Kenneth McDuffie

“

Yo, I know the difference between a potato and Parmesan cheese, but it looked just like a potato.

”

Hometown/Residence	Philadelphia, PA
Occupation	Private Chef
Kitchen Experience	15 years
Culinary Inspiration	Great-grandmother
Statistics
Signature Dish Challenge Score	1 out of 5
Challenges Won	1
Times Nominated	1
Placement	18th
Episode Eliminated/Withdrew	Shrimply Spectacular
Images of Kenneth McDuffie

Kenneth McDuffie was a contestant on Season 19 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 18th place.

Season 19

Episode 1/2

Main article: Episode 1901 - Welcome To Vegas

Main article: Episode 1902 - Shrimply Spectacular

The eighteen new chefs arrived at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas as Ramsay wanted them to see the first official Hell's Kitchen Restaurant. Marino greeted the chefs at the front doors and took them inside the restaurant. As the chefs drank champagne, they got to know each other. Eventually, Ramsay came in, explained that the Hell's Kitchen Restaurant was built on the show's eighteen-season legacy, and revealed that it was one of the highest-grossing restaurants in America. Ramsay revealed that he brought them to the restaurant for inspiration because the winner of that season would become the Head Chef at the brand-new Hell's Kitchen Restaurant in Lake Tahoe. Ramsay admitted that they would not be competing in the real Hell's Kitchen restaurant due to the demand, so they would be going to Los Angeles to compete. The chefs returned to the bus to head to the airport, Marino handed out the tickets, and once arriving at the strip, they see a helicopter revving up, with Ramsay taking it and flying off. After some time, the chefs were called in for boarding, but as the chefs walked through the doors, they found themselves standing inside the restaurant. Then, Ramsay appeared in his chef jacket, revealed that for the first time in the show's history, Hell's Kitchen would take place in Las Vegas and had some performers do some shows for the chefs. While the chefs could not do any of the tricks they saw, they reaffirmed that they could indeed cook to Ramsay.

Before the Signature Dish Challenge, Kenneth noticed the big slot machine and said he was not a gambler. He went up against Kori, they were the fourth pair to play for their dishes, and they received chicken, eggplant, and orzo. During the cooking, he felt that the energy in the blue kitchen was crazy as they were all communicating and having fun, comparing it to being in a family. He had his dish cooked and plated when there were 20 minutes left and decided to clean the plate for the presentation. However, Marc was confused about his early finished and asked if he was the Michael Jordan of challenges, or if this would end poorly. Ramsay called him over, which dismayed Cody, and he was reminded that it was not a race. However, he said he was confident, but Marc hoped that the former put out a great dish. He was the third person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, was confident about his dish and revealed that he worked as both a personal chef and a food service director for a Montessori charter school. Ramsay reminded him of how he finished his dish when there were 20 minutes left, something he had not seen in a decade, and reminded him he was not looking for the Usain Bolt of cooking, with Declan agreeing with Ramsay. He made a pan-seared chicken with eggplant, endue sausage and orzo, but it was criticized for a scorched chicken, and Ramsay felt bad for the children he fed. He scored a 1 out of 5, and Cody felt that the rest of the men should have helped the former more. When Kori revealed that she cooked her chicken when there were twenty minutes left, Ramsay told him to note that.

The blue team eventually won the challenge 28-27, and they were awarded dinner at Gordon Ramsay Steak with Ramsay himself joining them, and riding on the High Roller. After hearing that, Kenneth said it could not get better than that. During the reward, he called it amazing to be on the High Roller. After the reward, Adam and Declan were bonding over trying to get rid of the weakest chefs, Declan said he knew that Kenneth, along with Elliot, would be one of the first to go. Later that night, at 1:45 AM, most of the men were awakened by his loud snoring, and Drew offered five dollars to anybody who stabbed him.

During the Creative Shrimp Challenge, Kenneth was in heaven after seeing shrimp break out of the crate. During the cooking, he wanted to redeem himself after his poor performance in the Signature Dish Challenge and said he was here to show Ramsay he could cook thanks to his great-grandmother. When Sous Chef Jay was asked for the two worst dishes from the blue team, he was the first nomination with Eliott being the second, and they joined Nikki and Jordan from the red team. After seeing that Nikki failed to clean the shrimp for her dish, Kenneth said he would not want to eat shit like that, comparing it to leaving a baby wear a shit-covered diaper all day. He was the final chef to present his dish and was nervous as he walked his dish up to Ramsay and prayed to the shrimp gods. He made a shrimp penne pasta with sautéed peppers and bacon, but Ramsay saw an unknown clump on the plate and asked what it was. He thought it looked like a potato that was accidentally dropped into his plate, but an incredulous Ramsay showed the men the clump and asked if any of them cooked potato for their dishes. All of them said they did not have potatoes in their dishes, and Ramsay had him taste the clump, revealing that it was a block of parmesan cheese. He claimed that he grated the cheese, though a flashback showed that he accidentally cut a chunk off onto the plate without seeing it, and Marc tried his best not to laugh as they could not fix stupid. After he spat out his taste, he claimed to know the difference between potato and cheese but argued that it looked like a potato. In the end, Ramsay deemed the dish a mess, and he was eliminated for having the worst dish overall. During his exit interview, he said he had a lot to prove in the competition, but he called it a learning experience and hoped his grandmother was looking down on him with a smile for making it far. Ramsay gave no comment on his elimination, and he did not receive the coat hanging and portrait burning sequence until the sixteenth episode.

Nomination History

Week 1	Nominated

Post Hell's Kitchen

• After his appearance on the show, Kenneth is still running his catering service, Young & Hungry Catering, which has mixed to positive reviews.
• He has appeared on cookery segments on many TV channels and shows across America.

Trivia

• Before his appearance on the show, he has hosted on TV appearances locally and cooked for singer Pattie LaBelle.
• He is the first contestant that was eliminated in a challenge before the first dinner service, surpassing Louie (Season 6) for the fastest exit in the history of the show that isn't due to illness or other health reasons.
• He is the only contestant to be nominated by a Sous Chef during an elimination challenge never by his team.
• He is the third contestant that did not compete in the first dinner service, following Antonia (Season 8) and Jason (Season 9), and the first contestant that did not compete in the first dinner service as a result of being eliminated.
• He is the third LGBT contestant to be eliminated first, following Wil (Season 5) and Tavon (Season 10), and the first LGBT contestant that eliminated before an opening night.
• He is the second contestant to finish his signature dish early, following JP (Season 13).
  • Ironically, both of them were the first eliminated in their season.
  • Unlike JP, Kenneth did not cook his signature dish again.

Quotes

• (About the Creative Shrimp challenge) "I'm nervous as hell. I'm shaking, I'm trembling, come on Shrimp Gods, help me out here."
• (After Ramsay confronted him about the block of Parmesan cheese in his dish) "Yo, I know the difference between a potato and Parmesan cheese, but it looked just like a potato."
• (After being eliminated) "Coming to Hell's Kitchen, I had a lot to prove. I thought I was going to make it farther in the competition than what I did, but it's a learning experience. And at the end of the day, I know that great grandmother is smiling down, I really did her proud. I made it this far. I don't have anything left to say."

Gallery

• Chef
• Dishes

Kenneth in Blue Jacket

Kenneth's Confessional

Kenneth, Eliott, Nikki, and Jordan Nominated during the Creative Shrimp Challenge

Kenneth Eliminated

Kenneth's Signature Dish (Episode 1)

Kenneth's Shrimp Dish (Episode 2)

External links

• Kenneth McDuffie on Instagram
• Kenneth McDuffie on Twitter
• Kenneth McDuffie on YouTube