Last week on Hell’s Kitchen, tensions rose on the red team, which lost a pizza challenge and received its fourth punishment of the season. Then they were promptly booted from the kitchen during meal service and Joy Shi paid the price with her elimination.
Right after, host Gordon Ramsay told them, “I’m going to be entrusting you with something so important that honestly, I need all of you at your best.” Will they pull it together in Season 25, Episode 7, titled “A Black-Tie Affair,” or will the blue team continue to dominate?
“I thought I was going home tonight,” says a distraught Kylie Budich after she was put up for elimination. Sandra LeClerc stands up for her, and she’s ready to throw down over it: “I don’t care if this makes enemies for me. I feel as if Haley [Moss] should have gone home.”
Haley argues, “I feel like I was just bullied.” She believes Sandra is merely upset that her roommate was almost ousted, and “this isn’t a place for cliques. This is a place for talent and food.” Okay, tell that to the cliques on the red team then.
Black-Tie Challenge
The chefs assemble in the kitchen again the next morning and see the fanciest setup of the season, complete with a string ensemble. “Tonight is a very important night here in Hell’s Kitchen,” Gordon explains. “We are celebrating our 25th season with a very, very special black tie gala.” There will be a special menu with “new additions, and that’s where your next challenge comes in.” The contestants will be the ones to create those fresh menu items.
“Two of you will be on apps, two of you will be on fish, and two of you will do meat,” Gordon continues. One dish from each course will be selected for the menu. The team with the most dishes selected will win the challenge. They each have 45 minutes to complete their tasks.
As soon as they begin, there is miscommunication on the red team, with Haley and Nadia Phillips both picking up scallops and corn. “I know Haley’s not going to change because she sticks to what’s safe,” says Nadia, throwing a bit of shade at her opponent. So Nadia pivots to crab cakes.
On the blue team, Gabe Cerease prepares sliced tuna, but sous chef James Avery warns him that might not be enough for a 45-minute challenge. Meanwhile, Miguel Soliz multitasks and gets a little lost in the sauce, so he accidentally leaves his pork chop to burn. He needs to start again.
Gordon’s special guests judging the dishes are Season 3 Hell’s Kitchen champion Rock Harper and Season 23 champ Kyle Timpson.
Appetizers — Haley’s scallops are too spicy, while Jonny G’s chimichurri is “well done.” Gabe’s ahi tuna tataki is a little underwhelming for the challenge, as he had been warned. And Nadia’s crab cakes are a big hit. The winning appetizer is Nadia’s, getting the ladies off to a good start.
Meat — Kylie’s pork chop is “cooked nicely.” Georgiana Pahon’s grilled ribeye lacks salt and needs “more flavor.” Miles Anderson’s ribeye is unique and perfectly cooked. Mike Catuosco also made a ribeye, topped with garlic puree that turned out “a little stiff.” And Miguel’s pork chop needs more salt and lacks saffron. The point goes to Miles and the blue team.
Fish — Sandra’s monkfish smartly included nutmeg and paid tribute to their Connecticut locale. Dylan Duffy also cooked monkfish, but his needs more flavor. Valentin Royo’s Chilean sea bass has “great flavor” and presentation. Finally, Mya Gonsalves presented her own sea bass, which is “an excellent dish.” The winning dish, alas, belongs to Valentin.
“Losing challenges is getting tiring. It’s getting frustrating to a lot of us,” Georgiana points out. That’s five challenge wins and five rewards for the boys, and five punishments for the girls. The red team has only won one challenge this season, and that’s definitely messing with group morale and cohesion.
The blue team’s prize is a cruise down the Mystic River on a century-old steamboat. The red team, on the other hand, is stuck setting up for the evening’s gala by “painstakingly” prepping the caviar. The florist for the event will also need an assist. Kylie notes that picking up the flowers is the first time she’s seen the sun in days thanks to the constant punishments.
Sandra and Haley are awfully quiet during all that arduous prep work. There is still tension there after their confrontation last week. To make matters worse, the red kitchen sous chef Michelle Tribble criticizes Haley for piling up her toast points; she advises Haley to make hers more like Sandra’s, which is the last thing Haley wants to hear.
Gala Dinner Service
The soiree is attended by members of the Connecticut state legislature, members of the press, famous Hell’s Kitchen alumni, and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council.
The blue team pairs two beefing chefs on the fish station: Jonny G and Miguel. As Jonny G says, “I don’t mess with Miguel, at all … And everybody knows on the blue team that he’s the worst chef, but they go, ‘Oh, whatever. Miguel can keep coming because he’s a funny guy and he helps us when we’re in need.” Cut to footage of several instances when Miguel has specifically helped Jonny G. But the feeling isn’t mutual; Miguel actually thinks Jonny G is a “good guy.”
Elsewhere, Dylan’s first beef Wellington comes out perfectly, redeeming his past sins on the meat station. But Miguel takes way too long sending his pork to Gordon to complete the current table order. “Chef Ramsay does enjoy picking on me,” Miguel notices, “not in a bad way, or maybe a bad way, I don’t know how he intends to do it.”
And there’s even more stellar news for Sandra and Haley: they’re stuck working the fish station together in the red kitchen and instantly irritate Gordon by not sending up enough scallops for an appetizer order. “Get your shit together,” Haley tells herself. The rest of the appetizers go out smoothly, though, leading the kitchen to handle entrees.
Sandra is nervous having to cook Valentin’s Chilean sea bass, which she has no experience with. Her first attempt is no good, leaving one table’s order incomplete. That especially irks Gordon. Her second attempt is way undercooked. And her third attempt … where the hell is her third attempt? It’s going to take another five minutes, and most of the table she’s cooking for has already eaten. Gordon doesn’t kick the ladies out of the kitchen outright, but he demands to speak to them in the back room.
“Fish station is definitely a s–t show,” Mya points out. “I don’t even know where to help if I can. I realize it’s a whole mess and there’s no communication at all.” Sandra’s last sea bass might end up being her last sea bass on Hell’s Kitchen. It’s undercooked again. The fish station is ejected from the kitchen. Gordon puts Georgiana in charge of fish, and she nails the cook on her first try.
“I was ecstatic when he sent them out because after that we were flowing,” says Nadia. “We all helped each other.” Gordon calls it “a great recovery,” and says that while they’re still the losing team, the four chefs who stayed “are beyond a shadow of a doubt safe.”
Results
“Let’s cut straight to the quick,” says Gordon as he calls Haley and Sandra forward. “No one was in the driver’s seat at that station. I’m not asking you to be best friends. I just want you to be best cooks.”
But that didn’t happen. Sandra vaguely alludes to communication problems between herself and Haley, though no amount of communication probably would have saved those poorly cooked fish. But surprisingly given the volume of mistakes from Sandra, Gordon decides to eliminate Haley instead.
“You know and I know that you are not ready to be my head chef,” Gordon tells her. “I wish you the very best. Go home and spend some valuable time with your daughter.”
“I’ve learned so much from Chef Ramsay,” says Haley in her exit interview. “I could never thank him enough for giving me this great opportunity. I’m definitely never going to stop fighting for my dreams, and the future still holds so much for me. But I’m going to go home. I’m going to love on my family, my daughter. I think that she’s going to be proud of me, but I think she’s going to be happy that I’m home.”
But that’s not all! Since there are now two more chefs on the blue team than the red team, Gordon announces a switch: Mike from the blue team will be turning red to even things out. “They need a strong force. They need to get their shit together. And they need to start shining.”
“I am shocked,” says Mike. “This is crazy … and on top of that, I look awful in red!” Jonny G wishes Mike well, but explicitly doesn’t extend that wish to the rest of the dysfunctional red team.
Next Week
“I need a medic!” Kylie badly cuts her finger, which threatens to take her out of the competition entirely, but she may not be the only one exiting early.
