“ | My father has lived in the restaurant industry and he had no time for his children. I wanted to show my Dad what I can do in the kitchen. | ” |
Ji-Hyun Cha was a contestant on Season 5 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 15th place.
Season 5[]
Episode 1[]
- Main article: Episode 501 - 16 Chefs Compete
In the series biggest turnout, thousands of chefs auditioned for Hell's Kitchen. However, only three hundred arrived at Hell’s Kitchen and met Jean-Philippe and Ramsay. Out of the three hundred, sixteen were selected to compete. Jean-Philippe began calling out the chefs chosen to compete. While not seen, Ji was one of the sixteen called to compete.
During the Signature Dish Challenge, Ji was the third person to have her dish judged by Ramsay. She made a miso sautéed Chilean sea bass. She explained that she cooked for her family all her life but added that her father had no time for his children due to his culinary career. She wanted to show her Dad what she could do in the kitchen. Ramsay said the sea bass was cooked perfectly and thought it tasted like she had fifteen years experience rather than the four years she told him. He even told her to cook her father the dish when she went home.
After the challenge, Ramsay asked both teams to decide on a name for the opening night. After some discussion, the red team went with Team Saffron. However, it was changed to Spice Racks after Colleen's request. During dinner service, Ji was on the appetizer station with Colleen. She went unnoticed during service because Colleen made far more mistakes than her. The red team won the dinner service because of Carol's strong performance as a waitress.[1]
Episode 2[]
- Main article: Episode 502 - 15 Chefs Compete
The following day at 5:49 AM, a marching band came into the dorms and played loudly, and the chefs woke up. Once outside, Ramsay had the chefs gather fresh scallops from the crates next to him. During the Scallop Cleaning Challenge, Ji had four of her scallops accepted. When she saw J' scallops get rejected, she prayed that they were all terrible. The red team lost the challenge 35-36, and they were forced to prepare a raw bar for the next service. When Lacey went to bed crying and wanting to quit, she tried to comfort the former and urged her that she is needed on the team and to not to give up.
During prep, Ji noticed how lively Lacey was compared to yesterday, but then, she slipped on some oil and sprained her ankle. LA feared the worse as the medic took a look at her ankle. Because she was in pain, she doubted if she could do that night’s service. Despite the pain, she decided to continue prepping for service despite LA's concern. Before service began, she told Ramsay about her injury. However, she said she would like to participate in the service and hope for the best, which Ramsay allowed.
During dinner service, Ji was at the garnish station. At one point, Ramsay compared his headache towards Colleen's poor performance to her aching ankle. When Paula came back into the kitchen, the former checked on her to see if she was okay. She told Paula that she wanted to focus on service. That made LA very impressed with Ji's determination. The red team lost the dinner service.
Immediately after service, Ji limped to the back hall to see the medic again as her foot was swollen. While she felt like a burden by that, the rest of the women said she did great, and they would not send her home that night. Paula says she wanted to see her hammer it out until she said she was ready to go home. When the teams were lined up, she was seen in a wheelchair to keep the weight off her ankle. Still, Ramsay praised her for her courageous efforts that night and the fact she did not give up despite the pain. Ramsay thought that some people in the room would have given up if they were in her position. The red team was asked to nominate two people for elimination. She did not join the red team for deliberation as she was with the medical staff.
Ji was not nominated for elimination. When it looked as if Ramsay was about to eliminate Colleen or Lacey, she raised her hand. She announced that despite wanting to be in Hell’s Kitchen, she felt her injury would hinder the women and volunteered to leave. Andrea interjected that, despite her injury, she was better than both Colleen and Lacey. Still, she was absolute in her decision as she wanted the women to win. Ramsay decided to honor her request and told Colleen and Lacey to get back in line. Ramsay came up to her, and while he praised her for her talent, he admitted that it would not be fair to let her continue while she was in a great amount of pain. Still, Ramsay allowed her to keep her jacket to symbolize her courage and pride. As Andrea wheeled her out, the men gave her a standing ovation, and the women clapped for her courage. Charlie held the door for her while she told the red team to do well. During her exit interview, a tearful Ji knew she could have gone all the way, but it sucked to leave due to her injury and lamented that it was not meant to be. At the end of the episode, she received the portrait burning sequence.
Ramsay's comment: "Ji showed great courage. Unfortunately, her injury got in the way of her dream. She had a chance to win this, but sadly we will never, ever know." [2]
Nomination History[]
Week 1 | Win |
---|---|
Week 2 | Quit |
Post Hell's Kitchen[]
- After her appearance on the show, Ji worked at Moon Jar in Fort Lee.
- She moved into management at US Foods.
Trivia[]
- She is the fourth Asian-American contestant to compete on the show, following Wendy (Season 1), Aaron (Season 3), and Louross (Season 4), and the first Korean contestant of Hell's Kitchen.
- She is the third contestant who withdrew from the competition for health reasons, following Larry (Season 2) and Aaron (Season 3).
- She is the first contestant to withdraw from the competition at elimination voluntarily.
- She is the third female to have never won a challenge in their season, following Wendy (Season 1) and Sharon (Season 4).
- She is the first contestant and the first female ever who kept her jacket after elimination. She is also the first contestant to keep their jacket due to withdrawing from the competition.
- She is the first contestant who kept her jacket after elimination without getting a retrospective montage.
- At 15th place, she is the lowest-ranked contestant to keep their jacket.
- She is the first contestant to be ranked 15th place as a result of withdrew, the first female contestant to be ranked 15th place, and the first contestant to be ranked 15th place without ranking last on her season.
Quotes[]
- "My father has lived in the restaurant industry, and he had no time for his children. I wanted to show my Dad what I can do in the kitchen."
- "I talked to Lacey because I figured it might help to talk to someone because it usually helps me to turn things around."
- "I think Lacey is trying to like turn things around. She did seem a little more lively."
- (After the sprained ankle accident) (crying) "I'm in pain; my ankle feels like shit. I don't know if I could do this dinner service tonight."
- "I'm hoping for the best and that I will be able to pull through service. You know I can't let my girls down."
- (To Ramsay at elimination) "It's an honor to work with you in your kitchen, chef, but I like to volunteer. I feel that I'm half manpower in your kitchen, chef. I want the girls/the red team to win."
- (After withdrawing) "I know I could've gone all the way. It sucks to leave you know because of an injury. I'd rather be leaving because of lack of skill or something you know. Maybe it was just not meant to be."
Gallery[]
External links[]
Ji-Hyun Cha on Instagram
ChefJiCha on YouTube
References[]
- ↑ (January 29, 2009). "Episode 501 - 16 Chefs Compete". Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series). Season 5. Episode 1.
- ↑ (February 5, 2009). "Episode 502 - 15 Chefs Compete". Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series). Season 5. Episode 2.
Hell's Kitchen Season 5 |
---|
Staff |
Gordon Ramsay (Head Chef) • Scott Leibfried (Blue Team Sous Chef) • Gloria Felix (Red Team Sous Chef) • Jean-Philippe Susilovic (Maître d'hôtel) |
Contestants |
Coi Burruss • Ji-Hyun Cha • Colleen Cleek • Lacey D'Angelo • Paula DaSilva • Giovanni Filippone • Andrea Heinly • Robert Hesse • Wil Kocol • Seth Levine • LA Limtiaco • J Maxwell • Charlie McKay • Carol Scott • Danny Veltri • Ben Walanka |