Seth Levine

“

I’m kissing ass a little bit, just wiping my nose off!

”

Hometown/Residence	New York, NY
Occupation	Private Party Chef
Kitchen Experience	6 years
Culinary Education	Lorenzo de Medici, Florence, Italy
Statistics
Challenges Won	2
Services Won	1
Times as BoW/Announcer	1
Times Nominated	3
Placement	13th
Episode Eliminated/Withdrew	13 Chefs Compete
Images of Seth Levine

Seth Levine was a contestant on Season 5 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 13th place.

Season 5

Episode 1

Main article: Episode 501 - 16 Chefs Compete

Thousands of chefs auditioned for Hell's Kitchen in the series' biggest turnout. 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. Seth was seen as the fourth chef of the sixteen called to compete.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Seth was the fifteenth person to have his dish judged by Ramsay. He called himself a big fan of Ramsay. He made a cinnamon-crusted rack of lamb with an aubergine ratatouille. However, Ramsay found the ratatouille too sweet due to the honey and called it the worst dish he had ever tasted in his life. When he giggled about it, Ramsay threatened to eliminate him immediately. Ramsay warned him to understand how serious he was as the latter would cook better. He promised to try harder but knew his presentation was good. After the challenge, Ramsay asked both teams to decide on a team name for the opening night. Robert came up with the name Blues Brothers, and he liked it.

During prep, Seth showed his lack of experience working in a kitchen and asked many questions while barely doing anything. That led Giovanni to call him useless, and the former told him to pay attention. Ben got agitated because he peeled baby carrots for thirty minutes. During dinner service, he was at the meat station with J. When Ben served raw spaghetti, he was appalled that the former could not cook pasta despite his experience. Later, he and J were ready with their lamb entrée, but it was stalled due to Wil's mistakes on garnishes. He briefly came to help Wil on garnish alongside Robert. Sometime after, he sent up his lamb in the blue kitchen, but Sous Chef Scott revealed to Ramsay that he sliced the lamb when it was still raw, seared the chops, and they were mangled. That caused Ramsay to chew him out for his blunder, giving him the nickname "Forrest," referring to Forrest Gump. While he found it funny and called it a great nickname, Ben said there was no excuse for the charred lamb. Ramsay asked him if he would eat the lamb, but he said he would not. Still, he believed that he and Ramsay would be friends at the end of service.

The blue team lost the dinner service because of Giovanni's poor performance in the dining room. They were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Charlie believed that Seth was the weakest chef for prep, but he argued he thought he did great. Ben and J objected to his argument, with the latter telling him he had a lot to learn. He pointed out Giovanni and asked him what went wrong in the dining room, but Giovanni aggressively told him he was not a waiter. Still, he wondered what Giovanni said to make everyone turn against him and said the latter was why they lost.

When Ramsay called Seth to announce who were the blue team's nominees, he named Wil as the first nominee and himself as the second. However, J corrected him, who told Ramsay Seth was the first nominee and Wil the second. When Robert told Ramsay how Wil self-nominated himself, he called that decision stupid. During his plea, he said he had the heart despite his teammate's opinion, and he knew a lot about Ramsay. He survived elimination. While being dismissed, he said the restaurant was his, no matter what the men thought.

Episode 2

Main article: Episode 502 - 15 Chefs Compete

While going back to the dorms, Seth unapologetically told the men they were stuck with him. The following day at 5:49 AM, a marching band came into the dorms and played loudly, and the chefs woke up. LA could only hear the band waking her up, and Robert struggled to run without tripping. Sous Chefs Scott and Gloria ordered the chefs to get downstairs, and they were led outside to find Ramsay. Wanting both teams to learn how to respect their products, Ramsay had them go to their crates and gather all the scallops into their colored buckets.

During the Scallop Cleaning Challenge, Seth struggled to shuck a scallop. He only had three of his scallops approved. The blue team won 36-35, and they were rewarded with a helicopter tour of Catalina Island and had a submarine ride. During the reward, he was amazed by the fish passing by the submarine, while Ramsay said it was a shame Robert was missing out on the experience. He revealed he knew a lot about Ramsay, such as his birthday being the next day, where he was born, the title of his recent cookbook, and that he knew Ramsay had four kids and knew their names. Those comments concerned J as it made him look like a stalker and called it weird. When he revealed more about Ramsay, such as the car his wife bought him, Giovanni found it odd and said Ramsay should be scared off by the former.

During dinner service, Seth was at the appetizer station with Charlie. They sent up a lobster spaghetti with no lobster in it, and Ramsay told him to wake up. He felt he got hit by a train due to the chastising. Near the end of service, he said the men were turning up the heat after hearing the women's ticket count. The blue team won the dinner service. At elimination, he participated in the emotional standing ovation given during Ji's departure.

Episode 3

Main article: Episode 503 - 14 Chefs Compete

The following morning, the Sous Chefs woke up the contestants at 6 AM with cowbells and told them to get dressed and out the front door to the SUVs. The barely awoke chefs were driven to an unknown place. It turned out to be a meat processing plant, and the chefs took a tour. Upon seeing the different organs, blood, and cattle bodies all around the plant, Seth called it crazy. Near the end of the tour, Sous Chef Scott showed the chefs where each cut of beef was located on the cow's body.

During the Meat & Cow Challenge, Seth was the second person from his team to attempt the second part of the challenge. Despite claiming he knew his beef, he finished with seven wrong answers, aggravating J. The blue team won the challenge, and they were rewarded with a private jet trip to Sunstone Winery in Santa Ynez, California, where they had a wine tasting and a steak dinner with Ramsay. As the blue team got changed, he could not wait to spend more time with Ramsay and said they would go pimping. During the reward, he called the tour a VIP experience. When the blue team came back from their reward, he was one of the three men who mocked the red team.

During the Steakhouse double service, Seth was at the garnish station with J for the first seating. After seeing Ben trying to serve desserts before appetizers, he was confused by the former's decision and said it was embarrassing. When Giovanni was running out of filet, he was called over to help prepare a new one. Still, he had to ask Charlie for directions, much to J’s dismay as the latter could not believe he had never prepped a filet before. Ramsay deemed it pathetic and complained that nothing was coming out. Then, Ramsay asked him where the filet was but saw him put something in the fridge. To Ramsay's horror, it was all the wasted meat off of the filet tenderloin, which was terribly butchered. A furious Ramsay showed the now horrified men the filet tenderloin and threw it at him. Giovanni accused him of molesting it and said people have gone to prison for lesser crimes. When he admitted that he had never butchered a filet before, Ramsay sarcastically congratulated him and yelled at him when he took it the wrong way. Still, he did not believe he did poorly on the butchering. During the second seating, where he was a waiter, he came back with steak orders as he claimed they were undercooked, but Ramsay saw that they were the exact temperature as ordered. He admitted that the blue team was trying to sabotage the red team, but only because he believed the women sabotaged them in the first seating.

The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Ben and Giovanni considered him as a nominee. However, he agreed with Charlie in nominating Giovanni, but only because he felt the latter was stronger than him. Danny and Robert agreed with him. Giovanni argued against it and chewed him out for targeting him like that.

Seth was the blue team's first nominee for elimination, with Charlie being the second. He tried to argue against it, but J sternly reminded him that Ramsay had asked him for the nominations. He admitted he did not have much experience during his plea but said he wanted to learn more. That led to him making a long speech that annoyed everyone in the room, causing Ramsay to ask him where was the off button. He survived elimination, but Ramsay warned him he was very close to being eliminated that night. While being dismissed, he was happy to stay as he had many fights inside himself.

Episode 4

Main article: Episode 504 - 13 Chefs Compete

While going back to the dorms, Ben bluntly told Seth he dodged a fireball that night. He was happy to have survived another elimination and said he had more fight even if it upset the men. However, Giovanni told him point-blank that he did not respect him after trying to put him up for elimination. He argued that Giovanni would not dictate the way he competed, but the latter said he would only talk to him in the kitchen from now on. He was okay with that as he would not want to spend a weekend with Giovanni, especially after the latter's miserable performance on steaks.

During the Football Team & Cheerleaders Breakfast Service Challenge, Seth was at the scrambled egg station with Giovanni. He pitched Ramsay's scrambled egg recipe to the men. That caused Giovanni to reluctantly put him on the egg station, but he said he knew the recipe well. Late into service, the men were running low on scrambled eggs in the blue kitchen, and he was slowing the momentum down. Ben accused him of not knowing what he was doing and wanted some eggs cooked. Still, he said that scrambled eggs were the most ordered item on the menu, and he needed some help. He ended up plating less than ordered, and Danny thought the football players could cook better than the former. The blue team lost the challenge, and Robert blamed him for slowing them down on the scrambled eggs. However, he refused to believe he was the reason the men lost. They were punished by cleaning up the dining room, both kitchens, and prepping them for that night’s service.

During dinner service, Seth was at the fish station. He sent up his first order of scallops, but they were rubbery. J said that he did not have the basic cooking skills, and Ramsay forced him to eat them. Still, he declared that he enjoyed eating them as he did not have dinner before service. Later that night, Ramsay called the next ticket order for the blue team, but he failed to pay attention and could not repeat the order. Then, he was caught wiping his face with a cloth and then wiping a pan with that same cloth, causing Ramsay to chew him out. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. Giovanni nominated him for elimination during deliberation, and Robert said his cloth incident was one of the three major problems that night.

Seth was the blue team's first nominee, with Ben being the second, and joined Colleen and Lacey from the red team. During his plea, he said his passion outweighed his inexperience. He was eliminated for being the worst performer of the men in the first four services. During his exit interview, he knew his lack of abilities and skills were what got him eliminated, not his passion. Then, he hoped Ramsay welcomed the competition in New York when he opened his own restaurant.

Ramsay's comment: "Seth showed that he had all the passion in the world, but the bottom line is: he's a crap cook."

Nomination History

Week 1	Nominated
Week 2	Win
Week 3	Nominated
Week 4	Nominated

Post Hell's Kitchen

• After his appearance on the show, Seth became an executive chef at Georgica in East Hampton.
• He later became executive chef at Hotel Chantelle and Ravi Patel's Penthouse 808 in New York City.
• He opened his own restaurants over the years and opened Hotel Chantelle London in Oxford in 2015.
• He has since gotten married and has two daughters.

Trivia

• He is the first contestant to be confronted and threatened with elimination by Ramsay at the Signature Dish Challenge.
• He is the only contestant who announced the nominees in the opening night elimination while being a nominee himself.

Quotes

• "Listen, I screwed up the lamb. But at the end of service, Gordon and I will be like peas and carrots once again."
• "Chef Ramsay said, 'Hey Seth. (imitates British accent) Bug off, and you know, cut fillet.' Usually I, you know, I buy them already cut."
• "I've not actually worked in a restaurant before. So, I'm gonna put my head down and try not to get in trouble because I'm going after that prize."
• "He keeps calling me Forrest (as in Forrest Gump). I think it's a great name!"
• (About Ben after serving raw Spaghetti) "This kid Ben, he thinks he's a pro cook, BUT YOU CAN'T COOK PASTA?!"
• (About knowing a lot about Ramsay) “I’m kissing ass a little bit, just wiping my nose off!”
• "I don't think I did that bad butchering that filet, but now, I know for next time."
• "You mean Giovanni won't hang out with me on the weekends? Oh God! Thanks, Giovanni. Trust me, I ain't calling you either."
• (To the blue team) "Just real quick, cause I know about his (Ramsay's) eggs? He has a way of doing scrambled eggs that would definitely impress him, and the eggs are phenomenal".
• (After being eliminated) "My abilities and my skills definitely was what lagged behind. Not my confidence, not my passion, not my love for food. You know what, Chef Ramsay decided it was my turn to go home, and I hope he welcomes the competition in New York when I open my restaurant."

Gallery

• Chef
• Dish

Seth's Intro Spot

Seth in Blue Jacket

Seth's Confessional

Seth and Wil Nominated

Charlie and Seth Nominated

Lacey, Colleen, Ben, and Seth Nominated

Seth Eliminated

Seth's Signature Dish

External links

• Seth Levine on Instagram
• Seth Levine on Twitter