“ | Want me to jump in? I'll clean! | ” |
Steven Paluba was a contestant on Season 9 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 17th place.
Season 9[]
Episode 1[]
- Main article: Episode 901 - 18 Chefs Compete
During the introduction of the season, Steven was one of the five chefs who were seen being given their acceptance letter.
When the chefs arrived in Los Angeles, they were greeted by James on the bus ride, and Steven declared that he was there to win. 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, Steven was the fifth person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay and went up against Jamie. He served his seared diver scallops over wild mushroom risotto, believed that nobody else had a chance to win over him as he had 30 years of experience, but his scallops were too rubbery, even being compared to dinosaur toenails by Ramsay. When he told Ramsay that it got good flavor, the latter could not believe how delusional he was, and neither he nor Jamie won the round before he apologized.
The blue team won the challenge 6-5, and they were rewarded with a dinner at the LA Market, in downtown Los Angeles, along with Season 8 winner Nona. Arrived there, they were greeted by Nona, and during the dinner, she gave them some advice on how to compete. After she left, the men toasted to their victory. The next day, both teams went to the kitchens to begin prepping for the opening night, and they were given their ankle knives set, which Steven called the bomb.
During dinner service, Steven was on the appetizer station with Will. When he was ready with his first appetizers, Will convinced him to not walk with it, but he did anyway, and he was berated by Ramsay for sending the second table of appetizers before the first one, much to Will's dismay. He acknowledged his mistake, and the first acceptable appetizers were sent out by Will. After Chino was ordered to bench, he jumped on the fish station as he wanted to help out, but he struggled to get organized, and Ramsay told him to work with two hands instead of holding the tray in one hand. When he sent his scallops to the pass, they were rubbery, but he talked back and claimed that they were springy, thinking that they were perfect, which infuriated Ramsay even more. Because of his mistake, he became the second person from the blue team who was ordered to sit down at the chef's table following Chino, and ate his mistake, but he still thought that they were perfect, so he did not bother. Moments later, Tommy was ordered to bench as well, and he reminded Ramsay that he jumped on the fish station to help, and Ramsay claimed that he wished he would have jumped in the oven as it would have been more useful. After the three of them were served a Sauvignon Blanc by James, they were called the three fucking stooges by Ramsay, and later, some customers were walking out unfed, and he suggested Ramsay to act as a dishwasher and clean some pans out of the hundreds that were in the sink. However, Ramsay reminded him that he was talking about the customers and not the pans, and the service was shut down.
The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people. During deliberation, Steven was considered by Will, which he disagreed as he was a team player, and reminded that Chino burned fish all night long, that he, at least, served some appetizers, and that nobody served entrées.
Steven was the blue team's first nominee for elimination, with Monterray being the second, and they were called down with Chino. During his plea, he was asked who should be eliminated out of the three, and he answered Monterray because himself and Chino, at least, served some appetizers out. However, he was eliminated for being the worst performer of the night, and completely delusional. During his exit interview, he was embarrassed about being the first one eliminated and thought Ramsay made a mistake.
Ramsay's comment: "I realized early on that Steven has as much chance of being the head chef of BLT Steak, as I do of winning a gold medal in figure skating." [1]
Nomination history[]
Week 1 | Nominated |
---|
Post Hell's Kitchen[]
- After his appearance on the show, Steven opened his own restaurant called Tauk at Trail's End in Montauk, New York, it currently has very good reviews and is still open as of now.
- He also runs Wave Crave food truck.
Trivia[]
- At age 44, he is the oldest of the season.
- Due to Jason's medical evacuation, he is the fourth contestant to get eliminated on opening night without ranking in last place in his season, following Tiffany (Season 3), Melinda (Season 6), and Lisa (Season 8).
- He is the first contestant to rank 17th place without ranking last in his season.
- He is the fourth male contestant to be eliminated on opening night, following Dominic (Season 4), Wil (Season 5), and Louie (Season 6). He is also the first male contestant to do so without ranking in last place in his season due to Jason's medical evacuation.
- He and Matt (Season 16) are the only two Sauté Chefs to compete on the show.
Quotes[]
- (About his signature dish) "Its got good flavor."
- (After serving rubber scallops) "They're springy, chef."
- "Want me to jump in? I'll clean!"
- (After being eliminated) "It's embarrassing being the first one kicked off. I think that, uh, Chef Ramsay made a mistake, but it is what it is. It's done. You know. Nice guys always finish last, that's probably me."
Gallery[]
External links[]
Steven Paluba on Instagram
References[]
- ↑ (July 18, 2011). "Episode 901 - 18 Chefs Compete". Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series). Season 9. Episode 1.
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 |