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The sixteenth episode of Season 9 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX on September 19, 2011, airing as a double feature alongside the fifteenth episode. In that episode, Paul and Will competed in one final challenge, picked their brigades for the final dinner service, and one of them was named the winner of Hell's Kitchen.

Intro[]

Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay told Paul and Will to start thinking about their menus for the final dinner service and urged them to show off their skills. While being dismissed, Will celebrated his milestone for being in the final two. Paul called himself a big deal as the two toasted with champagne. Later, the two men began working on their menus as Paul thought of his mother, who passed away a few months before he competed and wanted to do her proud. Meanwhile, Will wanted to win as he was born to cook and was willing to do everything to win.

The next day, Paul and Will, now sporting head chef jackets, met with the Sous Chefs to discuss their menu items and refining them for presentation. At 4:21 pm, Ramsay decided to give the two men a break and offered them dinner. After changing into street clothes, Paul and Will saw a limousine waiting for them. When James opened the car door, Will’s wife and mother and Paul’s brother came out, leaving the former speechless. Arriving at the Blasco, Ramsay welcomed them to the restaurant, revealing that chefs from New York opened the restaurant only a month ago and invited them to see the kitchen. However, once Ramsay opened the kitchen doors, a live audience was waiting for them, and Paul called himself a rock star over seeing a bunch of cute women. After, Ramsay told Paul and Will to take it in as they were officially superstars, referring to the beginning of the season before announcing their final challenge.

Final challenge[]

For the Final Menu Challenge, Paul and Will had one hour to cook five dishes that could appear on the BLT Steak menu, which included a seafood appetizer, a salad, a seafood entrée, a bone-in ribeye, and a filet of beef. Paul was confident that the judges would like his dishes as they reflected himself. At the same time, Will decided to make his dishes unconventional as he refused to play it safe. Eventually, the two got their dishes cooked and plated on time.

Before the judging, Ramsay announced that each judge was a part of the BLT Steak family and called up Executive Chef Victor Albisu from Washington, D.C., to judge the seafood appetizer round. Paul presented his seafood nosh with clams and mussels with a lemongrass spicy broth and allumette potatoes. Albisu deemed it a well-executed dish as the clams were cleaned properly. Then, Will’s seared scallops on top of a corn salad with corn purée and micro cilantro were praised for being well prepared and having a nice lightness. Will won that round and led 1-0. For the salad round, Brian Moyers from BLT Steak in Los Angeles came up to judged. While Will’s beet salad with champagne vinaigrette was cooked well, Moyers felt it needed more acidity. After, Paul’s mixed greens over roasted potatoes was praised for an overall balance, and he scored that round, tying it at one each. For the fish entrée round, Johan Svensson from BLT Steak Honolulu came up, and Will presented his Dover sole. While Svensson felt that the fish could have been cooked a little less, he thought it was a nice dish, and for Paul’s branzino, he felt the fish was a bit crunchy for his liking. Despite that, Paul won that round, and he led 2-1. Cliff Crooks of BLT Steak New York came up for the bone in ribeye round, and Paul presented his pan-roasted ribeye with buttermilk purée. While Crooks deemed the dish eye appealing, he felt the dish need a little more seasoning. Then, Will’s grilled ribeye with Gruyère cheese was deemed spot on with the seasoning, he won that round, and the score was a two-point tie. For the filet of beef round, BLT Steak President Keith Treyball came up to judge the final round, and Will called it the most important round to impress. Paul’s steak and frites, which consisted of a pan-seared filet mignon with braised endive and truffle potato fries, were deemed superb. Treyball liked how the truffles did not overpower the dish overall. After, Will’s grilled filet mignon with buttered brussels sprouts, black truffle and potato purée, and a red grape jus, and while Treyball deemed both dishes great, he gave the win to Will, and the latter won 3-2. While Will was happy that he represented himself and his family in those dishes, Paul was not worried and was confident that he would win the service the following night.

Scoring[]

Will Paul
Round Score Total Round Score Total
One 1 1 One 0 0
Two 0 1 Two 1 1
Three 0 1 Three 1 2
Four 1 2 Four 0 2
Five 1 3 Five 0 2
Results 3-2

Team select[]

After, Paul and Will returned to Hell’s Kitchen to find James standing next to a giant present box. After a count of three, Paul and Will opened the box, revealing Krupa, Carrie, Jonathon, Elise, Natalie, Elizabeth, and Tommy, the latter mooning the two in the process. As the chefs reunited with each other, Krupa was proud of Paul and Will for making it that far and that she always predicted them as the final two. At the same time, Elise arrogantly called herself a big present.

After, Ramsay reminded Paul and Will how critical picking their team would be as each of them had a chance to learn the returning chefs’ strengths and weaknesses throughout the competition. Because Will won the previous challenge, he got the first pick of the drafts. After revealing a list of all the eighteen chefs who came into the competition, Will picked Tommy as his first pick. Tommy was not surprised and was ready to win it for the former. Paul chose Elise as his first pick. While Elise felt Paul was confident in her abilities, Carrie commented that Elise would not be her first pick. Will chose Natalie as his second pick, and Paul chose Elizabeth as his second. While Jennifer knew that she left the competition angry at Paul and Will, she was shocked the former did not pick her for his team. After, Will picked Jennifer as his third choice and was excited not to be with Elise again. In contrast, Paul picked Jonathon as his third choice, leaving Carrie and Krupa as the last two chefs. Despite knowing that Krupa was not the best chef of that season, Will picked her as his final pick as he knew Carrie and Elise did not get along and hoped for some fireworks. That led Carrie as Paul’s final pick overall, much to the latter’s dismay, and after Elise once again made it clear that she did not like the former, Tommy deemed Paul doomed.

Before service[]

After the team selections, the chefs went back to the dorms. While Paul was not happy about having both Elise and Carrie on his team, he decided to make the best of it. He warned the two that he would put his foot up their asses if they started bickering again. While Elise promised not to fight, she was willing to draw blood for the next dinner service, even if it meant beating Carrie’s ass. On Will’s side, he admitted how uncertain he was on the following night, and the two began briefing their teammates on what to do. Elise agreed to help with anybody else once the appetizers were finished. Will drew a quail with a vagina and a penis, causing Jennifer to wonder if he was horny.

The next day, both teams began prepping for service, but Will showed concern towards Krupa as he never worked with her before now, while Paul told his team to speed up on prep. Before service began, Ramsay had both Paul and Will bring up sample plates from their menus. While Ramsay enjoyed Will’s dishes, Paul’s heirloom tomato carpaccio was criticized for looking like a mess, the grilled swordfish dish had boring crab meat, and he was left kicking himself for not tasting his dishes earlier. Paul stormed out of the blue kitchen and broke into tears as he promised his mother he would win before she passed away, before getting himself refocused. Paul went back to the kitchen and urged his team to show why they made it as far as they did, even revealing the promise he made. Meanwhile, Will wanted that night to prove to Ramsay why he deserved to win, Paul refused to go down without a fight, and Ramsay asked James to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner Service[]

In addition to the finalist’s loved ones, Keith Treyball was in attendance that night. After receiving his first ticket, Will called out the order for his team and was confident that Natalie would pull through on appetizers. Natalie refused to let him down as she refused Krupa’s help. In the blue kitchen, Paul received his first order, but only Elise responded to his order, which the latter called out everybody else for. Despite initially feeling bitter about helping somebody else win, Elise wanted to see Paul win that night and sent up her shrimp. However, Paul noticed that there was stock in there that was not needed. Paul tried to keep his temper down as he did not want to get her frazzled, while Ramsay chewed Elise out for making a mistake on the first table. Then, a fire erupted on Elise’s station, and after Ramsay tossed the flaming pan into the sink, he ordered her to use her brains as she was a talented cook. The customers enjoyed Natalie’s appetizers in the red kitchen, and Will was ready to move onto entrées. After Will told Krupa to cook off the fish in the oven, Ramsay reminded him that the table was not finished eating their appetizers, and it was not a race. Paul rejected Elizabeth’s scallops for being overcooked in the blue kitchen, which Elise called a blonde moment, and then, the refire was undercooked.

Forty-five minutes into dinner service, Krupa said she needed two more minutes on her Dover sole. Still, Ramsay feared that it would be overcooked by now, and an inspection by the latter and Will confirmed their fear. Now forced to refire another Dover sole, Will was not impressed with Krupa’s performance. At the same time, Ramsay showed Krupa the mushy remains of the previous Dover sole. When Krupa told Jennifer to hold back on garnishes for six minutes, the latter complained how the former was screwing everything up and compared it to a trip to the dentist. In the blue kitchen, Paul tried to push out entrées, but despite Jonathon sending up the steaks, one of them was raw, and Elise discovered more raw steaks on his station. After being ordered by Ramsay to talk to his brigade, Paul ordered Elise and Jonathon to put the steaks inside the oven. Still, Jonathon tossed a steak onto the counter in frustration, which Elise called him out on and called him a big crybaby. In the red kitchen, Will asked Krupa for a time on her entrées, but the latter did not respond until she was pushed to, leaving him to feel that picking her was not a smart decision before she accidentally spilled sea bass sauce over her hot plate. After, Will told Krupa to put the sea bass back in the oven as he was not happy with how it looked. Ramsay called out the team for failing to capitalize on their strong start before Will motivated his team not to give up. Jonathon sent up raw steaks again in the blue kitchen, and Paul ordered Elise onto the meat while relocating the former to garnish with Carrie. After Elise said that Jonathon sucked, they argued over the station control, even though he wanted to get back into the game. However, Paul’s reassignment worked as Elise produced a decent steak. In the red kitchen, Krupa finally got her fish entrées accepted. However, despite expressing confidence in her skills, Krupa’s sea bass was raw, and James sent it back to the red kitchen. After telling Krupa to reflash the sea bass, Will was getting more disappointed in her poor performance. Paul asked Carrie about the garnish in the blue kitchen, but the latter was slow on the cook, forcing him to ask Elise to help Carrie out as he called the former his MVP for having his back. Despite Carrie feeling that Elise was in her way, the latter knew she needed help as always. Thanks to Elise, the following order of entrées was sent out.

Two hours into dinner service, Will’s team was behind on entrées, and he finally decided to put Natalie on fish and demote Krupa to desserts. When Krupa asked Natalie to walk one of her sea basses, the latter saw that it was raw and told Will it could take eight minutes to cook properly before accusing Krupa of leaving her in a pit hole situation. Will was not happy as he had too many bumps that night. Paul was pushing his team to get out his final tickets in the blue kitchen, encouraging them to push themselves for those final tickets. In the red kitchen, Natalie was able to get dishes out for Will, and both kitchens were able to complete their final tickets. Despite feeling it was the hardest service in his entire career, Paul thought he did well as he was the only one that season to get Elise and Carrie to work together. At the same time, Will said no matter what, he was proud of his performance.

Post-mortem[]

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay thanked the returning chefs for their help and dismissed the chefs, leaving Paul and Will in the blue kitchen. After, Ramsay congratulated the two for their strong performances, called it explementary, and sent them back to the dorms while he decided on a winner.

Back at the dorms, Will recalled every service he had back from the very beginning and said it sucked how unknown the results were. Paul was anxiously waiting for the phone call from Ramsay. Ramsay used the comment cards back at his office, along with his observations since the start of that season to decide the winner.

Winner chosen[]

Later that night, Ramsay called the dorms and asked Paul and Will to meet him in his office. Once there, Ramsay called the decision difficult but praised Will for being the most consistent chef of Hell’s Kitchen and Paul for his strong start and strong passion. After, Ramsay asked the two to stand behind a door, with only the winner’s door being the one that opened. After anxiously waiting for Ramsay’s countdown, both turned their handles, but only Paul’s door opened.

Paul was crowned the winner of Hell’s Kitchen and won the Head Chef’s position of BLT Steak New York, along with a salary of $250,000, therefore making Will the runner-up. Will took his defeat graciously, and while he disliked losing, he was glad that he lost to Paul and hugged the latter. Paul was extremely happy to have won, called himself a BLT $250,000 big deal before giving a speech thanking his team and dedicating his victory to his mother. Then, Paul hung his portrait on the Hell’s Kitchen Wall of Fame with Ramsay and his brother watching him, and Paul was reminded by Ramsay how proud his mother was from heaven.

During the celebration, some unused footage was shown as during the Signature Dish Challenge, Ramsay asked Paul if his balls dropped due to his high-pitched voice. After the Time Limit Challenge, Tommy asked Ramsay if he could buy something for his girlfriend,but the latter told him to let her graduate first. However, before dinner service, Tommy revealed to Ramsay that he bought his girlfriend something, leading Ramsay to ask him he went to either Toys R Us or Baby Gap for that. Then, Ramsay congratulated Carrie for having one night without arguing with Elise, while telling the latter to take the momentum from the competition with her and stop being a bitch every time.

Ramsay's comment: "Paul won tonight because he's probably the most passionate, determined chef ever to enter Hell's Kitchen. He'll make a great head chef because his enthusiasm is contagious. I'm so proud to hand him over to BLT Steak in New York City."'

Hell's Kitchen Season 9 Episodes
18 Chefs Compete16 Chefs Compete15 Chefs Compete14 Chefs Compete13 Chefs Compete12 Chefs Compete11 Chefs Compete10 Chefs Compete9 Chefs Compete8 Chefs Compete7 Chefs Compete6 Chefs Compete5 Chefs Compete5 Chefs Compete Again4 Chefs Compete2 Chefs Compete
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