Chris North was a contestant on Season 1 of Hell's Kitchen. He was on the red team. He ranked in 7th place.
Personality
When Chris entered the competition, he was very pretentious and contemptuous towards his teammates. However, he managed to improve his attitude and became a strong team player, but could not back it up with his cooking.
Season 1
Episode 1
Chris was the eighth contestant to have his dish judged by Ramsay. He served a salmon roast on a plank of cedar, and Ramsay immediately called him a "plank" himself, which meant an idiot. After tasting, Ramsay told him that his salmon was raw. He disagreed immediately as he thought it was medium-rare, but he was quickly put in his place by Ramsay who told him he had a lot to learn. After the challenge, he was placed in the red team, along with Elsie, Jimmy, Dewberry, Jeff, and Carolann.
During prep, Chris was already very pretentious towards his teammates while showing them how the convection oven worked, and mocking them because they had very few kitchen knowledge, even claiming that he would rather be on a team of dishwashers. During dinner service, he was on the fish station. After he brought an overcooked salmon to the pass, Ramsay smacked it in his chest and gave him the tray of the table in his hands, which meant his team, because of him, had to redo the entire table over. After many tables left, Ramsay shut down both kitchens. His team lost the dinner service and Elsie was named "Best of the Worst".
He was not nominated for elimination.
Episode 2
After a brutal wake up call the next morning, all the contestants were told to get down to the dining room, where Ramsay explained the next challenge, which was the Cleaning Squid Challenge. However, Chris was the only one who did not feel to rush, taking seven minutes for putting a shirt on and brushing his teeth, before finally coming down. He was schooled by Ramsay about his laid-back behavior, and that he had to be more of a team member. During the challenge, he cleaned 4 squids, but only one was accepted by Ramsay, who was not impressed at all. Despite this, the red team won the challenge 6-5, and was rewarded with a dinner with, and prepared by Ramsay.
During dinner service, Chris was on the dessert station. This was the first time he was demonstrating great teamwork when he taught Elsie how to properly cook salmon on the grill. Despite encouraging his team, especially Dewberry who really needed it, Ramsay shut down both kitchens after one of his team's tables phoned for pizza to be deliver and Jean-Philippe was physically assaulted. His team lost the dinner service, but he was praised by Ramsay for his impressive teamwork, so he was named "Best of the Worst".
Chris named Dewberry as his first nominee, and Jeff as his second, a decision with which Ramsay agreed 110%.
Episode 3
Before the 5 Course Meal Challenge, Chris and his team welcomed Michael as a new teammate. During the challenge, he served a dover sole with a cauliflower couscous, grilled scallions, and scallion oil. Ramsay did not like it, and said it would be something that would be served to a sick rabbit. He scored no point for the red team, but despite that, they won the challenge after a tie-breaker at 3, and were rewarded with a night out with Ramsay at the bar.
During prep, when Jeff left a hot sheet on the counter and Elsie picked it up and burned her hand, Chris talked with his team during the break, deciding if they would be better without Jeff. After Jeff joined the conversation, he had a heated argument with him when he was trying to help him become a better team player.
During dinner service, Chris was on the garnish station. After Jeff got in an intense argument with Sous Chef Mary-Ann, he tried to calm him down. A few hours later, he tried to get Jeff back in the game after he started to give up, without success. Jeff walked out of the kitchen, and Ramsay announced to the red team that he withdrew from the competition and left, which infuriated them. Despite this, the red team rallied in a strong last effort to send most of the food out, but it was not enough, as Ramsay shut down both kitchens after tables were walking out. However, the red team was declared winners after the critics enjoyed their lamb more than the blue team's.
Episode 4
Following Jeff's departure, Chris and the red team celebrated as they thought he was more of a problem than anything else.
Chris and the red team lost the Perfect Table Challenge, as they made four mistakes, compared to the blue team's one. So, they had to clean and polish all the glassware and tableware of the restaurant for the next dinner service. When he was sent by Jean-Philippe to bring champagne to the blue team, he noted that they were having massages and spa treatment, and when he got back in the kitchen, he told his team about it, making Elsie envious.
30 minutes before dinner service, because the red team lost the challenge, they had to arrange all the tables in the dining room, which made them lose valuable time of prep.
During dinner service, Chris was on the meat station with Elsie. After watching her panicking when the first ticket arrived, he comforted her and tried to calm her down. Later, the red team continued to send out main courses by showing great teamwork, and he, along with Michael, congratulated Elsie for her good job on the meat station. Because of their great teamwork, the red team accomplished a first in Hell's Kitchen history, which was completing all of their tickets. Because of that, they were declared winners.
Episode 5
After elimination, Chris comforted Jessica who was already crying when her friend Mary Ellen was eliminated. He gave her a hug and told her that it was not her fault.
Prior to the challenge, when Ramsay asked Chris who he thought was the strongest link on the red team, he considered Michael's talent and ability, but eventually nominated himself as the strongest link. Ramsay answered by saying that he loved the way he was putting himself forward on that executive platform, referring to his executive chef position. He also named Jimmy as the weakest.
During the Pasta Making Challenge, Ramsay called Chris forward to use him as a demo on how to hang the pasta after they are done. Ramsay poured flour on his face, which made everybody laugh. With pasta everywhere on his body, he was forced to sit out to even the teams at 3 members each. The red team won the challenge, managing to get 2,45 lbs of acceptable pasta, compared to the blue team's 2,41. They were rewarded with a nice tour of gondola, with wine and cheese.
The night before dinner service, Chris had a talk with Michael before they got to sleep. He told Michael he would love to get to the finals against him, and was guaranteed by Michael that they were friends.
During dinner service, the red team cooked during the first seating, and served during the second. During the first seating, Chris was on the main courses with Elsie. He corrected her when she said two minutes, by saying four minutes for the lasagnas to be ready. Moments later, he was shown to be pretentious with Ramsay after he responded "Oui chef!" to him, which led Ramsay to school him on his behavior and telling him to start paying attention on his cooking. During the second seating, he convinced his customers to order lasagna to try to sabotage the blue team. After Ramsay shut down the blue kitchen as the time limit was over, he announced the red team losers as both their service in the dining room and the kitchen were shocking. Michael was named "Best of the Worst". During deliberation, he tried to convince Michael to pick Elsie and Jimmy.
Despite the fact that him and Michael became friends, Chris was Michael's second nominee for elimination, with Elsie being the first. He was eliminated for failing to live up to his position as an executive chef.
Ramsay's comment: "When you come to the kitchen and announce that you're an executive chef, you expect a little bit more than what I've got from Chris. He's been telling the world that he has that amount of knowledge, than he should have been 10 times better."
Nomination history
| Week 1 | Safe |
|---|---|
| Week 2 | BoW |
| Week 3 | Win |
| Week 4 | Win |
| Week 5 | Nominated |
Trivia
- He is the first contestant ever to receive a "Best of the Worst" nomination without making it to the black jackets.
- He did not come back for the last dinner service of the season as supposed to, so Wendy took his place.
- After his appearance on the show, he returned to his career as an Executive Chef at Rowayton Seafood, in Norwalk, Connecticut.
Quotes
- "I would rather be on a team of dishwashers... at least, they know how a kitchen works."
- "Oui chef!"
- (after being eliminated) "I belonged there, I belonged to be the last one standing. So, Michael took the easy way out."