The seventh episode of Season 6 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX, on August 25, 2009. On that episode, one of the most desired rewards happened, one chef returned for service despite their teammates' annoyance, and a deadly mistake was made twice by a fan favorite during service.
Intro[]
Back in the dorms, Sabrina knew she just dodged a bullet, and she admitted that she screwed up during service with full knowledge that one more raw food would mean a tanned rawhide from Ramsay. Meanwhile, Andy told Dave that they should get rid of Robert as he believed they would be a cohesive team without him.
Team challenge[]
The next day, both teams went downstairs without any sign of Robert, but the blue team were ready for anything. When they got to the dining room, Van asked what the covered object behind Ramsay was, but knew that Hell’s Kitchen was unpredictable, while Tennille thought they were going to grab lobsters from a tank. Then, Ramsay announced that it was time to push everybody's creativity, and Sous Chefs Scott and Heather revealed the object, a craps table, which made Kevin nervous as he sucked at gambling. Ramsay explained that for the Craps Challenge, each team would be given a 12-sided dice that had letters on them, and the letter they would lend on would be the first letter of an ingredient randomly chosen. Then, they would cook a dish using their ingredients.
The red team went first as they won the 700 Calories Challenge the previous day, and Suzanne was up first. She landed on R, and picked rabbit as she felt that it was versatile. Amanda rolled an H, and chose haricot verts, which was French for green beans. Tennille rolled a P and chose potatoes, Sabrina landed on G and chose garlic, and Ariel rolled an H and chose hamhock. By the end of the red team’s round, Dave was concerned as the red team had a classical dish. After that, because Robert was not there yet, Ramsay told the blue team they would have an extra roll. Andy landed on H and chose haddock, but Dave landed on F and chose figs, much to Kevin’s dismay, and Sabrina’s amusement. Van landed on A and chose angel hair pasta, as Suzanne and the red team gloated over his weird choice. Kevin also landed on A and chose apples, though he admitted that the blue team was already in the shit by that point, and Andy’s second attempt landed on T, and he chose tomatoes.
Once the ingredients were picked, Ramsay gave the chefs thirty minutes to cook a dish with those ingredients. The red team immediately got to work by discussing a dish Ariel came up with, and separated their workload. In the blue kitchen, the men struggled with deciding what to make, as fig was their oddball ingredient. Dave began prepping the figs, but Van felt that he was trying to compensate for choosing figs in the first place. In the red kitchen, Suzanne butted into her teammates work, much to her teammate’s dismay, but they continued to work smoothly. In the blue kitchen, Kevin grabbed some of Dave’s fig pieces and put them into the tomato sauce. To Kevin and Van’s surprise, the figs made the sauce taste great, rising their confidence and finally coming up with a dish to work with. In the red kitchen, the women were working on their final touches, and while Tennille suggested that they add some sugar to balance out the garlic purée, Ariel ignored her. Both teams got their dishes cooked and plated in time.
Ariel presented the red team’s pan roasted tenderloin and leg of rabbit with a garlic rosemary purée with hammock stock. Ramsay praised them for not making the leg dry, but found that the garlic purée tasted strong. After, Kevin presented the blue team’s braised haddock with a tomato and fig sauce on top of angel hair pasta. While Ramsay called the fish delicious, he noticed that it was a tough decision as both dishes were executed well. Despite that, he named the blue team winners as the red team’s garlic purée obliterated the other flavors on their dish, much to Tennille’s frustrations as Ariel did not listen to her. The men were happy as Dave picked figs on a whim, and Andy compared his team as the MacGyver of chefs.
Reward[]
The blue team went on an overnight trip to Las Vegas, which excited Van as he never went there before. When they arrived, they rode in a stretch limousine and Van proclaimed himself as a Vegas virgin. Then, they arrived at Palms Casino and Resort, where they saw a big televised sign welcoming them. They stayed at the Hardwood Suite and played multiple games, before toasting their victory.
Punishment[]
The red team was punished by participating in Delivery Day, and prep both kitchens ahead of the next service. On their first delivery, Tennille’s box of lemons broke, forcing the red team to pick them, with some of them even rolling under the truck. Later that night, Sabrina complained that they have been working since the morning, carrying deliveries, doing inventory, and prepping both kitchens, ending her rant by wanting their night to end. Unfortunately for them, Jean-Philippe came over and told them that a delivery of his wine has arrived. Suzanne complained about her sore arms and back, while telling Jean-Philippe that it has been the shittiest day since her arrival. Once the wine was delivered, Jean-Philippe told the red team to get some rest for the next day. However, at 1:15 am, another truck horn blared, which forced the red team to perform one more delivery. A grumpy Tennille called that fucking bullshit, but Ariel told her to do her job, so they could get it done.
Before service[]
The next morning, a groggy red team came down to prep, still tired from the punishment, with Amanda noting that the mood was pretty low for them. The blue team returned from their reward and as Van noticed the women’s mood was low, Tennille hoped that the men were tired as well. When the blue team got up to the dorms to change, Dave noticed that Robert was still not there, but Van stated that they did not need him. They went to prep despite being a man down, unfazed, while Suzanne’s bossy nature caused Ariel and Tennille to consider removing her from the red team.
As the blue team began their prep, the men felt bonded together, with Andy stating that the atmosphere has changed without Robert around. Just then, Robert returned back from the hospital, though the blue team was not happy to see him. Robert realized that he was isolated for being gone a few days, but did not care as he went back upstairs and made himself a cheeseburger. While Andy said that he wanted to see Robert healthy, he also wanted him to pull his own weight for the team.
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay asked Robert how he was feeling, which he explained that he did not have a heart attack but was warned to watch his limits. Then, Ramsay revealed that for the first time in the show's history, there would be chefs tables for some special VIP guests, as the Hell’s Kitchen crew set up the tables. Also, Ramsay revealed that he invited some of his Executive Chefs for that night, two from New York and two from West Hollywood, although Kevin felt that Ramsay would be extra picky as the chef tables were very close to their stations. After telling both teams to make sure not to make him look stupid in front of his own staff, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen while keeping an eye on his guests.
Dinner service[]
Once service began, Executive chef Carl Bertka and Pastry Chef Haru Takakishi sat in the blue kitchen, while Head Chef Stuart Collins and Chef De Cuisine Josh Emmet sat in the red kitchen. Dave promised Bertka and Takakishi that he would make sure they would have a great night, and began working on their risottos. In the red kitchen, Ramsay informed Ariel that the chefs table has been seated for seventeen minutes without being given any introduction. Ariel greeted Collins and Emmett, and took their order. In the blue kitchen, Dave got his risottos accepted and the chefs enjoyed their dishes. Then, Ramsay said that if the blue team would keep that momentum going, it could be a miraculous fucking start. In the red kitchen, Ariel served the chefs table's appetizers, but they told her that the scallops were a tad overcooked, without salt on them.
25 minutes into service, and both kitchens managed to serve half of their appetizers. The blue team began their entrées, and Van was confident on his sea bass as he was working as a fish cook. However, it was soon sent back to the pass as there was plastic on the skin, much to Ramsay’s dismay, as Robert stated that it could make someone choke. In the red kitchen, the women began working on their entrées as well, but Sabrina felt that Suzanne was acting fake busy. Despite that, the women served their initial entrées out. In the blue kitchen, another sea bass containing plastic was sent back, and Ramsay yelled at Van and asked him to pay more attention to his dishes. In the red kitchen, Ramsay found out that Sabrina was cooking fresh garnishes in a dirty pan, and called her a pig for not grabbing a clean pan. In the blue kitchen, the men were focused on getting entrées out to the dining room, but forgot about the chefs table. After being reminded by Ramsay, Van went over to take their order, but struggled to explain what the items were exactly. In the red kitchen, while Amanda has served the chefs table’s fish, Ramsay complained that they were dragging the other tables. Despite that, Amanda and Tennille managed to get their entrées to the pass, and out to the dining room.
In the blue kitchen, Robert was heavily disorganized on the meat station, and sent up inconsistent chops to the pass. After Ramsay yelled at Robert for that, Andy noted that he should be better than that as he had more services than any of them. In the red kitchen, the chefs table were enjoying their meat entrées as the women were only two tickets away from finishing. However, Ariel needed a little more time on the pasta, which made Amanda impatient as she needed that for her fish entrée. Ramsay told Amanda to calm down and wake up, though Amanda felt that was more Ariel’s responsibility than herself. In the blue kitchen, Robert brought up his rabbit, but it was raw, and while Ramsay had the team gather around, Kevin continued to work despite being summoned, and got lectured by Ramsay on that. After berating Kevin for continuing to cook despite being summoned and Robert for acting like a baby, Ramsay ordered the blue team to switch off. In the red kitchen, the women pushed their last table and were happy to have finally won a dinner service. As the blue team was clearing down, Dave commented that it was painful to shut down in the middle of service, especially in front of the chefs table.
Post-mortem[]
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay said that while they got off their best start yet, they lost focus in the middle of service. Having the comment cards from the chefs tables, the red team got positive reviews, while the blue team got mediocre reviews. Since the red team clearly showed more hunger that night, the blue team were named the losers, and Ramsay chewed out Van and Robert for their poor performances. After, Ramsay named Dave "Best of the Worst" as he got the blue team off to great start on appetizers, and asked him to nominate two people for elimination.
Back in the dorms, while Robert acknowledged that he had a poor service, he felt that Andy did not deserve to be around. Robert pleaded to Dave that Andy should be up for elimination as his past two nominations showed he was the blue team’s weak link, while Andy argued that Robert was a lazy motherfucker. That led to an argument between the two of them, where Robert called Andy a cocksucker, and Dave struggled to choose who to nominate as the wrong choice could look bad for him.
Elimination[]
Dave announced that Robert was his first nominee, and Van was his second. While Ramsay agreed with Dave’s decision, he called down Andy as well. Then, Ramsay told Andy that he did not feel he was the Araxi's head chef, and reminded Van about the plastic incident and asked if he has peaked, but Van answered that he did not and stated that Ramsay’s twenty years of experience showed that he could spot talent. After, Ramsay sent Van back in line, before asking Robert and Andy for their pleas. However, that led to another argument between both of them as Andy claimed that Robert has been a liability for the blue team, while Robert said that Andy has been under the radar a lot with a threat to quit as a chef if Andy would win Hell’s Kitchen. Once they were finished, Ramsay called up Andy’s name and sent him back in line, before eliminating Robert for failing to live up to his great run on the previous season, and serving raw rabbit despite having more Hell's Kitchen services than anybody else. Before leaving, Robert stated that his journey was not over yet and Ramsay said that he could not wait to see him again, while thanking him for coming back. Robert also guaranteed that Andy's time was running out, and received a retrospective montage of his run during his exit interview.
Ramsay's comment: "Robert's closing plea was quite entertaining. But I'm not looking for a performer, I'm looking for a head chef, and Robert's not that guy."
Trivia[]
- This marks the first time a team was down a member for a team challenge due to a medical emergency.
- This episode marks the introduction of the Craps Challenge.
- This episode marks the introduction of Chef's Table.
- Because Robert received a retrospective montage during his exit interview, he becomes the first male chef to receive one despite not making it to black jackets and the first chef overall to receive two montages in two different seasons.
- With Robert's elimination, he becomes the first male chef that failed to make it to black jackets after a team switch.