July 18th episode
As the four remaining chefs retreat to the dorms, Jessica feels incredibly relieved that she survived the chopping block. And the confidence is growing in each chef as they get closer to winning it all. The next morning, the four return to the kitchen and Chef Ramsay presents them with their next challenge -- a test he gives to every chef he hires at one of his restaurants. They have fifteen minutes to create a new dish from a tray of leftovers as a test of maximizing food costs. Chef Ramsay believes a key to any successful restaurant is utilizing the leftovers of the previous night’s service. The chefs get to work. Time expires and the four present their dishes to Chef Ramsay. Jessica made a beef stew with a berries and cream dessert. Chef Ramsay hates the stew’s presentation, but thinks it’s delicious. He feels the same way about the dessert. Next up is Michael, who made a pasta and chicken wings. Chef Ramsay enjoys Michael’s presentation, but thinks the dish lacks flavor. He also dislikes that Michael left the bones in the chicken. Third up is Ralph, who made a sauté of chicken drumettes with pommes Lyonnaise. Chef Ramsay is greatly impressed by the presentation, but thinks the flavor could be better and Ralph could’ve done a better job of using the ingredients at hand. He sees only 1/3rd of the available ingredients in Ralph’s dish. Last up is Elsie, who made chicken soup. Chef Ramsay dislikes the soup’s color, but thinks it’s delicious, warm and hearty. Overall, he’s pleased by the results of the challenges, especially within the 15 minute time frame. He declares Elsie to be the winner and promises her a very exciting morning the following day. Afterwards, Ralph and Jessica make a point of asking Elsie for a taste of her soup. Elsie is irked by what she sees as their jealously and doubt. Michael, Ralph and Jessica set to cleaning the dorms and kitchen as their punishment for losing the challenge. And Ralph, for one, is not taking things well, slamming plastic containers around the wash basins. The next morning at 7am, Elsie dons her chef’s jacket and grabs her knives, as instructed. In the limo, Chef Ramsay tells Elsie that they’re heading to Good Day Live to do a cooking demonstration on national TV. Back at Hell’s Kitchen, the other chefs get busy on prepping for that night’s service. Sous Chef Scott pulls them aside to show them what Elsie’s up to, propping them in front of TVs so they can watch the show. In the studio, Chef Ramsay sets up Elsie to make a risotto. She walks the hosts through the cooking process and comes off as cool and charming. Over in Hell’s Kitchen, Michael, Ralph and Jessica come off as angry and jealous. They decide that everybody’s on their own tonight and nobody will bail out Elsie. Elsie and Chef Ramsay return to the kitchen, and he informs her that as the challenge winner, she’ll also get to decide who works which station at that evening’s service. Five minutes before the service starts, Chef Ramsay exhorts the team to finish a full seating tonight. Elsie decides to put Jessica on starters, Michael on vegetables, Ralph on meat and herself on fish. Chef Ramsay reminds them that they’re a team, then says they’ll be tested more than ever tonight. The first ticket comes in and Chef Ramsay is already concerned by the team’s unenthusiastic response. Jessica presents her first Caesar salad, which is promptly sent back. Jessica gets one minute to fix it before the whole ticket has to be restarted. One hour into service, Michael and Ralph have helped Jessica pull things together on starters. Chef Ramsay pulls the team together and has them switch sections in order to foster communication and teamwork. Ninety minutes into service, main courses are going out, but Elsie is struggling on her section. She doesn’t know how to make the penne dish, and Michael would rather do it himself than show her how. Frustrated, Chef Ramsay once again orders the chefs to rotate sections. Jessica begins to struggle on the fish section. She needs more time to complete a lobster, which in turn holds up Michael’s filets. Two hours into service, more than half of the diners are still awaiting their main courses. Meanwhile, Elsie is well behind with her starters and nobody is helping her. Chef Ramsay has already sent two salads to a table that is now waiting on a veloute. She rushes the veloute up, but forgets a bisque. Chef Ramsay tears into her for giving him a yes on the ticket, then not preparing everything at once. She comes close to breaking down, so Chef Ramsay pulls her aside and quietly perks her up and asks for communication. Michael, Jessica and Ralph immediately note that Chef Ramsay is giving Elsie private counseling and not just straight screaming. After a trip to the bathroom to collect herself, Elsie returns to the kitchen. Three hours into service, the diners are getting restless. And one diner found a small piece of wood in her dish. Jean Philippe presents the plate to Chef Ramsay, who then shows Jessica that a splinter was found with one of her lobsters. Tired of waiting, some tables begin walking out. Chef Ramsay calls Jean Philippe into the kitchen, gathers the chefs and shuts the place down. Later, Chef Ramsay criticizes the chefs for taking a step and working against each other. And since nobody came together, nobody is going to nominate someone for elimination. He sends them back to the dorms to wait while he makes his own decision. Following a break, the teams return to face Chef Ramsay. He tells Michael that he can’t carry a whole kitchen on his back, and even though he did some good things tonight, he didn’t do enough of them. Chef Ramsay then summons Jessica forward and tells her that her performance was terrible. Given a chance to defend herself, Jessica claims that she’s been stepping it up each week and through each challenge. Chef Ramsay then calls Elsie forward and asks if she felt support from her team tonight. She says that she did and that she’s already accomplished more than she thought and always gives it her best. Chef Ramsay decides to eliminate Elsie, but not before saying that she greatly impressed him and that he’s proud of her.
As the four remaining chefs retreat to the dorms, Jessica feels incredibly relieved that she survived the chopping block. And the confidence is growing in each chef as they get closer to winning it all. The next morning, the four return to the kitchen and Chef Ramsay presents them with their next challenge -- a test he gives to every chef he hires at one of his restaurants. They have fifteen minutes to create a new dish from a tray of leftovers as a test of maximizing food costs. Chef Ramsay believes a key to any successful restaurant is utilizing the leftovers of the previous night’s service. The chefs get to work. Time expires and the four present their dishes to Chef Ramsay. Jessica made a beef stew with a berries and cream dessert. Chef Ramsay hates the stew’s presentation, but thinks it’s delicious. He feels the same way about the dessert. Next up is Michael, who made a pasta and chicken wings. Chef Ramsay enjoys Michael’s presentation, but thinks the dish lacks flavor. He also dislikes that Michael left the bones in the chicken. Third up is Ralph, who made a sauté of chicken drumettes with pommes Lyonnaise. Chef Ramsay is greatly impressed by the presentation, but thinks the flavor could be better and Ralph could’ve done a better job of using the ingredients at hand. He sees only 1/3rd of the available ingredients in Ralph’s dish. Last up is Elsie, who made chicken soup. Chef Ramsay dislikes the soup’s color, but thinks it’s delicious, warm and hearty. Overall, he’s pleased by the results of the challenges, especially within the 15 minute time frame. He declares Elsie to be the winner and promises her a very exciting morning the following day. Afterwards, Ralph and Jessica make a point of asking Elsie for a taste of her soup. Elsie is irked by what she sees as their jealously and doubt. Michael, Ralph and Jessica set to cleaning the dorms and kitchen as their punishment for losing the challenge. And Ralph, for one, is not taking things well, slamming plastic containers around the wash basins. The next morning at 7am, Elsie dons her chef’s jacket and grabs her knives, as instructed. In the limo, Chef Ramsay tells Elsie that they’re heading to Good Day Live to do a cooking demonstration on national TV. Back at Hell’s Kitchen, the other chefs get busy on prepping for that night’s service. Sous Chef Scott pulls them aside to show them what Elsie’s up to, propping them in front of TVs so they can watch the show. In the studio, Chef Ramsay sets up Elsie to make a risotto. She walks the hosts through the cooking process and comes off as cool and charming. Over in Hell’s Kitchen, Michael, Ralph and Jessica come off as angry and jealous. They decide that everybody’s on their own tonight and nobody will bail out Elsie. Elsie and Chef Ramsay return to the kitchen, and he informs her that as the challenge winner, she’ll also get to decide who works which station at that evening’s service. Five minutes before the service starts, Chef Ramsay exhorts the team to finish a full seating tonight. Elsie decides to put Jessica on starters, Michael on vegetables, Ralph on meat and herself on fish. Chef Ramsay reminds them that they’re a team, then says they’ll be tested more than ever tonight. The first ticket comes in and Chef Ramsay is already concerned by the team’s unenthusiastic response. Jessica presents her first Caesar salad, which is promptly sent back. Jessica gets one minute to fix it before the whole ticket has to be restarted. One hour into service, Michael and Ralph have helped Jessica pull things together on starters. Chef Ramsay pulls the team together and has them switch sections in order to foster communication and teamwork. Ninety minutes into service, main courses are going out, but Elsie is struggling on her section. She doesn’t know how to make the penne dish, and Michael would rather do it himself than show her how. Frustrated, Chef Ramsay once again orders the chefs to rotate sections. Jessica begins to struggle on the fish section. She needs more time to complete a lobster, which in turn holds up Michael’s filets. Two hours into service, more than half of the diners are still awaiting their main courses. Meanwhile, Elsie is well behind with her starters and nobody is helping her. Chef Ramsay has already sent two salads to a table that is now waiting on a veloute. She rushes the veloute up, but forgets a bisque. Chef Ramsay tears into her for giving him a yes on the ticket, then not preparing everything at once. She comes close to breaking down, so Chef Ramsay pulls her aside and quietly perks her up and asks for communication. Michael, Jessica and Ralph immediately note that Chef Ramsay is giving Elsie private counseling and not just straight screaming. After a trip to the bathroom to collect herself, Elsie returns to the kitchen. Three hours into service, the diners are getting restless. And one diner found a small piece of wood in her dish. Jean Philippe presents the plate to Chef Ramsay, who then shows Jessica that a splinter was found with one of her lobsters. Tired of waiting, some tables begin walking out. Chef Ramsay calls Jean Philippe into the kitchen, gathers the chefs and shuts the place down. Later, Chef Ramsay criticizes the chefs for taking a step and working against each other. And since nobody came together, nobody is going to nominate someone for elimination. He sends them back to the dorms to wait while he makes his own decision. Following a break, the teams return to face Chef Ramsay. He tells Michael that he can’t carry a whole kitchen on his back, and even though he did some good things tonight, he didn’t do enough of them. Chef Ramsay then summons Jessica forward and tells her that her performance was terrible. Given a chance to defend herself, Jessica claims that she’s been stepping it up each week and through each challenge. Chef Ramsay then calls Elsie forward and asks if she felt support from her team tonight. She says that she did and that she’s already accomplished more than she thought and always gives it her best. Chef Ramsay decides to eliminate Elsie, but not before saying that she greatly impressed him and that he’s proud of her.