Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 6)

Contents 1 Chefs 2 Contestant progress 3 Episode guide 3.1 Episode 1 3.2 Episode 2 3.3 Episode 3 3.4 Episode 4 3.5 Episode 5 3.6 Episode 6 3.7 Episode 7 3.8 Episode 8 3.9 Episode 9 3.10 Episode 10 3.11 Episode 11 3.12 Episode 12 3.13 Episode 13 3.14 Episode 14 3.15 Episode 15 4 Epilogue 5 External links 6 References

Season 6 of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen began airing on the Fox Network on July 21, 2009. Gordon Ramsay returned as the host and head chef. Scott Leibfried returned as a sous chef for the blue team, for his sixth season. This season, Heather West, the winner of Season 2, became the new sous chef for the red team. The season concluded on October 13, 2009.

Executive Chef Dave Levey won the season and was awarded a Head Chef position under Executive Chef James Walt ^[1] at the Araxi Restaurant in Whistler, British Columbia, the first time the prize was a position at a Canadian restaurant.^[2]

Chefs

In the first episode, sixteen original chefs competed. But, at the middle of the same episode, the chefs became 17 on Season 6:^[2]

Contestant	Age	Occupation	Hometown
Ariel Contreras-Fox[3]	27	Sous chef	Los Angeles, California
Louie !David "Louie" Cordio	45	Diner owner	Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Kevin Cottle[4]	35	Executive chef	Middletown, Connecticut
Tony D'Alessandro[5]	30	Culinary store manager	Chicago, Illinois
Amanda Davenport[5]	27	Sous chef	New York, New York
Sabrina Gresset[6]	34	Restaurant manager	Phoenix, Arizona
Andy Husbands[7][8]	39	Executive chef	Boston, Massachusetts
Van Hurd[6]	26	Fish cook	Dallas, Texas
Lovely !Connie "Lovely" Jackson	23	Camp chef	Chicago, Illinois
Dave Levey[9]	32	Executive chef	San Diego, California
Jim McGloin[10]	34	Sous chef	Nashua, New Hampshire
Melinda Meaney[11]	38	Private chef	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tennille Middleton[12]	28	Executive chef	Fairfax, Virginia
Tek !Amanda "Tek" Moore	27	Line cook	New York, New York
Suzanne Schlicht[13]	24	Sous chef	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Joseph Tinnelly[14]	27	Sous chef	Massapequa Park, New York

In addition to these 16 chefs, Robert Hesse, 30, an executive chef from Quogue, New York, who first competed in Season 5 of Hell's Kitchen, also competed this season, after Chef Ramsay personally invited him back after the first dinner service. Robert was one of the final five contestants of the previous season before he withdrew due to pericarditis. Between seasons five and six, which were taped over a year apart, Hesse married, lost 55 pounds, and underwent gastric bypass surgery.^[15]

The credits were set partly in a kitchen, and partly in a carnival, with the two being juxtaposed by the use of kitchen implements.

Credit order (ep. 601): Sabrina, Melinda, Van, Joseph, Ariel, Lovely, Jim, Andy, Tek, Tennille, Louie, Kevin, Amanda, Tony, Suzanne, Dave.
(ep. 602 onward): Sabrina, Melinda, Van, Joseph, Ariel, Lovely, Jim, Andy, Tek, Dave, Tennille, Louie, Kevin, Amanda, Tony, Suzanne, Robert.

Contestant progress

Each week, the best member (as determined by Ramsay) from the losing team during the latest service period is asked to nominate two of their fellow teammates for elimination; one of these two is meant to be sent home by Ramsay. On some weeks, there is a variation in the nomination process, depending on the losing team's (or even winning team's) performance.

#	Chef	601	602/603	603	604	605	606	607	608	609	610	611	612	613	614	615
1	Dave	WIN	LOSE	WIN	BoB	WIN	LOSE	BoW	BoB	LOSE	LOSE	IN	IN	IN	IN	WINNER
2	Kevin	WIN	LOSE	WIN	WIN	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	IN	IN	IN	NOM	RUNNER-UP
3	Ariel	LOSE	LOSE	BoW	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	NOM	NOM	IN	OUT
4	Tennille	LOSE	NOM	NOM	LOSE	NOM	LOSE	WIN	BoW	LOSE	LOSE	IN	IN	OUT
5	Suzanne	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	NOM	NOM	LOSE	NOM	OUT
6	Van	WIN	LOSE	WIN	WIN	WIN	LOSE	NOM	WIN	LOSE	NOM	OUT
7	Sabrina	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	BoW	LOSE	NOM	WIN	NOM	NOM	OUT
8	Andy	WIN	NOM	WIN	WIN	WIN	NOM	NOM	WIN	OUT
9	Amanda	NOM	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	NOM	LOSE	WIN	OUT
10	Robert	BACK	LOSE	WIN	WIN	WIN	SICK	OUT
11	Jim	WIN	LOSE	WIN	WIN	WIN	OUT
12	Tek	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	NOM	OUT
13	Lovely	LOSE	NOM	NOM	OUT
14	Tony	WIN	OUT
15	Joseph	WIN	QUIT
16	Melinda	OUT
17	Louie	OUT

     Contestant was nominated for elimination but prevailed

     Contestant was nominated for elimination by Chef Ramsay

     Contestant was eliminated

     Contestant voluntarily left the competition

     The winner of Hell's Kitchen

Episode guide

Each episode consists of a challenge with a reward, a service and an elimination.

Episode 1

• Original airdate: July 21, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 601, "16 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Overview: At the start of the episode, Jean-Philippe standing to wait the bus and the chefs have arrived to Hell's Kitchen and he gave three present tips to them from former contestants: Bonnie Muirhead (season 3), Colleen Cleek (season 5) and Aaron Song (season 3) to avoiding mistakes in future dinner services.
• Signature Dishes / Team Challenge: For the first time in this series, the signature dish presentation doubled as a team challenge. Each contestant had 45 minutes to cook their signature dish for Chef Ramsay's approval—the team with the most dishes approved would win the challenge. Tek, Tennille, Tony, Jim and Van all impressed Chef Ramsay with their dishes. Dave and Joseph earned compliments for the meat that they cooked, but both failed to cook the vegetables properly and lost out. Eyebrows were also raised when Ramsay asked Joseph to taste one of the undercooked vegetables he had served, and Joseph angrily refused to do so unless Ramsay gave him a fork. Chef Ramsay felt Kevin had cooked his filet steak well, but was bemused by his decision to use a coffee-based sauce. Ariel's duck was badly undercooked, and so was Suzanne's risotto. Andy and Lovely's dishes were felt to be very poor all around by Chef Ramsay. Amanda was berated for spending little effort on her dish (margarita french toast) and apparently trying to get Chef Ramsay drunk on tequila. Louie served up a sausage gravy that Chef Ramsay found disgusting. Melinda attempted to make a poached lobster, but her preparation went badly wrong, leaving only a few chunks of the lobster still edible, and Chef Ramsay was so outraged by this failure that he threw the dish in the trash without even bothering to taste it. Sabrina had a chance to earn the red team a draw, but blew it by making her dish far too spicy. The blue team won 3 dishes to 2.
• Award / Punishment: The blue team had a lunch at Hell's Kitchen, featuring dishes from Ramsay's London West Hollywood restaurant. The red team's punishment was to clean both kitchens after the challenge.
• Service: Things quickly got off to a bad start, as Lovely cooked the fondants before Hell's Kitchen had even opened (and burnt them as well). Partway through the service, she left the kitchen for nearly an hour because she was feeling "thirsty." The red team had to cook the same pasta dish nine times—and they still cooked it incorrectly; Chef Ramsay singled out Melinda for wasting too much pasta, especially undercooked pasta, in which she should have just cooked the dish a little longer. The errors were not only on the appetizer station, as Tek did not manage to deliver an acceptable serving of scallops. Amanda put the salmon wraps in the freezer instead of the fridge, ruining the entire stock of salmon for the night. Because of the red team's numerous errors, not one entrée ever left the kitchen, a first for this series. Jim had well-cooked scallops on his first attempt, but were the wrong amount. The blue team managed to reach the entree stage, but also experienced numerous difficulties. In particular, Louie attempted to cook raw lamb without searing or seasoning the meat, he also tried taking over Joseph's garnish station to get entrées out faster and when Ramsay saw that he quickly removed him from Joseph's station, and Louie also served up numerous poorly cut pieces of meat. When it became obvious that the service was going nowhere, with the Red Team having served virtually nothing and the Blue Team only having served a few entrées, Ramsay ordered the kitchen to be shut down.
  • Early elimination: After discovering that Louie had wasted a huge amount of lamb over the course of the night, in addition to the poorly carved pieces he had already served, Chef Ramsay lost his temper at Louie's seemingly total lack of ability and eliminated him on the spot.
• Nominees for elimination: For being able to reach the entrée stage, the blues were the winners, with the reds having to choose two to leave Hell's Kitchen. Amanda and Melinda were nominated, although Amanda thought Lovely should be up instead of her.
• Elimination: Melinda was told to leave Hell's Kitchen.
• Chef Ramsay's Reason:
  • Louie: After making poor attempts at cooking lamb on the meat station Chef Ramsay threw Louie out even before dinner service was over by telling him to "Get upstairs and get your bags packed". During his closing plea after being thrown out of dinner service, Louie says that his bags are already packed and says to Chef Ramsay, "You can kiss my fucking ass". (Like Josh Wahler from season 3 and Lacey D'Angelo from the previous season, no reason was given for Louie's elimination at the end of the episode, nor did he receive the "coat hook and burning picture" routine.)
  • Melinda: "Melinda was completely lost in space. So I sent her back to whatever planet she came from."
• Other developments: Robert, whose illness forced him out of last season's competition, was called in to replace Louie on the blue team. However, due to the red team's poor performance, Robert was ordered by Chef Ramsay to move to the red team. As a result, the blue team was down a member.

Episode 2

• Original airdate: July 21, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 602, "15 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Opening Change: During the opening title of the second episode, Robert is introduced to the cast. He replaced Dave's portion of the opening where as Dave was moved to a point between Tek and Tennille, which was previously empty.
• Team Challenge: Each team must prepare shrimp for the next night's service, with each team scoring one point for each shrimp perfectly prepared. The blue team won, 45 shrimp to the red team's 44.
• Award / Punishment: The blue team ate at The Cannery Restaurant in Newport Beach, California, followed by dessert on a yacht. The red team prepared shrimp and lemon wedges for the service. Tensions rose between Suzanne and Tenille, because Tenille was giving more orders than working, and Suzanne thought she had no room to do this because she was only able to clean one shrimp and was the main reason they lost the challenge.
• Service: Episode two's service featured Van and Tenille cooking and serving up shrimp scampi in the dining room. Tony had a hard time segmenting grapefruit, always being reminded to cut over a bowl. Tennille faced not only Chef Ramsay's anger, but also her team's for having served undercooked shrimp to a woman who was pregnant. At one point, Van accidentally served customers in another team's area and kept dropping shrimp and pans on the floor. In addition, Van chose to obnoxiously ignore Jean-Philippe's admonition to respect the dining room, to a point where Van and "J.P." ended up in a shouting match in front of the customers. Chef Ramsay pulled them both out of the kitchen to set them straight and reprimanded the pair of them for their behavior which he described as an embarrassment to him and the restaurant. However J.P then taunted Van by saying "Ladies first" to him when he held the door open for Van. Andy and Sabrina had trouble cooking chicken. Tony and Kevin weren't able to send out fish. Lovely kept burning her fish, and forgot to turn the gas on before she starting her cooking. With the service a lost cause, Chef Ramsay ordered all contestants to make shrimp cocktails for the diners (stressing that it required no cooking to make) -- then ordered both kitchens to be shut down.
• Nominees for elimination: With the season's second service worse than the first, Chef Ramsay ordered two chefs from each team to be nominated for elimination. In the ensuing discussion Tony nominated himself, and the rest of the men nominated Andy, while on the Red team Tennille and Lovely were nominated despite neither being willing to admit any wrongdoing (Tennille didn't think it was a big deal that she had served raw shrimp to the pregnant woman since it had been accidental, while Lovely blamed Tek and even Chef Ramsay himself for her mistakes).
• Elimination: Ariel civilly named Tennille and Lovely as the Red team's nominees. Joseph, however, ignored Chef Ramsay's request to give the "first nominee and why" for the Blue team, rather insisting that "they can speak for themselves, they know who they are". Ramsay branded Joseph a "smartass" and asked again for "first nominee and why". Joseph then announced Andy and Tony, without giving a reason as to why. Chef Ramsay refused to accept the nominees, other than in the "first nominee and why" format and stepped up to the line of chefs to express his point. Joseph refused to calm down and got mouthy at the other contestants when they tried to calm him down. Eventually Joseph became very angry, proclaimed that he "ain't no bitch", tore off his jacket, and got in Chef Ramsay's face after Chef Ramsay begun to lose his patience at Joseph. At this point, "To be continued" flashed on the screen, delaying the elimination until the next episode.

Episode 3

• Original airdate: July 28, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 603, "14 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Episode 2 Nominees for elimination (cont'd.): Following the replay of the previous episode's disturbance, the confrontation continues, in which Joseph calls Chef Ramsay "nothing but a bitch." Chef Ramsay stood his ground, told Joseph that he had "no respect", and told him to leave the competition. Joseph left the building (tripping over a step on the way out). In the exit interview Joseph proclaimed that any kitchen would be proud to have him. Chef Ramsay then went back to the business at hand, and asked Kevin for the nominations—as with Joseph's, they were Andy and Tony, but this time Kevin gave Chef Ramsay valid reasons for the nominations.
• Episode 2 Elimination: Tony was told to leave Hell's Kitchen.
• Team Change: With three members short on the blue team, Chef Ramsay had Robert go back to the blue team.
• Team Challenge: At 2 A.M., the contestants were awakened with lights and sirens from fire trucks. However, there was no fire, but there was a team challenge—serve the firefighters a pasta meal, as an exercise in teamwork and planning; the first to serve all firefighters on its side wins. The dishes were garlic bread, Meatball Marinara, and Chicken Alfredo. The garlic bread must be served before the pasta entrees. Andy and Lovely had trouble cooking garlic bread; however Lovely quickly recovered to get her orders out, while Andy struggled to the point where the pasta entrees were finished before the bread was. In addition, Andy only used two of the five available ovens, slowing the blue team even more. Eventually, Andy's bread makes it out to the dining room. The red team was far ahead, but was pushed back to the blue team's progress when Sabrina didn't put enough chicken in the Alfredo and Tek undercooked some of the meatballs for the Marinara. Both teams made it to the final ticket simultaneously, but the red team narrowly won.
• Award / Punishment: The red team went by helicopter to spend a day at the Pacific Waters Spa. The blue team cleaned up the firefighters' engines, to be followed by cleaning up the dining area. However, during the engine cleanings, Dave sprained his wrist, while Kevin sprained both ankles. After treatment, both opted to stay in the competition.
• Service: In this service, Dave and Lovely were assigned to wait tables. Lovely was criticised for taking 42 minutes to place an order, due to her handwriting, as well as a customer requesting a rare Balmoral wine. Tennille used too much oil in her scallops, and continued to do so against the advice of her teammates, and Chef Ramsay. Andy tried to cook too many scallops in one small pan, and he and Robert got into an argument about it, Andy was also much slower cooking than the rest of the team. Chef Ramsey told Van to stop shouting because he was confusing his team; however, Van impressed Ramsey and Sous Chef Scott with a wonderful risotto. Amanda put the wrong amount of lamb on a plate. Both teams were able to complete their service, with the reds finishing first; the blue team had one order to go and was poised to win, but Robert forgot to cook the salmon, forcing a 12-minute delay on the final table. However, the blue team was declared the winning team after all, based on comment cards from the customers — 83% of the Blue Team's customers rated their experience "above average", compared to the Red Team's 81%.
• Nominees for elimination: Ariel was Best of Worst, and was told to select two of her teammates for elimination; she selected Lovely and Tennille.
• Elimination: As two contestants were eliminated after the last service—notably Joseph, for his behavior—Chef Ramsay decided no one will be eliminated. Chef Ramsay then had parting words, playing off of Joseph's diatribe -- "I'm nobody's bitch.". Chef Ramsay then checked up on Amanda's math skills again. Fortunately, he changed the question to "3 times 12". Amanda answered 9, thinking that it was the correct answer from last time, but she quickly corrected herself and apologized after realizing the question changed.
• Chef Ramsay's Reason: "Lovely and Tennille may think they've just received a gift, but what I have in store for them tomorrow will have them running for the door." (No reasons were given for Joseph's or Tony's elimination, though Tony got the coat hook and burning picture routine after his elimination before moving on to the team challenge. However, in episode 4, Joseph's burned picture and hung jacket can be seen when Chef Ramsay hanging Lovely's jacket.)

Episode 4

• Original airdate: August 4, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 604, "13 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Team Challenge: Contestants, paired in groups of two, are to make sausages, by hand. The first team to make six strings of sausages to Chef Ramsay's specifications wins. Ramsay chose Amanda to sit out. All the men were confident in their sausage making abilities, while the majority of the women were nervous. Despite this, the women flew though the process perfectly. Jim and Robert were the only pair not to produce a single line of sausages. Ariel and Sabrina produced a line too thin. The red team won, 6 strings to the blue team's four.
• Award / Punishment: The red team go to the Old World Village restaurant in Huntington Beach, where they will celebrate in their very own Oktoberfest. The blues must clean up the dorms of both teams. The punishment had especially taken a mental toll on Robert, who has yet to win a single challenge himself. When Sous Chef Scott told him to keep focusing on the competition, Robert broke his broom in a fit of anger. Also, Dave receives a call from his doctor, informing him that his sprained wrist was actually a fracture, and he must come to the hospital to have a cast put on his wrist for two weeks, rendering his left arm immobile; this had led to Dave contemplating on quitting the competition, but, after seeking advice from Chef Ramsay, he opted to stay.
• Service: Tonight's service featured numerous celebrities as customers, including Melinda Clarke, Dwight Freeney, Tom Green, John O'Hurley, Drew Lachey, Christopher "Kid" Reid, and Kristy Swanson. Jim and Ariel would have to prepare an Amuse-bouche appetizer. During this, Jim was too slow, talking to the customers. The Blue team had two fewer members since Dave had left to have his arm placed in a cast. (Dave would join in later on in the service.) Jim was taking too long talking with the customers. Andy's lamb was undercooked, and he sent raw chicken. On the Red team, Lovely had trouble keeping track of the orders while Tek had difficulties on the appetizer station as John O'Hurley sent back his capellini, as it was too salty. Dave came back for service and moved quickest with only one hand on the desserts station. When each side had three entree tickets remaining, it became a race for the finish—the blue team won after serving all their entrees in a close finish, with Lovely's failure to get the garnishes up in a timely manner costing the red team dearly. In the post-mortem that followed, Suzanne asked Chef Ramsay for a "play-by-play" of their losing service—Chef Ramsay responded, "Take it on the fucking chin, with a little bit of respect. End of fucking story -- you lost." [sic] Chef Ramsay also pointed out that despite only having "eleven hands" (due to Dave's wrist fracture, and compared to the women's 14), the Blue team was still able to complete service ahead of the Red team.
• Nominees for elimination: Sabrina was Best of Worst, and was told to select two of her teammates for elimination. She selected Lovely and Tek for elimination.
• Elimination: After asking Suzanne who she would send home, Suzanne said Lovely. Chef Ramsay agreed with the decision and told Lovely to leave Hell's Kitchen; while he thought that Tek had actually been the worst performer of the night, Ramsay said that he could no longer put up with Lovely's continued mistakes, nor her habit of blaming others when they occurred.
• Chef Ramsay's Reason: "If people were named for their cooking, her name wouldn't be Lovely, it would be Useless."

Episode 5

• Original airdate: August 11, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 605, "12 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Special Service: Marine Staff Sergeant Otis James has just returned home from a tour of duty in Iraq. To celebrate his return, Chef Ramsay will be giving him, his family and friends a special service, featuring Otis' favorite foods.
• Team Challenge: Each team has 45 minutes to cook up one appetizer and two entrees, using pointers given by Otis' wife as a guide. She only gave the instructions to Robert and Suzanne, who then needed to relay the info to their team. Mrs. James would also determine, by taste, which dish would Otis like best; the team with the most selected dishes wins. Robert gave his information to the rest of the blue team and allowed them to come to a consensus on which dishes to cook, whereas Suzanne devised a menu herself and ordered the red team to cook it. The blue team won two dishes to one, with the decider coming on the surf and turf dishes. Crucially, Robert correctly remembered that Otis preferred grilled lobster, whereas Suzanne misremembered what she had been told and served up a poached lobster, resulting in the blue team's victory. The others on the red team blamed Suzanne's leadership approach for their loss, especially Tennille whose suggestion for soul food was turned down.
• Award / Punishment: The blue team spent the day flying in a mock dogfight with professional aviators from Air Combat USA. The blue team's menu will be cooked on both sides of the dining room for the celebration, and they will be tasked with cooking for Sgt. James' table. The red team must prepare the dining room for the celebration, to the specifications of Chef Ramsay's wife, Tana.
• Service: The blue team managed to serve all their tables successfully, though the high volume of Surf & Turf orders threatened to overwhelm Jim on the grilling station. Kevin helped him get his orders out, but Chef Ramsay was far from impressed by Jim's performance. The red team started off well enough, despite Sabrina failing to cook a mushroom salad properly, but they got stalled completely when it came to the entrees, as Tek consistently proved unable to get the steaks out at the right temperature (ignoring the advice of Tennille and Ariel, who both told her to finish the steaks in the oven rather than just grilling them), and also forgot that a hamburger was part of the order. When Tek finally managed to cook some acceptable steaks, the order still couldn't be sent because Amanda had undercooked the lobster. By this point the blue team had served all their entrees, and Chef Ramsay dismissed the red team and had the blue team (except Kevin, who was doing the desserts) finish up the service for them.
• Nominees for elimination: The red team was told to select two of their teammates for elimination, not only based on this service, but based on the competition as a whole. They selected Tennille and Tek. Tennille, however, thought she improved in that night's service, and thought Amanda should have been nominated, so Chef Ramsay decided to have Amanda come up as well.
• Elimination: After all three nominees stepped forward, Chef Ramsay told Tennille to get back in line after said that she shouldn't be on the chopping block despite being up there twice. During her reason on why she should stay in Hell's Kitchen, Amanda started to break down and Chef Ramsay thinks as he is looking through her eyes by stating that she is finished. In the end, Chef Ramsay told Tek to leave Hell's Kitchen.
• Chef Ramsay's Reason: "I kept on waiting for Tek to emerge. She couldn't even handle her station. Tek had a total meltdown."

Episode 6

• Original airdate: August 18, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 606, "11 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Team Challenge: Each team has 45 minutes to create a low-calorie meal, consisting of an appetizer, an entreé, and a dessert, with the entire meal containing less than 700 calories; the team with the most items selected by Chef Ramsay wins. Both teams impressed Ramsay with their appetizers, earning a point each. The red team's entreé also impressed Ramsay, and he commented on the perfect portion control. However, the blue team's entreé was severely cut down so the calorie count would be under 700. Ramsay awarded the red team the point because the blue team's entreé was "boring in terms of moisture". Sabrina was skeptical of the red team's dessert, but it managed to get a good review despite the awkward usage of ingredients. The blue team's dessert (created by Andy and Dave) was the worst dish, as Ramsay laughed in disbelief when he saw how small and simple it was, and announced that the taste was "foul". The red team won 3-1.
• Award / Punishment: In addition to the red team's low-calorie menu being cooked on both sides of the dining room, the red team also spent the day at Venice Beach, being taught how to play volleyball by Olympic silver medalist Annett Davis. In addition, they were also given a gift basket, which includes a Vitamix blender and a copy of Chef Ramsay's book, Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite. The blue team spent the day prepping both sides for that night's service. In addition, they also drove a Conference Bike (an elaborate, multi-person, pedal-operated vehicle) to a market to pick up more produce. The operation of this vehicle was more than Robert could take — after returning to Hell's Kitchen, he was rushed to a hospital, experiencing shortness of breath and dizziness. Because of this, he was unable to participate in that night's service.
• Service: On the blue team, Andy failed to pay attention to Chef Ramsay's orders—each time, when asked how many of something was on order, Andy gave a different number. In addition, Andy repeatedly cooked the scallops incorrectly; he also undercooked the halibut, before overcooking the same piece. Jim dragged the team at the start of service by continually cooking the risotto incorrectly until Chef Scott was told to take over the station. Dave got yelled at by Chef Scott because he was cooking garnish for the wrong dish. On the red team, Ariel "boiled" the scallops, while the entrees were being returned due to them being undercooked, especially the pork, which Sabrina took the heat for. Tennille was almost booted out of the competition when she back-talked at Chef Ramsay over not making enough mashed potatoes, but was allowed to return. Since the service went nowhere, Chef Ramsay ordered the kitchen shut down.
• Nominees for elimination: As both teams were losers on that night's service (there wasn't even a Best of the Worst), both must nominate one from each team. The red team nominated Sabrina, but the blue team initially refused to nominate anyone and said that Robert should be eliminated for not taking part in the service. Chef Ramsay told them that while Robert would be eliminated if he missed the following service as well, it would be unfair to eliminate him for a service that he was unable to take part in. The blue team were asked again for a nominee, and this time they nominated Andy.
• Elimination: Chef Ramsay decided to go off the board and told Jim to leave Hell's Kitchen due to lack of passion for cooking, telling him "I can teach a chef how to cook, but I can't give you a heart. You're not the Tinman and I'm not the fucking Wizard of Oz. Give me your jacket." [sic]
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "At times I thought Jim was sleepwalking, but then I realized that he had no passion. And that's why it was time for him to leave Hell's Kitchen."

Episode 7

• Original airdate: August 25, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 607, "10 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Team Challenge: Each team rolled a dice which had letters on twelve sides. Whichever letter it showed, the chef had to name an ingredient starting with that letter. They then had to cook using the ingredients. The Red Team ended up with rabbit, Haricot Verts (Green Beans), Potato, Garlic, and Ham Hock. The Blue Team ended up with Haddock, Figs, Angel Hair Pasta, Apple, and Tomato. The Blue team members were worried that Dave's choice of figs (Kevin had been hoping for fennel) would ruin their dish, but when the figs were added to the tomato sauce, Kevin was surprised to find that they vastly improved the flavor of the sauce. The Blue Team were named the winners; while both dishes were cooked well and the Red Team's ingredients seemed to fit together better, Chef Ramsay thought that the garlic dressing on the women's dish was disgusting and ruined its flavor, causing the Red Team to lose.
• Award / Punishment: The Blue Team went on a flight to Las Vegas where they toured the city in a limousine and then got to stay a night in a high class suite at the Palms Casino Resort. The Red Team had to unload and unpack boxes of food being delivered to Hell's Kitchen, including wine for Jean-Phillippe. As well, the Red team had to perform inventory of the kitchen as well as cleaning and prepping for the next service. Finally, the Red Team was awoken at 1:15AM to accept yet another delivery of food.
• Service: The men were down a man as Robert was still in the hospital, while the women were sick of Suzanne. Just before service began Robert returned. The men thought the team dynamic worked better without Robert, and as a result Robert wandered around doing nothing for the pre-service, finally going upstairs to eat a cheeseburger. Robert was told he did not have a heart attack but needed to know his limits. Each team had a Chef's table on their side of the kitchen. Throughout service each team kept forgetting to service the Chef's Table. When it came time for Van to talk with the chefs on the Blue side he completely forgot what he was cooking on the fish station. As well, two of Van's fish dishes were sent back as they still had pieces of plastic wrap on them. Robert made mistakes on the meat station, making the meat less than the size of the bone itself. The Red Team were doing well throughout service but hit a slight snag on the pasta. Amanda received blame from Chef Ramsay because she didn't have her food ready, due to Ariel not having the pasta ready. Chef Ramsay scolded Kevin for not stopping what he was doing to regroup with Chef Ramsay. Finally, Robert's rabbit was raw, so Chef Ramsay told the Blue Team to shut down. The Red Team finished their service with both Chef's Table chefs saying they would love to return; while they hated Ariel's scallops, they enjoyed both the meat and fish entrees. Conversely, the Blue Team's Chef's Table chefs liked Dave's appetizers, but weren't impressed by Van's fish and didn't get a meat entree at all, and as a result they said 'thanks, but no thanks'. The Blue Team were the night's losers, with Dave named Best of the Worst, giving him the duty to name two contestants to leave Hell's Kitchen.
• Nominees for elimination: Dave nominated Robert for his weak service, and some health problems. Van was the other nominee after Dave said it was based on his performance, due to the issues of the plastic wrap on cooked fish. Andy was also brought forward by Chef Ramsay due to issues in past performances. This led to Robert constantly railing against Andy during the elimination process.
• Elimination: Chef Ramsay ordered Andy to get back in line and then eliminated Robert, citing that Robert, having competed in two seasons, had more experience with Hell's Kitchen services than any of the other chefs, and yet he still performed poorly. During Robert's exit, he was paid a retrospect montage that is usually only reserved for eliminated contestants on the united black team.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "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."

Episode 8

• Original airdate: September 1, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 608, "9 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Team Challenge: The contestants participate in a blind taste test to see how refined the chefs' palates are. Chefs are paired off and blindfolded as well as having their ears covered with headphones. Since red team had one extra person over the blue team, Tennille is told to sit out. Each chef is then given 4 ingredients to taste and they have to identify it correctly to receive points for their teams. The team with the most points wins. The red team won, correctly identifying 6 ingredients, while the blue team identified only 4.
• Award / Punishment: The red team went to Opaque at the V Lounge in Santa Monica, California with Chef Ramsey for a "dining in the dark" experience. The blue team stayed behind to make sorbet for tonight's service, as well as take in a delivery of fruit and clean the glasses for the sorbet. In addition, each blue team member drinks a smoothie, consisting of gourmet entrees mixed in a blender, which only Van enjoys.
• Service: The blue team was able to complete their service with few flaws. Andy ran out of mashed potatoes for the last few remaining orders, and Chef Ramsay forced him to apologize to the affected diners, but Dave was able to successfully cook up a new batch quickly despite his injured arm. The red team had several major problems during the service. Suzanne, who had cooked her Sea Bass early put pressure on Sabrina to quickly get out the lamb which ended up undercooked, and Chef Ramsay temporarily ejected Sabrina from the kitchen and forced her to eat the lamb. Later, Suzanne held up a table's orders too long due to delays in cooking the Sea Bass, and Chef Ramsay forced the red team to redo the table. Close to the end of dinner service, Suzanne asked for Amanda's help with the halibut, but Amanda undercooked it instead and took the blame from Chef Ramsay. Nevertheless, both teams completed their service, with the blue team the winners. Chef Ramsay noted that the blue team won despite being one cook down, and he especially singled out Dave for his performance.
• Nominees for elimination: Chef Ramsay named Tennille the Best of the Worst and instructed her to choose two of her teammates for elimination. Suzanne was easily selected for her arrogance, lack of teamwork, and being the weakest cook. Suzanne said that she didn't understand why everyone else hated her just because she creates a sense of urgency and intensity. Tennille had difficulty deciding between Amanda and Sabrina, ending up choosing Sabrina for not stepping up to make the team succeed. Chef Ramsay orders a third chef, Amanda to step forward for elimination. Chef Ramsey asked Suzanne why she should stay in Hell's Kitchen, and after Suzanne gave her reply, Tenille started to shake her head. She told Chef Ramsey that Suzanne's reason to stay is a prime example of trying to get him to believe in her despite the fact that she throws people under the bus. The women continue to rail against her, including Sabrina telling Chef Ramsey she had to cut new lamb to keep up with Suzanne. Suzanne tries to defend herself by saying that she was trying to push, push, push. Meanwhile, Tennille kept attacking her by saying that Suzanne's pushing put them behind, making the rest of the red team too hasty. The argument ends with Chef Ramsey losing his patience by asking Tennille, "Are you done?".
• Elimination: Chef Ramsay told Amanda to leave Hell's Kitchen.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "Amanda was a sweet girl, but sweet girls don't make great head chefs."

Episode 9

• Original airdate: September 8, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 609, "8 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Team Challenge: Each team had 20 minutes to make four crêpes -- one each for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Chef Ramsay and Jean-Philippe decided which ones were best. Ariel and Van both received good reviews for their crêpes, but Ariel won because Van's crêpe was too thick and spongy. Andy beat Tennille in lunch, as Tennille's crêpe was too spicy. Kevin and Suzanne tied for dinner, but Suzanne annoyed both teams by taking too long to describe her crêpe, as well as wasting time by saying what she could do with the crêpe. Dave had trouble with his dessert crêpe, because he couldn't create a decent crêpe. According to Ramsay, his presentation looked like "diarrhea", and his dish was not tasted. Sabrina ended up winning it for the red team, 3 to 2.
• Award / Punishment: The red team learned how to be mime artists, followed by dining at La Cachette Bistro in Santa Monica, where they were served foie gras. The blue team prepared both kitchens for a French-themed service; in addition, they also dined on more primitive French cuisine -- cow tongue, baguettes and head cheese. Prior to the start of service, Andy accidentally sliced off his fingertips while using a mandoline to slice potatoes, requiring medical assistance—he returned at the start of service.
• Service: Suzanne made several errors, including undercooking and overcooking the lamb and cutting meat too early. Sabrina also underseasoned the risotto, forcing Chef Ramsay to grab Dave's risotto for comparison. Sabrina was reprimanded by Chef Ramsay for underspicing the frog legs. Andy failed to do many of his tasks, and in one simple task, making the salad, Chef Ramsay accused Andy of putting in too much dressing. Andy's reasoning for his mistakes was that his fingers on his left hand were injured (as he uses his left hand to accomplish most tasks), but Chef Ramsay begged to differ, as Kevin and Dave were working well in their tasks, despite their injuries. Dave, at one point, was doing many cooking tasks simultaneously, and was met with immense praise from Ramsey (who stated that Dave "was a ten-thousand-times better cook with one arm than with two"). Chef Ramsay would eventually kick Andy, Sabrina, and Suzanne out of the kitchen for too many mistakes, forcing the remaining members to complete their services alone—especially on the red team, where Tennille and Ariel completed service by themselves, with help from Sous Chef Heather.
• Nominees for elimination: With neither team winning, Chef Ramsay decided that the entire group decide which two should leave Hell's Kitchen. As a group, they chose Suzanne and Andy. The teams then debated switching the nomination to Suzanne and Sabrina on the grounds that this was more likely to lead to Suzanne's elimination, but they ultimately stuck with their original choice.
• Elimination: Chef Ramsay told Andy to leave Hell's Kitchen. Before Andy left, Chef Ramsay complimented him on having a big heart, but also added that he had to "stop panicking". After elimination, Chef Ramsay summoned Sabrina to step forward as he had continuing concerns about her performance.
• Team Change: Chef Ramsay told Suzanne to take off her jacket and informed her she will be working with the Blue Team, beginning next episode.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "Andy has had good and bad moments in Hell's Kitchen. Unfortunately, most of them were bad."

Episode 10

• Original airdate: September 22, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 610, "7 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Team Challenge: Overnight, Chef Ramsay flew to Whistler to give the contestants, via a video connection, a tour of the Araxi restaurant, as well as introduce this episode's challenge: the chefs have 2½ hours, the time it takes to fly back to Los Angeles, to prepare three entrees using all 15 ingredients (all native to Canada), without repeating ingredients. Former Olympic Medalists Sasha Cohen (Figure Skating) and Jonny Moseley (Freestyle Skiing) judge each entree. The blue team won both votes on the first entree. Despite Tennille mistaking venison for lamb, the red team won both votes on the second entree. The blue team won both votes on the last entree and win the contest 4-2.
• Award / Punishment: The blue team went with Chef Ramsay to the Campanile restaurant where chef Mark Peele shows them stylish versions of everyday dishes, such as a grilled cheese sandwich; in addition, each received a "souvenir" -- a tuque with Whistler's logo emblazoned upon it. The red team had to go to a farm to do various chores, including milking the cows and cleaning the pig pen.
• Service: Before dinner service, Chef Ramsay tears up the dinner menu and has each team create a new menu, with their own personal flair. While the Blue team has no problem creating their menu, Ariel disregards most of Tennille's suggestions and creates the Red team's menu largely by herself, while Sabrina doesn't contribute anything despite her team asking her for ideas. During service, Van has constant issues with the fish station, and at one point, spills the sauce for the fish at the pass, which gains Chef Ramsay's ire. Ariel sends out still-frozen ravioli on three different occasions. Dave re-aggravates his arm injury after lifting a heavy pan, and despite having the medic called over, chooses to fight through the rest of the service. Van and Sabrina are both singled out for undercooking the halibut; in Van's case, Chef Ramsay slams a hand into the halibut, causing it to "explode," and then closes both kitchens.
• Nominees for elimination: Unlike the previous episode, with neither team winning, each team decides which of their teammates leaves Hell's Kitchen. Van unsuccessfully attempts to convince Dave and Kevin to vote Suzanne to the chopping block. Dave announces that Van was nominated for his poor service, while acknowledging that Suzanne is the weakest cook on the blue team. The red team nominate Sabrina, who goes on the chopping block for the 3rd straight service.
• Elimination: Despite Chef Ramsay's belief that Van cannot win the competition, Sabrina is told to leave Hell's Kitchen. Like Robert in episode 7, Sabrina was also paid a retrospect montage.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "Sabrina wanted to be the head chef in Whistler. Now all she has to do, is take those red lips and whistle on out of here."

Episode 11

• Original airdate: September 22, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 611, "6 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Final Six: The remaining chefs now unify to the black team.
• Team Challenge: In the "taste it and make it" challenge, the chefs are arranged in groups of two and have 30 minutes to recreate one of Chef Ramsay's signature dishes, based on taste alone. Chef Ramsay then judges the dishes, and decides that Dave and Suzanne have recreated the dish the most accurately, declaring them the winners. Tennille and Kevin forgot the garnish - calamari - in their dish.
• Award / Punishment: Dave and Suzanne have lunch with Chef Ramsay, cooked by the winning chef of Season 4, Christina Machamer at Ramsay's London West Hollywood restaurant. The others prep the kitchen and the dining room for a special "couples" dinner service.
• Service: In this service, Kevin serves salad and Porterhouse steaks table side. However, he is unable to actually serve the salads as Suzanne has trouble with her appetizers, which needed to be at the table at the same time. Apart from Chef Ramsay noticing that Van was incessantly dropping beads of sweat into his scallop appetizers, Van undercooks his halibut and Ariel burns her garnish, lettuce. Van is taken aside and told not to mess up again, or he will be thrown out. It all becomes too much for Chef Ramsay; he walks out of the kitchen—and the building—with Sous Chef Scott, a first in this series (This was the only episode done when Chefs walk out the kitchen until the twelfth episode of the eighth season). Tennille and Kevin take control of the kitchen. Ariel continues to struggle on staying in sync with the others. They eventually get back on track, and Kevin goes back to tableside service, delegating to Suzanne the responsibility of plating the dishes. However, Suzanne is reluctant to take control and Van decides to take over. Chef Ramsay returns to the kitchen and, insulted that he had to leave, sends Van, Ariel and Suzanne to their dorms, leaving Kevin, Dave and Tennille to finish the service themselves. Van becomes infuriated, and even though Ariel attempts to calm him down in the dorms, Van walks out of the dorms.
• Nominees for elimination: Chef Ramsay tells Tennille, Kevin and Dave to decide two of the three people that were kicked out to eliminate from Hell's Kitchen. As a team, they agree upon Suzanne and Ariel. After Dave announces the nominees, Chef Ramsay asks Tennille for her opinion, and she believes that Van is the weakest chef. As a result, all three that were kicked out of the kitchen were called out by Chef Ramsay to state their case.
• Elimination: Ariel calling to leave and thinking to be eliminated, starting to take off her jacket and Chef Ramsay ordered her to back in line. Chef Ramsay chose Van to leave Hell's Kitchen. Dave, wanting to eliminate Ariel believing that she was a more capable opponent than Van, said that he was "blindsided" by Tennille.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "Van may be a poissonier, but his performance on fish was anything but 'Vantastic.'"

Episode 12

• Original airdate: September 29, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 612, "5 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Individual Challenge: In the first individual challenge, each chef has 45 minutes to cook an entree that not only tastes the best, but also is the most-appealing to the eye. The editorial staff of Bon Appétit magazine will judge the visual aspects, with the top two dishes judged by Chef Ramsay and Bon Appétit editor in chief Barbara Fairchild for taste. Ariel's John Dory dish and Kevin's Caribbean Sea Bass made the top two. Summarily, the taste test ended in a tie, as neither Fairchild nor Chef Ramsay could come to a consensus on what tasted the best.
• Award / Punishment: Kevin and Ariel join Fairchild and Chef Ramsay at the Shutters on the Beach Hotel in Santa Monica for a photo shoot for a future issue of Bon Appétit; in addition, their entrees would be featured in that night's service. The others pick up litter off a stretch of road "adopted" by Hell's Kitchen, dressed up in jumpsuits like prison inmates, and transported on a prison bus. In addition, they will also clean up the Hell's Kitchen complex as well. The punishment had aggravated Dave's broken arm, requiring him to wrap it in ice; Kevin tried to talk Dave into quitting, but Dave refused to do so.
• Service: Tonight's service features both Kevin and Ariel's winning dishes from the challenge. Tennille's risotto was overcooked; when she overcooked it again, Chef Ramsay criticized Tennille for failing to catch the overcooked rice going in the risotto. Kevin confessed that he overcooked the rice in pre-service preparation, forcing them to gather a new batch of rice for the risotto. Suzanne had difficulty cooking Ariel's John Dory dish. Ariel had undercooked the chicken and the lamb, at one point leading to Chef Ramsay taking her into the dining area to berate her in front of the diners. Most tables in tonight's service were served incomplete as the chefs struggled to put out dishes that would meet Chef Ramsay's approval. Eventually, service was completed, but as Chef Ramsay expected this standard a long time ago, he merely said "Big deal."
• Nominees for elimination: The five contestants decided which two should be eliminated. Kevin announced that the team had nominated Ariel for the raw meat and Suzanne for claiming a good service despite her mistakes on the fish station.
• Elimination: Chef Ramsay chose Suzanne to leave Hell's Kitchen as he has given her many chances, and told Tennille that she had "dodged the bullet" being lucky not to be nominated. Suzanne's elimination gave her the worst competitive record of any chef in the history of Hell's Kitchen, only being on the winning side once, being on the losing side and/or getting nominated for elimination eleven times, and never being named the Best of the Worst or Best of the Best.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "Suzanne had a red jacket, she had a blue jacket, she had a black jacket. Now, she has no jacket."

Episode 13

• Original airdate: October 6, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 613, "4 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Individual Challenge: The chefs awaken and enter Hell's Kitchen to be greeted by Little Gordon - the child version of Gordon Ramsay. After Little Gordon gives the contestants a brief show, the real Gordon Ramsay comes in the dining room and gives the Chefs their next individual challenge. They have one hour to cook 80 portions of a Vegetarian dish for 80 "special guests". When time is up, Chef Ramsay informs the contestants "By the way, they don't like vegetables!" as 80 children rush into the dining room. Each of the children is served one portion of each contestants' dish. After eating each dish, the children fill out a comment card, where they mark their choice for the "yummiest" and "yuckiest" dishes. 55% of the children marked Tennille's dish as the "yummiest", making her the winner of a challenge. Dave finished second in the challenge, while Kevin's dish was voted as the "yuckiest".
• Award / Punishment: Tennille is treated to a makeover in Beverly Hills and then goes with Chef Ramsey to Nobu restaurant in Los Angeles where she is treated to a sushi meal personally prepared by world renowned sushi chef Nobu Matsuhisa. At the end of the meal, Chef Matsuhisa presents Tennille with a brand-new set of authentic Japanese knives designed by Rokusaburo Michiba and manufactured by J.A. Henckels. As punishment, Dave, Kevin and Ariel had to clean up the mess left behind by the 80 children which included scraping gum off the bottom of the tables.
• Service: Kevin started off the service at the appetizers station, cooking delicious risotto. Dave's wrist injury acted up once during service, making Chef Ramsay concerned about whether he should continue in Hell's Kitchen, though Dave recovered. However, Tennille struggled badly in the service, as her scallops did not make the mark and she burnt many of her fish. However, after getting blasted by Chef Ramsay, she made a comeback and her subsequent cooking was perfect.
• Elimination: This took place in the kitchen, where Chef Ramsay considered eliminating Dave because of the amount of pain he is suffering, but Dave successfully pleaded that he should be ousted only if he is a bad cook and not because of his wrist. Chef Ramsay then decided that Tennille's service had been so much worse than the other chefs that there was no point in holding the usual elimination process, and eliminated Tennille there and then. During a tearful and emotional goodbye, Chef Ramsay praised Tennille's ability to come back and the remaining three chefs stepped forward to give her a group hug.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: No formal reason was given for Tennille's elimination, though she had the worst performance out of the four chefs and throughout the series she has struggled many times with fish (this service, the third service, and twice in the second episode during the shrimp-preparing challenge and when she served raw shrimp to a pregnant woman during her table-side work). Like Louie, Tennille also didn't receive her full elimination sequence with her coat hanged and her burning picture.
• Post Elimination: The three remaining chefs went back to the dorm rooms to relax when Chef Ramsay called them and told them to come downstairs because there was "unfinished business" he needed to attend to. After frightening Dave on whether or not he had made the right decision to keep him, Chef Ramsay surprised the remaining chefs and brought in Dave's fiancée and sister, Ariel's fiancé and mother, and Kevin's wife and son so they could each and spend a little "quality time" with their loved ones.

Episode 14

• Original airdate: October 13, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 614, "3 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Individual Challenge: Ariel, Kevin and Dave each had 45 minutes to cook a dish of randomly-selected ethnicity (respectively, Chinese, Mexican, and Indian). Each dish was judged by a panel of chefs who were experts in their cuisine: Eddie Wong, Thomas Ortega, and Vikas Khanna.^[16] Ariel received her lone vote from the Indian chef, while Kevin got votes from two of the chefs, forgetting the sauce that cost him the vote of the Mexican chef. Despite never having cooked Indian food before (as it was a pork dish which is considered a taboo in parts of India due to the high Muslim population), Dave won this challenge with his dish receiving votes from all three chefs.
• Award / Punishment: Dave, along with his sister and fiancee, enjoyed lunch cooked by the judging panel; he also won a complete set of Demeyere Cookware. Meanwhile, Ariel and Kevin polished numerous pieces of silverware and then prepared for the night's service.
• Service: Each contestant took turns at the pass, in which they were tested on their leadership, as well as their ability to spot intentionally-made mistakes introduced by sous chefs Scott and Heather. Kevin passed both quality control tests but was bogged down by Ariel's lamb, Dave's aggressive leadership was initially successful but he twice missed catching mistakes in the dishes, Ariel caught one of two of the sabotaged dishes and soon lost control of the kitchen as she feuded with Kevin over the scallops.
• Nominees for elimination: Each contestant nominates a person who feels should not advance to the final service. As a result of their dinner service clash, Kevin and Ariel nominated each other, and Dave decided to nominate Ariel. This, however, did not make Dave safe from elimination. Chef Ramsay then asked the contestants to state why they should make the final.
• Elimination: Chef Ramsay announced that Dave and Kevin would advance, with Ariel going home. However, Chef Ramsay told Ariel to keep her jacket as a token of her efforts of moving this far into the competition, acknowledging her as a "fantastic" chef.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: No formal reason was given, however Ariel's turn at the pass was the weakest and Kevin noted that she had been put on the chopping block in previous services.^[16] After her elimination, Ariel didn't receive her burning picture sequence at the end of the episode after she was told by Chef Ramsay to keep her jacket.

Episode 15

• Original airdate: October 13, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 615, "2 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Individual Challenge: Finalists Dave and Kevin are taken by limo to the Bonaventure Hotel, where they have 45 minutes to cook a dish "worthy of the Araxi" to be judged by five-person panel of chefs and gourmands. Dave made a venison dish while Kevin made a petite clam bake with lobster. Dave won the challenge 3-2.
• Staff: First, Chef Ramsay asks Sous Chef Scott for the "special deliveries", opens the truck and seeing six eliminated contestants would participating for the final service. For winning the challenge, Dave has first chose Ariel, Robert and Suzanne, while Kevin chose Van, Amanda and was left with Sabrina as his last pick after Dave picked Suzanne (it should be noted that Andy and Tennille were two of the former contestants who should have come back for the final service, but since they did not return because Andy had still recovered his finger injury and Tennille for unknown reasons, the two contestants who were eliminated prior to the final eight contestants, Robert and Amanda, came back in their places). Dave leads the Blue Team with Scott as sous chef, and Kevin heads the Red Team with Heather as sous-chef.
• Setup: Unlike previous season finales, Dave and Kevin did not redesign their own dining rooms, but they still created their own menus. Dave kept his menu simple, while Kevin had elaborate but time-consuming dishes.^[16]
• Service: Each kitchen served 50 diners, including each preparing a meal for Araxi executive chef James Walt. The Red Team was stalled by Amanda's inability to cook scallops, so Kevin had her and Van switch stations, with Van helping to compensate for her mistakes.^[16] Amanda also stalled the team during the main course until Kevin showed her how to cook her dishes correctly. Near the end, Kevin had the team cook for two tables simultaneously to try to catch up to the Blue Team. Dave started off well, though there was some conflict with Robert over the mushroom risottos, and Ariel often failed to cook the venison properly. Eventually, the two teams were neck-and-neck by the time dinner service ended.
• Winner: Dave. Chef Ramsay said the final dinner service was the closest ever, as determined by the diners' comment cards and his own observations.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "Dave has a very natural ability and a very sophisticated palate. He fought through excruciating pain and excelled and went on to win Hell's Kitchen. He's gonna be an amazing asset to the Araxi Grill and Bar in Whistler and I'd like to wish him the best of luck, but honestly, I don't think he'll need it."

Epilogue

Dave went on to work for the Araxi Restaurant until the end of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games at which point he left.^[17]

Van and Tennille returned in Season 9 as part of an All-Stars team and competed against the current chefs at dinner service.

External links

• Official Hell's Kitchen Website at Fox
• Araxi Restaurant

References

Preceded by Season 5

Hell's Kitchen Season 6

Succeeded by Season 7

Hell's Kitchen by Gordon Ramsay United States Seasons 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 Chef Gordon Ramsay Winners Michael Wray · Heather West · Rahman “Rock” Harper · Christina Machamer · Danny Veltri · Dave Levey · Holli Ugalde · Nona Sivley · Paul Niedermann United Kingdom Series 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 Presenters Angus Deayton (Series 1-3) · Claudia Winkleman (Series 4) Chefs Gordon Ramsay (Series 1) · Gary Rhodes & Jean-Christophe Novelli (Series 2) · Marco Pierre White (Series 3-4) Winners Jennifer Ellison · Terry Miller · Barry McGuigan · Linda Evans