Julia Williams was a contestant on Season 3 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 4th place.
Personality
Julia was the most underestimated chef of the season, and probably in the history of the show. None of her teammates believed she would get far in the competition, but she made it further than some of the early favorites. However, she is very emotional, and could cry for anything.
Season 3
Episode 1
Julia was the tenth person to have her dish judged by Ramsay, which was a fried chicken penne. Ramsay had Tiffany taste her dish with him, and both agreed that while the chicken was cooked well, it was overly peppered.
During prep, Julia was ignored by her teammates despite trying to help them, which was mostly due to her position as a Waffle House Cook. When Ramsay asked both teams if they were ready, she admitted to him that there was no communication in the red team, but Joanna and Tiffany shut her off.
At the beginning of service, she was not on any station, and her first few attempts to try and help Tiffany got her relegated to prepping apples by Tiffany herself. When she tried again, she was shut off again, causing her to break down in tears and told Ramsay her dilemma. Having seen enough yelling, Ramsay placed her and Melissa on the appetizer station. Together, the two were able to get 17 tables of appetizers out before Ramsay shut down the restaurant. The red team lost the dinner service, and Melissa was named "Best of the Worst".
She was not nominated for elimination, although Tiffany and Joanna tried to convince Melissa to put her up.
Episode 2
During the Dover Sole Challenge, Julia was able to get two of her fish cleaned properly. Her team won the challenge 9-8, and went fishing with Ramsay at the Pacific Ocean along with having lunch with him.
During dinner service, Julia was on the meat station. She was not seen much as she did not have any major problems. The red team won the dinner service.
Episode 3
When Ramsay announced that Hell's Kitchen would open for breakfast, Julia got excited since she cooked breakfast food for a living. After some urging from Sous Chef Mary-Ann, she took the leadership role for the red team and got them organized by delegating positions. Because of her, the red team was able to send food out at an exceptional rate and win the Army and Navy Service Challenge. Ramsay praised her performance, and had her go over to the blue kitchen to help them out. The red team went on a helicopter ride and had lunch with Ramsay on the USS Midway as a reward.
During prep, Julia confessed to Sous Chef Mary-Ann that she did not know how to make a crème brulée, worrying her teammates. During dinner service, she was on the dessert station, but after Joanna's rancid crab incident, Ramsay had her and Jen over at the appetizer station. The two of them were able to get appetizers out, but she had to stop Jen from sending spaghetti that was in the trash moments ago. The red team lost the dinner service, and nobody was safe. Despite a decent performance, Melissa and Bonnie put her name up for elimination as they felt her lack of fine-dining experience would be a future hindrance, reminding the crème brulée incident.
Julia was the red team's second nominee for elimination, with Joanna being the first. They were eventually joined by Jen who nominated herself. She survived elimination after Ramsay sent her back in line.
Episode 4
During the Blind Taste Test, Julia was the first person up for the red team and faced off against Brad. She was able to correctly identify two ingredients, missing only carrots. Her team won 5-3, and were rewarded with a special lunch excursion with Ramsay by eating in the dark.
During dinner service, Julia was on the fish station. When she and Melissa were working on their first order of appetizers, she realized that her scallops were overcooked. Despite trying to warn Melissa about it, she was ignored, though Ramsay praised her for her honesty. She was later seen trying to help Bonnie out on the meat station, but ended up confusing her even more. Both teams lost dinner service, and for the red team, Jen was named "Best of the Worst".
She was not nominated for elimination.
Episode 5
During the Wedding Planning Challenge, Julia tried to pan sear their duck breast, but Melissa butted in her work and was told to do something else. Melissa later put the duck breast back in the oven to keep it warm, but forgot about it as time was running out, and it turned out to be overcooked. During the judging, she presented the red team's fish entrée, which was a sea bass with collard greens and bacon. It was deemed delicious by the couple and she scored for the red team. They eventually lost the challenge 1-2 because of the duck breast incident. They were punished by decorating the dining room for the wedding reception, under the supervision of Francisco the Party Planner.
During the Wedding dinner service, Julia was on the appetizer station. She was able to get all her dishes out with no problems, and Ramsay took notice that she was tasting her food more than when she started. Her team lost the dinner service, and Jen was named "Best of the Worst".
She was not nominated for elimination, and said goodbye to Melissa, who has just been transferred to the blue team.
Episode 6
During the Lobster Dish Challenge, Julia made a lobster risotto. While Ramsay found the lobster cooked nice and tender, he ultimately found the risotto overall boring as he expected something more exciting. Despite that, the red team won the challenge 2-1, and were rewarded with a photo shoot with Ramsay for In Touch magazine.
During dinner service, Julia was on the fish station. In the middle of service, she got lost on some of the orders causing Ramsay to repeat what he needed from her. When she was unresponsive, Ramsay asked if she wanted to go home, but she argued that she wanted to stay. Near the end of the last two tickets, she argued with Bonnie over the latter's meat, and broke down in tears as the stress of being in a high-dining atmosphere was starting to get to her. Her team eventually won the service.
Episode 7
During the Leftover Challenge, Julia presented the second entrée for the red team, which was a fish and chips dish, and while Ramsay called it nice, he expected a lot more. She lost out to Rock, and the red team lost the challenge 1-2. They were punished by participating in spring cleaning and taking part in Delivery Day.
Before service, Ramsay announced that both teams would create their own menus. Julia tried to input her dish idea of a new york striploin and shrimp dish, but was ignored by both Bonnie and Jen. However, Ramsay had her dish placed on the menu.
During dinner service, Julia was on the meat station. She struggled to cook Bonnie's rabbit appetizer and had help from her. When it came to entrées, her steak dish became the most requested dish of the night for the red team. Despite the demand for it, she managed to cook all her steaks perfectly much to Ramsay's pleasure. Both teams lost the dinner service, but Ramsay named her "Best of the Worst", and told her to nominate one member of her team for elimination.
Julia nominated Bonnie, who was joined by Brad from the blue team.
Episode 8
Back in the dorms, Julia expressed surprise that Bonnie was kept over Brad.
The next morning, Ramsay announced that the red and blue teams would become the black team. Julia received her black jacket in the dorms.
During the Alhambra High School Lunch Challenge, she made grilled chicken and cheese sandwiches with onion rings, and used a casual approach to serve her dish to the students. She won the challenge by receiving 51% of the votes, and chose Jen to go to the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Las Vegas with her. They also visited the Red Rock Resort, where they met Heather, the winner of Season 2, for some tips and recipes.
During dinner service, Julia was on the garnish station. She did not have her fennel ready for Bonnie's Wellingtons in time, and when an impatient Ramsay grabbed the pan from her, she rudely retorted "whatever". This caused Ramsay to accuse her of taking the piss out of him, and noted that she looked asleep. She later admitted that she forgot the garnish for the monkfish, and Ramsay accused her of giving up. After dinner service, Bonnie was named "Best of the Worst".
Julia was Bonnie's second nominee for elimination, with Rock being the first. After much thought, Ramsay eliminated her for her poor performance on garnish and lack of experience. Before she left, Ramsay praised her by saying how proud of her he was, and that he would personally send her to culinary school before inviting her to come back in Hell's Kitchen to compete once again. During her exit interview, she received a retrospective montage of her run.
Ramsay's comment: "To become a great chef you must have a natural ability. Clearly, Julia does have it. All she needs is a little more experience. After that, she will be ready to run her own restaurant."
Episode 10/11
Julia was one of the six chefs who returned for the final dinner service. When she returned, she was very upset about not winning, so she got to the bathroom to cry alone. When she came down in the kitchen, Ramsay reminded her victory in the Alhambra High School Lunch Challenge, but was concerned when he saw her crying. Because she felt her emotions would get in the way of service, Bonnie picked her last, following Jen and Melissa. After that decision, she said she was rooting for Rock to win.
During prep, Julia argued with Bonnie as she felt she was being treated like an idiot. During dinner service, she was on the meat station. Her poor attitude towards Bonnie continued as she did not communicate on the cauliflower soup, and revealed that she just wanted service to be over. She also rudely retorted to Bonnie that she was working on her own stuff when Bonnie called out the team for not listening to her. When it came to desserts, she ignored Bonnie's order of wrapping the goat cheese and told Jen to do it herself, which led to another argument where she was accused of being bitter. After service, she apologized to Bonnie and the two of them made up. Bonnie eventually lost the finals to Rock.
Nomination history
| Week 1 | Safe |
|---|---|
| Week 2 | Win |
| Week 3 | Nominated |
| Week 4 | Safe |
| Week 5 | Safe |
| Week 6 | Win |
| Week 7 | BoW |
| Week 8 | Nominated |
Trivia
- After her appearance on the show, she ran the kitchen at Ocean 66, in College Park. It is still unknown to this date if she accepted Ramsay's offer of going to culinary school before coming back to Hell's Kitchen.
Quotes
- "I'm trying to help her (Tiffany) with her eggs, but she don't want me to fix it. That's all I'm saying."
- (regarding Jen's trash pasta incident) "Who in the world picks food out of the trash? You can't just do anything in the heat of the moment."