Jessica Cabo

“

Can someone come and help me because I'm fucking up to my ears in shit and getting screamed at!

”

Hometown/Residence	Huntington, NY
Occupation	Headhunter
Statistics
Blind Taste Test Score	0 out of 4
Challenges Won	1
Services Won	3
Times as BoW/Announcer	2
Times Nominated	2
Placement	3rd
Episode Eliminated/Withdrew	Day 9
Images of Jessica Cabo

Jessica Cabo was a contestant on Season 1 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 3rd place.

Season 1

Episode 1

Main article: Episode 101 - Day 1

The twelve contestants arrived in Hell's Kitchen and celebrated with a champagne glass and getting to know each other. Jessica revealed that she loved to cook and called Hell's Kitchen a great experience, and it would realize her dream of owning her own restaurant. After some time, Maître D' Jean-Philippe and Sous Chefs Scott and Mary-Ann greeted them, revealing that their first test began now.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Jessica was the tenth contestant to have her dish judged by Ramsay. She served shelled crabs cooked Cajun style with spicy aioli, but they were way too hot for Ramsay to handle, to the point the latter downed an entire water bottle after one bite. After the challenge, she was placed on the blue team, along with Andrew, Ralph, Michael, Wendy, and Mary Ellen.

During dinner service, Jessica was at the fish station. During that service, she was very unnoticed, which was incomplete because Ramsay shut down both kitchens after many tables left. The blue team won the dinner service, but Ramsay said they did not win and were just safe. After elimination, she knew it would only get harder from there.

Episode 2

Main article: Episode 102 - Day 2

The next day, at 5:55 AM, Sous Chefs Scott and Mary-Ann went in the dorms with cookware and banged them together to wake up everybody, with Dewberry originally thinking it was somebody with a gun. During the Squid Cleaning Challenge, Jessica cleaned one squid to Ramsay's standards, but the blue team lost the challenge 5-6. They were punished by cleaning all the squids for the next service and working with no air conditioning.

The night before service, Jeff was suffering a kidney stone and was lying in the hallway in pain. When Jessica approached him to ask if he was okay, she touched him on the back, and he fell further towards the ground. She did not feel any sign of worry, as she felt he was a hypochondriac. The next day, Andrew, Mary Ellen, and he met in the kitchen to discuss Jeff's condition, with the former talking about his moans of pain.

During dinner service, Jessica was at the dessert station. She was very unnoticed during this service as she did not make many mistakes. After Jean-Philippe was physically assaulted, Ramsay shut down both kitchens, and the blue team was declared winners after a few main courses went out.

Episode 3

Main article: Episode 103 - Day 3

After elimination, Jeff showed everybody his kidney stone, but Jessica was unimpressed and compared it to a little mustard seed.

Before the Five Course Meal Challenge, Jessica said goodbye to Michael as the latter was transferred to the red team. She was the first person from the blue team to have her dish judged, cooked the cold appetizer, and went up against Elsie. She made a grilled pineapple with potatoes tartare style. Still, Ramsay felt she had no idea what the dish was exactly and found it tasteless, much to her disappointment. After hesitating about her last ingredient, Ramsay noticed it and said that she sounded like she did not know what she made. She lost that round to Elsie, and the blue team lost the challenge after a tiebreaker at 3. They were punished by cleaning the dorms, and during the punishment, she thought Ramsay would like her dish and felt that he hated her.

During dinner service, Jessica was at the garnish station. She received very grateful help from Ralph after struggling on her station, which she acknowledged to be the strongest link of the blue team. They lost the service after tables walked out, and Ramsay shut down both kitchens. Ralph was named "Best of the Worst." During deliberation, she broke down into tears over the fear of being nominated, despite Andrew and Mary Ellen trying to comfort her.

Jessica was not nominated for elimination, and while being dismissed, she was sad that Wendy was no longer here as she was a great teammate.

Episode 4

Main article: Episode 104 - Day 4

Back at the dorms, Jessica cried over the loss of Wendy as the latter was sweet and thoughtful, but at the same time, she knew Hell's Kitchen was changing as they were down to eight chefs. She was quickly comforted by Mary Ellen.

During the Perfect Table Challenge, Jessica accidentally flipped the tablecloth the wrong side up. The blue team managed to make only one mistake, compared to the red team's four, therefore winning the challenge. They were rewarded with a day of relaxation and spa treatment in the dorms. During the reward, she praised the smell.

Later that evening, the chefs gathered at the patio for some downtime as Mary Ellen and Jessica called Jean-Philippe a character, while Andrew asked if the latter had gas sometimes. Then, Elsie discovered a huge billboard outside the dorms showing Ramsay's face and the show's title. She made everybody else look at it, all laughing when they saw it saying they could not believe it, although she felt a little creeped out. During prep, she was horrified at the pigeon prep as it had a disgusting smell and got frog juice in her eyes. Later, she hoped that Andrew would shut his mouth for once so they could get through service.

During dinner service, Jessica was at the meat station. She brought her first Wellingtons to the pass after asking for Ralph's opinion, they were cooked perfectly, and Ramsay told her to bring them all like that. Later, she was praised with a good lobster spaghetti. The blue team eventually lost the service because they failed to serve all their diners before the red team. However, Ramsay named her the "Best of the Worst" for her spot-on cooking and was asked to nominate two of her teammates for elimination. During deliberation, she knew that the feeling was bittersweet as, despite being happy for the praise Ramsay gave her, she had to decide which of her teammates would go home. As she and Mary Ellen talked in the bedroom, she thought of getting rid of Ralph for strategic reasons but ultimately made her final decision.

Before announcing her nominees, Jessica stated to Ramsay that her choice was challenging because of the developed friendship between teammates. She named Andrew as her first nominee, and Mary Ellen as her second, hoping the former would get kicked off. However, Mary Ellen was eliminated instead, and she took the former's elimination very hard emotionally as they were close friends. While being dismissed, she disagreed with Ramsay's choice as she felt Mary Ellen was a sweet innocent girl and was the better teammate.

Episode 5

Main article: Episode 105 - Day 5

When they got back to the dorms, Jessica was crying, feeling guilty for Mary Ellen's elimination. When she went to the bathroom, Elsie comforted her and told her it was hard for everybody. She got out of the bathroom, saying it was bullshit and was immediately comforted again by Chris, who told her it was not her fault.

During the Pasta Making Challenge, Jessica helped Ralph by pouring flour into the machine, so the dough would not get stuck inside. The blue team lost the challenge, managing to get only 2.41 lbs. of pasta acceptable, compared to the red team's 2.45. They were punished by making all the remaining pasta for the pasta-themed dinner service. She tried to protest their defeat as she felt the red team's pasta looked unappealing and that her grandmother would not serve that pasta. However, Ramsay the blue team to act like good losers. When the red team left for their reward, she and Ralph felt they were getting the shaft every time.

The night before service, when the red team came back from their reward, Jessica had a conversation with Michael, and he tried to get her to say things about how the blue team feels after their loss. However, she spotted his plans as, despite his sweet boy appearance, he was one of the most manipulative chefs in the group and would lie, cheat and kill to win.

During dinner service, the blue team served during the first seating and cooked during the second. During the first seating, Jessica felt insecure as she never waited tables before and was always asking for help from the staff. With 10 minutes left, the customers were getting tired of waiting for their food, so she tried to offer a table a random dish of entrées to make them happy. Before the second seating, she had to calm down an argument between Ralph and Andrew because of the latter's inability to listen to people. When the second seating started, a lot of orders of lasagna came into the kitchen. She realized that the red team was trying to sabotage the blue team, and because of that, she told her team that the red team was assholes. After she brought what Ramsay called "dog's dinners" to the hot plate, Ramsay decided to shut down the kitchen, with 17 tickets to go, as the time limit of two hours was over. The blue team was declared winners because of their good service in the dining room and their food of better quality than the red team's.

Episode 6

Main article: Episode 106 - Day 6

After Elsie escaped elimination, Jessica comforted her by telling her she was deserving to be there. However, she realized her chances of winning were still there because it could also happen to Ralph or Michael.

During the Blind Taste Test, Jessica was the second person from the blue team to compete and went up against Elsie. She missed all four foods. The blue team lost the challenge 1-4, and they were punished by washing the entire restaurant's dishes and having a padlock placed on their storage room door. During the punishment, she complained that it sucked and started making death threats towards Elsie along with Ralph. When the red team came back from their reward, she bitterly asked them to clean up for a bit. Then, she considered the punishments growing worse and that Hell's Kitchen was becoming more hellish.

The night before the next service, Ramsay announced that both teams would create their own menus. When the blue team worked on the menu, Jessica did not have much input on the menu as Ralph took total control of it. Even her idea of a chocolate cheesecake dessert was not approved by him. During prep, she gave Andrew some white tape so he could be sure that the door would not lock again before getting busted by Sous Chef Scott.

During dinner service, Jessica was at the garnish station. When a hair was found in one of her dishes, she said it was not hers, but Ramsay responded that he did not care whose hair it was. When Andrew struggled with the poached halibut, she was told by Ralph to lend him help. Because of her help, Andrew's halibut successfully made it to the customers but were sent back because they were overcooked. Ramsay shut down both kitchens because too many orders came back and declared the blue team losers. He also told her that her performance was consistently average. Despite this, she was named "Best of the Worst" because she did not take part in the halibut conspiracy between Andrew and Ralph, and was asked to nominate one of her teammate for elimination. During deliberation, she congratulated the red team for their victory but expressed disappointment in losing. After hearing Andrew rant, she finalized her decision, met Ralph and reassured him that she would not nominate him. However, she warned him that she needed to stand on her own feet and not look like an idiot.

Jessica nominated Andrew. While being dismissed, she said she did not nominate Ralph because he helped her a lot but knew his weakness now.

Episode 7

Main article: Episode 107 - Day 7

Following Andrew's elimination, Jessica was happy to see Ralph still around but knew he was still her competition. Despite that, she told him he deserved to be there. Later, Elsie told her she wanted to get out of there to see her family again.

The next day, Ramsay merged both teams into one black jackets team, and Jessica was the fourth contestant to receive a black jacket. During the Fruit Flambé Tableside Challenge, she forgot her cart on her way to get her ingredients. So, she had to go back and get it, and while gathering her ingredients, she noticed that everybody grabbed them in a frantic. She was the third chef to have her dish judged by Ramsay, but despite saying she flambéed twice before, he saw she had bananas with raw sugar. She lost the challenge to Jimmy and was punished by cleaning the entire dining room ahead of the next dinner service. During the punishment, she complained about losing again and wondered when she would win something as she wanted face time with Ramsay. When she asked why Jimmy picked Michael, Elsie said because the former was an ass-kisser.

During prep, Jessica felt it would be a huge challenge to serve the entire dining room as it was double the workload. During dinner service, she was at the meat station. A lot of meat orders came in, so it was her biggest task. At one point, the pan she was cooking with caught on fire, and she blew on it, trying to get it away, without any success as the Sous Chefs noticed from the bar. Later, she realized she ran out of filet mignons and started to panic, claiming that Sous Chef Scott, who took the night off, misplaced them. When she explained the situation to Ramsay, he accused her of having an attitude and was not happy she only had two filets out of the twenty-seven ordered. As the two continued to argue, with Ramsay accusing her of not caring anymore, Michael ran to the back store to get some filets. Although she did not think Michael was trying to sabotage her, she knew he wanted to win as Ramsay told her to do something. However, she was lost, so Michael went to help her. When Elsie was back in the kitchen to grab some pans, she asked her to get some pans for the meat station, but the latter refused. Although the kitchen seemed to be working well as Michael helped her with meat, she set fire to her station again. After a heated argument between Jimmy and Ramsay, the kitchen was shut down, while Ramsay told her she let him down during this service. Ralph was named "Best of the Worst." During deliberation, she and Michael talked about her friendship with Ralph. The concern was that Ralph might put her up for elimination despite her not doing so last time.

Jessica was Ralph's second nominee for elimination, with Jimmy being the first. During her plea, she felt she had been an amazing player, and while extremely disappointed about her poor performance, she was ready to put her best foot forward. She survived elimination, and while being dismissed, she was ecstatic to be around still and wanted to bounce back from her first nomination.

Episode 8

Main article: Episode 108 - Day 8

After escaping elimination, Jessica felt relieved as she had already packed her bags before coming downstairs and told Ralph she did not hate him for nominating her. She knew she was nominated for a reason, and because she survived elimination, she had to prove why she stayed now that she had a one-in-four shot of winning.

During the Leftovers Challenge, Jessica decided to use her mother as an inspiration. She was the first person to have her dish judged by Ramsay and presented a beef stew as an entrée and a strawberry and raspberry cake for dessert. Although Ramsay liked the taste of the beef stew and the dessert, he found both dishes to look a mess. She lost the challenge to Elsie and was so jealous that she wanted to taste her chicken soup.

Jessica was punished by prepping the kitchen ahead of that night's service. During the punishment, Sous Chef Mary-Ann asked them if they were still in the dark about Elsie's reward, and she said she had some guesses. Later, she got to see Elsie's appearance on "Good Day Live." After that, she still felt she deserved to win and told Ralph that she would not help Elsie out if the latter were in the weeds.

During dinner service, Jessica was on the appetizer station, thanks to Elsie. Trying to redeem herself from the previous service, she sent up her salad but was called shit by Ramsay, and she was asked to redo it. She needed Michael's help on plating the refires, and after an hour into dinner service, many appetizers coming out. However, Ramsay deemed that hour pathetic as she was clamming upon him and made the contestants switch stations for the first time. So, she moved to the meat station. At the second switch, she moved to the fish station. When she got there, she felt it was a big wrench to her night and began to feel overwhelmed. Then, she said she needed more time for the lobster to cook, Michael had to stop what he was doing because of her, and Ramsay schooled her because of her inconsistent timings. While she sent up a lobster risotto that was cooked properly, Ramsay ordered her to start over as it looked like Dewberry's dog's dinner, and she was too far in to start serving him slop. Later, Jean-Philippe came back to the kitchen with a lobster dish with a piece of wood in it, and Ramsay showed her mistake to her, calling her a stupid idiot. After two tables left, Ramsay shut down the kitchen. Nobody was deemed the "Best of the Worst," and Ramsay announced he would pick the nominees himself.

Jessica was Ramsay's first nominee for elimination, with Elsie being the second. During her plea, Ramsay called her performance terrible, but she argued that despite having an iffy start, she pulled it together even though she knew things were getting harder. She survived elimination, and while being dismissed, she knew they had to pull it together as a team.

Episode 9

Main article: Episode 109 - Day 9

After Elsie's elimination, Jessica, was relieved to have survived her second elimination in a row and was now a part of the final three, making her very happy. Champagne bottles were waiting for them on the table and on the patio, she felt she was keeping up with Michael and Ralph than Elsie was and felt they were always a team since the beginning. Ralph was glad to have her still around as she poured her heart into work every day and never giving up. After a few drinks, she went to bed inebriated, something Ralph thought was due to her height.

At 4 AM, the phone rang in the dorms, Michael picked it up, and Ramsay told him to get his two teammates and himself in the blue kitchen immediately for an emergency. When Michael told them, Ralph and Jessica did not believe him and tried to convince him to go to bed. Eventually, an impatient Ramsay sent Sous Chef Scott to the dorms to get them, and his presence finally convinced her and Ralph that it was serious. Ramsay asked the final three to make bread because the baker could not provide the restaurant with bread. She was still a little drunk, so she did not know what was going on and stood around doing nothing but yawning before laying down on the counter. Even though she did not want to give up, She was very tired from the day she had, and Ralph informed them that it was getting close to ten to 6 AM, and they would not finish for another hour. Michael decided to send her to bed because she would be more of a hindrance, and two hours later, she came back to the kitchen ready to help, but Ralph and Michael were almost done. After the bread making, Jessica went back to sleep for two more hours before being woke up by Sous Chef Mary-Ann playing a triangle. When Ramsay asked her how the bread experience was, she said t was fun despite not helping that much.

During the Perfect Soufflé Challenge, Jessica knew how touchy a soufflé could be as it all depended on the egg whites being appropriately prepped. She was the first chef to have her dish judged by Ramsay and made a raspberry mint soufflé. Not only did it look spongy, but it was deemed pretty shit by Ramsay, adding that it was the worst soufflé he ever tasted. She came in last place, so when the contestants picked their main ingredient for their special dish of that service, she was left with chicken.

During the making of her chicken dish, Jessica was not sure of what to do with her chicken and asked Sous Chef Scott a lot of questions as she wanted his professional opinion. Jessica revealed that she never made chicken before and hoped she was making it worth her while before announcing her chicken stuffed with goat cheese, herbs and wrapped in prosciutto.

During dinner service, she was at the dessert station and had her stuffed chicken breast featured on the menu. At one point, Ramsay reminded her how she was going to work on both her chicken dish and the desserts. However, she said she needed a minute on her first chicken dish, so Ramsay sent the other dishes that were waiting on the hot plate back. She knew she was at fault for that, apologizing to her teammates for that mistake. Then, she admitted that she never steamed a dish before and just wanted to wing it as Ramsay said that chicken was supposed to be easy. Despite that, her chicken dish was well-liked by the customers. When orders of desserts came in, she was having a hard time keeping up with the orders because she was concerned about her chicken dish as well. As she struggled, Ralph's fiancée tasted her chicken and spat it out. In the kitchen, she struggled with the desserts, leading Michael to take her chicken dish over to continue sending out the entrées. She failed to deliver a proper time for her desserts on their next order, leading Ramsay to lose his patience. She finally said five minutes for the soufflés, but even though she asked for help, Ralph said he could not due to the flow of entrées. As Ramsay kept calling out more dessert orders, she got frustrated and said she was trying her best. However, Ramsay was not happy with her attitude and felt she was not good enough. Then, she slipped and dropped a plate before asking Ralph to switch with her. However, Ralph said he could not, and she said it was not her night, fearing they would not complete service unless she got some help. Two and a half hours into service, she sent unacceptable soufflés to the pass and was forced to break a cardinal rule by asking Ramsay if he could help her. Ramsay categorically refused as he was running the pass and refused to shut the restaurant down for her sake. Jean-Philippe went into the kitchen to her, telling her to believe in her team, before being kicked out of the kitchen by Ramsay as he had a dining room to run. After, Ramsay asked her for a clear explanation over what was going on with desserts, and she said she would try to get some out while she worked on the soufflés. After the last order of entrées was served, Michael and Ralph came to help her with desserts. When she opened the convection oven to check on the soufflés, Michael told her not to, making her feel the latter was demeaning. At the end of the night, her chicken dish was the second-best sold with 34 orders. After service, Jessica felt she did good and felt it was a good thing everybody was ordering chicken. Later that night, she said she was a fighter as she would keep coming back from anything.

At elimination, Jessica was visited by her girlfriend, her mom, and her sister. After each family member got to reveal the dish they enjoyed the most, she got the least number of votes with only 1 for her chicken dish. Therefore, she was eliminated from the competition. While Ramsay admitted that her performance was not as good as the men, he told her she did an amazing job in the competition, deemed her strong, clever, feisty, and never short of a word, before telling her how proud he was. Then, Ramsay told her to go by the front door with her family, as she deserved to. She received a retrospective montage of her run during her exit interview.

Although Jessica's jacket was hung, Ramsay did not comment on her elimination.

Episode 10/11

Main article: Episode 110/111 - Day 10

Jessica was one of the six chefs that returned for the final dinner service. When she came back, a clip of her struggling in the second black jacket service was shown. She was Michael's first pick, followed by Jimmy and Elsie, and the first pick overall. When Michael went over the menu, she secretly wanted to be on Ralph's team instead due to their strong friendship. During prep, she knocked over a cooling rack while carrying the chicken.

During dinner service, Jessica was at the fish station. At one point, she was confused about which order of lobster was what, and Michael was forced to restart his order. Later, she was still angry at not being on Ralph's team and refused Michael's authority by snapping back at him, causing an argument between her and Elsie. Michael had to calm the situation down and told her to stop bickering and listen to him. After service, she congratulated Michael by saying the menu was easy to execute. Michael ended up winning the finals over Ralph.

Nomination History

Week 1	Win
Week 2	Win
Week 3	Safe
Week 4	BoW
Week 5	Win
Week 6	BoW
Week 7	Nominated
Week 8	Nominated
Week 9	Eliminated

Post Hell's Kitchen

• After her appearance on the show, she returned cooking in one of her friend's restaurant, before opening her own restaurant in Santa Monica, called Brick+Mortor.
• In 2013, she became Head Chef at CAM Café at the Cameron Art Museum.
• She is currently the Executive Chef of East Oceanfront Dining located inside The Blockade Runner Beach Resort in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.

Trivia

• Before her appearance on the show, she appeared on the first season of Extreme Dodgeball as one of the Ink, Incorporated team players. Her nickname was "Wabo." She also appeared in the first season of Extreme Do.
• She and Dewberry are the first LGBT+ contestants to compete in Hell's Kitchen.
• She has the first confessional in the history of the show.
• She was the first contestant to be named "Best of the Worst" twice.
• She is the first black jacket to survive being nominated for elimination.
• She is the first contestant to be nominated consistently throughout the black jacket phase and the first with this distinction to have their nominations only occur during the black jacket phase.
• She is the only contestant to this date to be eliminated solely based upon votes and the first to be eliminated without being nominated.
• She and Ralph are tied for the most time announcing the nominees in Season 1, with two being "Best of the Worst" twice.
• She is the only Black Jacket of her season to never win an individual challenge.
• She is the last contestant this date to be eliminated and received the original coat hanging sequence.
• She and Garrett (Season 2) are the two Black Jackets that won the least amount of challenges in their seasons with 1.

Quotes

• (About Elsie's win over her) "It sucks, I'm a little bitter!"
• Ralph: Hey Jess, what are you gonna do tonight if Elsie's in the weeds on the garnish station? Jessica: "Nothing."
• "He's way worst than Simon Cowell."
• "Can someone come and help me because I'm fucking up to my ears in shit and getting screamed at!"
• (After being eliminated) "Chef Ramsay was amazing, I mean, it was such an honor to work under him. I worked hard, and ya know, smart, and I think that's what helped me get this far, so no regrets at all. This was such a great experience and something I'll hold with me for the rest of my life."

Gallery

• Chef
• Dishes

Jessica's Intro Spot

Jessica's Confessional (Blue Jacket)

Jessica in Blue Jacket

Jessica in the Blind Taste Test

Jessica in Black Jacket

Jessica's Confessional (Black Jacket)

Jimmy and Jessica Nominated

Jessica and Elsie Nominated

Jessica Eliminated (Part 1)

Jessica Eliminated (Part 2)

Jessica as Returning Chef

Jessica in Red Jacket

Jessica's Signature Dish

Jessica's Five-Course Meal Dish (Episode 3)

Jessica's Fruit Flambé Tableside Dish (Episode 7)

Jessica's Leftover Dishes (Episode 8)

Jessica, Michael, and Ralph's Soufflés (Episode 9)

External links

• Jessica Cabo on Instagram
• Jessica Cabo on Twitter