The thirteenth episode of Season 4 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox, on June 24, 2008. On that episode happened the Taste It Now Make It Challenge, the three finalists ran the hot plate one at a time, and two of them became the finalists of Hell's Kitchen.
Intro[]
While going back upstairs, Corey and Petrozza hugged each other, Christina said she thought Corey was going home, and Corey also did, but added that it was not because she was lucky to be there, it was because she was a good chef. She also said that winning was so close she could taste it. On the patio, the three of them talked about how they were happy Jen was finally gone, with Petrozza saying Ramsay made the right decision, and Christina saying that she would rather lose to them than losing to Jen.
After that, Christina acknowledged that even though she and her two remaining teammates were the best of the best, there would only be one winner, and she was determined to be that winner. Then, they congratulated each other by giving high-fives, and Petrozza was impressed by the fact there was only three chefs left. They went to bed, wishing each other good night, and Corey congratulated Christina by jokingly calling her a "fucking biyatch". Christina concluded by asking who would have thought it would be herself and Corey still standing, with Corey answering definitely nobody.
Individual challenge[]
The next morning, the chefs woke up and got ready for the day, with Petrozza saying he did not know what was coming up. They lined up in the dining room, where Ramsay congratulated them for being the final three. Then, he announced he would cook lunch for them as a celebration, but before he did, he introduced the chefs to some special guests, which were their loved ones. Corey was visited by her mother and boyfriend, Christina got a visit from her parents, and Petrozza saw his father and girlfriend. All three of them really enjoyed that special time with their families, saying they were thrown away by their visit and starting crying. The families sat down to one table each where they ate Ramsay's dish. Corey and Petrozza did not care what they were eating as they wanted to enjoy the moment with their families, but Christina knew that after the families would leave, the chefs would have to do something related with that dish. So, she enjoyed the moment with her parents while guessing what were the ingredients of the dish. After the lunch, the chefs said goodbye to their families, who left, and lined up in front of Ramsay. He asked them if they enjoyed the moment, which Corey answered she did.
After that, Ramsay introduced the Taste It Now Make It Challenge, where each chef had 45 minutes to recreate the dish they have just eaten. Corey thought she was screwed as she was too overwhelmed by her family's visit. The countdown began and a sample plate was given by Ramsay on the counter. Petrozza and Corey went to the pantry room to look for some ingredients, with the latter saying there was ten different meats in the fridge. Corey chose the filet of buffalo as her cut of meat, as well as Petrozza, but Christina used the venison striploin. As Petrozza tasted the sample dish a few more times, he changed his mind and went also with the venison striploin. With 20 minutes gone, the chefs chose their other ingredients. All of them selected pancetta, carrots, onions, cabbage, and parsley for the vegetables, but Christina did not find white beans in the fridge, convinced it was the last ingredient. So, she went back to taste the dish, still believing it was white beans that were missing, and then, she found them on the top shelf of the fridge. With 15 minutes to go, Christina decided to make a white beans purée, Corey made a potato parsnip purée, and Petrozza did not make any purée whatsoever. For the sauce, the chefs made a red wine reduction, but Corey tasted some sweet, and changed the base of her sauce, hoping she would be right. The chefs plated and served their dishes in time.
Ramsay tasted each dish while the chefs described their respective dishes, revealing what ingredients they used. Corey was relieved when Ramsay stated her sauce was correct, but she missed the protein as she chose buffalo when the correct one was venison. So, she was automatically out, leaving Petrozza and Christina still in the running. After some tense deliberation, Christina was declared the winner for at least having put a purée, even if it was the wrong one, as Petrozza did not put any. He was furious at himself, asking why did he left the purée aside.
Scoring[]
| Taste It Now Make It | |
| Chef | Score |
|---|---|
| Christina | 2/3 |
| Corey | 1/3 |
| Petrozza | 1/3 |
| Results | Christina |
Reward[]
Christina was rewarded with a three-course meal around Los Angeles with Ramsay, as well as a tour bus. While getting ready, she was excited and thought the reward was cool, but wished that her parents would join her. When she got outside of the restaurant, a double-decker bus was waiting, Ramsay greeted her, and her parents were there as well. She was excited and hugged them, before entering the bus. Everybody went up to the top floor where Shana, a tour guide from Los Angeles, was waiting for them. They made a tour of Los Angeles, before stopping at Grace restaurant. Inside, Ramsay congratulated Christina and said she won the most consecutive challenges. She enjoyed that compliment saying they were rare and that she loved to enjoy it with her folks. For their second stop, they went to AOC restaurant, where Ramsay revealed Christina was one service away from making it to the finals. When she came back to Hell's Kitchen, she said goodbye to her parents, saying that the fact they were there with her was the best part of the reward. She also said that she had to get back to business because of the very important dinner service that would happen in a few hours.
Punishment[]
Petrozza and Corey were punished by hand crushing huge ice blocks by themselves as the ice bags ran out, and polishing all the glasses from the restaurant under the supervision of Jean-Philippe. Corey said the day would suck because of that punishment. While they were breaking the ice, Corey and Petrozza joked about how they were looking like cavemen, even imitating cavemen, and Corey said she visualized the ice being Jen. When they moved on to the glass polishing, Petrozza said his shoulder was sore because of the way he was wiping the glasses, and then, Jean-Philippe came over and spotted some dirty spots that were still on the glasses, so Petrozza said he would do all of them one more time, much to his dismay.
Before service[]
Christina joined Corey and Petrozza for prepping the kitchen ahead of dinner service. Corey acknowledged that winning all the challenges was fun, but it would not help Christina win the competition in the end. She added that Christina was not having the full package to win. Petrozza said there was no second place in Hell's Kitchen, only a first place. Christina said that because it was the last service before the finals, she would have to give everything she was having.
When the chefs were lined up, Ramsay reminded all of them that one of them would be the head chef at his new restaurant in Los Angeles. He also declared that all of them would be running the hot plate during that service one at a time, testing their ability to run a kitchen. After that, everybody got on their station, but Ramsay pulled Petrozza in the blue kitchen for an assertive test. Ramsay called Petrozza a gentle warm big-hearted lump, before simulating an undercooked Wellington mistake. Petrozza declared he was a quiet man in life, but got very aggressive during that simulation, impressing Ramsay. Then, Christina was pulled aside for the same test, but on her first attempt, where Ramsay simulated a risotto that was too salty, she was compared to a cheerleader by him, which insulted her. On her second simulation, which was undercooked Wellingtons, Ramsay liked her assertiveness more than the first try. Finally, Corey got her turn at that test, but she declared she was nervous as she was not a good actress. When Ramsay simulated bringing her raw fish, Ramsay was not impressed as she was too soft and he showed him how to do it properly, smashing a plate to the ground in the process. In the red kitchen, Petrozza heard it and was envious, saying he did not have to break a plate. On her second attempt, she was a lot more aggressive, and Ramsay reminded her she had to run the hot plate and not the other way around. After, everybody got in the red kitchen, where Ramsay wished luck to all the finalists, saying it could be their last service, before asking Jean-Philippe to open Hell's Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
When Ramsay called the first ticket out, Christina acknowledged she had to make sure that everything she was touching was on point, knowing she made mistakes in every services since the competition began. Her first attempt at the scallops was accepted and served to the dining room. A half hour into service, the team completed four tables of appetizers and were moving on to entrées. The Sous Chefs would fill the gasps during the chefs' turns at the pass, but also test their quality control. Ramsay pulled Sous Chefs Scott and Gloria in the blue kitchen for a private talk, where they discussed the potential sabotages.
Petrozza was the first chef to run the hot plate. Under him, the kitchen ran very smoothly with a lot of appetizers being sent out. Then, Sous Chef Scott sent his first quality control test with a risotto without peas in it. Unfortunately, Petrozza failed to spot the mistake, and Ramsay told him, before he told Sous Chef Scott about it and asked him to start the risotto over. Ramsay told Petrozza to wake up, and he continued to send appetizers out. But, Christina brought an order of scallops which were too dark. Petrozza asked her to redo them, and when she checked her salmon, it was overcooked and declared she needed three more minutes. Corey acknowledged Christina was going down, but said it was good for herself. The second salmon Christina brought to the pass was raw, which Petrozza was not happy about, and Ramsay schooled her for that mistake, threatened her with elimination, and told her to wake up. Petrozza asked for the salmon, furious about waiting for the stuff and the fact that it was making him look bad, and when she brought it, she forgot the prawns. Ramsay noticed it and asked Petrozza to ask her where were they. Christina became confused, thinking she sent them, and when Ramsay asked her if she was trying to sabotage Petrozza, she answered she was not, asking why she would sabotage him by looking like an ass herself. Then, she dropped one of her pans to the ground, and Ramsay told her that even though she wanted to sink the service, he did not. Christina acknowledged she was screwing up left and right. Petrozza was also annoyed by her screwing up, but when she finally sent her prawns, he served them, and Ramsay congratulated Petrozza for being able to run the kitchen, and not the other way around.
More than an hour into service, it was Corey's turn to run the hot plate. When she called her first ticket, she got confused as there was only 5 entrées written on the ticket compared to 6 appetizers. She told Jean-Philippe about it, and he corrected the problem. When she called the ticket once again with the missing order, only Sous Chef Scott answered back, so she asked if anybody else would like to say "Yes Chef", and Christina did, but she had to ask Petrozza one more time, and then he did. Petrozza acknowledged Corey was all business. She managed to send many entrées out to some satisfied customers. But, Sous Chef Scott tested her by sending the wrong sauce with the Wellingtons. She spotted the mistake, but a little too late as she already plated it with the Wellingtons when she noticed it. She sent back the tray to Sous Chef Scott, and was ashamed to not have spotted that mistake. When she got back on her station, she was worried as she felt she did not performed well on the hot plate.
Christina was the last chef to run the hot plate. Ramsay told her to redeem herself as she had a very poor start on fish. When she called her first ticket, she asked for a time, but Ramsay told her it was her call and that she must not let the team run her. So, she gave four minutes. Then, she declared being at the hot plate was a much more enjoyable experience as she would run the team and yell at her brigade. Corey brought her Wellingtons to the pass, and Ramsay told they were perfectly cooked, urging her not to stop. Corey appreciated a moment for herself, hoping that it would be enough to get her in the finals. Meanwhile, Christina asked Sous Chef Scott for the salmon, and when she told him to move his ass, he told she better watch herself. He brought the salmon to the pass and she accepted it. Ramsay said it was not a bad start, and then, she asked Corey for a time, which she answered three minutes. Corey revealed that Christina's voice was high-pitched and that it could be annoying at some time. After that, Sous Chef Gloria brought mashed potatoes with the wrong seasoning, and Christina succeeded to spot the mistake and told her about it. Ramsay congratulated her for spotting the mistake, and Christina was confident that she did well on the hot plate, hoping it would be enough to make her into the finals.
For the last minutes of the service, Ramsay took the control of the kitchen back, and the team rallied to finish the tickets before moving on to desserts. While plating the desserts, Corey and Christina discussed about who would be sent home that night as they all put off good performances. The team completed service and the morale was very high.
Post-mortem[]
When the chefs were lined up, Ramsay told they made his job difficult as he did not know who should be eliminated. After, he reminded Corey that she perfectly run the meat station but not the hot plate, Christina that she perfectly run the hot plate but not the fish station, and Petrozza that he was careless on the hot plate without being bad. Ramsay asked each of them to nominate one person for elimination.
On the patio, Petrozza acknowledged it was a lot of pressure put against them and said that Ramsay would base his decision on what they would say. Corey said that even though she was liking Petrozza and Christina, her ultimate goal was to win and that she would fight for her place. Then, she declared she was not feeling safe, and Christina revealed she was not either. Christina also stated that she loved working with Corey in the kitchen, but acknowledged that Petrozza may deserved it over the two of them as he was having the most experience. Finally, Petrozza said that all three of them had grew really close during the competition, and that his decision would be extremely difficult.
Elimination[]
Before asking for the nominees, Ramsay announced to the final three that he was proud of all three of them as he grew really close to them, and that moment was the one he hated the most. Then, Corey and Christina nominated each other, while Petrozza nominated Christina. After that, Ramsay announced Petrozza as the first finalist, and Petrozza thanked Ramsay for that. Following that, Christina and Corey had to plead their cases, and in the end, Ramsay declared Christina was the one joining Petrozza in the finals, therefore eliminating Corey. Before she left, Corey hugged her fellow teammates, with Christina promising she would be picked on her team, and Ramsay praised her talent and told her to follow her dream. During her exit interview, Corey received a retrospective montage of her run.
After Corey left, Ramsay congratulated Christina and Petrozza for being the final two, and both of them hugged each other. Then, Ramsay announced their final test would begin at the moment, and two screens fell from the ceiling, with the episode ending in a cliffhanger.
Ramsay gave no comment on Corey's elimination, and she did not receive the coat hanging and burning picture sequence.
Trivia[]
- With this episode, Christina has set the record for most challenges won in a single season with nine. It would hold until Season 11 occurred. Additionally, she ties with Season 2 Virginia's record for most individual challenges won in a row, with three.