The ninth episode of Season 7 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX on July 6, 2010, airing as a double feature alongside the tenth episode. On that episode, the annual Blind Taste Test occurred, the teams put their menus to the test, but both of those events turned into disasters.
Intro[]
After Ramsay reminded the chefs that they had to prove why they were the best half, they were dismissed. While going back to the dorms, Autumn was happy to be there still, and Fran felt she was fighting for her life every day. Also, she added that she was sick of it and needed to prove herself to Ramsay. On the patio, Benjamin trash-talked about Fran, saying she was a nightmare and a mess. Jay acknowledged that Fran tried and worked hard despite not knowing. Still, Benjamin did not feel Fran was trying and thought she would be the next eliminated.
Team challenge[]
The following day, while the chefs were getting ready, Ramsay put a frozen packaged meal in a microwave, and when they went in the kitchen, he made them think it was a fine-dining meal. He presented chicken gorgonzola and asked them to taste it. When they did, Nilka said it was melting in her mouth, Fran found the chicken delicious, and Benjamin and Jay praised the taste of the spices. Ramsay revealed it was a frozen meal, with the chicken cooked three and a half months earlier, and Holli felt embarrassed to have liked it. When Ramsay questioned him, Jay responded that he thought the chicken was a little bit watery. Still, Jay admitted that he fell for it. After that, Ramsay introduced the Blind Taste Test, which excited everybody. They went to the dining room, with Nilka being confident as she thought she had a good palate.
When both teams were lined up in the dining room, Ramsay asked who had the best palate, Jay and Benjamin raised their hands. Fran vocally answered that she had, making everybody laugh and annoying Benjamin. He thought he had a better palate than her. In the first round, Fran and Autumn competed against each other. On the first attempt, Ramsay was disgusted by Fran sticking her tongue out. Both of them missed Brussels sprouts, pork tenderloin, and sweet potatoes, with Fran knowing that it was another bad day for her. On the last ingredient, which was coconut, Autumn correctly identified it. Still, Fran mistook it for potato, dismaying everybody. Nilka was not convinced when Fran said she had a good palate as she did not give any correct answers. In the second round, Holli went up against Ed, both of them mistook Ricotta cheese for polenta, much to Autumn's dismay, and they missed the two following ingredients. Holli correctly identified trout, while Ed did not and acknowledged it was harder than it looked with the blindfold and headsets. The score was tied at 1, and on the third round, Benjamin went up against Jason. Both of them correctly identified fennel but missed kidney beans, butter lettuce, and mussels, tying the score at 2. Benjamin acknowledged he could not be perfect all the time. In the final round, Nilka competed against Jay. Both of them missed Kobe beef and cashew nuts, but they succeeded in identifying cilantro, and the score was tied at 3. On the last ingredient, eggplant, Nilka missed it, but Jay correctly identified it, and the blue team won the challenge 4-3. Ramsay praised Jay for having the strongest overall performance, and Jay jokingly whispered to Benjamin about beating him.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fran | 0/4 | 0 | Autumn | 1/4 | 1 |
| Holli | 1/4 | 1 | Ed | 0/4 | 1 |
| Benjamin | 1/4 | 2 | Jason | 1/4 | 2 |
| Nilka | 1/4 | 3 | Jay | 2/4 | 4 |
| Results | 4-3 | ||||
Reward[]
The blue team was rewarded with a day at SeaWorld as VIP guests. Jason was excited as swimming with dolphins, slapping high-fives with whales, and hanging out with seals were the things he enjoyed. When they walked by the red team's ice shipment, Jay jokingly said he would cool his drink right there, and they rode in the Hell's Kitchen SUV.
Arriving at SeaWorld, they went to see the whales, and they turned around in circles while the whales mimicked them. Then, Jason found the whales incredible, asked them if he would win Hell's Kitchen, nodded his head up and down for the whales to mimic him, and called them very smart. Autumn asked the whales if they liked the red team and nodded her head to the side for the whales to mimic once again.
Later, they went in the water to have fun with the dolphins, but Autumn was the only one who was scared as she remembered some animal attacks. However, she succeeded in conquering her fear by giving the dolphin a kiss and dancing with it. Autumn called it a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Finally, the dolphin waved its tail goodbye to the chefs.
Punishment[]
The red team was punished by taking part in Delivery day. Holli was very disappointed because everybody in the team, except Fran, scored one point and said she would blame her all day long. Then, the shipment of ice arrived, and Holli said that even though she was strong, carrying bags of ice over and over was attiring. When the blue team walked by to go to their reward, Nilka told Jay to go away, and Fran hoped the dolphins would bite them. Nilka thought she would collapse as she could not breathe, Fran declared that she never sweat that much with ice, and Benjamin tried to motivate his teammates. Nilka claimed it was the worst punishment ever, and Benjamin complained that his teammates complained all day long despite him wanting to have a positive attitude. When the second delivery arrived, Benjamin took control of the paperwork and dedicated the box carrying to his teammates.
When the wine delivery arrived, Jean-Philippe informed Benjamin that it was supposed to go to the London West Hollywood. When Holli asked why they brought it at Hell's Kitchen, Jean-Philippe explained that Ramsay owned both restaurants. So, he told the chefs that all the wine needed to go back to the delivery truck. Fran was dismayed because Benjamin took control and did not notice his mistake, so all of them had to pay the consequences.
[]
The last delivery that the red team took was a special delivery, containing two huge boxes, one for the red team and one for the blue. They were told not to open them until the blue team would return, and Holli thought that it would only be a picture of Ramsay saying, "fuck off." When the blue team came back from their reward, both teams opened their packages. They read a letter explaining that they would create their own menus for the next service, which excited Holli as it was an excellent opportunity to show Ramsay what they could do.
During the menu creation, Benjamin proposed a lot of dishes that Nilka did not know. He was concerned about that, and when he suggested mussels arugula, Nilka did not know how to cook it. In the blue team, Jay proposed to keep the menu simple so they could have better chances of completing the service. He proposed a baby spinach salad with fresh strawberries, which everybody liked, and Ed was happy because all four team members were working well together. Benjamin took total control of the red team by shutting down all of his teammates' ideas, even though they loved them. Then, Fran said that rainbow carrots had too many colors. Still, Benjamin told her not to worry about it as he was a professional, and all of his dishes would have a good presentation. Nilka was annoyed by his aggressive leadership as she knew that all of his ideas were shit. When Nilka proposed to serve rice as a side, Benjamin rejected that idea as he thought rice was poor food, which she called crazy. Then, Nilka was angry not to have any inputs on the menu, but she did not care at that point.
Before service[]
The next day, both teams went in their respective kitchens to prep for the next service, featuring their own menus. Jay was psyched and excited about the menu in the blue kitchen as it was simple and easy to execute. When Ramsay entered the kitchen, each team prepared a sample of each of their dishes. In the red kitchen, all of their appetizers and entrées were criticized either for the presentation, taste, or execution. Fran was happy that Benjamin got his ass kicked for his stupid dishes. All the desserts that Holli made were praised for tasting delicious, making Benjamin proud of her. In the blue kitchen, Ramsay said if he was a rabbit, he would be wetting himself as all the dishes were criticized for bad creativity, and he deemed Autumn's berry compote as one of the worst desserts he ever tasted. Ramsay told the blue team that their menu was too easy, that it was an insult, and they were screwed even before serving one appetizer.
Autumn knew they played safe, and they agreed to bust their butts to fix their menu while the red team stuck with their original ideas. After, Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell's Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Each customer had the choice to order either from the blue menu or the red menu. The first order contained two appetizers from the blue menu and two from the red, so Ramsay called four minutes to both kitchens. But, Ed sliced his duck already, much to Ramsay's dismay, and he told him not to slice the duck as if it was a fast-food chain. Ed admitted that he had a bad performance in the previous service and wanted to be on top of his game, but he rushed it. Despite that, both kitchens were synchronized, and appetizers were served to the dining room. However, one pasta appetizer returned to the kitchen for being undercooked. Benjamin was asked to start over by Ramsay while not responding to his teammates' time requests. Fran was annoyed because Benjamin thought he was better than everybody, and he was frustrated because he did not want any help from his teammates while adding that he did not trust Nilka's experience. Ramsay asked the red team why they were not communicating. Nilka revealed that she tried to help Benjamin, but he did not want her help, but Ramsay did not care because nobody was helping him. So, Nilka reluctantly helped Benjamin, but when she was plating the salad, he pushed her away, which she did not appreciate. Still, Nilka did not want to argue with him, so she counted to ten in her head, calmed down, and went back to her station.
Thirty minutes into service, the blue kitchen received more orders than the red kitchen because their menu was more appealing. So, the blue team pushed out their appetizers at a good pace, with the customers being satisfied, and the red team focused on the few orders they had. When both teams moved on to entrées, Ramsay called an order where they had to be synchronized. When Holli was ready to send her fish to the pass, she asked Nilka if she was, angering Ramsay, who told her to leave Nilka alone and bring her own stuff. Holli acknowledged that she could worry only about herself at that point, and Ramsay schooled her for worrying about her teammates before threatening her with an ejection if she did it again. Jay was behind on the bass and the salmon in the blue kitchen, and Ramsay told him to hurry up and not drag the red team before he gave four minutes to Autumn. Jean-Philippe tried to calm some customers down in the dining room because they were waiting on their entrées.
In the red kitchen, Fran sent her chicken to the pass. Still, there was not enough of it for one portion. Ramsay was frustrated when he discovered that Fran left more than half of the meat on the chicken, with it not even being properly cooked. Benjamin lost all confidence in Fran's cooking skills with the chicken, and Ramsay told her that she was robbing the customers of their portions. Still, Fran said that she never took a chicken cooking class before. Fran acknowledged her mistake, and Ramsay threw the ruined chicken in the sink. In the blue kitchen, Autumn sent raw pork to the pass, much to Ramsay's frustration, and Jason said she was crap and he cooked better than her. Ramsay urged Autumn to bring another pork to the pass, but the other one she grabbed was still raw. When Autumn announced that she needed one more minute, she was kicked out of the kitchen in the dining room. Ramsay ordered Autumn to explain to the customers why she was shit. She went to a table and apologized to a customer waiting for the pork and returned to her station embarrassed. In the red kitchen, Nilka wanted to make some adjustments to the red team's menu, but she was caught boiling asparagus instead of grilling them, much to Ramsay's dismay. He schooled her about the fact that she was serving cafeteria food, and she said that she said "Yes Chef" so often that she could not even say it any longer as she struggled to pronounce it several consecutive times correctly. In the blue kitchen, Jason sent crispy bacon, he was asked to taste it and start over by Ramsay. When Ramsay asked for the pork purée, Jason did not communicate, which annoyed Jay, who acknowledged Jason was getting flustered at times. Ramsay was dismayed by his lack of communication. Still, Jason explained that he did not communicate because he was frustrated. Ramsay told the blue team that he was not impressed by their performance over their own menu.
Fran was angry about her teammates' lack of communication in the red kitchen, compared them to zombies, and said she was not ready because she never heard the order of beef being called. Fran was pissed, wanted to be left alone while she was working, gave one minute, and when she sent her beef to the pass, it was undercooked. Benjamin called her crazy as everything she touched turned into a disaster, and Ramsay ordered her to start over while she asked her teammates to communicate more. Autumn told Ramsay that her beef was still raw in the blue kitchen, gave three more minutes, and berated her because she seemed very casual about it. Autumn responded that she was not, but Ramsay was not convinced, and she almost cried when told that she did not know how to behave to show that she did care, while Ramsay said that her attitude stank. Then, Ramsay asked her for the beef, which she answered that it was resting, he responded that she was resting instead, and Jay told three times that Autumn sucked. After, Jay was tired of Autumn constantly messing up, so he dedicated Ed to take over the meat station while dedicating Autumn to the dessert station. Ramsay asked for the beef, and he was dismayed that Autumn was not communicating and that she was on desserts. At the same time, Jay took responsibility for putting her there. After, Ramsay said she should have done that two hours ago and that she should put some energy into her desserts. Fran sent raw chicken to the pass in the red kitchen, and a dismayed Ramsay pulled her in the pantry room to ask her what was going on. She answered that she was frustrated about the lack of communication, but he retorted that despite that, she sent raw chicken and asked her to leave him alone while closing the door in her face. Fran returned to the kitchen, and when Ramsay told her that she was frazzled, she responded she was not and that she would not give up.
Two hours and a half into service, the customers were satisfied with their entrées despite the slow service, and both teams moved on to desserts. Holli took the lead on desserts in the red kitchen, and Benjamin praised her good job, even adding that she had the best service for the red team. In the blue kitchen, Jay helped Autumn send the desserts out, and he praised the strong finish of the blue team despite their rocky start. After all the desserts were served, the service was completed.
Post-mortem[]
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay called the service pathetic. Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate one person each for elimination.
While going back to the dorms, Jason did not understand why the blue team lost because the customers chose their menu more than the red team's. During deliberation, Jay considered Autumn for her stupid mistakes, giving the raw pork as an example. Still, Autumn responded that she did not have the time while adding that she did not think her service was as bad as Jason's. The latter thought he did a good job, but Jay reminded him that he had to pick up his ass all day long, and Jason called him a bitch because of that. Jay continued by saying that he thought Jason was not as good as he thought he was, but Jason insisted that all his shit was done.
In the red team, Fran acknowledged it was a disaster while Holli thought that they communicated enough. Still, Fran disagreed by saying that the communication sucked, leading to an argument between her and Nilka. The latter thought the communication was good enough. Then, Holli said that there were a lot of things not cooked properly. Fran acknowledged that she messed up her chicken. Nilka targeted Benjamin for not having any input on the menu as all her ideas were shut down. Holli acknowledged that Benjamin shared responsibility for the loss as he had many inputs on the menu but still thought that he was a strong cook. Despite that, Benjamin still did not want to take responsibility for his bad dishes ideas and left the conversation by saying that he was done dealing with his teammates.
Elimination[]
Jason announced Autumn as the blue team's nominee, and Holli announced Fran as the red team's. During their pleas, Autumn said that she was still putting out a lot of food despite her mistakes, but Ramsay responded that she was a pain in his ass, which she retorted that she did not want to. She also added that she wanted to be better and that she knew that she could, but Ramsay responded that Autumn was out of her depth and that she became an embarrassment in the blue team. After, Fran thought that she was as good as any of her teammates and that the communication sucked. Still, Ramsay understood it as Fran was not treated equally by her teammates. She also added that she was communicating well despite them not doing that, but she had another argument with Nilka, where the latter sarcastically told her that she should have told her how to slice her chicken so she would not be nominated at that moment, and Ramsay was dismayed about the poor harmony in the red team.
After deliberation, Ramsay asked both nominees to take their jackets off. Fran was eliminated for not taking responsibility for her mistakes and lacking the knowledge to work in a professional kitchen. But before she left, Ramsay told her to keep her head up high. During her exit interview, Fran said that she did not regret her time in the competition while adding that the red team lost a strong cook.
Team switch[]
After Fran left, Ramsay told Autumn that she had been on a downward spiral since she joined the blue team. Then, he gave her one more chance to find her voice and her assertiveness, and she was transferred back to the red team. While being dismissed, Autumn tearfully expressed relief about not being eliminated yet, saying that it was her favorite moment at that point. Benjamin cheered about Fran's elimination while adding that he was happy about that. Jay was happy that Autumn was gone as he, Jason, and Ed were three solid guys that would cook their hearts out.
Ramsay's comment: "Fran wanted her team to communicate, but it seems the only thing her team agreed on was wanting her gone."
Trivia[]
- This marks the first time Ramsay placed someone back into their original team after an earlier team switch.
- This marks the first time the blue team won the Blind Taste Test.
- With this episode, Season 7 sets the record for the most team switches in a season, with three.