnish ready, but he did not respond to the former or Marc. Then, Marc struggled to give Ramsay an update as Declan told the former and Josh to get themselves together, but the two finally communicated with each other. Unfortunately, the celery purée Josh sent up was bland, which he took the blame for as he failed to taste it earlier. Fortunately, Josh got his refire accepted and said that the birthday boy was not stopping. In the red kitchen, Mary Lou told Syann to make love to their lamb, causing the latter to start flirting with the protein. When they walked up their meat proteins, Ramsay sent it back as the lamb was raw, and Mary Lou took the blame for it. Fortunately, Mary Lou got the refire accepted, promised that it would not happen again, and Syann thanked god for the refire before trying to hug Mary Lou. However, Mary Lou told her not to do that in front of Ramsay.
Ninety minutes into dinner service, Adam told Amber to put her salmon on the heat now, but she refused as she felt it did not need six minutes to cook. However, Ramsay told Amber to do so if Adam said to her that. While Adam tried to repeat that, she snapped at him not to talk to her. That annoyed Adam as they were not here to babysit each other, while Josh said that he needed six minutes on his orecchiette. However, Declan saw that Josh already cooked the orecchiette, which frustrated Ramsay that the latter could not see it in front of him. While Josh sent up his orecchiette, Declan and Cody talked smack behind his back, just as Amber walked up her salmon. However, Ramsay sent the salmon back as it was still raw, had everybody touch the skin, and pulled Amber to the back pantry. Ramsay asked what was happening to her, but while Amber tried to argue that she could cook fish, she started to break down into tears. Ramsay urged Amber to give him her best, while she knew that it was worse when you know what to do and still make mistakes. Despite that, Amber got her refire accepted, while in the red kitchen, the red team was on their final ticket. Although Mary Lou felt her team deemed her a weak link on the red team, she considered herself a lioness. Eventually, both teams got their final orders accepted, and the guests left on time.
Post-mortem[]
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay said he got a call from Penn and Teller telling him that the guests arrived on time, making him happy that both teams could deliver his promise to the pair. Despite that, the red team was named the winners, making Jordan happy that none of them were going home, and the blue team was asked to nominate two people for elimination.
During deliberation, Cody considered Josh for having garnish being sent back, and Declan felt the latter made too many simple mistakes before comparing him to a deer in the headlights. While Josh argued that he fix the seasoning on the garnishes and felt that nothing he sent up held up the line, Cody asserted that it did. However, Josh was not ready to go home that night and feared he could be going home on his birthday. Afterwards, Cody considered Josh and Amber for elimination, the latter because of her problems with fish, but while Amber said that it was her first weak performance of her run, Cody said he was basing it off that night. However, Adam suggested nominating Amber and Marc, while Amber disagreed with nominating Josh as she did not think the latter was weaker than Marc. However, Marc knew Amber was trying to nominate him due to being a tough competitor and told the blue team that, like it or not, he had what it took to win. Despite that, Cody reminded Marc of the times he froze up on callbacks, while Adam said that if he had somebody like Marc as a boss, he would walk out the door and go to another restaurant. A confused Marc asked why he was getting targeted despite cooking well that night, while Amber told the blue team that she was a strong chef, and if they nominated her, they would regret it.
Elimination[]
After the blue team came downstairs, Ramsay reminded the chefs that there was no turning back after completing a successful dinner service. Adam announced Amber as the blue team’s first nominee and Josh as their second. During their pleas, Amber said she was a strong chef and was not ready to go home, but when Ramsay asked what happened that night, she claimed she had too many things going inside her mind. Then, Ramsay deemed Josh’s night rough, but the latter claimed he had the drive and knowledge to push forward to become a leader. However, Ramsay reminded Josh that chefs must be resilient every day and saw nothing from him. In the end, Ramsay sent Amber back in line and eliminated Josh for his poor performance on garnish and not being able to find his voice since the start of the competition. During his exit interview, Josh remarked that he never failed before now, was disappointed that he did not give Ramsay what he wanted, and did not like the idea of spending his 29th birthday alone.
After Josh left, Ramsay reminded both teams that they each gave him success that night and told them not to go back. While being dismissed, Amber said she never wanted to be nominated again and prove she was a force to be reckoned with, while Cody compared that night to Old Yeller before proclaiming that he was there to win. Lauren felt bad for Josh as he was eliminated on his birthday, while Jordan apologized to him as everybody was dropping like flies.
Ramsay's comment: "Tonight, when Josh blows out the candles on his birthday cake, he should wish for one thing. A stronger voice."
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title references the rock theme presented throughout the episode. It is also a pun on the classic Italian dish, meatballs and marinara.