Hell's Kitchen (American season 12)

Season 12 of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen premiered on March 13, 2014 on Fox.

Hell's Kitchen
Season 12
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes20
Release
Original networkFox
Original releaseMarch 13 (2014-03-13) –
July 24, 2014 (2014-07-24)
Season chronology

Gordon Ramsay returned as the head chef as well as Andi Van Willigan and James Avery as the red team's and blue team's sous chefs respectively. Jean-Philippe Susilovic also returned as the maître d'. This was the fourth season to feature an all-male final (following seasons 1, 6, and 9), and the first season to have two chefs quit. This season also for the first time to feature "Cook For Your Life" challenge, which featured on some of the seasons onwards (except season 13, 15, and 16. Instead the dinner service as normal of the show, the challenge was added in the middle of the season, replaced dinner service for an episode of the season, which tested one weakest chef of each teams based on interview of the each members of the team by Ramsay (or three chefs of each teams in season 17 and 18). The winner of the challenge will be survive on the competition, and the contestant that failed the challenge will be eliminated.

Executive Chef Scott Commings won this season and received a head chef position at Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas; the prize was retained from the previous season, after Ja'Nel Witt failed her drug test. Scott was nominated seven times for elimination, breaking Christina Machamer's record (season 4) of five nominations, and became the Hell's Kitchen winner with the most nominations. To date, he is the most recent male winner of Hell's Kitchen, and the final season which featured the 20 contestants competition-concept.

Opening sequence

The intro is stylized as a neo-noir comic book with the chefs each trying to claim hold of "The Knife Case of Destiny."

Chefs

Twenty chefs competed in season 12. Jason Zepaltas previously competed in season 9 but left before the first dinner service after falling ill during prep. He is the second chef to have competed in two seasons, after Robert Hesse (seasons 5 and 6), and Zepaltas was the first chef until the All-Star season to present two signature dishes to Ramsay.

Contestant[1] Age Occupation Hometown Result
Scott Commings 36[lower-alpha 1] Executive Chef Woodstock, Illinois Winner
Jason Zepaltas[lower-alpha 2] 31 Sous Chef Chicago, Illinois Runner-Up
Melanie Finch 24 Line Cook Woodland Hills, California Eliminated before Finals
Rochelle Bergman 27 Catering Chef Riverside, California
Joy Parham–Thomas 25 Kitchen Supervisor Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Left during 16th Service
Kashia Zollicoffer 23 Line Cook Carthage, Mississippi Eliminated after 15th Service
Michael Gabriel 26 Executive Chef Spring, Texas Eliminated during 14th service (coincidentally also before Black Jackets)
Anton Testino 39 Head Chef Butler, New Jersey Eliminated after 13th Service
Richard Mancini 48 Executive Chef Bloomingdale, Illinois Eliminated after 12th Service
Sandra Flores 36 Sous Chef Queens, New York Eliminated after 11th Service
Ralph Johnson 28 Chef De Partie (Line Cook) Boston, Massachusetts Eliminated after 9th Service
Jessica Vogel † [2] 29 Line Cook Spring Lake, New Jersey Eliminated after Cook For Your Life
Beverly "Bev" Lazo–Gonzalez 42 Food Truck Chef Whittier, California Eliminated after 8th Service
Christopher "Chris" Eversole 27 Line Cook Las Vegas, Nevada Eliminated after 7th Service
Elizabeth "Beth" Taylor 43 Line Cook Independence, Louisiana Eliminated after 6th Service
Michael DeMarco 29 Line Cook Scranton, Pennsylvania Eliminated after 5th Service
Michael "Mike" Aresta 38 Chef Instructor Keyport, New Jersey Eliminated after 4th Service
Simone Hammond 43 Buffet Cook Henderson, Nevada Left after 3rd Service
Nicole Rutz 33 Baker Morganville, New Jersey Eliminated after 2nd Service
Gaurav Navin 34 Executive Chef East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania Eliminated after 1st Service
Notes
    1. At age 36, Scott is to date the oldest winner of Hell's Kitchen.
    2. Zepaltas first competed in Season 9 of Hell's Kitchen, but withdrew in last place due to illness.

    † Indicates that the contestant died after filming ended

    Contestant progress
    Original teams First switch Second switch Individual Finals
    No. Chef 1201 1202 1203 1204 1205 1206 1207 1208 1209/1210 1210 1211 1212 1213 1214 1215/1216 1217 1218 1219 1220
    1 Scott LOSE LOSE LOSE LOSE LOSE WIN NOM WIN IN NOM NOM NOM WIN NOM NOM NOM[n 1] IN IN WINNER
    2 Jason LOSE LOSE LOSE LOSE LOSE WIN LOSE WIN IN LOSE LOSE LOSE LOSE WIN NOM IN IN IN RUNNER UP
    3 Melanie LOSE LOSE LOSE BoB WIN LOSE WIN LOSE IN WIN LOSE LOSE WIN WIN LOSE IN IN OUT
    4 Rochelle LOSE LOSE NOM[n 2] WIN WIN LOSE WIN LOSE IN WIN NOM LOSE LOSE WIN LOSE IN IN OUT
    5 Joy LOSE LOSE LOSE BoB WIN LOSE WIN LOSE IN WIN LOSE LOSE WIN LOSE IN[n 3] IN LEFT
    6 Kashia LOSE LOSE LOSE WIN WIN LOSE WIN LOSE IN WIN LOSE NOM WIN LOSE LOSE OUT
    7 Gabriel LOSE NOM LOSE LOSE NOM WIN LOSE WIN IN NOM LOSE NOM NOM BoB OUT[n 4]
    8 Anton LOSE LOSE LOSE LOSE LOSE BoB LOSE WIN IN LOSE NOM LOSE WIN OUT
    9 Richard LOSE LOSE LOSE LOSE NOM[n 1] WIN LOSE WIN NOM[n 5] LOSE LOSE LOSE OUT
    10 Sandra NOM LOSE NOM[n 2] WIN WIN NOM WIN LOSE IN WIN NOM OUT
    11 Ralph LOSE LOSE LOSE LOSE LOSE WIN NOM[n 1] WIN IN OUT[n 1]
    12 Jessica LOSE LOSE LOSE WIN WIN LOSE WIN NOM OUT[n 6]
    13 Bev LOSE LOSE LOSE WIN WIN LOSE WIN OUT
    14 Chris LOSE LOSE NOM[n 2] LOSE LOSE WIN OUT
    15 Beth LOSE NOM LOSE WIN WIN OUT
    16 DeMarco NOM NOM NOM NOM OUT
    17 Mike LOSE LOSE NOM OUT
    18 Simone LOSE NOM LEFT
    19 Nicole NOM OUT
    20 Gaurav OUT
    Notes
    1. Chef was nominated by Ramsay
    2. Although nominated, chef was not called down by Ramsay
    3. Chef was immune from elimination
    4. Chef was eliminated during service
    5. Chef participated in the "Cook for your life" challenge
    6. Chef was eliminated in the "Cook for your life" challenge

    Episodes
    No.
    overall    		No. in
    season    		TitleOriginal air dateUS viewers
    (millions)
    1671"20 Chefs Compete"March 13, 2014 (2014-03-13)5.45[3]

    20 chefs were taken on a bus to Hell's Kitchen. Chef Ramsay greeted them and mentioned that Los Angeles is known not only for its cuisine, but for its entertainment. Cooks and diners then danced to the show's theme song while Ramsay had the chefs go to the kitchen for their first challenge.

    Team challenge/signature dish: The teams had 45 minutes to create their signature dish, judged by Ramsay.[4] Ramsay gave points to Anton's pork and crabmeat crust surf and turf over Simone's Peach and Crab Apple chutney pork chop, Jason's seared and braised wild salmon over Nicole's halibut filet (Jason previously competed in Season 9, but left during the first episode after he was hospitalized for shortness of breath. He stated that this was caused by dehydration), Chris' Cornish hen over Joy's chilled corn soup, Kashia's New York strip over Mike's herb-fried tortellini with tomato sauce. During the judging, Mike revealed that the tortellini was store-bought, and the sauce was made with canned tomatoes. Ramsay, disgusted, dumped out his dish. When sent back in line, Mike muttered an insult, causing Chef Ramsay to pull him back out and berate him. Melanie's pan-seared scallops scored over Richard's pan-roasted sea bass and Bev's Southeast Asian-style fish tacos scored over Gabriel's stuffed chicken breast. Neither Gaurav's afreen tuna pulao or Sandra's tender cod filet scored a point, Beth's pecan-crusted catfish scored over DeMarco's ricotta gnocchi with roasted tomato creme and sausage and Ralph's New England lobster dish scored over Rochelle's mushroom chicken with asparagus. Lastly, Jessica's rosemary-crusted venison loin with goat cheese polenta scored over Scott's herb-roasted rack of lamb, giving the women a 5–4 win and marking the third consecutive season the women won the signature dish challenge.

    Reward/punishment: The women had dinner with Ramsay at his GastroPub while the men prepped the dining room and the kitchens. Mike sat out of the punishment, angering his teammates since he was responsible for their loss.

    Service: Chris and Melanie served tableside chicken Caesar salad. In the blue kitchen, Gabriel, Demarco and Gaurav proved incapable of getting any appetizers out. Gaurav's risottos came out soupy and then peppery, and he only angered Ramsay further by tasting the risotto with his fingers. Demarco overcooked the lobster tail and Gabriel served scallops seared on only one side. In the red kitchen, Nicole's lack of knowledge led Joy to take over most of the responsibilities on the fish station, however, Joy overcooked her scallops. Sandra, angered that she had to refire her risotto, refused to communicate properly with Joy and Nicole, while Joy and Sandra repeatedly argued over the latter's lack of communication. This led the entire red kitchen to struggle to time their appetizers correctly, and Ramsay kicked Joy, Nicole, and Sandra out after Joy and Nicole failed to start their lobster tail, even though Sandra's risotto was already at the pass. Both teams were kicked out when both Gabriel and Kashia overcooked scallops. Ramsay noted it as the worst opening service in the show's history (behind only Season 1 Episode 3 and Season 11 Episode 13), as no appetizers were served from either kitchen. For the first time since Season 8, both teams lost on opening night, and had to provide two nominees.

    Elimination: The women nominated Sandra and Nicole while the men nominated Gaurav and DeMarco. Ramsay eliminated Gaurav for his poor performance on appetizers (especially for putting his fingers into the risotto) and nonchalant attitude.

    Ramsay's comment: "There's so many things about India that I love. It's a shame Gaurav isn't one of them."
    1682"19 Chefs Compete"March 20, 2014 (2014-03-20)5.34[5]

    The chefs were woken up by bikers performing stunts inside a spherical cage.

    Team challenge: The chefs worked in pairs in a "chef's relay", where they pedaled tricycles to a cooking area and aimed to finish prepping all five areas first. Since the blue team had one less member, Gabriel went twice. DeMarco and Richard finished cleaning shrimp before Kashia and Bev, Jessica and Beth finished breaking down chicken before Anton and Chris, Jason and Gabriel passed Melanie and Simone cleaning oysters, Mike and Scott finished filleting trout before Sandra and Nicole, and Ralph and Gabriel finished making egg white omelettes before Joy and Rochelle, giving the men their first challenge win.

    Reward/punishment: The men had a meal with Ramsay in San Francisco and enjoyed a city tour on Segways. The women picked carrots and made stock. During punishment, Nicole's quiet behavior annoyed Kashia, leading to an argument about the former's lack of passion.

    Service: Mike and Sandra served tableside oysters, but Mike inadvertently served a couple of red tables. In the blue kitchen, Jason served bland risotto and DeMarco cooked tuna in a cold pan on appetizers, but both recovered. Scott and Gabriel mixed up cooking times on entrees, and after Scott served raw halibut and Gabriel served raw chicken twice, Ramsay threw the blue team out. In the red kitchen, Simone and Nicole failed to serve an acceptable risotto and were thrown out, and though Kashia did well on meat, Beth served raw lobster and raw and overcooked halibut, causing Ramsay to throw the red team out. Ramsay again named both teams losers.

    Elimination: The men nominated DeMarco and Gabriel while the women nominated Beth and Simone. However, Ramsay overruled and eliminated Nicole, feeling her negative attitude and lack of passion, cooking ability, fight back and leadership outweighed the mistakes made by the four nominees.

    Ramsay's comment: "I'm not looking for a line cook. But if I were, I still wouldn't have hired Nicole. She was useless."
    1693"18 Chefs Compete"March 27, 2014 (2014-03-27)5.39[6]

    The chefs were woken up by pigs running through the dorms; each chef carried a pig outside.

    Team challenge: The teams had to dig up potatoes, three chefs a time, until one team reached 100 pounds. While the blue team won that part of the challenge, they were then informed it was not all of it, they also had to create potato dishes. Each team then picked five dishes for Ramsay to rate from 1–5. Jessica's sweet potato succotash and Richard's Irish Colcannon both scored 4, Sandra's pancetta sofrito and Ralph's potato salad both scored 3, Jason's potato gratin scored 4 while Bev's potato hash scored 2 and Melanie's gnocchi scored 4 while Mike's boulangère scored 1. Lastly, Scott's potato souffle scored 4, but Joy's pierogi scored 5, giving the women an 18–16 victory.

    Reward/punishment: The women had a private dinner on a yacht while the men had to clean the livestock. During dinner service prep, DeMarco cut himself and was sent to urgent care and Rochelle fell sick. Simone also fell unwell, but her team believed she was faking it.

    Service: Kashia and Ralph served tableside Steak Diane. Guests in attendance for this service include Senen "Sen Dog" Reyes and EC Twins. Anton and Joy did well on appetizers, but both teams struggled on fish; Jessica and Simone were kicked out after serving raw scallops and salmon, Chris served halibut with no crust while Mike struggled to communicate with him, and DeMarco, who returned mid-service, poorly sliced chicken. Ramsay threw the blue team out when Scott sliced lamb before Chris's halibut was ready, and the red team after Bev served raw and overcooked halibut; this was the third service in a row where both teams lost, marking the worst service start in the show's history. For the first time in Hell's Kitchen history, Ramsay had the teams nominate three chefs for elimination.

    Elimination: The women nominated Simone, Rochelle, and Sandra while the men nominated Mike, DeMarco, and Chris. Ramsay called Simone, Mike and DeMarco forward, had them remove their jackets and gave them ten seconds to plead their cases. But as Ramsay went to announce his decision, Simone immediately volunteered to leave the competition, marking the third voluntary exit at elimination (after Ji from Season 5 and Joseph from Season 6). Before sending the chefs back, Ramsay gave DeMarco and Mike back their jackets.

    Ramsay's comment: "Hell's Kitchen is about making someone's wish come true. Simone wished to leave Hell's Kitchen. That was an easy one. Wish granted."
    1704"17 Chefs Compete"April 3, 2014 (2014-04-03)4.99[7]

    Ramsay dumped about 200,000 pennies ($2,000) on the floor to give the contestants a lesson on consistency, representing how much money was wasted last service. He then taught them how to make ravioli.

    Team challenge: The chefs made ravioli dishes in pairs; the first team to make ten approved dishes would win. The pairs for the women are Melanie and Jessica, Kashia and Sandra, Bev and Rochelle, and Beth and Joy. The pairs for the men are Jason and Scott, Ralph and Richard, Chris and Anton, and DeMarco Gabriel and Mike, since the blue has an extra member. The men raced to a 6–0 lead, but the red team caught up, mainly thanks to Jessica and Melanie. With the teams at a 9–9 tie, DeMarco, Gabriel, and Mike, whom struggled, finally submitted a dish, but it was rejected, allowing the women to pass with their tenth dish and win their third challenge.

    Reward/punishment: The women were rewarded with a day at a Beverly Hills mansion. The men prepped both kitchens in addition to wrapping pennies.

    Service: Ramsay announced this service will host steak night. Beth, Rochelle, Gabriel and Scott served tableside salad and chopped ribs. Guests in attendance were Sharon Case, Suzanne Whang and Vanessa Marcil. In the red kitchen, Bev served salty risotto, but Joy and Melanie did well on appetizers and meat. In the blue kitchen, Ralph ignored Mike on the ravioli station, causing Ramsay to scold them both, Mike served risotto with no lobster and after Richard and Ralph served cold crab cakes and watery ravioli, Ramsay forced them to eat their mistakes. Anton did well on appetizers, but Chris undercooked fillets. After the women finished service, Ramsay had them help the men, where Jason was scolded for needlessly arguing with Sandra.

    Elimination: Mike and DeMarco were nominated. Mike pleaded to be sent to the red team, but Ramsay eliminated him for his lack of passion, contribution, and for consistently being a poor performer.

    Ramsay's comment: "There once was a cook named Mike. He couldn't cook fish or any other dish, so I told him to take a hike."
    1715"16 Chefs Compete"April 10, 2014 (2014-04-10)4.17[8]

    Team challenge: The chefs played a variant of Concentration where they had to match side dishes with four different types of protein (pork chop, swordfish, ahi tuna and chicken breast) in pairs. Melanie/Rochelle and Anton/Richard both scored on chicken breast, Chris and DeMarco scored over Jessica and Kashia on pork, Sandra and Beth scored over Jason and Gabriel on ahi tuna and Joy and Bev scored over Scott and Ralph on swordfish, giving the women their third straight challenge win.

    Reward/punishment: The women spent a day at Laguna Beach. The men prepped honey taffy from scratch. Before prep, DeMarco told his team that his father walked out on him when he was 6 months old.

    Service: A brunch service was set up as part of the first-ever Hell's Kitchen wedding, with the faster team winning service. The red team served the bride's family, the blue team served the groom's family, and both did the wedding party's table. Rochelle and Scott got fruit salads out quickly, but Beth burst an egg and burnt bread. Beth then struggled to keep up on the croque monsieur station and argued with Kashia and Bev, resulting in her serving a raw egg after being pressured by Kashia to bring it up. For the men, Ralph tried to cook bread in a cold pan and undercooked eggs. However, Demarco caught the blame for serving the egg, despite telling Ralph the egg was undercooked and Ralph ignoring him. Both teams got to the final ticket. Despite Beth overcooking another egg, the women finished first due to Gabriel and Richard's slow performance on scrambled eggs, giving them the win and the men their fifth consecutive service loss.

    Elimination: DeMarco and Gabriel were nominated; Ramsay also nominated Richard. Ramsay eliminated DeMarco for his lack of improvement, being nominated five consecutive times (the longest streak of nominations in the show's history, soon to be tied with season 14's Josh Trovato), and saying he ran out of chances.

    Ramsay's comment: "DeMarco: demented, demoted, denied."
    1726"15 Chefs Compete"April 17, 2014 (2014-04-17)4.95[9]

    Team captain nomination: No challenge took place; Ramsay asked both teams to choose a Team Captain for dinner service. Melanie and Anton were chosen. Melanie stated she would lead from the fish station, while Anton stated he would 'float' around stations to lead. Joy noticed Beth looking unfocused during prep and suggested the red team proceed to service without her, prompting a heated argument.

    Service: Ramsay put the team captains to the test when he announced the VIP guests for the chef's table with the red team cooking for Elizabeth Perkins and the blue team cooking for Holly Marie Combs. Sandra forgot a capellini on appetizers and Joy argued with her for not communicating, while Beth served raw and overcooked lobster and was non-communicative, leading Melanie to take over most of her responsibilities. However, Melanie, whose leadership was largely ineffectual, ruined the VIP table's order with raw halibut, and Kashia served perfect wellingtons but was slow to say when they would be ready. Anton's leadership, meanwhile, was fairly overzealous though seemingly more effective, however, Ramsay scolded him for shouting over him while he was reading a ticket. Gabriel and Ralph put in strong performances on appetizers under Anton's leadership, but Chris sent overcooked and undercooked scallops, the latter of which Anton served for the chef's table without Ramsay's approval first, but recovered. Jason performed well on meat, but Scott had communication issues despite cooking fish perfectly. Both teams completed service; Ramsay gave the men their first service win and praised Anton's leadership.

    Elimination: Beth and Sandra were nominated. Ramsay polled the team, and though all except Jessica wanted Sandra gone, Ramsay eliminated Beth for her lack of leadership and confidence, being out of her depth, and sub-par performances.

    Ramsay's comment: "Beth thinks the reason she hasn't advanced in the culinary industry is the fact that she's a woman in the south. I think it's because she can't cook."
    1737"14 Chefs Compete"April 24, 2014 (2014-04-24)4.92[10]

    Team challenge: The teams had to cook four gourmet pizzas to be rated from 1–10 by Ramsay and Wolfgang Puck. Each team had three pairs and a solo chef and allowed to drop one pizza. The blue team did not serve Jason and Chris' pizza, while the red team decided Bev and Kashia's was the weakest, despite their protesting that Joy and Jessica's pizza (which was very small and simple after Joy accidentally dropped their original pizza on the floor) was worse. Rochelle scored 5, while Ralph scored 3. Joy and Jessica scored 4, while Gabriel and Scott scored 5. Lastly, Melanie and Sandra scored 3, but Anton and Richard scored 7, giving the men a 15–12 win; only their 2nd win of the season. Meanwhile, Bev and Kashia's pizza would have also scored 7.

    Reward/punishment: The men were rewarded with a day at a rooftop swimming pool and a session with a yoga instructor. The women made pasta for Italian family night in addition to prepping both kitchens. After the punishment, Kashia called out Melanie for unilaterally deciding to drop the former's pizza, but Melanie argued that Kashia should have been more outspoken about her confidence in her pizza.

    Service: Both teams struggled on pizzas during family night. Bev repeatedly undercooked and burned the pizzas and Sandra rolled the bases too thick which completely held up the kitchen, but with Joy's help, Bev managed to successfully get the pizzas out. Rochelle also served scallops with no color, but managed to recover, and after that the women were able to successfully complete service (as well as successfully serve Ramsay's family in the dining room). In the blue kitchen, Chris constantly served burnt and raw pizzas while Scott tried to help, but only made the situation worse by burning even more pizzas. Even with additional help from Gabriel, the men were only able to serve ten pizzas before running out of pizza dough, causing Ramsay to send Scott and Chris into the dining room to apologize to the diners and ask them if they'd like something else. Anton accidentally caused a small fire on the fish station when the bottom of a bottle of oil came out when he picked it up, and Ralph served raw rib-eye then undercooked and poorly cut lamb. However, thanks to Jason, the men finished service. During the post-mortem, Ramsay asked both teams to collect all the discarded pizzas to show the amount of pizza they had wasted. Despite Ramsay being angry with both teams, Ramsay named the women the winners for having fewer problems on each station, and asked the men to come up with two nominees for elimination.

    Elimination: The men nominated Chris and Scott for their problems with the pizza, but Ramsay also nominated Ralph, who had argued that he had noting returned to him despite his abysmal performance on meat. After hearing their pleas (during which Ralph angered Ramsay by trying to claim he had yet to mess up), Ramsay eliminated Chris for consistently wasting pizza dough and mediocre performances.

    Ramsay's comment: "I'd like to think every chef has a talent. Chris needs to keep looking for his."
    1748"13 Chefs Compete"May 1, 2014 (2014-05-01)4.47[11]

    Team challenge: The teams had to cook sampler dishes for attendees of a dinner honoring the 160th anniversary of the Phi Mu sorority. Each team had to serve a chicken, seafood and beef entree. The red team did well under Kashia's leadership, while the blue team wasted over ten minutes deliberating, barely finishing on time. The men scored on chicken, but the women won 2–1 by scoring on seafood and beef.

    Reward/punishment: The women were rewarded with a shopping spree and a meal with Hell's Kitchen Season 10 winner Christina Wilson in Las Vegas. The men prepped the dining room under the sorority's party committee's direction.

    Service: Gabriel and Richard put in strong performances on appetizers and garnish and got the blue kitchen off to a good start on appetizers. However Jason served raw fried chicken twice, forcing Anton and Gabriel to help him, and Scott, despite cooking meat perfectly, didn't communicate to Richard and Gabriel on garnish when he was going to walk up to the pass, which put both of them behind. Despite this, both Scott and Jason managed to recover and successfully serve entrées. The red kitchen got off to a bad start due to Bev struggling to make crab cakes and giving inconsistent times for them, but Bev still managed to successfully serve them. However, on entrées, Kashia served raw fried chicken while Jessica did very little to help her, forcing Ramsay to pull them both into the pantry and tell them to get a grip. After that, Kashia again served raw chicken that Jessica thought was cooked, but managed to recover and serve a properly cooked portion. However, Bev forgot what she was supposed to be cooking for garnish and then proceeded to serve cold mac & cheese, causing Rochelle to take over for her on garnish. Both teams finished service; Ramsay called out both teams' lack of teamwork but named the men winners.

    Elimination: Bev and Jessica were nominated. Ramsay eliminated Bev for giving up and letting Rochelle take over her station during service.

    Ramsay's comment: "Bev may be a great food truck chef. Unfortunately for her, Hell's Kitchen doesn't have wheels."
    1759"12 Chefs Compete"May 8, 2014 (2014-05-08)4.30[12]

    Team challenge: Ramsay tested the chefs' adaptability, placing six ingredients under four domes. Every few minutes, a new dome became available, and each chef would have to grab one ingredient from the dome to incorporate in their dish. They had 30 minutes to make their dishes, judged by chef Michael Cimarusti. Kashia scored over Ralph on New York strip, Rochelle scored over Richard on lobster, Jason scored over Joy on sea bass, both Gabriel and Melanie scored on chicken and Anton scored over Jessica on ahi tuna. Sandra then scored over Scott on duck breast, giving the women a 4–3 win and their sixth challenge victory out of eight.

    Reward/punishment: The women were rewarded with lunch at the beach and a private volleyball lesson with Olympian Kerri Walsh Jennings. The men had to do the waitstaff's chores.

    Cook for your life – part 1: Instead of a service, Ramsay called each chef into his office one by one, evaluating their progress and asking them who they felt was the weakest chef in their team. Jessica and Richard received the most votes and were given 30 minutes apiece to cook three dishes (risotto, scallops, and halibut) to be judged by Ramsay. The loser was eliminated, resulting in the first elimination challenge in Hell's Kitchen.

    The episode ended in a cliffhanger, as Ramsay was about to announce his decision.
    17610"11 Chefs Compete"May 15, 2014 (2014-05-15)4.86[13]

    Cook for your life – part 2: Ramsay eliminated a tearful Jessica for undercooking lobster in the risotto and overcooking halibut. Jessica did not receive a comment or a coat-hanging and picture-burning sequence, but her hung jacket and burned picture was seen next to Ralph's.

    Reward/punishment: The next morning, Ramsay brought the chefs to his GastroPub to give them inspiration before he announced that next service would have a special menu based on it. Later, Ralph began to feel sick, caused by bad sleep, but returned before service.

    Service: The men did well on appetizers under Jason's leadership, with the only problem being Anton not communicating with the other stations and cooking sliders too fast. However, they had a complete meltdown on entrées; Anton forgot to cook a New York strip for a table and then miscommunicated to Ramsay how long the next table would be, while screaming at Ralph and Jason when they tried to correct him. Scott served watery salad and soggy fries and his attempts to lead the kitchen proved largely ineffectual. Ralph had trouble keeping up on the fish station due to Anton and Gabriel's lack of communication and undercooked fish and chips. Gabriel struggled cooking the chicken and gave Ramsay and the rest of the kitchen inconsistent cooking times, leading some tables to walk out. The women had a decent service, with the only problems being Joy initially not knowing she had to cook the buns for the sliders and Kashia serving cold garnish and then forgetting the garnish for the chicken. The women finished service and all but Sandra, who was on desserts, were ordered to help the men. However the women struggled to work together with the men who once again had trouble communicating. After Ralph served a soggy fish, Ramsay kicked the men out and had the women finish their service. The women were named the winners and Ramsay tasked the men to name two nominees for elimination.

    Elimination: Scott and Gabriel were chosen as the men's nominees. However, Gabriel attempted to nominate Ralph when asked by Ramsay who the nominees were. This led Ramsay to express frustration over the men's lack of team work, and although he accepted Gabriel and Scott as the nominees he also nominated Ralph (sarcastically stating "why not"). After each of them plead their case, Ramsay eliminated Ralph for his problems with the fish and chips, refusing to take responsibility for his mistakes (he attempted to blame his problems that night on the lack of communication in the kitchen), and sub par performances, saying he was not ready to be a head chef.

    Ramsay's comment: "Ralph has a lot of heart. But when it comes to cooking, he comes up a little short."
    17711"10 Chefs Compete"May 22, 2014 (2014-05-22)4.34[14]

    Team challenge: The chefs had to match eight cuts of pork with eight body parts of a pig; the blue team won, so each member was allowed to choose which cut of pork they wanted to cook with and which member of the red team they wished to compete against. Melanie scored over Anton on the shoulder, Rochelle scored over Richard on loin, Gabriel scored over Joy on ribs and Jason scored over Sandra on the belly. Lastly, Scott surprised Ramsay by presenting a completed ravioli dish and scored over Kashia on pork cheek, giving the men a 3–2 win and their third challenge win.

    Reward/punishment: The men went skydiving in a vertical wind tunnel and received their own Vitamix blenders. The women, in addition to prepping both kitchens, made peanut butter by cracking peanuts by hand. During the punishment, Rochelle opened up about her desire to start a family, causing her teammates to question her dedication.

    Service: The blue kitchen got off to a good start under Jason and Scott on appetizers (with Jason having took over making the latter's risotto due to not trusting him), but Anton cooked only nine scallops instead the required ten and then pushed Scott away when he tried to help. On entrées, Anton overcooked halibut and blamed Scott for it due to the latter confusing him, causing Ramsay to march the entire blue team into the store room and tell them to sort out their differences. However, on the next ticket, despite Richard providing perfect wellingtons, Gabriel ruined the ticket with cold mushrooms, forcing them to start over. In addition, Anton continued to have trouble on the fish station, sending overcooked salmon to the pass while blaming Scott, so Ramsay took over for him on the refire. In the red kitchen, Rochelle did well on appetizers but was hampered by Sandra struggling to provide the lobster tail for the risotto (due to it falling apart) and Kashia forgetting to turn her gas on when cooking capellini. On entrées, Sandra did not communicate with Joy on garnish and Melanie on meat, and despite acknowledging not to walk up her salmon yet (due to Melanie's wellington not being ready), Sandra still brought it up when asked how long by Ramsay. When Sandra finally managed to coordinate properly with rest of the kitchen, the salmon was overcooked, leading Ramsay to have to refire the table. Despite the problems, both teams managed to complete service, but Ramsay was frustrated with the lack of coordination in both kitchens, and named both teams losers. He then tasked them with coming up with two nominees for elimination, specifically stating to choose the people that were making it difficult to coordinate properly.

    Team change: The men nominated Anton and Scott. The women agreed on Sandra as their first nominee and considered Kashia as their second, but Rochelle was ultimately nominated after Joy argued that her confession during the punishment indicated a lack of passion. Ramsay was skeptical of Rochelle's nomination, but allowed it anyway, and had all four nominees remove their jackets before moving Anton and Scott to the red team and Sandra and Rochelle to the blue team, hoping to "correct" things.
    17812"10 Chefs Again"May 29, 2014 (2014-05-29)4.54[15]

    Team challenge: Ramsay had each chef, one by one, enter a "grocery store" in darkness, where they had to use the sense of feel to collect five ingredients. He then gave them 30 minutes to use the ingredients, judging the winning team through a King of the Hill match between all chefs individually. Gabriel was not allowed to sit on the hill after forgetting his chicken mousse. Scott, Sandra, Anton, and Rochelle each got on the hill when presenting their dishes, but Rochelle beat out everyone else to win the challenge for the blue team.

    Reward/punishment: The blue team spent a day at LeSpa in Beverly Hills while the red team had to take in deliveries from a truck.

    Service: 24 UNICEF charity members were guests for service including ambassador Angie Harmon, who served as the host for this special event. Each chef was in charge of a course, cooking twelve portions. On the risotto course, Anton's only problems were having the pans too hot at the start and then having trouble communicating with Joy, who was doing the lobster tails, while Rochelle briefly confused Gabriel by taking over his seasoning of the risottos. On the tuna tataki course, Melanie had no trouble, but Gabriel forgot to cook two tuna. Luckily, Rochelle noticed and she was able to successfully cook the additional tuna and get the course out on time. Both Kashia and Richard struggled leading the tortellini course. The former failed to notice that the tortellini was undercooked and then blamed Melanie and Anton for it, which completely held up the kitchen. The latter failed to take all the tortellini out of the pasta water and, as a result, came up short when plating, while the remaining tortellini overcooked during that time. As a result, the blue diners received reduced portions, which was exacerbated when Gabriel put out thirteen plates instead of twelve. On the rack of lamb, Scott led strongly, only struggling to put sauce on the plates due to using a ladle instead of a spoon. Sandra failed to notice that the lamb was undercooked, and then overcooked it when she attempted to quickly flash it in the oven, despite warnings from Jason and Ramsay. This forced the blue team to serve only one lamb chop per guest. Lastly, Joy and Jason both led well and got the beignet courses out with no problems. Despite both teams completing service, Ramsay named both teams losers and asked for two nominees from each team.

    Elimination: The red team nominated Kashia and Scott while the blue team nominated Sandra and Gabriel. Much to her team's relief, Ramsay eliminated Sandra for her issues on lamb, her lack of coordination with her team and not improving her attitude.

    Ramsay's comment: "It may have been charity night in Hell's Kitchen, but when it comes to Sandra, I wasn't in a charitable mood."
    17913"9 Chefs Compete"June 5, 2014 (2014-06-05)4.78[16]

    Pre-service: There was no team challenge; the chefs were woken up by two rappers, who sang instructions for the teams to create their own menus. Melanie forced through most of her ideas for the red team, while shooting down Kashia and Anton's ideas, but Anton, Joy, and Kashia were still able to get some of their dishes on as well (including Kashia's dish from the signature dish challenge). However, Kashia was irritated with Melanie for shooting down her tuna slider idea but then later recommending it to the rest of the team as her own idea, while the red team expressed concern over Joy's fried chicken dish due to the problems both teams had with fried chicken on a previous service. Most of the blue team contributed ideas for their menu, but they had to prompt Rochelle for input on the menu due to her lack of confidence. Ramsay felt both menus were decent, but insisted on tweaks, and expressed similar concern over Joy's fried chicken dish and reprimanded Rochelle when she burnt a sampler crab cake and giggled nervously. Despite that, both teams got their menus approved and then had to prep for service that night. However, during prep, Rochelle got overwhelmed and argued with her team leading to a crisis of confidence until she was encouraged by Kashia in the dorms.

    Service: Max Ehrich was guest in attending this service. During this service, each diner would have the choice of which menu they would choose from, with the blue menu ultimately being the more popular of the two. Although Jason was worried about Rochelle on appetizers due to her earlier crisis, she managed to consistently get appetizers out at a good pace. However, Richard undercooked crab cakes and almost cooked the refire in a dirty pan until Ramsay stopped him, but managed to recover. Gabriel, however, served undercooked steaks twice while Richard was slow on garnish and under portioned sides, causing Ramsay to have to send Rochelle over to help him. On the red team, Anton cooked more portions of risotto than needed and Melanie had trouble cooking Anton's scallop dish, after he told her to sear the scallops then bake them in sauce, which turned them soggy, forcing her to throw away several orders of scallops. When Melanie had scallops returned for being undercooked, she noticed she was out of scallops. Luckily, Anton was able to get extra scallops from the blue team because they didn't put a scallop course on their menu, allowing Melanie to successfully cook the refire. Despite the team's worries about the fried chicken dish, Joy got every order out perfectly, while Kashia delivered every order of her signature dish perfectly. Ramsay named the red team winners for a strong finish, and told them that one of the women would be transferring to the blue team after elimination.

    Elimination: Despite Gabriel and Richard attempting to convince Jason to nominate Rochelle due to her earlier crisis, the blue team ultimately decided on Richard and Gabriel as the nominees. Ramsay eliminated Richard for failing to live up to his experience, lacking Gabriel's determination and being kicked off his station by Rochelle.

    Team change: The red team then announced that they would send Melanie to the blue team to even up the numbers.

    Ramsay's comment: "Richard had more experience than anyone here. But it's not experience I'm looking for, it's talent."
    18014"8 Chefs Compete"June 12, 2014 (2014-06-12)4.88[17]

    Team challenge: The annual "blind taste test" took place; Rochelle identified three ingredients compared to Joy's two, Anton and Gabriel both scored one and Scott scored two while Jason failed to get any. Lastly, Melanie also scored zero, while Kashia scored one, giving the red team a 6–4 win.

    Reward/punishment: The red team were rewarded with a private ice skating lesson with Olympian Rachael Flatt, while the blue team had to take in deliveries of ice and make ice cream for service. Concerned over Gabriel's lack of fightback, Ramsay gave him a pep talk in the storeroom before service.

    Service: Ryan Pickett and Dante Basco were in attendance for this service. The blue team had a strong service thanks to Melanie on appetizers and Gabriel on garnish, with the only problems being Jason briefly falling behind cooking lobster tails and Rochelle serving undercooked chicken then struggling to remember tickets, but both rebounded as Gabriel quickly reorganized the team. In the red kitchen, Scott got the kitchen off to a good start on appetizers, but Kashia forgot to cook one scallop, and when Scott tried to help, he cooked an entire portion rather than just one scallop. Anton then caused disarray when he jumped in as well, however, Kashia managed to quickly retake control of her station and serve an acceptable scallop. However, Kashia was caught braising a salmon in sauce rather than searing it and gave attitude to Ramsay when he scolded her for it. On entrées, Anton undercooked chicken, but when Scott sliced it and served it, Ramsay scolded the latter for not noticing that it was raw. Anton then became disorganized on the meat station and fell behind on orders, telling Ramsay he was ten minutes away on a wellington when Kashia's salmon was already at the pass. Anton then overcooked the wellingtons, blaming the oven for his problems, and argued with Chef Andi, causing Ramsay to send him to the storeroom and tell him to bounce back. Both teams finished service; Ramsay praised the blue team, particularly Gabriel, for their excellent service, but berated the red team and asked them to nominate two people for elimination.

    Elimination: Anton and Scott were nominated. Ramsay eliminated Anton for his arrogance, disintegrating performances and constantly blaming others for his mistakes.

    Ramsay's comment: "Anton let the little success he had in Hell's Kitchen inflate his ego. It was time to let the air out of that balloon."
    18115"7 Chefs Compete"June 19, 2014 (2014-06-19)5.13[18]

    Team challenge: The chefs were taken to Bristol Farms Supermarket and given $35 per team and 15 minutes to shop for ingredients and cook three portions of a dish. Since the blue team had an extra member, Rochelle and Gabriel worked together. The guest judges were editor of LAist Krista Simmons, Master Yelper Anita Lau and IDG Director of Development Brent Berkowitz. Each judge gave a price they would pay for the dish and the three prices were averaged to give a score. Kashia's top sirloin with bourbon sauce scored $24.67, while Jason's Cornish hen scored $20. Rochelle and Gabriel's trout dish scored $21.33, while Scott's pan-roasted sea bass and jumbo shrimp scored $23.67. Joy's seared pork loin rubbed with sage, salt, black pepper, and spiced applesauce scored $24.67, while Melanie's lamb chops with fresh rosemary, garlic, and lemon sage couscous scored $28. The blue team's total was $69.33, but the red team won the challenge with their total of $73.01.

    Reward/punishment: The red team were given $1000 for a shopping spree at Grove SS and had lunch at the Hatfield restaurant in Los Angeles. The blue team cleaned the dorms and bathrooms.

    Challenge – Part I: At a press conference, Ramsay revealed the season's first individual challenge, in which each chef would be competing to earn a black jacket, immunity from elimination in the next dinner service and their dish a place on the December page of the calendar. Each chef was given 45 minutes to create a dish of their choice. Ramsay then revealed three guest judges alongside him to judge the dishes, season 3 winner Rock Harper, season 9 winner Paul Niedermann, which Jason meets for the first time since he withdrawn due to illness, and season 10 second runner-up Dana Cohen; each judge rated the dish from 1–5.

    Jason's stuffed halibut with capellini, goat cheese, crab and shrimp scored 8, Kashia's rack of lamb covered with honey pistachio and demi-glace scored 11, Rochelle's seared New York Strip steak with cilantro-lime chimichurri sauce scored 13, Scott's pan-seared sea scallops and poached crab with tarragon butter scored 11, Melanie's marinated rack of lamb with red wine rosemary garlic and creamy basil-infused mashed potatoes scored 5 because she added raw flour to the potatoes, and Gabriel's roasted rack of lamb did not even score a single point because he forgot to plate most of it, and the part that he did plate was severely overcooked. Last up was Joy, with a seared duck breast with oven-roasted figs, mushrooms, and Swiss chard.

    Before marks were given and clarification on whether Joy or Rochelle won immunity, the episode ended in a cliffhanger.
    18216"7 Chefs Again"June 26, 2014 (2014-06-26)4.95[19]

    Challenge – Part II: Continued from the previous episode, Joy's dish impressed all four judges (even though she admitted she had never used most of the ingredients before), earning her an almost perfect score of 19 points.

    Reward/punishment: Joy earned a black jacket and therefore immunity from elimination after service, a December spot on the HK calendar, and was also treated to lunch with Rock, Paul, and Dana in the Hell's Kitchen dining room. The others prepared the food and serve it to them.

    Service: Before service, Ramsay revealed that every chef surviving elimination after service would be rewarded with a black jacket. Dinner service featured a special VIP table for members of Oxfam, an anti-poverty charity, including ambassador and actress Minnie Driver, and founder Raymond Offenheiser. Both teams had to serve them at the same time, but Gabriel served scallops too early and miscounted them before overcooking them, though he recovered quickly, and Melanie served undercooked chicken. In the red kitchen, Scott cooked an order a halibut too early and had trouble cooking salmon for the Oxfam table, Kashia served perfectly cooked but poorly cut chicken. Gabriel was caught cooking halibut and salmon in the same pan before serving raw salmon for the Oxfam table.

    Automatic elimination: After Scott and Gabriel both served overcooked and raw salmon respectively for the Oxfam table, Ramsay pulled them into the storage room. When they returned, they completed the VIP table. However, after Gabriel served another raw salmon, Ramsay eliminated him on the spot, making him the sixth contestant in Hell's Kitchen history to be eliminated during service, and the first since Nilka in season 7. Instead of sending Gabriel upstairs like the rest, Ramsay sends him through the front entrance, shocking the blue team and the customers. Outside, Jean-Philippe consoled him before taking his jacket and shaking his hand goodbye. Gabriel was not given the coat hook or flaming picture scene. The teams were named joint-losers and each asked to nominate one chef for elimination.

    Elimination: Jason and Scott were nominated, but Ramsay ultimately decided to give everyone a black jacket, after having already eliminated Gabriel.

    Ramsay's comment: "With Gabriel causing such a disaster in the kitchen tonight, it was hard to tell who else I should send home. So, I gave everybody the thrill of getting a black jacket. But somebody will definitely be going home after the next dinner service."
    18317"6 Chefs Compete"July 3, 2014 (2014-07-03)4.30[20]

    Challenge: The chefs traveled to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where they cooked gourmet tailgate party food favorites for USC Trojans football fans; the dish voted best by a group of 50 fans won. The challenge ended in a tie between Scott and Jason.

    Reward/punishment: Scott and Jason were treated to a trip to the Saddle Peak Lodge in Malibu while the others were forced to sort garbage from the tailgate party and in Hell's Kitchen. Jason got drunk during the reward, and in addition to arriving late to prep, was very sluggish in helping out.

    Service: Appetizers ran okay, but Scott had to restart the risotto on the final table after overcooking it and didn't respond when Ramsay asked him what happened. As a result, Ramsay berated Scott and accused him of trying to hide his mistakes. Additionally, Kashia mistakenly cooked one lobster tail instead of two and accused Scott and Joy of not communicating properly to her, even though they had told her to cook two lobster tail. Kashia also refused Melanie's help to run her food to the pass and then lied to Ramsay that Melanie had declined to help her when Ramsay asked why they weren't working together. This caused Ramsay to march both of them into the storeroom where he told them to sort out their differences. On entrées, Rochelle had trouble slicing chicken, forcing Ramsay to help her, while Kashia failed to communicate with the rest of the kitchen and then proceeded to serve raw salmon. She then lashed out at Jason and Rochelle when they asked her for times on the refire and maintained a morose attitude towards the rest of her team, causing Ramsay to send Scott to help her. However, Scott sent raw halibut for a table, which forced Ramsay to send the table incomplete, hoping the halibut could be cooked in time. Kashia and Scott were not able to, and Scott talked back to Ramsay after the latter accused him of not caring. The team finished service, but Ramsay was far from pleased and had the chefs nominate one person for elimination.

    Elimination: Kashia was nominated; Ramsay also nominated Scott since he found his arguing "unacceptable".[note 1] Ramsay eliminated Kashia for her volatile attitude during service and poor performance on fish, but praised her for her effort.

    Ramsay's comment: "Kashia is a great line cook with an incredible attitude. Unfortunately for her, she's just not ready to run her own brigade yet."
    18418"5 Chefs Compete"July 10, 2014 (2014-07-10)4.79[21]

    Challenge: The chefs were treated to a musical number by a rock band, who used discarded everyday objects as their musical instruments. The chefs were then given 30 minutes to make a dish using leftovers from the Hell's Kitchen fridge, which would be judged on taste and presentation by Ramsay and magazine food editor Laurie Buckle. While Jason, Joy, and Rochelle received poor reviews, Scott won, narrowly beating out Melanie.

    Reward/punishment: Scott was rewarded with a photo-shoot for Better Homes and Gardens magazine, where his dish was featured. He chose Jason to join him in flying fighter planes. While the others are busy cutting pumpkins, Rochelle cut her thumb and was sent to the hospital but returned in time for dinner service.

    Service: Comic book legend Stan Lee was a guest at the chef's table. The Red Hat Society along with Bree Williamson and Keran Giovanni were also guests for this service. Scott had a strong performance on appetizers despite being forced to clean burning rice on the stove, while Melanie failed twice to cook an acceptable capellini for the chef's table, but recovered. Rochelle, on meat, lead entrees and constantly called out times, but Joy, despite acknowledging Rochelle's times, served fish too early, angering Ramsay.

    Joy's exit: When Ramsay called out Joy for again serving the fish before Jason's garnish was ready, Joy argued with Ramsay before leaving the kitchen saying "I'm done" and angrily throwing off her jacket despite pleas from her teammates not to leave. Ramsay followed Joy and called her out on her selfish behavior, but Joy argued back once more saying she was done with Ramsay snapping "I know you're done, it shows in your cooking" and she went upstairs to the dorm. The remaining chefs persevered and finished service, while Joy packed her bags in the dorm; Chef Andi attempted to motivate Joy, and while Joy regretted her decision to walk out, she withdrew from the competition, believing it was too late, making her the third chef to walk out of the competition during service, following Season 1's Jeff, and Season 7's Andrew. Joy received a burning picture scene, but it is unknown whether her jacket was hung even though she threw it off.

    Elimination: Ramsay didn't say much about Joy after her departure, although he did state her decision to leave proved to him that she isn't ready to be a head chef, and that he expects everyone else to have a better attitude at this stage of the competition. He also added that to be a great head chef, one needs to have composure, discipline, and maturity, and that Joy lacked all of those things in her decision to leave. Ramsay then told the remaining chefs that despite the ups and downs, they all fought back, and that no one else would be leaving. However, he announced that after the next service, two contestants would be eliminated, with the other two advancing as finalists.

    Ramsay's comment: "Joy's quitting was one of the most shocking things I've ever experienced in Hell's Kitchen. But her lack of maturity tonight proved that she is not ready to be a head chef because leaders never quit."
    18519"4 Chefs Compete"July 17, 2014 (2014-07-17)4.95[22]

    The chefs were summoned downstairs for a security check before meeting Ramsay and security guards outside. VIP guests then arrived; the chefs' loved ones (Rochelle's fiance and parents, Melanie's boyfriend and mother, Jason's girlfriend and mother and Scott's wife, son, and daughter). They all enjoyed a dish that Ramsay prepared for them in the dining room.

    Challenge: This led to the popular 40 minute "Taste it, now make it" challenge. Ramsay allowed the chefs to use a sample plate as a reference since most of them had eaten very little of the dish. For the protein, Jason, Melanie, and Rochelle chose sole, while Scott used escolar. For the garnish, Jason, Rochelle, and Scott chose butternut squash, while Melanie chose pumpkin. For the puree, Jason and Scott chose watercress, Melanie chose arugula and Rochelle chose parsley. Ramsay revealed the protein was sole, eliminating Scott, and the garnish was butternut squash, eliminating Melanie. Jason then beat out Rochelle as he correctly used watercress for his puree, redeeming himself from his bad performance in the blind taste test.

    Reward/punishment: Jason went to two restaurants: the Fig & Olive with Sous Chef Andi, and Ink with his girlfriend and mother. He also won a set of stainless steel cookware. The others had to move unused furniture out of the dorms and prep the kitchen for dinner service. Rochelle sat out due to her cut thumb and Melanie intentionally sat out as well, hoping Scott would tire himself out and sabotage his chances of getting to the final.

    Service: Each chef took a turn running the pass, while also having to spot acts of sabotage Ramsay and sous chef James set up. Rochelle was nervous in leadership as she read out tickets too fast and kept giggling, but after a pep talk by Ramsay, she recovered, rejecting poorly presented salads by Scott and catching shrimp in a risotto instead of lobster. Melanie also spoke very quickly and had a hard time maintaining attention, and was also urged to take control. She improved, but failed to realize that Jean-Philippe had given her a ticket featuring a "chef's special", despite none being on the menu. Scott held everyone to a high standard and was quick to point out even tiny flaws, which annoyed the other chefs, but he led very effectively and caught a duck breast and a raw chicken breast instead of two chicken breasts. Jason was laid-back at first, but then generally led well, catching a salmon instead of halibut.

    Elimination: Ramsay firstly eliminated Rochelle, but praised her for her energy, saying she would have a bright future ahead of her. He then named Scott and Jason to advance to the final, eliminating Melanie.[note 2] Ramsay complimented Melanie on her performance, allowing her to keep her jacket. Neither Melanie or Rochelle received a coat hook or flaming picture scene.
    18620"Winner Chosen"July 24, 2014 (2014-07-24)5.17[23]

    Challenge: Ramsay invited Scott and Jason to a Los Angeles night club, where they competed in their final challenge. Both prepared two appetizers and three entrees in one hour to be judged by five well-renowned chefs from 1–10. Scott won 43–42 after beating Jason on the beef entree by one point.

    Reward: Scott was given the first pick in drafting a team using the ten chefs eliminated from the competition prior to the final.[note 3] Scott picked Chris, Ralph, Rochelle, Kashia, and Jessica, while Jason picked Anton, Melanie, Gabriel and Bev, and was left with Sandra.

    Dinner service: The finalists' families along with Sean Kanan and Shanola Hampton were guests for the final service in addition to guests sitting at the chef's tables which includes singer Natasha Bedingfield in Scott's kitchen and actor Mark Boone Junior in Jason's kitchen. In the red kitchen, despite strong performances from Anton, Melanie, and Bev, Sandra failed to provide times on garnish, served old crab cakes for the chef's table, argued with Jason, and worked slowly. Gabriel overcooked filets, but recovered. In the blue kitchen, Scott got through appetizers fine thanks to Chris cooking perfect scallops, but Jessica was disorganized on garnish, serving uneven remoulade sauce and soggy French fries before Scott kicked her out and had Rochelle take over, marking the second time a finalist threw a chef out of the kitchen. Ramsay praised Jason and Scott and announced the results were very close.

    Winner: After deliberating, Ramsay called Scott and Jason to his office and gave them final praise before sending them to two doors; Scott's door opened, making him the twelfth winner of Hell's Kitchen. Though he left for medical reasons in season 9's 1st episode and actually made it this far in this season, Jason took his defeat graciously and felt Scott deserved to win. Scott gave a victory speech and thanked people for supporting him.[note 4]

    Ramsay's comment: "Scott won tonight because he has all the qualities I'm looking for in a head chef. He is passionate, determined and a true leader. He's an artist plating food and has a phenomenal palate. There's no doubt in my mind that he's got a great career ahead of him."

    Notes
    1. Scott's nomination ties him with Autumn Lewis from season 7, Sabrina Brimhall from season 8, Elise Wims from season 9 and Clemenza Caserta from season 10 as the most nominated contestant in the history of the show, at seven nominations.
    2. This marked the fourth all-male final in the show's history and the first time that a chef who competed in two seasons, Jason, advanced to the final.
    3. Joy and Richard did not return, so Bev and Chris took their places as the last two contestants eliminated prior to the top twelve.
    4. At age 36, Scott is to date the oldest winner of Hell's Kitchen.

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