Hell’s Kitchen Season 9, Episode 11 Recap: “7 chefs compete.”

Hell's Kitchen episode (episode 10) starts off with the continuation of Gordon Ramsay's shocking announcement of asking Elise to take her jacket off, telling everyone else to take their jackets off as well and announcing that “as from right now, Hell’s Kitchen is… closed.”

Criticizing the cast, Chef Ramsay told them they had to “get inspired.” To do so, he flew every contestant first class to BLT Steak in New York City. They got a tasting tour of New York starting off with Italian, then Chinese (the key to Peking duck is to inflate the duck – cool scene), French, Greek, Mexican, Jamaican, Indian, (at this point Will, looking in serious pain, lamented “I can’t do anymore”) and ending the tour at BLT Steak. The contestants were shown around the grandiose locale and everyone wanted to win.

Team challenge… “How creative can you all be with ethnic cuisine.” Chef Ramsay hoped they picked up some tips from their trip to New York and Elise said what the whole group was thinking, “I wasn’t paying attention.” For the contestants to find out the meal he/she had to prepare, each individual had a turn at a slot machine that spun the ingredients and dropped a coin with the style of cuisine. Natalie was first and she got Jamaican. Jennifer wanted Greek, didn’t want salmon, but spun salmon as the first ingredient, and luckily got Greek. Paul got Italian and he was glad to come from an “Italian background, thank God.” Elizabeth was not happy to get Mexican. Tommy wanted Mexican, but was unlucky enough to get Indian. Elise, without experience in Chinese cuisine, got Chinese. Paul, French.

Chef Gordon Ramsay announced a new way to pick the winner… King of the Hill. The person with the best dish wins the challenge for their team. Tommy was first, with his Indian plate. Ramsay hoped for Tommy that “it tastes more Indian than it looks.” He approved of the use of spices. Elizabeth’s Mexican dish beat Tommy’s, making her a self-proclaimed “Queen of the Hill.” Natalie’s ridiculously spicy Jamaican dish could not beat the current Queen. Paul’s French filet dethroned the Queen. Elise’s first attempt at Chinese food earned her the throne. Will’s prosciutto wrapped scallops knocked Elise off her place. The last person to present their dish was, once again, Jennifer. Her pan-seared salmon with feta cheese reigned supreme over the competition as Jennifer once again won the challenge for her the Red Team.

The Red Team’s reward was to go to the beach for a surprise. As punishment, the Blue Team once again got to prep both kitchens for the dinner service. Will was understandably pissed. At Venice Beach, the Red Team won… Zorbing? “What the heck is Zorbing?” asked Elise. She volunteered to go first and LOVED it! Elizabeth literally cried with excitement. As in, tears were falling down her face.

The Dinner Service

In the hopes of getting a “wow” dinner service in, Natalie got Chef Ramsay’s disappointed “wow wow wow wow wow” for cooking only one side of the scallops, leaving them raw. Elizabeth on the Red Team was having problems with the scallops as well. Ramsay made Elise help her. Tommy consistently forgot to place the onion rings on a towel, leaving them looking like, as Ramsay tenderly called it “worms.”

Elizabeth ruined the sea bass by over-cooking it and making it dry. She then had a panic attack, seriously affecting her performance. Elise tried to blame Tommy for her own mistake and, surprisingly, Tommy stood up for himself and revealed Elise as a liar. Elizabeth lost all self-esteem and Ramsay, who had already pulled her aside, kicked her while she was down and called her a “pathetic little wimp.” Ramsay kicked Elise and Elizabeth out of the kitchen and Jennifer was brilliant at taking on the challenge of working alone with Ramsay. She did it calmly as well. I was very impressed.

Ramsay asked both teams to choose someone. The Blue Team chose Natalie for not being able to cook fish and the Red Team chose Elise for not admitting her own mistakes and blaming everyone else for them. Ramsay chose Natalie. She was devastated and could not hold her tears back. Ramsay urged Natalie, “Do Not stop cooking.”