Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 4)

15 chefs arrived at Los Angeles International Airport and were driven to Hell's Kitchen, unaware Chef Ramsay was accompanying them in disguise. When they arrived, they met Jean-Philippe and each chef took turns impersonating Ramsay, who then revealed himself to the chefs.

Signature dishes: The chefs were given 45 minutes to create their signature dish. Vanessa's pan-seared halibut was chosen as the best, with Rosann's spicy mussel soup also getting good feedback, while Ben's dish was deemed "not bad". The remaining dishes were poorly received; Craig's dish was too sweet, Jen served raw rice, and Ramsay described Corey's dish as simple and plain and Jason's as something that would not even pass as something tinned. Shayna burnt her protein and Matt's exotic tartar receieved the worst review with Ramsay spitting it out straight away. Ramsay found Dominic's dish boring, Petrozza's hen-in-a-pumpkin dry, and told Sharon her dish was not up to scratch. Christina's dish was ruined by "terrible execution" despite a good concept, and Ramsay scolded Louross for not doing more and Bobby for deep-frying his fish.

Captains: For the first time in Hell's Kitchen history, the teams were each told to choose a captain. Vanessa and Bobby were chosen.

Service: Petrozza and Shayna served tableside amuse-bouche. In the red kitchen, Sharon served bland and then over-seasoned risotto, causing Ramsay to replace her with Jen, who cooked appetizers correctly, but ruined quail eggs by flipping them over. Ramsay fired Vanessa as captain and had Rosann take over, and under her guidance the team finished appetizers, but Corey overcooked a chicken on entrées. In the blue kitchen, Jason and Dominic on appetizers and fish failed to produce an acceptable dish between them, with both burning risotto and scallops respectively. The other men repeatedly requested Bobby's help, but he refused, thinking it would make the situation worse. Eventually, Louross helped the others, after which Ramsay had him take over from Bobby as captain. Jason finally served appetizers, but customers had already left, leading Ramsay to shut the kitchens down. No entrees were served, but the red team were named winners for at least serving appetizers; Louross was named Best of the Worst.

Elimination: Louross nominated Bobby and Dominic. Ramsay eliminated Dominic for his lack of creativity and terrible performance on fish.

Group punishment: Ramsay forced the chefs to pick up the wasted food, delivered via garbage truck, with their hands and place it in cylinders.

Team challenge: The contestants were tasked with filleting a large halibut into 6 ounce uniform pieces, trying to leave little waste. Both teams had 41 pieces accepted by Ramsay, resulting in a challenge tiebreaker for the first time in Hell's Kitchen history. One person from each team had to choose an accepted fillet that was as close to six ounces as possible. The men won a 5.9 ounce piece selected by Ben, compared to a 4.8 ounce piece selected by Corey.

Reward/punishment: The men were transported via Rolls Royces and Bentleys to a superyacht, where they had dinner with Ramsay and Jean-Philippe. The women had to prepare the seafood for service.

Service: Rosann and Craig were appointed assistant maître d's for service, but both struggled; Craig accidentally hit a woman with a chair and was forced to apologize to her, while Rosann revealed mid-service that she had only given in half of her tickets, which put her team behind. Petrozza, who had been threatened with elimination before service as he was still unable to remember the menu, did so with help from Bobby. Corey and Bobby did well on appetizers, but both teams struggled with poor communication. Sharon struggled on meat, Jason struggled on fish, Matt almost caused a fire, and Petrozza got numerous orders mixed up on meat. Ramsay closed service, but named the men winners for serving more entrees; Corey was named Best of the Worst.

Elimination: Corey nominated Christina and Jen, admitting she disliked them and saw them as threats. After watching Jen's extremely long plea and Christina burst into tears, Ramsay spared them and eliminated Sharon for her second terrible service in a row.

Team challenge: The chefs were tasked with making eight perfect cuts of a chicken, part by part, without cutting too much meat or having portions of other parts on it. As the blue team had an extra member, Louross was forced to sit out. Jen and Shayna scored six, and Corey, Christina, Rosann and Vanessa each scored eight, making the red team's total 44. Jason scored six, and Ben and Petrozza both scored eight, but Craig, needing a score of six, only scored two, so Ramsay ended the challenge early and declared the women winners.

Reward/punishment: The women visited the Saddle Ranch Chop House, a western-themed restaurant on the Sunset Strip, where they unintentionally met restaurant regular Aaron Song, a contestant from the show's third season. The men were forced to pick peppers from a country field.

Service: Like Petrozza during the previous service, Jason was thrown out before service for not being able to remember the menu. He still could not remember the menu when he returned and even wanted to quit before finally remembering the menu with prompting from Ramsay. Bobby served chicken tableside. Both teams completed appetizers well thanks to Christina's leadership and Petrozza's concentration, but struggled on entrees. Vanessa served undercooked meat and needed her teammates to help her, but Rosann burned meat by starting a fire in the pan. Craig struggled on appetizers and argued with his teammates, while Ben overcooked and undercooked salmon, angering Ramsay when he blamed his mistakes on "different cooking techniques." Jason could not get soufflés to rise, and shocked Ramsay when he suggested coating the rims with sugar and cocoa. Upon receiving another undercooked salmon by Ben, Ramsay closed service, declared no winning team, and instructed Christina and Petrozza to nominate one person for elimination.

Elimination: Petrozza nominated Jason, while feeling the rest of the men would rather nominate Craig, and Christina nominated Vanessa instead of exacting revenge on Corey. Ramsay eliminated Jason for consistently being a terrible performer and not recovering after almost quitting.

Group punishment: Ramsay forced both teams to clean up their kitchens.

Team challenge: The chefs were tasked with making perfect strands of pasta; the team with the most pasta weight winning. One member from each team was required to sit out and allow the pasta to be hung on their arms; Matt volunteered for the men, while the women made Shayna sit out. The women won their second consecutive challenge with 6.57 lbs of pasta, compared to the men's 5.48 lbs, as Craig struggled.

Reward/punishment: The women were taken via a Hummer limousine to the Pacific Park amusement park at the Santa Monica Pier. The men prepared the night's service for both teams, while Ben unknowingly volunteered to clean the petting zoo to set up for Family Night.

Service: Both teams cooked a special family menu, given to them just hours in advance. Vanessa did well on appetizers, but was sent to hospital after severely burning her hand putting out a burning pan Shayna accidentally set fire to. On the men's team, Matt served raw chicken and hard hamburgers until Bobby helped him. The women finished service well before the men, and Ben was scolded after he congratulated the men, despite the blue team being four tables behind the red team. The women were sent to help them, but Craig, bad-tempered and uncommunicative throughout the night, yelled at the chefs and even Ramsay himself before finishing service. Ramsay named the women clear winners, likening the men's service to a horror movie, and named Bobby Best of the Worst. After service, Vanessa returned and revealed she had suffered a second-degree burn, and was unsure if she could continue in the competition.

Elimination: Bobby nominated Craig and Matt; Ramsay also nominated Ben. Though Ramsay accused Ben of not treating the competition seriously, and Matt of being the worst performer of the night, he eliminated Craig for his repeated mistakes and terrible attitude.

Team challenge: The chefs were tasked with making a gourmet pizza each before deciding which team member's pizza would be judged by Ramsay. The women won with Jen's "Little Bit of Italy, Little Bit of France" pizza, as Ben's mushroom pizza was gritty.

Reward/punishment: Before leaving the kitchen to take the women on their reward, Ramsay gave the men a pep talk, saying they had talent, and only lacked teamwork. The women were taken by helicopter to the Square One restaurant in Santa Barbara, California, home of the "$90 Burger" and their truffle "fries". Jen's pizza was also featured on the menu for service. The men prepared both kitchens for service and given dry burgers for lunch.

Vanessa's exit: Although Vanessa managed to struggle through the team challenge, the pain of her burnt hand became significantly worse during prep, to the point where she was unable to work effectively. After talking with Ramsay, Vanessa decided to leave Hell's Kitchen, as her injury was not likely to heal quickly, and she did not want to be in the kitchen working at only half power.

Ramsay's comment: "It's unfortunate that Vanessa's burn took her out of the competition. We'll never, ever know if she really had what it takes to win Hell's Kitchen."

Service: Before service, Ramsay brought the chefs outside and informed them that Hell's Kitchen would be serving pizzas that night. Ben was forced to make pizza deliveries in an electric cart. Shayna undercooked beef wellingtons, and Rosann struggled on garnish, forcing Ramsay to send the beef wellingtons alone and send Jen to help her. Matt struggled cooking decent eggs for the scallops, forcing Bobby to take over, and Louross had trouble cooking steak, but Petrozza managed to fool sous chef Scott by slicing the sides of the beef so they were "steaks". Although Christina and Jen were both supposed to be on the dessert station, Jen refused to help Christina, leaving her to struggle on her own until Ramsay ordered a reluctant Corey to help her. Both teams completed service, and for the first time in Hell's Kitchen history, Ramsay declared the teams joint-winners. However, he still required each team to nominate one member for elimination.

Team challenge: The chefs prepared an appetizer and two entrees for Melissa, a girl celebrating her "Sweet 16", to vote on; the team with the most chosen dishes would win. The blue team won two dishes to one, with the tie-breaker coming on the meat entree; Melissa preferred the red team's entree, but felt that the blue team's dish would be more popular with the other guests.

Reward/punishment: The men spent a day kart racing, followed by treats at the Simon LA restaurant. The women decorated Hell's Kitchen for Melissa's party, under the supervision of party planner Francesco and Melissa's mother Lori.

Service: Melissa and Lori were VIP guests. The service generally went well aside from minor errors from Christina on appetizers, Shayna being slow on garnish, Matt struggling on fish and Rosann struggling on meat. Bobby once again took over from Matt, and Ramsay jumped in to take over from Rosann. Both teams completed service, and while the red team had a 99% approval rating, compared to the blue team's 98%, Ramsay refused to name a losing team based on a difference of just 1%, and named the teams joint winners for the second time in a row. However, he told each team to nominate one chef and announced someone would be eliminated this time.

Elimination: Matt and Shayna were nominated; Ramsay also nominated Rosann. Ramsay eliminated Shayna for her slowness, but praised her for her big heart.

Team change: Ramsay then accepted Matt's request to be transferred to the red team.

Team challenge: The chefs took part in a blind taste test. Since the red team had an extra member, Jen was forced to sit out. Rosann identified two ingredients compared to Petrozza's one, Corey identified one while Louross failed to get any, and Christina identified two while Bobby failed to get any, making the score 5-1. Lastly, for Matt and Ben, Ramsay made a dish with ten ingredients and alternated between the two, with both scoring points for identfication. Ben identified four ingredients, but Matt also scored four, giving the red team a 9-5 win.

Reward/punishment: The red team spent the day at a patio, which converted into a spa, while the blue team cleaned the kitchen and the dorms, and Ben was called to serve iced tea to the red team.

Service: In the red kitchen, Rosann burnt scallops and Jen tried to call orders for a table, which led Ramsay to rebuke her, and Jen to become angry and non-responsive for the rest of the service. Matt and Christina rallied the team and pushed forward with strong performances on appetizers and meat, but the team was dragged down by Jen's attitude and Rosann's poor performance on fish. In the blue kitchen, Bobby cooked scallops correctly but Louross forgot to provide quail eggs and Ben mixed up orders, ran out of ingredients and undercooked nearly every meat entree, making Ramsay angrier by trying to claim that he was not used to cooking on the line. The few entrees that Ben served were returned, causing Ramsay to shut service down. The red team were declared winners and Ramsay praised Matt, while the blue team were each told to nominate one person for elimination.

Elimination: Ben tried to persuade Bobby and Petrozza to nominate Louross, but this backfired; Ben and Louross nominated each other, and Bobby nominated Petrozza, but Petrozza nominated himself, saying the other three men worked hard. Ramsay complimented Petrozza on his gracious attitude, and seeing through Ben's plan, eliminated him for consistently bad performances, laid back attitude and refusal to own up to his mistakes.

Team change: Following the elimination, Ramsay called for a volunteer from the red team to move to the blue team, which was Jen.

Team challenge: The chefs had to cook four dishes per team in 45 minutes, using all 20 ingredients on hand only once. During the challenge, Matt accidentally cut off a tip of his finger, but returned after receiving first aid. The blue team automatically lost when Louross admitted he forgot an ingredient.

Reward/punishment: The red team attended a photo shoot and interview for In Touch Weekly magazine, while the blue team spent the day doing laundry by hand.

Service: The night's service included two food critics (Sophie Gayot of Gayot Publications and Merrill Schlinder of the Los Angeles Zagat Guide) among the customers who would order the same item from both kitchens for comparison, and neither Ramsay or the chefs were aware which orders were served to them. The blue team managed to serve all entrées successfully and received good reviews from the critics, their only problem being Petrozza slicing meat too early. The red team struggled; Matt cut tenderloin three different sizes, Christina served overcooked salmon and had difficulty cooking both salmon and scallops at the same time, and Rosann burned garnish and ran out of carrot puree. Ramsay threw the red team out after Matt served raw meat and had the blue team finish their service. The critics panned the red team's dishes, with only Corey's appetizers presumably getting any praise. The blue team were deemed the clear winners by both Ramsay and the critics; Corey was named Best of the Worst.

Elimination: Corey nominated Matt and Rosann; Ramsay also nominated Christina. Despite telling Rosann to get back in line, Ramsay changed his mind and eliminated her for her lack of organization and many simple mistakes.

Team challenge: The chefs had to prepare three dishes; John Dory, chicken, and scallops. Each team had three members to compete; Louross was indirectly chosen by Jen to sit out. Only one chef from each team was allowed in the kitchen at a time, and only for six minutes. The next chef then took their place, with the previous chef having 15 seconds to brief them. Ramsay then compared the same dishes from each team on completeness, taste, and appearance. The red team won.

Reward/punishment: The red team went to the beach with Ramsay and Jean-Philippe, where they learned how to surf. The blue team spent the day cleaning the restaurant's exterior, the flaming Hell's Kitchen sign, and the red carpet.

Service: Each team made their own menus. Customers chose from either team's menu; while it was initially announced that the team whose menu was chosen more would win, Ramsay stated that the winner would be decided by quality, not quantity. The red team collaborated on their dishes while Jen ignored her teammates and largely devised the menu by herself. On the red team, many of Matt's pasta appetizers were sent back, leading to Corey kicking him off and relegating him to desserts. Christina and Corey then took charge and made it through service without any more major problems. On the blue team, while Petrozza was strong on appetizers, Louross struggled on filet mignon and Jen served undercooked desserts. When Louross finally served an acceptable filet mignon, the customer had left. Ramsay declared the blue team losers; Petrozza was named Best of the Worst.

Elimination: Petrozza nominated Louross and Jen. Despite Corey, Christina, Matt and Bobby all wanting Jen gone, Petrozza chose Louross. Ramsay agreed and eliminated Louross, as despite Jen's poor attitude and numerous mistakes on desserts, Ramsay considered Louross responsible for the blue team's defeat. Ramsay then said that Matt and Jen would return to their original teams, as he felt their reassignments were not working.

While Ramsay had previously told Jen and Matt they would return to their original teams, he decided to merge the remaining six chefs into a united black team, the first black team in Hell's Kitchen history to have six members.

Challenge: Each chef had 45 minutes to create a meal using the main ingredient they were given. Corey's dish was named the worst as she only used a small amount of lobster, and Bobby's duck was overcooked. Petrozza's chicken and Matt's veal received positive feedback, but Jen's ribeye narrowly beat out Christina's sea bass for the win.

Reward/punishment: Jen won an overnight trip to Las Vegas, where she had dinner at the Green Valley Ranch resort and spa with last season's winner, Rahman "Rock" Harper; she chose Corey to join her. The others took in several deliveries of food.

Service: One of Jen's ribeye's was returned for being undercooked, and Corey had difficulty re-heating vegetables and communicating and also suffered a burn. She refused to leave, but Ramsay insisted on her getting first aid. Matt's constant complaints about his migraine affected the team's performance, to a point where Ramsay ordered him back to the dorm. Jen served a nicely cooked risotto but then a poor one shortly after, and Christina and Bobby were both yelled at for cooking beef and chicken and salmon and scallops in one pan respectively, despite Bobby's shellfish allergy. Matt and Christina failed to remember an order and Petrozza placed food onto dirty plates. Matt received a berating when he complained about being yelled at for overcooked meat and was kicked out. After Christina noticed burned rice on her station; Jen owned up to it and was kicked out, but Ramsay also kicked Christina out for not asking her to move it. Shortly afterwards, Ramsay kicked the remaining chefs out.

Elimination: Matt and Christina were nominated, but when Corey said she should have been chosen, Ramsay agreed and called her forward. Ramsay eliminated Matt for his numerous bad services and terrible attitude, but gave him encouragement.

Challenge: Each chef had 45 minutes to teach a housewife how to make lobster spaghetti. Christina won, narrowly beating out Corey.

Reward/punishment: Christina spent time with Ramsay and two other chefs, Mark Peel ("Campanile") and Ben Ford ("Ford's Filling Station"), learning tricks of the trade, while the others cleaned the kitchen.

Service: The dining room included a twelve-top that had to be served at the same time. Christina forgot a spaghetti, but recovered, while Jen undercooked and overcooked John Dory, with her bad attitude slowing the kitchen down. Bobby had difficulty cutting wellingtons and burned some. When the twelve-top arrived, Christina and Corey put their differences aside and got twelve appetizers out at the same time. Jen served raw fish, leading Ramsay to step in, while Petrozza struggled to keep up on the vegetable station. Service was completed, but Ramsay described the service as "painful". Christina was named Best of the Best.

Elimination: Christina nominated Jen and Bobby. Despite Christina wanting Jen eliminated, Ramsay eliminated Bobby for worsening performances.

Challenge: Each chef had one hour to cook an entree for a lunch service of 80 pregnant women, with their votes determining the winner. Christina's Island Turkey Sandwiches won, beating out Petrozza's Monte Cristo Sandwiches by two votes, while Jen's Calypso Groupers was third and Corey's Grilled Salmon B.L.T.s last.

Reward/punishment: Christina and Ramsay visited the Lisa Kline boutique in Beverly Hills, where Christina spent over $1000 on new clothing. The rest had to clean the dining room and polish silverware for service.

Service: All four chefs encountered problems. Jen overcooked rice and was slow on scallops, Petrozza, despite serving perfect dishes, had a dirty workspace, Corey served raw John Dory, and Christina burnt Ramsay's hand twice. Corey asked Jen to cook quail eggs since Jen was on appetizers, but Jen refused. Christina did it, but burnt them, and Jen still refused to cook them until Ramsay forced her to. Nevertheless, service was completed in record time and was declared a success.

Elimination: Ramsay had the final four each vote on two people who should be nominated. Despite this, Jen voted twice for Christina. Christina, Corey and Petrozza plotted to eliminate Jen, nominating Corey. Ramsay eliminated Jen for her lack of teamwork and refusal to improve her attitude, but gave her encouragement.

Challenge: The remaining three ate one of Ramsay's signature dishes with their parents and significant others. Afterward, each chef had 45 minutes to replicate the dish, based on taste and looks alone. Corey was the only one to use cream to bind the lettuce and the only one to use raspberry creme in the sauce, which she both got correct. However, she was the only one to use buffalo fillet, as both Christina and Petrozza used venison striploin, which was wrong, and she ended up in third place. Petrozza was the only one to not have a pureé in his dish, as Corey had a potato parsnip pureé and Christina had a white bean pureé, while Christina used Aioli. Christina won, but Ramsay told Petrozza he would have won had he used a pureé.

Reward/Punishment: Christina and her parents went on a tour bus through Hollywood, which included stops at two upscale restaurants.^{[note 1]} Corey and Petrozza crushed ice blocks by hand and polished glasses.

Service: The three took turns running the "hotplate" in Ramsay's place, and had to catch acts of sabotage by chefs Scott and Gloria. Petrozza failed to notice no peas in a risotto, but was otherwise strong in command; Corey was weak in command and poured the wrong sauce onto beef wellington; Christina, after struggling on the fish station, rebounded at the hotplate, spotted incorrect seasoning in mashed potatoes.

Continued from the previous episode, Corey's jacket was hung and her picture burned. Setup: Hell's Kitchen was divided into two, with Christina and Petrozza getting to design their own menus, ambience, and wait staff. As the builders remodeled Hell's Kitchen, Ramsay flew the two to New York City Times Square, where Ramsay's London NYC restaurant was located.

Challenge: Petrozza and Christina had 45 minutes to cook their signature dishes, judged by five of Ramsay's chefs. Petrozza won 3-2.

Selection (part 2): Continued from the previous episode, Petrozza picked Jen, so Christina was left with Matt.

Service: Each team served 13 tables of 50 customers. In the kitchen, Christina and Petrozza briefed their menus, but Jen had no interest in helping Petrozza and wanted to make Ramsay change his mind on eliminating her, while Matt openly displayed a negative attitude.

Petrozza was a strong leader, but Jen talked back to Petrozza while failing to serve onion rings, though she stopped after a scolding by Ramsay. While attempting to serve appetizers, Petrozza's kitchen ran out of ingredients for two of them, but Bobby created a lobster risotto from their remaining ingredients to fix the problem. Christina had steaks returned for being cold, and Matt frequently served raw dishes and showed no respect towards Ramsay, who offered to kick him out, though Christina declined. Despite the small problems in both kitchens, both teams finished service.

Winner: The criteria for deciding a winner was determined by the customer comment cards, as well as Ramsay's own observations. Summoning Christina and Petrozza to his office, Ramsay gave them his final thoughts before having them step in front of a door. Christina's door opened, making her the fourth winner of Hell's Kitchen; Petrozza took his defeat graciously.