The eleventh episode of Season 22 of Hell's Kitchen aired on December 14, 2023. In that episode, the annual Blind Taste Test occurred, a Charity Night service proved to be bumpy for both teams, and a shocking elimination of an early front runner occurred.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Sammi thought that night showed how weak Donya and Carmen were for the red team, especially from the previous challenges. Leigh thought Ramsay would have sent two people home that night, and Sammi thought he should have. Regardless, the two knew it was dead even, and the battle of the sexes resumed.
Team challenge[]
The following day, both teams came downstairs to see Ramsay on a space station set with NASA props around him. Seeing that made Leigh dread the thought of a space-themed cooking challenge, as she knew how terrible her husband’s military rations tasted. Ramsay welcomed the top eight to their tribute to American space flight and commented on how much has changed since the first space explorations. The Sous Chefs came with meals made from food bags, while Marino came out dressed as an astronaut. Ramsay admitted that the food did not look appetizing unless boiling water was added, and he asked the chefs to taste them, promising there were no tricks to them. The chefs found the dishes to be okay, and Ramsay showed how difficult it was to eat without gravity by throwing food at Marino. In response, Marino threw food at Ramsay, causing a food fight among everyone in the room.
After some fun, Ramsay halted the food fight, with Ryan wondering if he accidentally hit Leigh in the face. After everyone calmed down, Ramsay announced that their next challenge was the annual Blind Taste Test. The stage opened to reveal the punishment booths, and Carmen said she had waited for that challenge since she entered the competition. In contrast, Johnathan knew how big the challenge was as it separated the cooks from the chefs. Ramsay explained that while one chef tasted the food he fed them, their teammate would sit in the punishment satellite as the Sous Chefs would dump space debris over their head. For two incorrect ingredients, the chefs would get dunked with milk. Three incorrect ingredients would have the chefs get sprinkles dumped on them, and four incorrect ingredients featured cheese.
Carmen and Ryan began the challenge as Johnathan and Sammi sat in the punishment area. Ryan dreaded going first, but he knew it had to be done. Neither got onion, but they got bell pepper. Then, Carmen got pineapple incorrect, resulting in Sammi getting the milk punishment. While Ryan correctly guessed pineapple, neither he nor Carmen got corn. Johnathan got the milk punishment while Sammi got the sprinkles, and the men led 2-1. For the second round, neither Jason nor Donya got asparagus, but while the latter got shrimp, the former did not. Ryan received the milk punishment, and both Donya and Jason got tomatoes. But, neither got squash right, resulting in Carmen getting the milk punishment and Ryan getting the sprinkle punishment. The score became a three-point tie. In the third round, neither Leigh nor Dahmere got parsnip, but the former got strawberries. However, Dahmere did not, resulting in Jason getting the milk punishment. Still, both got cucumber, but while Dahmere got beef, Leigh failed to get it. So, Donya got the milk punishment, and the score was tied at five each. Before moving on to the final round, Ramsay announced that if the score were tied after Johnathan and Sammi took their turn, the challenge would go into sudden death. Johnathan felt good as he did everything he did in his morning routine to clean his palate while cutting back on the cigarettes. Neither of them got salmon nor bacon, resulting in both Leigh and Dahmere getting the milk punishment. However, Johnathan got peanuts and kalamata olives correct, while Sammi did not. Leigh got the remaining two punishments, and the men won the challenge 7-5. After getting the moon cheese punishment, Leigh claimed she smelled like rotten parmesan cheese at the back of a fridge.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carmen | 1/4 | 1 | Ryan | 2/4 | 2 |
| Donya | 2/4 | 3 | Jason | 1/4 | 3 |
| Leigh | 2/4 | 5 | Dahmere | 2/4 | 5 |
| Sammi | 0/4 | 5 | Johnathan | 2/4 | 7 |
| Results | 7-5 | ||||
Reward[]
The men won a $4,000 shopping spree at Sur la Table. During the reward, Ryan was happy to buy kitchen items with his $1,000 budget, while Jason asked a clerk if he got a discount on buying the floor model. Johnathan bought a small pink apron for his daughter and said he could not remember the last time he spent money on himself.
Punishment[]
The women were punished by cleaning up the dining room ahead of Charity Night. During the punishment, Donya went into the bowl to clean them and lamented missing out on another cool reward. As the men walked by, Johnathan jokingly asked for a mint on his pillow when they finished. In response, Carmen warned the men that they would do something to their toothbrushes.
Before service[]
Later that day, both teams received lessons from the Sous Chefs about the menu items for Charity Night. Leigh said that Charity Night meant a lot to her as she was ready to give back to people who helped in their daily lives. Once the prep was finished, Ramsay had both teams lined up and told them the charities they were cooking for. The men would cook for The People Concern hosted by Greg Germann, which Ryan liked as he knew how much the organization did for the community. The women would cook for Teen Cancer America hosted by Rosanna Arquette, which hit hard for Carmen as she lost someone to cancer. Ramsay said that, for the first time that season, each chef would be responsible for leading their own course and supervising the cooking of their dishes. Ramsay told them to own their courses before asking Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Aside from the hosts, Olivia Culpo, Avantika Vandanapu, Rebecca Rothstein, and Emily Tosta were seen dining that night. The menu for Charity Night featured potato gnocchi led by Carmen and Jason, pan-seared scallops led by Leigh and Johnathan, Chilean sea bass led by Sammi and Dahmere, and filet mignon led by Donya and Ryan. Also, Carmen and Jason were responsible for the raspberry soufflé. Ramsay called Carmen and Jason to the front of the pass, and both agreed to be ready in seven minutes. Carmen was ready to lead the women on her first course but accidentally called out scallops instead of gnocchi. In the blue kitchen, Jason had Johnathan call out times for the dish as he did not want to micromanage. However, Ramsay told Jason to own his course, forcing the latter to order his teammates to plate the gnocchi. In the red kitchen, Leigh noticed that Carmen brought out some frantic energy in her leadership and that the latter was unsure about her leadership. As the men plated their gnocchi at the pass, Ramsay and Sous Chef Jason saw overcooked portions, making the former demand to know who plated them. Ramsay said that the guests deserved better, while Jason saw that nobody took responsibility for the burnt gnocchi. As Jason fired more gnocchi, Carmen got her first course out to their guests. However, Ryan did a quick count of portions and told Jason they were ready, much to the former’s annoyance, as the latter should have delegated someone else to do it. Still, Jason’s gnocchi were sent out.
In the second course, Ramsay told Leigh and Johnathan that the gnocchi course had no sense of leadership and looked to them to get their scallops ready in eight minutes. Johnathan swore he would pull it together for the men and was ready to rock it out like he did back home. In the red kitchen, Leigh plated scallops and asked Donya to help her. As everyone else came to join, Leigh got her scallops out with no problems. In the blue kitchen, Johnathan went through the scallops he was sent, but Ramsay saw some that were overcooked. Johnathan thought his team was dooming him, especially Jason, as Ramsay was getting frustrated by the mess the men were in. Sous Chef Jason caught Jason shaking the scallops, causing them to rip, and Johnathan could not believe someone like the latter could mess up on the scallops. Eventually, Jason’s refires were accepted, and Johnathan served his course.
As Dahmere and Sammi began the third course, the former got the men organized and delegated roles. Sammi did the same, much to Ramsay’s pleasure, until Leigh’s pan caught on fire. After Ramsay put it out, both kitchens served the third course to high praise from the guests.
For the fourth course, Ramsay reminded Ryan and Donya that it was not a race as he wanted to focus on quality. With ten minutes on the window, Donya finished the sear on the women’s filet, which concerned Ramsay. Donya promised she oversaw the women, but Leigh knew the former had a hard time separating herself from a line cook to a leader. Then, Sammi basted the filet, making Ramsay confused over what system Donya was using. In the blue kitchen, Ryan strongly led the men on the filets as he knew Ramsay was looking for someone to command a brigade. Meanwhile, Donya got her filets to the pass, but some of them were raw, and Ramsay was not pleased when the former tried to jump in on meat for the refire. That caused Carmen to realize that Donya was not good with delegating roles, especially on a night like now. Ryan got his course out first, with Donya following not long after.
With the final course on fire, Jason tried to focus on what to do and keep a positive attitude. However, Ramsay checked the convection oven and saw white lumps in the soufflé. Jason claimed that he was told to leave ribbons of egg whites during prep, but Johnathan was not pleased that the former would throw the Sous Chefs under the bus. Sous Chef Jason said he never told Jason to do that, and Ramsay asked the former to bring over Sous Chef Christina. Sure enough, Sous Chef Christina said she never told Jason to do that, but the latter thought the former was not telling Ramsay the full truth. In the red kitchen, Carmen continued to struggle to lead the women, even when her teammates told her to talk with Jason. After opening the ovens, both teams began plating their soufflés, but some of the cakes in the blue kitchen were deflating. With no other choice, Ramsay had to serve some of the guests the deflated soufflés and end the service.
Post-mortem[]
After both teams lined up, a disappointed Ramsay said he was expecting more leadership and more ownership that night. Both teams were named joint losers and were asked to nominate one person they thought was the weakest leader on their team.
During deliberation, Leigh called it hard to pick one person out of four, while Donya felt she delegated well. However, Carmen disagreed as she felt Donya kept to herself that night. Still, Donya did not appreciate the comments as she thought she was more vocal than her teammates. When Carmen asked about her performance, Sammi said that the former tried to be more in the movement than delegating. Although Carmen felt she had the loudest voice in the red kitchen, Sammi disagreed.
Meanwhile, Ryan deemed Jason the weakest leader of the men that night, but the latter disagreed. Jason said he ran the two courses to Ramsay’s liking and felt he was honest with everyone. As Jason felt he was getting ganged up on by the men, he asked how the burnt gnocchi and scallops came to be. Johnathan said that Jason’s attitude had not gone away since the start of the service, but the latter argued it was honesty. When Jason voted for Johnathan for nomination, he denied overcooking the latter’s scallops. However, Johnathan was too frustrated to argue, while Dahmere nominated Jason.
Back with the women, Leigh was torn between Carmen’s frantic micromanagement and Donya’s lack of confidence. The women struggled with making a choice, as Leigh called it a cruel fate.
Elimination[]
After both teams came downstairs, Ramsay said that Charity Night services were always a tradition in the competition as it gave him a glimpse of who could lead. Ryan announced Jason as the men’s nominee for elimination, and Carmen announced Donya as the women’s nominee. During their pleas, Donya said she had the loudest voice in the red kitchen and the strongest woman in the kitchen. Then, Jason thought he led his dishes well and took responsibility for the slow plating. However, Ramsay heard Jason claim he led Johnathan’s scallop course and asked if the latter told him to cook all of them. Jason claimed that Johnathan told him and Dahmere to cook all of them.
Ramsay asked Jason why he was up for elimination again, and the latter thought his teammates treated him like a scapegoat. However, Ramsay reminded Jason that he wanted him to own his course, not cook it. While Ramsay knew that Jason and Donya could cook, he was not looking for that for Charity Night. After a tough deliberation, Ramsay eliminated Donya for failing to delegate her team on the filet mignon and not stepping up as a leader. Still, Ramsay praised Donya for her passion for cooking, and he appreciated her dedication. During her exit interview, Donya felt she was not the weakest chef in the red kitchen and assumed Ramsay would see that soon after she left. However, Donya called the experience life changing.
After Donya left, Ramsay warned Jason that while he had not given up on him, he was getting close to doing so. After Jason went back in line, Ramsay told the remaining chefs that the competition was wide open and dismissed them for the evening. Jason felt okay surviving elimination but felt frustrated being nominated so many times. In contrast, Johnathan was not happy that Jason survived and called the latter garbage with no morals.
Ramsay's comment: "Donya had the drive, voice, and was a great cook. But I'm not looking for a great cook, I need a great chef."
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title refers to the food fight Marino instigated before the Blind Taste Test.
- With this episode, Johnathan has gone the whole team phase of the competition without using his Punishment Pass.