Kalen Morgenstern

“

I never ever, in my wildest dreams, thought that I would get kicked out... for doing well, but I'm going to walk away from here staying true to myself. Red team, good luck, karma's a bitch, you better watch your backs, because nobody's got it.

”

Hometown/Residence	River Oaks, TX
Occupation	Sous Chef
Culinary Education	The Art Institute of Tennessee
Statistics
Signature Dish Challenge Score	4 out of 5
Challenges Won	3
Services Won	2
Times as BoW/Announcer	0
Times Nominated	2
Placement	14th
Episode Eliminated/Withdrew	14 Chefs Compete

Kalen Morgenstern was a contestant on Season 13 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 14th place.

Season 13

Episode 1

Main article: Episode 1301 - 18 Chefs Compete

While the chefs were on their way to Hell's Kitchen, the bus pulled over to Pacific’s Cinerama Theatre as Ramsay wanted to show them an inspirational video before going there. Kalen was one of the eight chefs shown receiving their acceptance invitation. After Ramsay revealed the grand prize of the season, he ordered the chefs to cook their signature dish.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Kalen was the last person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay and went up against Santos. She made pan-seared scallops with sweet corn purée. Ramsay praised it for its sear and the flavors for working well. She scored 4 points out of 5, and the red team won the challenge 24-23. They were rewarded with dinner at the Hotel Bel-Air, cooked by Wolfgang Puck.

During dinner service, Kalen was on the appetizer station with La Tasha. She was not seen much, and the red team won the service.

Episode 2

Main article: Episode 1302 - 17 Chefs Compete

During the Geoduck Challenge, Kalen was not seen participating during the first part, but during the second part, she was paired with Roe. Together, they got two of their dishes accepted, with their second being the winning point for the red team. They won the challenge 15-14 and were rewarded with a day on an 80-foot luxury yacht with Ramsay.

During dinner service, Kalen served geoduck chowder tableside. At one point, she was seen distracting the red customers as the red kitchen was struggling with their first order of appetizers. Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two people each.

She was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 3

Main article: Episode 1303 - 16 Chefs Compete

During the Jacket Challenge, Kalen misread Katie's recipe as an omelet but was corrected that it was actually a frittata. She accidentally dropped her spring roll on the floor and was forced to use only one for her dish. She was the fifth person from the red team to compete and went up against Bryant on the lobster spring roll round. She lost the round to Bryant as Ramsay criticized the presentation looking like it was chewed up. The red team lost the challenge 4-6, and they were punished by taking deliveries of 500 pounds of coffee, grinding them by hand, and prepping both kitchens for the next service. During the punishment, she was angry when Denine walked out and did not help.

During prep, Kalen told Katie that she would kick Denine's ass if her station was not properly set up, and added that Denine was going to find out quickly that wandering around and not helping was going to bite her hard. During dinner service, she was on the meat station with Denine. She was confident as she was from Texas but rejected Denine's offer to help as she felt she could not do anything right. However, her lamb was raw, and she was seen opening and closing the convection oven a lot, forcing Sous Chef Andi to order her to stop. Despite her second attempt being raw again, she managed to get her third attempt accepted.

The red team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Kalen was considered due to her struggles on meat, but she called it bullshit, and responded that if Denine cooked both the lamb and the Wellington, it would have been worse, adding that she did not even attempt to jump in despite getting rejected.

Kalen was the red team's first nominee for elimination, with Denine being the second. During her plea, she blamed Denine for being the reason service went badly due to her inexperience, said that she would have never sent meat like she did, and claimed to have had a bad day. She survived elimination, and while being dismissed, she said that being nominated motivated her to get her shit together.

Episode 4

Main article: Episode 1304 - 15 Chefs Compete

During the Brunch Service Challenge, Kalen was on the crepe station with Ashley. She struggled with her crepes as they were falling apart, and Roe rejected them as the cheese was not melted enough. Fortunately, her refire was accepted, and the red team eventually won the challenge. They were rewarded with a trip to San Francisco, and lunch at Alteller Cren.

During dinner service, Kalen was on the fish station with Roe. She struggled with the scallops but decided to send them despite feeling that they were not good, and Ramsay saw that they were raw. 45 minutes into service, she was still struggling with the scallops as the bottom did not have any color, stalling the team. Then, she sent overcooked scallops, and after Ramsay forced the women to touch them, he forced her and Roe to eat them. She wanted to go back to work, and even begged Ramsay to let them back, without success. Eventually, Ramsay allowed her and Roe to come back. The red team eventually won the service.

Episode 5

Main article: Episode 1305 - 14 Chefs Compete

During the Protein Identification Challenge, Kalen was paired with Ashley, and they were the fourth pair to participate. They randomly landed on the alligator chili and managed to get the correct protein on their third attempt after La Tasha's suggestion. The red team eventually lost the challenge 7:41-7:09, and they were punished by taking deliveries of pizza ingredients, hand grating the cheese, and drinking a protein shake. During the punishment, she chugged her drink down, and called out Jennifer's threat to punch Sade.

During the Family Night dinner service, Kalen was on the appetizer station with Katie. Despite promising to make the appetizer station her bitch, her spaghetti was cooked to fuck, but she blamed Katie for screwing her up. While working on her refire, she did not appreciate Sade trying to communicate with her as she felt she was doing well, but received some help from La Tasha. Later, she and Sade got in synchronization with each other, but she quickly became inconsistent with her timings, confusing Sade. The red team eventually lost the service, with Ramsay accusing her of being stuck in first gear despite her claiming to have had a good performance, and they were asked to nominate two people.

Kalen was the red team's second nominee for elimination, with Katie being the first. During her plea, she claimed to have had only two poor services so far, and that she did better than some of her teammates. She was eliminated for her string of poor performances, being delusional, and the fact that the red team gave up on her. During her exit interview, she was shocked that she was eliminated as still believed that she did well, and warned the red team that karma would be coming for them.

Ramsay's comment: "In Kalen's mind, her performance was flawless and every dish she cooked was perfect. Unfortunately for her, I live in reality. Dream on, Kalen."

Nomination history

Week 1	Win
Week 2	Safe
Week 3	Nominated
Week 4	Win
Week 5	Nominated

Post Hell's Kitchen

• After her appearance on the show, Kalen returned to her old job at Tillman’s Roadhouse as Chef de Cuisine and after it closed, she opened her own restaurant FW Market + Table, which closed after less than a year.
• She later became Operating Executive Chef/General Manager at Protein Fit Kitchen.
• She is currently a restaurant consultant.
• She got married and she is now known as Kalen Morgenstern Diaz.
• She recently gave birth to her daughter.

Trivia

• She is the fourth and last contestant to get into a confrontation with Sous Chef Andi, following Elise (Season 9), Tiffany (Season 10), and Anton (Season 12).

Quotes

• "When fish and hot apps work together like Sade and I are working, it is a gorgeous thing."
• "I think I should stay in Hell's Kitchen because I've only had 2 bad services out of 5. I've prepped my ass off, I did get better tonight. We should not be standing here. There are other people who held up service tonight. We had nothing come back except that one capellini. I kicked FUCKING ass tonight in service."
• (After being eliminated) "I never ever, in my wildest dreams, thought that I would get kicked out... for doing well, but I'm going to walk away from here staying true to myself. Red team, good luck, karma's a bitch, you better watch your backs, because nobody's got it."

Gallery

• Chef
• Dishes

Kalen's Intro Spot

Kalen in Red Jacket

Kalen's Confessional

Denine and Kalen Nominated

Katie and Kalen Nominated

Kalen Eliminated

Kalen's Signature Dish (Episode 1)

Kalen's Jacket Dish (Lobster Spring Roll) (Episode 3)

External links

• Kalen Morgenstern on Instagram