The sixth episode of Season 22 of Hell's Kitchen aired on November 2, 2023. In that episode, fusion cuisine was the main theme, an impressive dinner service from both sides occurred, and while one chef left due to declining health, another was sent home the normal way.
Intro[]
While returning to the dorms, Sandra said the women’s dynamic after that night would be interesting as everyone thought they were the leader when they were not. Sandra got tired of the drama, but Raneisha knew they must get through it together. Having had enough of the drama herself, Raneisha was getting stressed by the tensions between the women.
Team challenge[]
The following morning, both teams rode on the SUVs to a soccer field, where they saw Ramsay with goalposts covered in different Country names. While Sandra said she had a good kick, her aim was not. Ramsay explained that many people came from across the globe to chase their dreams and brought their ethnic cuisines to form the Melting Pot, which contained some fantastic fusion cuisines. So, Ramsay said their next challenge would include two of his favorite pastimes: fusion and soccer. Brad revealed that he used to play soccer in a little league as a goalie, though Ramsay did not believe he had the height to be one.
For the Fusion Cuisine Challenge, both teams must kick a soccer ball at the goalpost to hit two countries, representing the fusion dishes they would cook. To get the chefs revved up, Ramsay invited Alexi Lalas to demonstrate part one of the challenge. Donya was speechless of Lalas as everyone who played soccer knew him. Lalas landed Greek with a powerful kick, making Brad speechless, while Ramsay hit Thai when he meant to hit French. Ryan challenged Raneisha first as he did not think the latter was trained in French or Italian cuisine. Ryan hit French, while Raneisha hit Japanese when she meant to hit Italian. Raneisha admitted to never working with Japanese cuisine before but was ready to see how it went. Donya hit Spanish while her opponent Jermaine hit Mexican. Leigh challenged Brad and hit Spanish, while the latter hit French. Devon and Atoye hit Thai and Chinese respectively, Dahmere and Sandra hit Greek and Italian respectively, and Carmen and Johnathan hit Japanese and Thai respectively. The final pair up was Jason and Sammi, and the former claimed he worked out a lot. However, Jason’s aim was not good and he missed the targets, much to Atoye’s amusement as the former sucked at kicking. Eventually, Jason hit Indian, while Sammi hit Greek. Afterwards, Ramsay revealed that the chef with the best dish of the day won a special prize: two tickets to Las Vegas for an Allegiant Stadium event, courtesy of Allegiant Travels.
After the chefs returned to Hell’s Kitchen, they had 45 minutes to cook their fusion dishes. Johnathan admitted that he did not cook either Thai food or Japanese food that often, but he was inspired by the ingredients he had. In the red kitchen, Raneisha made a poke bowl, revealing that her family was nearly poor and wanted to win so she could take care of her children. In the blue kitchen, Jermaine remembered the Spanish and Mexican flavors from Queens and decided to make a skirt steak taco paella. Recalling that he faced off against Donya before, he planned on winning it for the South side yet again. Twenty minutes left, Sandra seared her lamb off, only for it to go on fire. Still, Sandra was not concerned about a light char. Five minutes left, Sammi said she cooked a lot of Greek food in her life, but not with Indian food. Sammi’s meatballs did not come out well, and she did not make the sauce yet, much to Sous Chef Christina’s dismay. As time ran out, Sammi panicked and frantically made her sauce. Fortunately, Sammi made her sauce, and her dish was plated as time ran out.
Joining Ramsay in the judging was Tony Messina, who said the secret of fusion cuisine was homogenizing two different flavors. Johnathan respected Messina as the latter was a legend and felt he was pooping bricks. Donya and Jermaine went up first, with the former calling herself an urban fusion chef. Donya presented her ros contolies and enchilada, with Ramsay praising the dish for looking like a rustic Mexican city dish. While Messina liked the seasoning, the beef was overcooked and leathery. Then, Jermaine’s paella-inspired taco was up, but the former bluntly said he cooked the rice in a pot. Johnathan face palmed in embarrassment, and Jermaine said he cooked the rice in veal stock. While Messina liked the cooking of the steak, he and Ramsay thought it needed more spice. Still, Jermaine scored, and the men led 1-0. After Jermaine said he won it for Queens, Sandra had no hope for her dish. Sandra’s lamb was raw, forcing Ramsay and Messina to taste the orzo alone and leaving Sandra embarrassed. Messina told Sandra that while she had the makings of a good dish, she unfortunately served raw lamb. In contrast, Dahmere’s pork chop livornese had a great sear and easily scored a point. The score was 2-0 for the men. For the third round, Sammi was nervous as time got the best of her and prayed the flavors were there. Sammi’s Greek-inspired kebob with Tzatziki Sriracha sauce was praised for the sauce, but Messina said the meat was slightly overcooked. Then, Jason’s yogurt and sumestic crusted chicken thigh looked over-charred, but he claimed he wanted that appearance for the dish. However, Messina handed Jason a rock-hard date, and Sammi scored for the women. While the men led 2-1, Sammi hoped the women would keep it up as she needed sunlight. For the fourth round, Devon’s Chinese barbecue chicken with Thai rice lacked acidity and spice, while Atoye’s red snapper and Thai basil salad had a good cook on the fish despite the lack of acidity. However, Atoye scored a point, and it became a two-point two. For the fifth round, Leigh’s prawn and langoustine poached in Tarragon butter sauce were nailed beautifully, while Brad’s French and Spanish-inspired duck was overcooked despite having on-point seasoning. Leigh scored, and the women led 3-2.
Afterwards, Ryan’s miso braised sea bream was praised for having all the elements together but criticized for an overcooked fish. In contrast, Raneisha’s poke bowl with Brie, grapes, langoustines, and duck made everyone raise an eyebrow. Messina criticized the dish for looking dark and grey and for losing the langoustines. So, Ryan scored, and it became a three-point tie. For the final round, Carmen recognized that Johnathan was one of the strongest chefs in the competition, but she wanted to prove herself to Ramsay. Carmen’s Japanese-inspired salad with miso dressing and pan-fried snapper had a nice crispy fish, and Messina said it screamed Japanese. Then, Johnathan’s brown butter and soy glazed sea bream with lime oil was praised for using the whole fish and having the sheen in the glaze. After sending the dishes back to the chefs, Ramsay deemed them great and asked Messina who the winner was. Messina said Johnathan and the men won the challenge 4-3. Johnathan felt great to clinch it for the men, while Ramsay asked Messina who had the best dish of the day from the winning team. Messina deemed Johnathan’s dish the best of the day for taste and presentation, earning him Allegiant tickets.
Scoring[]
Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Donya | 0 | 0 | Jermaine | 1 | 1 |
Sandra | 0 | 0 | Dahmere | 1 | 2 |
Sammi | 1 | 1 | Jason | 0 | 2 |
Atoye | 1 | 2 | Devon | 0 | 2 |
Leigh | 1 | 3 | Brad | 0 | 2 |
Raneisha | 0 | 3 | Ryan | 1 | 3 |
Carmen | 0 | 3 | Johnathan | 1 | 4 |
Results | 4-3 |
Reward[]
The men were rewarded with a day playing bubble soccer, and Ramsay said there was a prize waiting for them back at the dorms. When they got back to the dorms, they found Keurig kits waiting for them, making Dahmere thank his dish for earning him coffee all day. During the reward, the men had fun playing as Johnathan got knocked down all over the place, while Ryan called it release for all the stress they had.
Punishment[]
The women were punished by prepping ingredients for the carbonara for service, including shucking peas, dicing pancetta, and shredding parmesan by hand. During the punishment, Carmen felt her arms give out on her and swore the women would win the following challenge. Meanwhile, Raneisha was upset by her performance as she thought she had a good dish. Atoye tried to perk Raneisha up as she knew the latter was a good person and wanted her to do well.
As the women break for lunch, Raneisha said she was close calling it quits, but she refused to do so. Raneisha said she had six kids who needed her and wanted to stay so she could make them proud of her. Afterwards, Raneisha was ready to push it for service that night.
Before service[]
After the men returned from their reward, Brad was in pain from getting knocked around in the bubble. Brad revealed that he had surgery before competing and was not recovering fast enough for the competition. While Brad refused to give up, he knew his body was giving up on himself.
Later, both teams prepped for service as Devon was worried about Brad’s health and that something might happen in the middle of the night. Still, Brad was determined to push through that night as Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Eric Dikerson and Melissa Rivers were in attendance that night. With both teams fired up for that night, Ramsay called out the women’s first order of appetizers. Sammi was ready to rock out on appetizers and gave Ramsay a time on her risotto. However, Raneisha was slow on dropping the scallops and did not acknowledge Ramsay’s order until Carmen told her to. Then, a fire erupted at the fish station, forcing Ramsay to come in and take care of it. Seeing no one leading fish frustrated Donya, but Sammi kept Raneisha and Atoye on course. Dahmere took the lead on appetizers in the blue kitchen and became vocal. Johnathan was impressed that Dahmere clicked it on that night and was ready to run through a wall for the latter. When the appetizers came down, Ramsay saw that Jermaine’s scallops were dirty and ordered him to try again. But, thanks to Dahmere’s leadership, the refire was accepted, and Ramsay told the former that his risotto was delicious. Sous Chef Jason urged Dahmere not to stop as the men pushed out the first wave of appetizers.
Sammi was ready to walk her risottos up to the pass in the red kitchen as Raneisha served the fish. The scallops were accepted, and Atoye said she was there to stay. However, Raneisha’s lobster tail was sent back for being raw, and she refused to fold under Ramsay’s pressure. Fortunately, the refire was accepted, and the order was sent up. Still, Ramsay told Raneisha that he wanted both scallops and lobster tail perfect in one go.
Thirty minutes into service, both teams pushed out appetizers, and the men began firing entrées. Johnathan noticed that Jason was firing more fish than was ordered and told him to chill as they were not cooking for a banquet. When Ramsay noticed the fish Jason was cooking ahead of time, he warned Devon that eight minutes for a steak would not work. Also, Ramsay told Jason that the halibut would not hold its heat for eight minutes and urged him to communicate with Devon. They both agreed for six minutes, but Devon accused Jason of looking out for himself as he picked up the pace for the steak. Brad walked it up, but the steak came out raw. Ramsay called down fish and meat to the front, but he scolded Jason for taking too long as Ryan deemed the former his own worst enemy. After Ramsay showed them the raw steak, Devon acknowledged that he had rushed the protein, and they were forced to start over. Ryan knew that Jason doomed them by rushing on fish, and Devon knew that rushing it did not work. Fortunately, the refire was accepted, and the men served their first entrée order. In the red kitchen, Ramsay warned Donya and Carmen that it was all meat for the entrée order, but the latter was pumped as she worked with meat despite being a pescetarian. Both Donya and Carmen worked well on the meat and got their entrées accepted, much to Ramsay’s pleasure. As Donya felt excited, Ramsay urged her and Carmen to keep it up. Both kitchens sent entrées out steadily and made it to their final ticket. Brad started feeling exhausted and slowing down, nearly leaving the convection oven door open until Ramsay told him to close it. Seeing that Brad was suffering, Dahmere came to the former’s aid and calmed him down. In the red kitchen, the women fired their final order, and Sandra was close to shedding tears of joy. Both teams got their final orders out, and service ended on a strong note. Atoye said they banded together after pushing all the nonsense aside, while Brad looked depleted as the men switched off.
Brad's Exit[]
When both teams lined up, Ramsay deemed it a great service as both teams had great teamwork, communication, and managed to get past a couple of bumps. Also, Ramsay praised Dahmere for his strongest service yet for his on-point vocalness, making the latter feel good to hear from his idol. Then, Ramsay praised Donya for her on-point temperatures before asking Brad how he felt. Brad told Ramsay he did not feel good, taking Sandra aback. Brad told Ramsay that the surgery he received was not healing and that night was detrimental to his body. Ramsay got concerned as the competition was getting fiercer, and Brad said he was not getting well because his body was giving up on him. Seeing that Brad would not continue in the competition, Ramsay allowed the former to leave Hell’s Kitchen through the front doors. After Brad handed Ramsay his jacket, the remaining chefs gave him a standing ovation for his determination, while Johnathan was hurt to see Brad go like that. During his exit interview, Brad acknowledged that he gave everything in Hell’s Kitchen, but his body was not 100%, and he did not want to ignore it.
Post-mortem[]
After Brad left, Ramsay acknowledged that the competition must continue and asked both teams to nominate their two weakest chefs.
During deliberation, Raneisha thought that night went well enough, but Leigh brought up the raw lobster tail that was sent back. Raneisha acknowledged it, while Carmen decided to base her nominations on the challenge that day. While Raneisha knew she did not score a point, she knew everyone had hiccups like herself and did not think basing it on the challenge was right. Sandra knew her lamb was raw that day but also pointed out that Carmen failed to score. Still, Carmen wanted to move forward without the weak links as everyone struggled to make a decision.
Meanwhile, Ryan asked how they would base their decision, but Jermaine suggested they go on with what happened in service. Jermaine said that after the dirty scallops were rejected, nothing was sent back on fish, while Devon said he had two steaks sent back. Although Devon said he had issues going into his head during services, he knew he was not a weak chef. Dahmere brought up how Jason got too far ahead that night and voted for the latter, but Jason did not believe he was a weak cook. Jermaine voted for Devon for the raw steaks, while Johnathan voted for Jermaine. Jermaine did not think one bad scallop dish was worse than raw meat, but Devon argued that the former had yet to lead a station. Devon knew that Jermaine could not hide behind someone anymore, but the latter argued that he wanted to learn from people rather than try to get ahead of himself. Jermaine accused Devon of being a snake, but Jason did not care as he asked who was going up with him.
Elimination[]
After both teams came downstairs, Ramsay admitted that sending someone home on nights like he witnessed was hard. However, it was a competition, and he asked Leigh about the women’s nominees. Leigh announced Raneisha as the women’s first nominee and Sandra as their second. Then, Dahmere announced Jason as the men’s first nominee and Jermaine as their second. That surprised Jermaine as he thought they agreed on Devon, making Ramsay ask who was telling the truth. However, Jason confirmed that what Dahmere said was true, and the rest of the men told Ramsay it was a general consensus. With that cleared up, Ramsay called the nominees down.
During their pleas, Ramsay pointed out that Sandra was up yet again, but the latter said she had what it took as she was improving. Then, Raneisha knew she could be better in challenges and wanted to give Ramsay what he needed in services. Jermaine called himself a quick learner and a big team player, while Jason did not believe he should go home as he was an anchor for a successful team. In the end, Ramsay eliminated Raneisha for her inconsistent performances and lack of experience. Still, Ramsay acknowledged Raneisha’s determination and only wished she had more experience. During her exit interview, Raneisha was proud of making it far with what she knew and told the viewers that what they saw was who she was.
After Raneisha left, Ramsay told the chefs that they rose the bar that night before dismissing them back to the dorms. Sandra thought she was going home that night but was thankful that Ramsay saw something inside her. Meanwhile, Jason claimed he did not want to be involved in drama and was not concerned about going home. Lastly, Jermaine claimed he had the most integrity in the house and thought Devon tried to attack it.
Ramsay's comment: "Raneisha had a really strong voice in the kitchen, but unfortunately her cooking didn't speak loud enough."
Ramsay gave no comment on Brad's exit. He did not receive to coat hanging and portrait burning sequence.
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title refers to the Fusion Cuisine Challenge.
- This is the second time an episode with the same title, the first one was in Episode 1612 - Fusion Confusion.
- This marks the first time since Season 18 where someone voluntarily withdrew from the competition and the first time someone did so during the Post-Mortem.