The tenth episode of Season 8 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on November 10, 2010, airing as a double feature alongside the ninth episode. On that episode, the teams' menus were put to the test, Ramsay gave the black jackets, and an early fan favorite was eliminated.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Trev tried to explain Russell that it was a hard decision, but Russell refused to listen, and said that things just got dirty. However, Trev felt that Russell was throwing a temper tantrum, and said that there might be a changing of the guard for leadership.
Team challenge[]
The next day, the red team was still giddy about their victory, while the blue team was not. The chefs went downstairs where Ramsay explained that his main concern was that neither team was communicating enough, which lead to some off timings. So, Ramsay introduced the Relay Challenge, which would test communication and timing, though that concerned Russell as he felt he was the only one on the blue team that communicated well. Each team would have thirty minutes to cook three entrées from the regular menu, but only one chef from each team would be allowed in the kitchen for five minutes at a time, and when they would switch, they would only have fifteen seconds to explain their progress to their following teammate. Then, Ramsay explained that because of the unevenness of both teams, each member of the blue team would go twice, while the red team would have two people going twice. When Sabrina and Russell came in the kitchen, Ramsay revealed the three dishes were tagliatelle pasta with mushrooms, poached chicken with green beans, and salmon with lobster ragout.
Sabrina and Russell got to work by prepping their pasta dough and getting their proteins ready. On the second round, Trev and Jillian were given an explanation of what was done. As Jillian got the sauces for the tagliatelle and chicken entrées ready, Trev was getting the sauces ready along with the garnishes, though he forgot to get the lobster cooked. For the next round, Vinny and Nona were given an explanation of what was done, but Trev forgot to tell Vinny about the lobster. As Vinny started plating despite still having 20 minutes left, Nona was getting her proteins prepped and ready. For the next round, Gail and Russell competed, and while Russell pushed to get his dishes done, Gail wasted a lot of time looking for a ladle, and did not put the salmon on as Nona hoped she would. For the next round, Sabrina and Trev competed, and while Sabrina got the salmon on, Trev still did not put the lobster on. For the final round, Jillian and Vinny competed, and it was time to finish cooking and plate the dishes. Because Trev did not have the lobster cooked yet, Vinny decided to poach just the lobster tail. As time was running out, Vinny and Jillian plated the dishes, but when Jillian went to grab the salmon from the oven, she dropped it on the floor as time ran out. While Jillian was dismayed, she hoped that she did not cause the victory for the team.
After, Ramsay asked for the salmon dishes, but noticed that the red team was missing their salmon. A tearful Jillian revealed that she dropped her salmon on the floor due to burning her hand, though secretly blamed Gail as she did not drop her salmon on time. While the red team’s garnish tasted delicious, the blue team nailed both the salmon and the garnish, therefore winning the round. The next round was the tagliatelle, and while the blue team had pasta clumps along with the dish tasting bland, the red team’s pasta looked drowned but tasted good. So, the red team won the round, tying the score at 1. The final round was the chicken, and while both teams got almost all of their components done properly, both green beans were still raw. Despite that, Ramsay gave the point to blue team, and they won the challenge 2-1.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
| Dish | Score | Total | Dish | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salmon | 0 | 0 | Salmon | 1 | 1 |
| Tagliatelle | 1 | 1 | Tagliatelle | 0 | 1 |
| Chicken | 0 | 1 | Chicken | 1 | 2 |
| Results | 2-1 | ||||
Reward[]
The blue team was rewarded with a shopping spree at Sur La Table for cooking supplies, and a lunch at Melisse with Ramsay. Vinny was extremely happy, and stated that the monkey was off his back. Arrived at Sur La Table, James was waiting for them with the money to spend. During lunch, Ramsay introduced the blue team to Josiah Citrin, head chef and owner of Melisse, and he served them the dishes. Then, Vinny told Ramsay that he was sitting with the final three, though Russell hoped that Vinny could back up his claim.
Punishment[]
The red team was punished by participating in Delivery Day, and cleaning up both kitchens, as Ramsay reminded Jillian that had she not drop the salmon, they would have won. Jillian felt that if her teammates hated her for her mistake, she did not care about it, as Gail cleaned up the mess because Sabrina refused to do it. While cleaning up, Jillian told Sabrina and Nona that she felt Gail did nothing during the challenge. Later, the first truck came as Nona complained that it was the only punishment she did not want to do, while stating that the blue team should have lost the challenge. When the blue team came back from their reward, Sabrina said that if Trev would win Hell’s Kitchen, she would never cook again.
[]
Later, Sous Chef Scott told Nona to call the men down to the kitchen. When the blue team went downstairs, Sous Chef Scott said that he hoped everybody had some dish ideas in their heads because, for the next service, each team would create their own menus. That news excited everybody as Russell already had some ideas. Both teams went back to the dorms and began working on their menus. For the blue team, Russell’s ideas did not sit well with either Trev or Vinny, and were rejected. That angered Russell, who felt that he was a better chef than Vinny or Trev. For the red team, Sabrina’s suggestion of linguine with clams was rejected by Nona and Jillian, while Sabrina felt that most of their menu items were not fine dining.
Before service[]
At 10:30 pm, everybody but Trev and Vinny decided to sleep early, as the two men were in the hot tub drinking and having fun. At 1:37 am, Russell heard them complaining about how he was an angry man, and it would cost him in the end. Then, Russell revealed his presence to Trev and Vinny, and berated them for drinking instead of sleeping, before going back upstairs. However, Trev and Vinny did not care as Trev said that seeing Russell get angry made him happy.
The next morning, both teams got up, but Trev and Vinny struggled to get out of bed, with the former yawning long and loud. Then, they came downstairs to begin prep, and while the red team was confident in their menu, Russell was not happy with Trev’s slow pace movement due to the latter being hung over. When both teams were lined up, Ramsay reminded them that they were working with his standards, and asked James to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Josiah Citrin and Matt Cassel were in attendance. The red team got their first orders as more diners preferred their menu over the blue team’s, which shocked Trev and Vinny. However, Citrin ordered off the blue menu, and Ramsay ordered the men not to make him look stupid. In the red kitchen, Ramsay rejected Nona’s risotto as it was undercooked, and told her to cook the rice in the sauce longer. Fortunately, Nona managed to bounce back, and appetizers were finally leaving. In the blue kitchen, the men finally got some orders, Russell got his ravioli accepted, and Ramsay urged him to keep it going. With appetizers leaving both kitchens, the teams began working on entrées. However, Vinny did not get his lamb on time as he forgot it, and told Ramsay that he needed six minutes. That dismayed Ramsay as that lamb was meant for Citrin, before calling James into the kitchen to remind the latter that they ate in his restaurant the previous day. While Vinny sent his lamb, it was still raw, Ramsay berated him and compared it to a car crash. Russell decided to help Vinny on the meat station, and managed to send the lamb to Citrin. In the red kitchen, Gail brought her lobster cappellini, but the lobster was raw, and her attempts afterwards were either raw or overcooked.
An hour and a half into service, some of the red diners were going hungry as a couple of mix-matched tables were getting different experiences. However, Citrin was not happy with his lamb entrée as it was overcooked, and James was forced to tell Ramsay about it. An angry Ramsay berated the blue team, and called them a bunch of fucking pricks. In the red kitchen, Sabrina did not tell Ramsay about her New York steak, and was called an ignorant cow. Despite that, her New York steak was cooked perfectly.
Two hours into service, because of Sabrina’s strong performance on the meat station, the red customers were enjoying their entrées. In the blue kitchen, Vinny brought his sea bass, but it was raw, and a furious Ramsay smashed it, before demanding what was going on. In the red kitchen, Gail brought her lobster cappellini, but the pasta was still raw, and Ramsay forced the red team to taste it. It got worse as the lobster was rubber, and after ranting how Gail sent both raw and undercooked lobster, a fed up Ramsay kicked her out of the kitchen. As Ramsay relocated Jillian to both the fish and garnish stations, Gail was disappointed that she let both Ramsay and her team down. Meanwhile, both teams got their entrées, and completed dinner service.
Post-mortem[]
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay admitted that he was not happy, and named both teams joint-losers. Then, he revealed that the next day, he would be merging both teams into one, and asked each chef to nominate one person who they thought were not deserving a black jacket.
Back in the dorms, the chefs gathered together to discuss who should be eliminated. Russell said that Vinny should go home as he was getting worse for the past few services, but Vinny felt that Sabrina should go home as she did not have the heart to stay. However, Jillian disagreed, and while she said that Gail had a shitty service, she said that Trev should go home as he had no shot to win Hell’s Kitchen. Sabrina agreed with Jillian, and said that Trev has been difficult to work with, but Trev responded that it was petty, which Vinny agreed with.
Elimination[]
Russell nominated Vinny as he did not pull his weight, while Vinny nominated Sabrina as he felt she was carried by her team for a long time, and Trev agreed with Vinny while adding that he felt a twenty-two-year-old was not capable of running LA Market. Then, the entire red team voted for Trev as Jillian said that his attitude sucked. In the end, there were four votes against Trev which shocked Ramsay, but Trev bitterly said that he was not a ladies man. Ramsay called Trev down, and after stating that he came a lot further than expected, told him to take off his jacket. However, instead of getting eliminated, Ramsay gave Trev a black jacket, much to the red team’s dismay, while adding that while Trev was not liked, he earned it. After, Ramsay called Jillian down, and gave her a black jacket, followed by Nona, Russell, and Sabrina. That left Gail and Vinny, and Ramsay called both of them down to plead their cases. After listening to their pleas, Ramsay gave Gail a black jacket, before eliminating Vinny for his declining performances in the last few services. After Vinny left, Ramsay congratulated the chefs, before dismissing them.
Ramsay's comment: "When the competition first started, I thought Vinny was the one to beat. But after tonight's dismal performance, he's now the one to go home."
Trivia[]
- This marks the second time where there are four joint-losses in this season, following Season 6.
- This marks the only time where each chef nominate another chef for elimination no matter which team they are from.