The sixth episode of Season 2 Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox, on July 17, 2006. On that episode, both teams created their menus, and that service resulted in one team performing strong, while the other struggled on their own menu.
Intro[]
Back at the dorms, Heather was already crying over Rachel's elimination and missed her as she knew the latter would be in the back of her head. Heather talked to Maribel about it and said she did not think this would happen, but Maribel took that it as the former wanted her to be eliminated. However, Maribel did not care about it, saying Heather could say whatever she wants as she refused to let people talk down to her. On the patio, Keith and Garrett talked about how Heather is not as strong as she thinks. However, while Keith felt that Heather was a little stronger than Garrett, he thought he was the strongest of the blue team. Then, Garrett said the red team was done as Heather was their heart, Rachel was their backbone, and with both no longer on that team, the blue team had it in the bag.
Team challenge[]
The next morning, at 6:32 AM, Sous Chef Scott and Mary-Ann woke up the contestants with megaphones, shouting all over the dorms. They told them to get outside immediately with their jackets on. While Keith noticed that the blue team was up and at it already, an annoyed Maribel thought the brutal wake-up calls were over by now. The contestants went to the Grand Central Public Market in Los Angeles, with Virginia getting butterflies over the anticipation of the challenge, and Ramsay announced the Three Course Meal Challenge, explaining that inspiration was the main reason for that challenge. Each team was given 20 minutes to shop for the ingredients of their three dishes. On the red team, Virginia took the leadership role, much to the annoyance of Sara as she felt the former did not have what it took. Heather struggled to find what she wants for her dessert on the blue team, and Keith noticed she was getting flustered. Meanwhile, Virginia ordered the biggest breast for the entrée. Still, Maribel felt they were all picking up the wrong things and heading the wrong way. Eventually, both teams completed their shopping.
When the teams returned to Hell's Kitchen, they had one hour to prepare all three dishes. During the cooking, Virginia was the unofficial leader for her team as she chose the dishes for the challenge but said she would like everybody to lead their own station with the help of others. Virginia then told Sara to roast the peppers. When Sara and Virginia were micromanaging Maribel, the latter did not feel that her teammates had confidence in her. In the blue kitchen, Keith said he and Garrett would work on both the appetizer and entrée dishes together as he did not want to put too much pressure on the weakest member of the blue team. Eventually, both teams had their dishes cooked and plated on time.
Garrett and Sara went up for the appetizer round, and the former presented a roasted corn scallop and shrimp bisque. Although Ramsay found the presentation nice, he found the shrimp tail very dangerous to leave on the plate as it was sharp, having Garrett and Sara touch the shell. Then, Ramsay warned Garrett that if he ate that, he would be sent to the hospital, but the latter argued that if the former ordered shrimp, there would be a shrimp tail. Then, Sara presented a bell pepper soup, and despite Ramsay praising the appetizing color, the peppers were burned. Virginia took responsibility for that mistake as she told Sara to roast the peppers and noted that the latter did not say anything against it. However, Sara felt that Virginia’s time to shine did not work out. For the entrées, Virginia served a chicken roulade stuffed with Mexican hard salami, sliced tomatoes and garlic. The dish impressed Ramsay as Hell's Kitchen was not that sophisticated yet with their chicken dish, while Keith’s pan-roasted rib-eye with smocked chilli was cooked perfectly, and even though the vegetables looked like a mess, Ramsay found them delicious. For the desserts, Heather presented a fresh-fruit crepe with a mango purée, but Ramsay did not like it as it was soggy as a wet sandwich. Then, Maribel served a Latin-inspired strawberry shortcake, but while Ramsay found it uninspiring, it was very palate cleansing, much to her relief. After much deliberation, Ramsay declared the red team winners, adding that his favorite dish overall was Virginia's chicken roulade, making her feel that she was coming out like a bang. However, that announcement infuriated Heather as she felt Ramsay was playing favorites now.
Reward[]
The red team was rewarded a night out with Ramsay at three different restaurants in Hollywood. When the red team went out to sunbathe, Keith started attacking them for winning unfairly, and Garrett bitterly hoped they enjoyed their consolation prize as none of the three women deserved to be in the finale. However, Sara felt their attacks were pathetic, and they were just sore losers. Virginia just plain ignored them as nothing would bring the red team down.
Later that day, the red team got changed for their reward, and Sara was excited to see what Ramsay had planned for them. During the reward, the first restaurant they went to was Providence, Sara felt she was getting the Hollywood treatment with Ramsay being a gentleman, and Maribel found the food to be exquisite. However, Virginia felt she was a caliber ahead of her teammates when Sara tried to flirt and knew there was no bonding going on. The second restaurant they went to was Nick & Stef's Steakhouse, but arriving there, Virginia was unable to properly ask a question to the owner of the restaurant, annoying both Sara and Maribel. The last restaurant they went to is unknown, but they drank champagne with Ramsay.
Punishment[]
The blue team was punished by taking part in Delivery Day. Garrett angrily said that Ramsay made the wrong decision, Heather was angry that the red team won with burnt soup and one strawberry, and Keith felt they were cheated out of the challenge. As the blue team vented their frustrations on the patio, Heather wanted the blue team to be the final three at the end and send the women home.
During the punishment, the first order was boxes of wine, and while Keith felt there was enough to last ten dinner services, Heather compared her sweating to Tom. When the red team took off for their reward, Garrett flipped the birds to them, unaware that Ramsay was inside it. Heather did not think it was a good idea and hoped if it would not affect the blue team later. During the night, Keith asked why they did not have an ice machine when the ice truck came, but Heather said she did not care what more was thrown at her. Afterwards, Keith called Heather a tough bitch, a term she liked. At 1:42 AM, the blue team went to bed thinking that the deliveries were over, but a loud truck horn proved otherwise.
[]
The next morning, both teams were downstairs, where Ramsay reminded Garrett about the bird-flipping incident and asked if he wanted to go. Garrett said he did not, but Ramsay warned him never to flip him off ever again. After that, Ramsay revealed that he gave them complete control of their own menus for that night’s service because he was impressed with both team's creativity in the last challenge.
Both teams went back to the dorms to work on their menus. Both teams came out with ideas quickly as Keith suggested a seafood risotto, while Sara claimed she made a rack of lamb that was so good, she was fired from her previous restaurant. Then, Virginia suggested sushi as she used to make it in a previous job. Still, when Maribel tried to interject, Sara shushed her. That annoyed Maribel as she was the odd woman out of the red team but decided to let them do what they wanted. In the blue team, Garrett suggested a lobster Wellington. Still, when Heather and Keith reacted terribly to that, he rudely took it back. Heather told Garrett to put something up, but the latter saw no point as every idea he had was shut down.
Before service[]
With three hours left until service began, both teams prepped their kitchens. Virginia noticed that Maribel was moving slowly and wanted the latter to hurry up as it bugged her. Garrett was still mad at his lack of input for the blue team in the blue kitchen and wondered why he was even there. Before service, Ramsay had both teams lined up and reminded them that it was the battle of the menus. However, Ramsay reminded them that while it was their moment to shine, they would still work under his standards and opened the doors.
Dinner service[]
For the red team, their menu featured Virginia’s peppered seared bluefin Hamachi sashimi and Sara’s Colorado rack of lamb. In contrast, the blue team’s menu featured Keith’s dry-aged New York steak and Heather’s pear tartartin. Keith got the blue team off to a strong start with perfect risottos, and Ramsay praised his work. That made Keith feel honorable that Ramsay saw his K-Grease style and was ready to kill it and rise to the top. In the red kitchen, Virginia sent up raw scallops, and while Sara offered to help her, the former refused it. Sara got annoyed at Virginia’s pride and called her an idiot. Virginia’s mistake, along with her inconsistent timings for the sashimi, slowed the red kitchen down. That forced Ramsay to send the blue team’s appetizers to a few tables with two different team orders.
Thirty minutes into dinner service, the blue diners enjoyed their appetizers, but the red diners were still waiting on theirs, leading to two different experiences for tables that ordered off different menus. In the red kitchen, Virginia complained that her sashimi was a mess when she sliced in various sizes due to the movements of the protein. Ramsay was appalled by the thickness Virginia made and could not believe she screwed up on raw fish. So, Ramsay sent Maribel sent over to try and help her, but while it worked, the red team was way behind as it had been an hour since service started.
All the appetizers went out in the blue kitchen, and Garrett and Heather began working on entrées. However, Ramsay noticed that Garrett's duck salad was raw and told Keith that he needed to get his team under control. Before they could do anything more, a truck horn was heard, and the three of them were forced to do one more delivery task on their punishment. All three of them raced outside and took in orders of wine, giving the red team a chance to catch up on appetizers. Keith could not believe they had to do another delivery and felt they took in 150 boxes of wine, but Heather said the blue team would not be broken.
Moving onto entrées, Sara sent in her lamb entrées, but it turned out to be poorly sliced, and Ramsay was even angrier when she claimed she was learning, despite the dish being her idea in the first place. Ramsay asked Sara if she was blind as her poor lamb was not going anywhere except for the bin. Garrett sent up another duck salad in the blue kitchen, but it was raw again, forcing Ramsay to show him how to cook it properly. However, a dismayed Garrett said it was never a good sign when Ramsay spent more time at his station. Then, Garrett caused a small fire, much to Ramsay's disbelief. Despite Garrett’s problems, entrées from the blue kitchen came out, while the red team has not sent any entrées out yet, and red diners were getting impatient. An impatient Ramsay told Sara that he was about to send out the blue team’s third order of entrées and threatened her with elimination unless she moved as it was becoming an embarrassment. Sara argued that her teammates did nothing to help her, and her next lamb dish was raw. That forced Ramsay to tell Jean-Philippe to take the lamb off the menu and angrily ordered Sara not to touch another lamb for the rest of the night. Jean-Philippe himself has reached his limit and went off for a drink.
The blue team has almost finished service in the blue kitchen, and Heather took over the meat station. When Ramsay asked who cooked the steak, Heather hesitantly said she did, annoying the former as it was good, before wondering why she could not take the compliment. Heather knew that it was thanks to her the steaks were coming out good and that Garrett clamed up, especially when the latter tossed out a burnt chicken. More problems arrived for the red team as a lukewarm salmon returned to the pass because of Maribel. Ramsay said he could not believe the first thing she touched all night went poorly. Meanwhile, the blue team performed a Hell's Kitchen first and served desserts and entrées, finishing their first complete service as Garrett thanked Heather for saving him. In the red kitchen, the red team continued to struggle, and Ramsay told Sara that her tied and stuffed salmon was not working out, noting that it was the third item from the red team that was impractical. Then, Ramsay suggested that they slice the salmon into slices, but when Sara argued about consistency, Ramsay finally had enough and scolded her on her attitude as she was messing around with something that was not working. Afterwards, Ramsay called the blue team over, informed them that 11 red tables have not received entrées yet, and ordered them to help the red team before leaving the kitchen as he saw enough for the night. Virginia was embarrassed that the blue team came to help as that meant the situation was out of control, but with the blue team's help, the red team succeeded in serving all their entrées.
Post-mortem[]
After service, a returning Ramsay praised the blue team for completing the service. Ramsay told Keith that this was his best performance yet while telling Garrett that he was lucky to be on the same team as Heather and Keith, to which he agreed. For the red team, Ramsay called Sara's performance her worst so far and named the red team the obvious losers for creating a menu that was too difficult for any of them to handle. Nobody was safe, and each of them were asked to nominate one teammate for elimination.
During deliberation, Virginia knew the red team failed that night and called it her worst night in the competition. Sara admitted that it was the first time in years she cooked meat, but that caused Virginia to ask why she even suggested the lamb in the first place. However, Sara pointed out that Virginia screwed up on her station as well, leaving Heather in glee over the catfight. Then, Sara asked Maribel where she was during prep, but the latter felt the former screwed up the most that night, with Virginia agreeing with her. Virginia accused Sara of not having remorse for her mistakes, but the latter did not care.
Elimination[]
When the red team came down for elimination, Ramsay decided not to go with the team's nominees and instead nominated the entire team for elimination. During their pleas, Sara believed she was responsible for the red team’s dynamics and admitted that her big mistake was on the lamb. Still, when Ramsay asked Virginia how she felt about that, the latter said she was sick over that claim, pointing out that Sara was the one who pushed for the lamb in the first place. Then, Maribel said she had a lot of drive and felt that she was the third wheel of the red team. Still, Virginia told Ramsay that she tried to push the former to say something, even though she shushed Maribel during the menu planning. After listening to their pleas, Ramsay felt that Sara had her head tucked way inside her ass, reminded Virginia about her shocking performance on the sashimi, and compared Maribel to a rabbit bouncing around the kitchen and accomplishing nothing. After deliberation, Ramsay eliminated Maribel for her lack of leadership and not doing much during service but praised her for her attitude and hard work. During her exit interview, Maribel admitted that trying to a team player compared to Sara and Virginia was her weakness and that her husband and daughter would be proud of her for being herself throughout the competition.
After Maribel left, Ramsay warned the remaining chefs that if they thought it would get easier, they were dead wrong as they just went up another level. While being dismissed, Virginia said she wanted to prove to Ramsay that she had it and did not want to be in the same category as Sara. At the same time, Sara felt Virginia was disposable for being nominated three times now. Then, Keith said he would shine more than that night and would do so with fewer people in the competition. While Garrett knew he was the whipping boy, he would rise and overcome the chefs with more experience. Finally, Heather knew that with five chefs left, the claws would come out, and it would get rough.
Ramsay's comment: "I'm trying to find someone that deserves a restaurant. Now to run that restaurant properly, you need a leader, and Maribel clearly can't lead a section, let alone a kitchen."
Trivia[]
- This marks the first time Ramsay nominated an entire team for elimination.
| Hell's Kitchen Season 2 Episodes |
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| 12 Chefs • 11 Chefs • 9 Chefs • 8 Chefs • 7 Chefs • 6 Chefs • 5 Chefs • 4 Chefs • 3 Chefs • 2 Chefs/Winner |