The twelfth episode of Season 7 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX on July 20, 2010, airing as a double feature alongside the eleventh episode. In that episode, the chefs made dishes on a budget, a showmance reached its climax, and an arrogant chef was put back in their place during dinner service.
Intro[]
Back in the dorms, Jay could not believe Autumn was still there as he thought she was dead weight. Jason agreed with Jay, even stating that they would probably all go home before her. Also, Benjamin did not notice her improvement, adding that she was annoying and staying out of as much work as possible.
On the patio, Autumn told Holli that she was constantly trying her best to be perfect and knew that everybody was wrong when they said she did not have any skills, that she did not deserve to be there, or that she could not win. Finally, Autumn told Holli that she would cuss the men out if she won the following challenge.
Team challenge[]
The following day, the chefs rode in the SUVs to the Owen's Market, where Ramsay greeted them. He introduced the Budget Challenge after reminding them that every great chef had to think about the cost and being profitable. After, each of them received $10, and they had 10 minutes to shop for ingredients to create a stunning dish. When the countdown began, Jay revealed that he was responsible for making the food profitable at his own restaurant and was confident as it was the epidemy of what he was doing. Then, Jay ordered a lamb chop, and Benjamin ordered a lamb loin while declaring that he was cooking fresh and simple food. Autumn bought a piece of veal as she knew it was expensive and that it was not being offered to people very often. Holli did not know what she would cook as she just grabbed ingredients to keep under the budget. Jason thought that buying cheap was better, so he purchased some frozen ravioli. When the chefs went to pay, everybody respected the $10 budget, except Holli, who passed it by more than two and a half dollars.
When the chefs returned to Hell's Kitchen, they had 30 minutes to cook their dishes, and Holli knew that her dish would have many flavors, but that the tricky part would be to put them all together. Also, Autumn almost bumped into Jason and Benjamin while carrying pans with hot water. Jason revealed that his strategy was to win, believed that he could. Still, Autumn thought she would not be last after watching Jason boil his frozen ravioli. With five minutes remaining, Autumn revealed that she wanted to win to prove Benjamin and Jay wrong. Eventually, everybody plated their dishes in time.
Joaquim Splichal, Dana Bowen, and Vern Lakusta were invited as guest judges. When Splichal was introduced, Jay was excited as he knew that he was one of the most outstanding chefs and that his restaurant was one of the best. Jay presented his pita bread-crusted lamb with a simple take on a Greek salad, which was appreciated for the great use of the pita bread. The judges were impressed that he paid $8,95 for a dish that had great spices. Lakusta and Splichal both said they would be happy to pay $28, while Bowen would be happy to pay $30, so Jay scored an average of $28,66. Then, Jason served his pan-seared tilapia with shrimp and pre-made eggplant ravioli. Still, Jay knew that because he did not make the ravioli himself, Jason was done even though his dish would be tasting good. None of the judges were impressed by his dish, Lakusta said he would pay $18 for it, and Bowen and Splichal said they would pay $15 each, so he scored an average of $16. Jason knew that buying ravioli was a lousy decision and acknowledged his mistake. Still, he knew he wanted to buy as cheap as possible. Benjamin presented his seared lamb loin chop with potatoes, spinach, artichokes, and red wine vinegar on the third round. Splichal asked him if it was a ratatouille idea from southern France, to which he answered "Oui." The dish was criticized for having undercooked vegetables and not being cooked together. The three guest judges gave it an average of $25. Still, Benjamin did not think his dish was that bad. On the fourth round, Autumn served her veal with saffron crushed potatoes and roasted corn, which was praised for the presentation, the veal being cooked beautifully, and the fresh herbs coming through. Lakusta would be happy to pay $26 for her dish, Splichal would be happy to pay $27, and Bowen would be happy to pay $29, so she scored an average of $27,33. She was highly psyched about beating Benjamin, told him to suck on it. Holli served her five-spice Ahi tuna with bacon, parsnip purée and cumquat sauce on the final round, but Jay was not impressed as it did not sound good. However, the dish was praised for being bold, the brightness of the components, and the good flavors. Lakusta was happy to pay $27 for the dish, Splichal said $30, and Bowen offered to pay $32. So, Holli scored an average of $29,66, passing Jay by one dollar and winning the challenge. Holli felt she was on cloud nine and was happy that she proved she was a strong contender as the guest judges were dismissed.
Scoring[]
| Budget | |
| Chef | Amount |
|---|---|
| Jay | $28,66 |
| Jason | $16 |
| Benjamin | $25 |
| Autumn | $27,33 |
| Holli | $29,66 |
| Results | Holli |
Reward[]
Holli was rewarded with a day at the Peninsula Hotel, in Beverly Hills, with Jean-Philippe, as well as a $1000 shopping spree at Surfas for kitchen supplies. Also, she was allowed to choose one person to go on the reward with her, so she picked Jay, making him psyched about spending a day with Holli. Holli was thrilled back in the dorms, went to change immediately, and declared that she was eager to have a drink with Jay. The latter jokingly told her he would have been shocked if she would have picked Autumn. Then, he said that he believed she would pick Autumn because of the shopping before forgetting how annoying Autumn was.
In the dining room, Holli and Jay were greeted by Jean-Philippe. Holli immediately noticed that he was not wearing a suit, which he clarified because he would spend the day at the beach. She acknowledged that he wanted to make sure both of them would have fun, and they went on the limousine ride. Holli claimed she picked Jay during the ride because he finished second during the challenge and because of his blue hair. Still, she admitted that she wanted to be with him as she found him cool. Then, they started to flirt as each of them told the other's dish was great, and after, Holli jokingly asked if they could turn around so she could pick somebody else.
Arrived at the Peninsula, Jay called it the most prestigious place in Beverly Hills. The three of them sat down to drink champagne and talk about their backgrounds. Jean-Philippe asked Holli to talk about hers, and Jay wondered why he was still there. Holli revealed that she went to culinary school but took a year off to take care of her 4-year-old son, who was living with his dad at that moment. After, Jay revealed he was not married and did not have a girlfriend, leading Holli to say that he was saving himself for her. Then, executive chef James Overbaugh served them more champagne. Jean-Philippe asked him how much it would cost to stay for a night and jokingly suggested Holli and Jay get the nuptial room. Jay jokingly asked if they could rent by the hour. Overbaugh said they were not that kind of hotel, and Holli added that she was not that kind of person before getting served their next course.
Later, Holli and Jay went to Surfas, and she was excited as they had everything they could get. Both of them had a great time shopping, even flirting with each other at some points. When Jay suggested that Holli should buy something for the rest of the team, she categorically refused by saying, "fuck the team."
Punishment[]
Jason, Benjamin, and Autumn were punished by participating in Laundry day. When he learned Holli's reward, Jason was upset as he missed shopping, an activity he enjoyed, for the second time. In the dining room, Autumn was already annoying Benjamin because of her constant chatter. Moments later, Jason was annoyed.
Later, the chefs were given spam sandwiches for lunch. Everybody found it disgusting before Autumn started to talk repeatedly about her personal life, with Jason being extremely annoyed. Also, he found it amazing that she went on constantly talking for hours.
Before service[]
When Holli and Jay came back from their reward, the other chefs were still ironing, with Autumn still talking. She wondered how many drinks they took, and Jay told her that he and Holli would be on the patio drinking and smoking. Jason believed there was some chemistry between Jay and Holli, and the two of them changed in their bathing suits and went in the hot tub. Benjamin also knew that something was going on between Jay and Holli as both of them were single. Still, Autumn did not think there was something serious between them. Then, in the hot tub, Jay started to touch Holli's ass, but moments later, Autumn broke the mood by coming into the hot tub as well.
The following day, Jay told Holli that the previous day was his best since the competition started. Everybody went into the kitchen to prep for the next service. All of them were focused on their tasks, but Jay was annoyed by Jason's slowness and could not believe he could run a kitchen. Holli was upset because he was asking a lot of questions. When Jason asked himself why they were that far behind, everybody else laughed.
When the chefs lined up, Ramsay declared that they had to come back, so he would test their communication by constantly making them switch stations. Jason knew it would be challenging, and they had to communicate well. Ramsay revealed that Holli's tuna with cumquats would be featured on the menu. Finally, he asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell's Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Jason gave twenty seconds on his scallops on the first ticket, and Jay's first capellini was accepted. Still, Jason's scallops were rejected because only one portion out of two was cooked beautifully, while the other was overcooked. Jay thought Jason could only be a home-style barbecue cook instead of somebody who could run the restaurant at the Savoy. When Jason sent his second attempt on the scallops, they were accepted. Then, Ramsay called the first station switch, with everybody rotating anti-clockwise. They communicated with each other, but when Jason arrived at the meat station, Holli told him that the Wellingtons have been in the oven for eighteen minutes, so he called 45 seconds for them to be ready. However, when Jason sliced the Wellingtons, he discovered that they were still raw and did not believe that they have been in the oven for eighteen minutes because of it. So, Jason decided to put them back in the convection oven without telling anybody while revealing that Holli did not time her meat right. Ramsay berated Jason for not talking as the rest of the table was ready. So, Jay had to take his garnishes back, and Jason blamed Holli for his mistake.
Forty-five minutes into service, entrées were being served at a good pace despite Jason's problems. Also, Benjamin was determined to have a good service. Still, when he sent the tuna, it was way overcooked, even leading Ramsay to ask Holli if that was how she cooked it for the challenge. She answered no, claimed that Benjamin served a well-done tuna, and told him that it had to be barely seared. Holli questioned Benjamin's technical abilities, said he should have known better, and Ramsay pushed Benjamin to pull it back. Jean-Philippe tried to reassure some customers in the dining room by telling them that he could not tell when the next entrée would come out, and then, the second station switch occurred. Benjamin communicated with Jay, and Holli called the station switches a learning experience as everybody had to learn how to communicate. After, Jay sent his John Dory to the pass, but it was overcooked, and Ramsay berated him for taking the piss out of him. Jay said that the fish station was a mess when he walked in, told it was difficult for him to work with, and Ramsay urged him to bounce back. Jason asked for a time on the John Dory, but Jay did not answer twice, and Jason thought that even though Jay was his strongest competition, he was crumbling when he was getting yelled at. On the third time, Jay gave one minute, and Ramsay was dismayed because everybody was sinking after switching stations. Then, Jay sent his John Dory to the pass, it was accepted, and Ramsay called the third station switch. Everybody communicated simultaneously, but when Ramsay called the following ticket, Jay was confused as he did not listen to it. When Autumn asked him for a time on the tuna, he answered that she had two halibuts, which dismayed her and Ramsay. She had good communication with Holli, called one minute on the tuna, and felt great about the fact that she was communicating. Because of Autumn's communication, her tuna and Jay's Wellingtons were accepted, and food was served at a good pace. However, some Wellingtons were sent back to the kitchen because they were overcooked, and Ramsay asked for a Wellington refire urgently. So, Holli asked Jay for a time on the refire, which he answered fourteen minutes, much to her disbelief. Then, Jay sent his Wellington refire, but Holli was not ready as he called fourteen minutes. Still, Jay clarified that it was fourteen minutes on the following Wellingtons, much to her dismay. Ramsay aggressively asked Holli for the garnishes, but she was still not ready. Ramsay asked Jay if he was doing it to sabotage, which Jay answered not, and Holli said that Jay messed her up as he called the wrong time on the refire.
After the fourth station switch was called, Autumn told Holli what was going on fish, and so did Jay with Autumn. But, Autumn was not satisfied with Jay's information as she did not know where the Wellingtons were and what temperatures were her meat. However, the Wellingtons that she sent to the pass were cooked beautifully, and Holli's scallops were beautifully cooked as well. But all of a sudden, Benjamin came to the fish station and tried to steal Holli's job by cooking some scallops. She was extremely annoyed by that as she thought he just wanted to be the hero. Then, Benjamin sent his scallops to the pass. Still, they were rejected for not being appropriately seared. Ramsay urged Benjamin to properly cook them with respect and care, which he did. After he sent acceptable scallops to the pass, the last station switch was called, entrées were being served to the dining room, but a halibut dish came back in the kitchen for being overcooked. Ramsay berated Jason as he was the one who cooked it and did not order a halibut refire because the customer did not want it anymore. Holli thought Jason lacked culinary skills before the latter sustained a minor burn. Then, Jason sent his tuna to the pass. Still, Benjamin did not send the tuna garnish and was not communicating at all, dismaying Ramsay. Benjamin was convinced that he was trying hard to communicate but added that he was hustling on garnish. Ramsay was still angry at Benjamin's lack of communication.
When Ramsay asked for the halibut garnish, Autumn acknowledged that Benjamin was tanking and did not meet anybody's standards. Moments later, Benjamin finally sent his halibut garnish to the pass. After that, Ramsay dedicated the hot plate to Sous Chef Scott as he had to leave the kitchen for a few minutes, and Jason and Benjamin sent their tuna and garnishes, respectively. Then, Benjamin tried again to steal somebody's job by calling out the next ticket. That annoyed Sous Chef Scott, who aggressively told Benjamin that despite being a good cook, he was a poor leader. Sous Chef Scott became more and more furious by asking Benjamin if he should leave and let him run the hot plate, which Benjamin answered not. Finally, Sous Chef Scott came two inches away from Benjamin's face and yelled at him to never try to steal his job ever again. Autumn acknowledged that Benjamin was not having a good night, and Sous Chef Scott ordered Benjamin to return to his station. The latter told that Sous Chef Scott ripped his asshole very big while adding that it sucked. After that, the last ticket was called. Jason communicated with everybody, but when Holli suggested waiting for the garnish, Ramsay returned to the kitchen. Jason gestured to Holli not to say that. So, Jason called two minutes for the garnish, and after, everybody sent their food to the pass at the same time. Everything was accepted, Jay sent out the desserts, and the service was completed, with Jason calling it a wrap.
Post-mortem[]
Ramsay reminded that every great chef had to multitask when the chefs lined up, and they all switched off when they were switching stations. Then, Jason thought switching stations were making some people reset their minds and fall for the loop before throwing Benjamin and Jay under the bus for those reasons. After, Ramsay called the chefs five line cooks before asking them to nominate two people for elimination.
While going back to the dorms, Jay was upset about being thrown under the bus by Jason and declared that he would go at him for doing that. During deliberation, Jay asked Jason if he was a good cook only because he called out two tunas. Jason did not understand the question as he found it dumb, and Jay started to confront him about throwing him under the bus. Jason said he only said what he was thinking about what happened. Still, Jay reminded Jason that he messed up as much as himself. Jay found it pathetic that Jason would only call him out for his lack of communication. Then, Jason told Jay that he only told what he thought of the situation, and Jay responded that he did not like it. After, Benjamin said that he messed up on appetizers because they were not pulled and called the garnish station a mess. But, Jason started to lose his temper and confronted Benjamin for being nit-picky, and still thought that the latter and Jay were the quietest. Then, Benjamin considered Autumn for no apparent reason, which annoyed her as she was sure that she was Benjamin's scapegoat. Still, she knew she was getting better, and he was getting worse. After, Autumn reminded that she was following Jay and all of her stations were messes when she was getting to them, leading Jay to interpret it as she considered him, which she confirmed, while also considering Benjamin. Then, Jay considered Autumn as he thought she was on borrowed time, and Jason for being a good cook but nothing impressive. However, Jason knew that Jay only considered him for being called out. Holli considered Benjamin for completely shutting down but struggled between Jay and Jason for her second vote. She wished Autumn would have messed up so she could consider her.
Elimination[]
Holli announced Benjamin as the first nominee for elimination and Jason as the second. During their pleas, Jason thought he did not have a chance to show his total leadership qualities yet and thought his teammates nominated him for personal reasons while calling it bullshit. After, Benjamin admitted that he was overthinking cooking when he was getting busy. When Ramsay reminded him that he clammed up when he was under pressure, Benjamin still thought he had a good service, which Ramsay did not believe. After deliberation, Jason was eliminated for lacking leadership qualities. Still, before he left, Ramsay told Jason that he was not done in the cooking industry. He received a retrospective montage of his run during his exit interview.
After Jason left, Ramsay revealed that the chefs would be tested the following day differently. While being dismissed, Benjamin was relieved but determined to kill the next service. Also, Holli was happy to be there still and that she was safe for the moment, and Jay declared that failure was no longer an option as he needed to win the competition.
Ramsay's comment: "Jason was good enough to make it to the final five, but he just didn't instill the confidence I needed to see to be my head chef."
Trivia[]
- This episode introduces the Budget Challenge.