| “ | Please say one more damn grape joke. Please do it. Because I'm going to fucking choke you! | ” |
Natalie Blake was a contestant on Season 9 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 7th place.
Season 9[]
Episode 1[]
- Main article: Episode 901 - 18 Chefs Compete
When the chefs arrived in Los Angeles, they were greeted by James on the bus ride, where Natalie jokingly told she was a rock star in her own world, so it would not be a big difference. Then, the bus pulled over to the Orpheum Theatre, where they would be given a standing ovation by a live audience. However, when the curtain was pulled up, they discovered that the room was completely empty, much to their disappointment before Ramsay revealed himself applauding very slowly. After the latter revealed the grand prize of the season, the chefs were asked to get back to Hell's Kitchen and cook their signature dishes.
During the Signature Dish Challenge, Natalie was the seventh person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Monterray. Her dish was unknown, but the lamb was praised for being cooked perfectly, and she tied the round with Monterray. The red team lost the challenge 5-6, and they were punished by cleaning both kitchens for the opening night.
The next day, both teams went to the kitchens to begin prepping for the opening night, and they were given their ankle knives set. During dinner service, Natalie was at the dessert station. She was not seen at all, and the red team won the service.[1]
Episode 2[]
- Main article: Episode 902 - 16 Chefs Compete
The next morning, the chefs were woken up by a young guitarist and very loud amplifiers, and they were ordered to get outside. Arrived there, Ramsay introduced the Meat & Grill Challenge, where each pair would have to cook a medium-rare New York strip, a medium rib-eye, a medium-well filet mignon, and a well-done burger. Natalie was excited and confident as she knew how to cook meat, and during the challenge, she was paired with Jamie. During Elise and Carrie's turn, she questioned their places in the competition as they could only cook one piece of meat out of four, she and Jamie were the third pair to compete for the red team, and they scored three points out of four.
The red team lost the challenge 10-11, and they were punished by cleaning the grills, taking a delivery of a whole cow, and drinking a protein shake made from the meat used during the challenge. Natalie was pissed as she knew that Elise and Carrie were the reason why they lost, and during the punishment, she was annoyed by Elise bashing on Carrie, and told that she should just focus on cooking and nothing else. Later, the women were prepping their kitchen while reviewing the menu, and when the blue team came back from their reward, they studied it further.
During dinner service, Natalie was on the garnish station. She was not seen much, except at one point when she expressed annoyance over Elise's awfully big mouth. The red team won the service, and at elimination, the women were asked for a volunteer to be transferred to the blue team the next morning. While being dismissed, she was embarrassed for the men as they could not realize that they needed help.[2]
Episode 3[]
- Main article: Episode 903 - 15 Chefs Compete
Back in the dorms, the women discussed who would be transferred to the blue team, and Natalie insisted that having Carrie and Elise in the same team was an issue. Then, she expressed her willingness to go to the blue team, much to Gina's worry, and reminded that everybody was competing against everybody anyway. In the end, the women agreed on Carrie, which she acknowledged that it was the best solution despite being upset about not switching herself.
The next morning, the chefs were woken up by clowns, and when both teams were lined up in the dining room, Sous Chef Scott revealed that they were woken up by clowns because they were cooking like clowns. After taking a delivery of naan bread with the other chefs, Natalie was transferred to the blue team instead of Carrie, which she was extremely happy about as she knew that it was because Ramsay knew she could step up. Then, she was asked what would she bring to the blue team, which she answered that they needed organization, and finally, she received her blue jacket and lined up with the blue team.
During the Mommy & Me Lunch Service Challenge, Natalie took vocal leadership by asking times to Monterray and Paul, and because of her leadership, all the children on the blue side were served. After the blue team succeeded to send their last ticket before the red team, she was given a warm welcome by her new teammates and was called a rock star by Will. The blue team won the challenge, and they were rewarded with a day and lunch at Medieval Times, as well as sword fighting themselves. When they came back from their reward, she gave some tips to the men on why she had such great performances on the red team, which was the on-point organization as they were making lists for every station.
During the Family Night dinner service, Natalie was on the meat station. At one point, everybody was waiting for her to deliver her meat as she had four orders on the ticket, she was nervous, and her Wellingtons were still raw, much to Paul's dismay. Ramsay urged her to wake up, she acknowledged that she had to step up, gave one minute on her Wellingtons, and when she sent them, they were accepted, and customers on the blue side were satisfied. After the blue team served all of their tickets and the red team's, she knew that she would make the difference, and after Ramsay told them to walk out of the kitchen with their heads held high, she was feeling good and could not help but smile. The blue team won the service by a mile.[3]
Episode 4[]
- Main article: Episode 904 - 14 Chefs Compete
The next morning, the chefs were woken up by Sous Chefs Scott and Andi, who brought them special farm outfits to wear, and were told to get outside. Arrived there, Ramsay introduced the Chicken Creation Challenge, and during the first part, Natalie dove into the pen to catch her chicken and chose coconut milk. During the second part, she was paired with Chino, and they worked on the roasted chicken course. They were the last pair from the blue team to have their dish judged, she presented their roasted chicken coconut curry soup, which was deemed delicious by both guest judges, but they lost the round to Elise and Elizabeth.
The blue team lost the challenge 2-3, and they were punished by creating a chicken stock from scratch for the next service. During the punishment, Natalie was pissed about the idea that the red team won the challenge despite Carrie serving raw chicken, and she was seen participating in their dinner service simulation.
During dinner service, Natalie was on the appetizer station with Tommy. Because of her leadership, appetizers were being sent out at a good pace, and at one point, she tried to calm down an argument between Monterray and Jonathon. Later, she went to the meat station to help Chino to make sure that the communication would be on point. However, when he gave three more minutes, she was dismayed, and when she tried to remind him that he had to call a real-time, he did not appreciate and told that it did not help. When Chino sent raw Wellingtons, she was dismayed once again, and after Ramsay ordered everybody to touch them, she reassured that they would get it together. After a lot of mistakes, the blue team was kicked out of the kitchen.
Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two people each. While going back to the dorms, Natalie acknowledged that Chino was struggling a lot, added that he should have known how to cook already, and during deliberation, she was targeted by Chino as he thought that she made him look worse. She told that she was trying to help him, apologized for it, but Chino continued by saying that she just rubbed salt in the wound, that she was just trying to make herself look good, and because of that, she started to cry. When she was comforted by Will, she told that she was crying because Chino thought she was trying to fuck him on purpose, but Chino asked if she wanted him to kiss her ass. Then, she refused to have everything she did to help Chino turn against her, declared that she was caring about everybody and that they knew who would be nominated.
Natalie was not nominated for elimination, and when she was asked by Ramsay who should be eliminated between Carrie and Elise from the red team, she answered Elise. While being dismissed, she declared how happy she was about not being on the same team as Elise because the latter was in denial about her attitude problem.[4]
Episode 5[]
- Main article: Episode 905 - 13 Chefs Compete
The next day, Natalie compared the science table Ramsay stood behind to a high school science lab, before remembering times where she dissected frogs and worms. When Chefs Ben Roche and Homaro Cantu came in, she recognized them from Moto. During the Fire and Water Challenge, she suggested to Monterray that he cook them as they were, but was surprised that he was stumped when they had a lot of time on their hands. She cooked with the veal, was the final person from the blue team to have her dish judged, and went up against Krupa. She made a veal terrain wrapped in grains, it was criticized for closely tasting to cat food and having no seasoning, and neither she nor Krupa scored that round. The blue team eventually won the challenge after a tie at 2 each, and they were rewarded with a spa day at Beverly Hills’ Montage.
During dinner service, Natalie served a halibut sashimi dish tableside. She was not seen that night, both teams were named joint-losers, and were asked to nominate two each.
She was not nominated for elimination.[5]
Episode 6[]
- Main article: Episode 906 - 12 Chefs Compete
During the 20 Year Reunion Planning Challenge, Natalie presented the blue team's appetizer, was the first person from the blue team to have her dish judged, and went up against Carrie. She made an ahi tuna and poke on top of toasted crostini, it was praised for having a perfect bite and having a great consistency of the tuna, and won that round over Carrie. The blue team won the challenge 3-0, and they were rewarded with a day aboard a superyacht. During the reward, she felt like a movie star, and that she was bringing the men together, before Paul took a picture of her butt as she was leaving the hot tub. Back at the dorms, she drunkenly stumbled into the water pool before Jonathon took pictures of her. As she modeled, she revealed to Jonathon that she used to be a model for a while.
During the 20 Year Reunion dinner service, Natalie was on the garnish station. At one point, she and Monterray communicated on appetizers, and the blue team was pushing out food at a strong pace. The blue team lost the service after getting kicked out of the kitchen and were asked to nominate two people for elimination.
She was not nominated for elimination.[6]
Episode 7[]
- Main article: Episode 907 - 11 Chefs Compete
Back at the dorms, Natalie originally did not think of Krupa as a lightweight until that night after the latter was drinking.
During the Creative Beer Challenge, Natalie was ranked third for the blue team, was the third person to have her dish judged, and went up against Jennifer. She made a chocolate stout filet, it was praised for having the feeling of drinking a beer, and she won that round over Jennifer. The blue team won the challenge 3-2, and they were rewarded with a VIP day at the Long Beach Grand Prix Indy Car Racing.
During dinner service, Natalie was on the fish station. Despite hoping that nobody made a mistake as one person could bring down the kitchen, her scallops were rubbery, and the blue team was forced to start over. Then, her refire was rubbery again, and Ramsay told her that he could even see the pan not being hot enough. Then, Ramsay discovered all the ruined scallops she produced, he showed the blue team them, and counted out 30 ruined scallops. After a furious Ramsay ordered her to wake up, Will helped her out, and the blue team finally got their appetizers out. On entrées, she expressed concern on the sea bass as she never cooked one before, and hoped not to mess up like the scallops, it came out raw, and she was kicked out of the kitchen with Jonathon. While going back to the dorms, she was frustrated that she screwed up that night.
Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, Natalie felt that her inexperience on fish bit her in the ass that night, but was not ready to go home yet, before reminding Jonathon about the overcooked Wellington he sent up. However, Jonathon reminded her how she ruined 30 scallops, and Paul considered her for elimination.
Natalie was named the blue team's first nominee for elimination, with Jonathon as the second, and they joined Krupa and Jamie from the red team. During her plea, Ramsay asked her if she could do the honorable thing by admitting defeat, but she refused as she knew she was better than that. She survived elimination.[7]
Episode 8[]
- Main article: Episode 908 - 10 Chefs Compete
After Krupa left, Ramsay asked both teams to name a leader. Back at the dorms, Natalie nominated Will for helping everybody out.
During the American Classics Challenge, Natalie cooked the cobb salad, was the second person from the blue team to have her dish judged, and went up against Elizabeth. She made a salmon cobb salad, and while criticized for not being a traditional cobb salad, Wolfgang Puck said that he would serve the dish at his restaurant if he changed the name, and she won that round over Elizabeth. The blue team eventually lost the challenge 1-2, and they were punished by cleaning and prepping both kitchens for that night’s service and clean up the dorms.
During prep, Natalie started to doubt Jonathon’s dedication when the latter sat out of both the punishment and prep. During dinner service, she was on the appetizer station with Jonathon. At one point, her clams were unseasoned, she discovered that Jonathon did not put any more pasta into the pot, and the two struggled until Paul came to help them. Later, she nearly tripped over Tommy’s open oven door, and was pissed when he laughed about it. Despite trying to help Tommy out on meat, she could not figure out what the meat temperatures were due to the latter's lack of communication.
The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Tommy considered Natalie for the poor start on appetizers, but she argued that Jonathon did not help her at all that night, and blamed him for the capellini refires. However, Jonathon accused her of pushing the blame on him, and she reminded Tommy for the lack of communication again.
Natalie was named the blue team's second nominee for elimination, with Jonathon as the first. During her plea, Ramsay reminded her of how she crumbled over a single mistake, but she felt that she needed to babysit Jonathon, which he denied. When Ramsay pointed out that the appetizer station could be done with one person, she promised to step up more as a leader, while admitting to lacking fightback that night. She survived elimination, Ramsay warned her that she had one more shot and that she had to make the most of it. While being dismissed, she promised to focus on herself.[8]
Episode 9[]
- Main article: Episode 909 - 9 Chefs Compete
During the Creative Dessert Challenge, Natalie was the third person from the blue team to have her dish judged, and went up against Carrie. She made a chocolate espresso bread pudding, it was criticized for being baked in too high of a temperature, and she scored 3 points. The blue team lost the challenge 13-14, and they were punished by decorating the dining room for Date Night, and prep for a raw bar.
When the red team came back from their reward, Natalie was pissed about losing the Vegas reward. During the Date Night dinner service, she was on the garnish station. She was not seen much, except for complaining that Tommy has always been silent in services, and the blue team won the service.[9]
Episode 10[]
- Main article: Episode 910 - 8 Chefs Compete
During the Blind Taste Test, Natalie was the final person from the blue team to compete and went up against Elise. She could only get coconut, and the blue team lost the challenge 4-5. They were punished by taking in a delivery of 200 pounds of grapes and make jam out of them for the Steakhouse service. During the punishment, she threatened to snap if she heard one more grape joke, and eventually, she had enough, threw some grapes down to the ground, and stomped at them, much to the men’s amusement. Later that night, Elise told her about the red team's reward.
During the Steakhouse double dinner service, Natalie was on the meat station during the first seating. On entrées, she sent up two New York striploin of the same temperature, as both were supposed to be medium and normal respectably, and one of them looked overcooked. After, not only did she walk her refire like an 80-year-old, it was overcooked, and Ramsay ordered her to wake up. After, she accidentally set fire on her station, and after Ramsay put out the fire, he shut down the blue kitchen as they ran out of time with five tickets remaining. During the second seating, she was a waitress and was not seen. Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate one each. During deliberation, she considered Tommy for the lack of communication.
She was not nominated for elimination.[10]
Episode 11[]
- Main article: Episode 911 - 7 Chefs Compete
After Carrie's elimination, Ramsay asked both teams to take off their jackets, and to their shock, announced that Hell’s Kitchen was closed as he was not convinced they each had the drive to become the head chef of BLT steak. In order to spark inspiration, he was flying them all to New York to see the prized restaurant first hand. During the trip, Natalie tried to pace herself on the food, and after seeing BLT Steak, she was more determined to win that season.
During the King of the Hill Challenge, Natalie got pork, corn, potatoes, kumquat, and green beans, while her country was Jamaica. During the cooking, she decided to make a jerk dish, but started sneezing due to the peppers. She was the third person to have her dish judged, and presented her pork with habanero guava paste. Ramsay felt it was too spicy to the point of coughing in reaction, and she did not dethrone Elizabeth, much to her disappointment. The blue team lost the challenge, and they were punished by prepping both kitchens for that night’s dinner service. During the punishment, she called Tommy dumb when he tried to open a bottle with a knife.
During dinner service, Natalie was on the fish station. Despite hoping to bounce back after some poor performances, she sent up inconsistently cooked scallops, and Ramsay ordered her to get a grip. Later, one of her sea bass dishes was sent back for being dry and admitted that she did not know what she was doing, with a bitter Ramsay agreeing with her. Then, James came back with three more overcooked sea bass from blue diners, but when she claimed that she could cook fish, Ramsay accused her of calling the customers liars. While she apologized to her teammates, Will told her to get her head in the game.
Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, a disappointed Natalie knew that it could be her last night in the competition, and tearfully admitted to the blue team that she was the nominee. However, the blue team comforted her.
Natalie was the blue team's nominee, and was joined by Elise. During her plea, she knew she was a talented chef and that she worked her ass off to get to the competition, but Ramsay reminded her that it was her third nomination overall and that there was nowhere left to hide anymore. She was eliminated for her poor performance on fish and her overall downward performances, but before leaving, praised her for her energy and passion, even urging her not to stop. During her exit interview, she received a retrospective montage.
Ramsay's comment: "Natalie was lucky enough to get to see BLT Steak in New York. She may get to see it again... as a customer." [11]
Episode 16[]
Natalie was one of the eight returning chefs that came back for the final dinner service. She was Will's second pick, after Tommy, and was followed by Jennifer and Krupa.
During dinner service, Natalie was on the appetizer station. Refusing to let Will down, she refused Krupa’s help, and her appetizers were enjoyed by the customers. After Krupa struggled on fish for most of that night, Will relocated her to fish, but saw that one of the former's sea basses was raw, and told Will it could take eight minutes to cook properly, before accusing Krupa of leaving her in a shit hole situation. Eventually, she was able to get dishes out for Will, but he eventually lost the finals to Paul.[12]
Nomination History[]
| Week 1 | Win |
|---|---|
| Week 2 | Win |
| Week 3 | Win |
| Week 4 | Safe |
| Week 5 | Safe |
| Week 6 | Safe |
| Week 7 | Nominated |
| Week 8 | Nominated |
| Week 9 | Win |
| Week 10 | Safe |
| Week 11 | Nominated |
Post Hell's Kitchen[]
- After her appearance on the show, she became the Head Chef at The Jax, but it has since closed.
- She is currently an Executive Chef at Adega restaurant.
- She also competed on Supermarket Stakeout and finished as the winner.
Trivia[]
- She is the first contestant from the state of Kentucky.
- At age 23, she is the youngest of the season.
- She is the sixth contestant, and the fourth female contestant, who switched teams without making it to the black jackets, following Melissa (Season 3), Lacey (Season 5), Robert (Season 6), Scott (Season 7), and Melissa (Season 8).
- She currently holds the record for the longest tenure with a new team, with nine services, and is tied with Amber (Season 19), Alejandro, Sakari, and Tara (all from Season 21).
- She is the second contestant, only female, to win the first three services, following Michael (Season 1).
- She is the fifth contestant who received a retrospective montage of her run after being eliminated without making it to the black jackets, following Rachel (Season 2), Robert, Sabrina (both from Season 6), and Carrie (also from Season 9).
Quotes[]
- "Yes... I... Do!"
- (After nearly tripping over Tommy's open oven) "What if I had fallen with a hot pan and, like, fried my face off? Like, that's not funny!"
- (After Elise and Carrie's poor performance on the Meat and Grill Challenge) "You should not be here if you can only temp one out of four pieces of meat!"
- (After hearing Elise constantly trash talking Carrie after the challenge) "Elise gets such a bad attitude about everything! It's bringing the whole team down. Shut up and do what you're here to do, which is cook!"
- "Please say one more damn grape joke. Please do it. Because I'm going to fucking choke you!"
- (After being eliminated) "I came to Hell's Kitchen to prove to myself that I'm a good chef. I just couldn't imagine sharing an experience like this with anyone other than the blue team. Hell's Kitchen was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. I came in here with the attitude that I could do it, and I never stopped having that attitude. It's definitely disappointing. I obviously came here to win and, deep down, I know I could have done it."
Gallery[]
.png "Natalie's Confessional (Red Jacket).png (375 KB)")
.png "Natalie's Confessional (Blue Jacket).png (345 KB)")
.png "Natalie's Fire and Water Dish (Veal).png (191 KB)")
.png "Natalie's American Classics Dish (Cobb Salad).png (252 KB)")
External Links[]
Natalie Blake on Instagram
References[]
| Hell's Kitchen Season 9 |
|---|
| Staff |
| Gordon Ramsay (Head Chef) • Scott Leibfried (Blue Team Sous Chef) • Andi Van Willigan-Cutspec (Red Team Sous Chef) • James Lukanik (Maître d'hôtel) |
| Contestants |
| Elizabeth Bianchi • Natalie Blake • Chino Chang • Amanda Colello • Jamie Gregorich • Brendan Heavey • Carrie Keep • Monterray Keys • Will Lustberg • Gina Melcher • Paul Niedermann • Jennifer Normant • Steven Paluba • Krupa Patel • Jonathon Plumley • Tommy Stevens • Elise Wims • Jason Zepaltas |