Hell's Kitchen Season 17, Episode 4

Hello everybody!

As I have already said a few times, today I am going to start doing write-ups of old Hell’s Kitchen episodes! This is going to be interesting for me, because this is my first time writing about it, and it’s completely different from MasterChef. So in a way, I am going to be learning about how to write about it as I’m writing about it.

I will be using the same Random Number Generator strategy that I used for MasterChef, so as a result, I am going to write about Episode 4 of Season 17. 

Before I actually get into the episode, I feel that I should give you all some background on the show. 

Every season starts off with a certain number of contestants that make up The Red Team and The Blue Team, with The Red Team being all women, and The Blue Team being all men.

Each episode for the most part consists of two parts. The first part is a Team Challenge, while the second part is Dinner Service.

There is considerably less of a focus on the food here than there is on MasterChef, but I will still do my best to talk about it, and I will also talk about almost every other moment in whatever episode I write about.

So, with that out of the way, let’s get started!

The episode started off one contestant named Van flirting with two contestants named Elise and Barbie. Now, let me tell you all something right now. When I decided to start doing write-ups for Hell’s Kitchen episodes, I knew that there were going to be moments that I would have to be careful with writing about, but I figured it would be a while before I encountered them. But in the very first scene of the very first episode I chose to write about, Van asked them a question that is just so inappropriate that I genuinely don’t even feel comfortable writing it out. Let’s just say that apparently 2017 was a different time, and apparently you were allowed to say anything on television. I will say though that there was so much flirting going on that if everyone involved was married, I genuinely worry to find out what their spouses thought of it. Yeah, I’m going to go in depth into just about everything this show presents to me, so depending on the episode, get ready for some truly crazy and messed up stuff.

So, after that charming moment, it was time for a new day at Hell’s Kitchen, which also meant that it was time for a new challenge. Whenever Chef Ramsay introduces a challenge on the show, he usually starts off with something completely unrelated, and this episode was no exception. He started off by giving the chefs some inspiration, saying that there is so much competition in Vegas, that the food has to taste great, look great, and come with a bit of showmanship, at which point a bunch of Vegas showgirls came out. Chef Ramsay then said that the other thing Vegas is famous for is gambling, but at that moment, they would be playing their own game of chance. He then presented them with a machine that featured every letter of the alphabet on it, and how it would work is that he would press a button, a letter would appear, the chefs on each team would go back and forth naming ingredients that start with that letter, and the first chef who gets stumped loses the round for their team, and the team that wins the round gets to choose what ingredients they keep, and what ingredients the other team will have to work with. Yes, I know it sounds very complicated, but hopefully it will make more sense as I explain it more. 

First of all, here’s what I mean by an unrelated prologue to the challenge. There is no reason why Chef Ramsay needed to talk about Vegas as much as he did, and there was no reason at all for him to even bring in showgirls. He could have just introduced the challenge right off the bat, and nobody would be missing anything.

So, with that tangent out of the way, let’s get into the challenge!

The first letter that the machine landed on was “M.” The ingredient that Benjamin came up with was Maraschino Cherries of all things. I have no idea how he even came up with that, and neither did he. 

The ingredient that Manda came up with was Mascarpone Cheese.

The ingredient that Giovanni came up with was Mayonnaise.

The ingredient that Michelle came up with was Mushrooms.

The ingredient that Jared came up with was Mustard.

The ingredient that Elise came up with was Mango.

Then, it was time for Milly to come up with an ingredient, and he couldn’t think of anything, which meant that The Blue Team had lost the round, and The Red Team could now choose one ingredient for themselves and one ingredient for The Blue Team. They chose to keep Mushrooms for themselves and give The Blue Team Maraschino Cherries. 

The next letter that the machine landed on was “C.” The ingredient that Giovanni came up with was Cantaloupe.

The ingredient that Robyn came up with was Cauliflower.

The ingredient that Jared came up with was Chard.

Even though there are so many other ingredients that start with the letter “C,” Michelle found herself unable to come up with any, so The Blue Team kept Cauliflower for themselves, and gave The Red Team Cantaloupe.

The next letter that the machine landed on was “S.” The ingredient that Jared came up with was Snap Peas.

The ingredient that Elise came up with was Syrup. 

Even though there are literally so many other ingredients that start with the letter “S,” Milly once again found himself drawing a blank, which resulted in The Red Team keeping Snap Peas for themselves, and giving The Blue Team Syrup.

The next letter the machine landed on was “A.” The ingredient that Dana came up with was Asparagus.

The ingredient that Milly came up with was Apple.

The ingredient that Robyn came up with was Artichoke.

Chef Ramsay then asked Josh for an ingredient, to which he responded with Agnolotti, which is a terrible answer, because Agnolotti is not an ingredient, it’s a Stuffed Pasta.

This meant that The Red Team won the round, and kept Asparagus for themselves, and gave The Blue Team Artichoke, which I think is a strange choice. I feel that if they really wanted to make it hard for The Blue Team, they should have given them Apple, as they already had Maraschino Cherries and Syrup, so this would have resulted in an even more dysfunctional dish. 

The next letter that the machine landed on was “P,” and after a ton of answers, Dana was unable to think of anything, so The Blue Team gave them Peanut Butter, and kept Portabella Mushrooms for themselves. 

The next letter that the machine landed on was “R,” and after another short round with only two ingredients, The Red Team kept Rice for themselves, and gave The Blue Team Raisins. 

The last letter that the machine landed on was “B,” and after another round with a ton of answers, The Blue Team kept Bacon for themselves, and gave The Red Team Blueberries. 

This meant that now, both teams had to make dishes with their choice of protein and all seven ingredients that they had.

After 40 minutes were up, it was time for Chef Ramsay to taste all of their dishes, rating each dish on a scale from 1 to 5, and obviously, the team with the highest point total would win the challenge.

He tasted all the dishes from The Red Team first, and started with Barbie. 

The protein that she cooked with her seven ingredients was Halibut, and she made an African Peanut Sauce as part of the dish. If you’re curious as to what the dish looked like, here’s a picture of it.

I don’t know about you guys, but that dish looks pretty good to me, and I would be willing to try it.

Barbie then told Chef Ramsay that she had a very big complication with the making of her dish, as she is allergic to Peanuts, so she could not taste her dish. Chef Ramsay then said that the Halibut was cooked beautifully, and the Peanut Butter Sauce was delicious, and he then gave her dish a 4 out of 5.

Up next was Manda, who incorporated all seven ingredients into a Rib Cap dish, and one of the garnishes was Cantaloupe Infused Rice. I don’t know about you guys, but I would have to think a lot before I actually even thought about trying this dish. While I’m sure I would love Rib Cap, Cantaloupe Infused Rice sounds very strange to me. If you’re curious as to what the dish looked like, here’s a picture of it.

Chef Ramsay was not impressed with the dish, saying that the Rice was bland, and apparently that was enough for him to give the dish a 2 out of 5. Unless there were other problems with the dish we didn’t see.

Up next was Dana, who chose to cook a Ribeye dish with the other seven ingredients. I took a screenshot of the dish, and I don’t know about you guys, but I think this dish looks great. 

Chef Ramsay clearly shared this sentiment, as he gave the dish a 5 out of 5.

Up next was Robyn, who chose to make a Black Cod dish with the other seven ingredients, which was marinated in Peanut Butter and also served with a Blueberry Gastrique. I’m not sure about this, because I’m not the biggest fan of Fish, so I don’t know if I would even want to try it. I also feel that the dish looked strange. Just have a look for yourselves.

Chef Ramsay described the dish as looking like someone had been shot, and then he said that the Black Cod was bland, and the skin was rubbery, so as a result, he was struggling to give the dish a 1 out of 5. And believe me, that is one of his favorite comments towards bad dishes, that he is struggling to give it a 1 out of 5. 

Up next was Elise, who chose to make a Wagyu Strip Steak dish with the other seven ingredients. This is another dish that I would seriously consider trying. Here’s a picture of what it looked like for those of you who are curious.

Chef Ramsay was impressed that she wrapped the Asparagus with the Cantaloupe, which I also think is a smart idea. He ended up giving the dish a 5 out of 5.

Up next was Michelle, who chose to make a Filet Mignon dish with the other seven ingredients, and one of the garnishes was Pepper Crusted Cantaloupe. This is another dish that I would consider trying. Here’s a picture of what the dish looked like for those of you who are curious.

Chef Ramsay loved what she did with the salty sweetness in the Cantaloupe, and also gave her dish a 5 out of 5.

The last chef on The Red Team was Jennifer, who chose to make a Monkfish dish with the other seven ingredients. More specifically, it was a Peanut Butter Fried Monkfish with a Saffron Risotto. This is another dish that I would seriously consider trying. Here’s a picture of what the dish looked like.

Chef Ramsay immediately commented that it was cooked beautifully, before giving it a 4 out of 5, and I just have to wonder, how does he decide how good a good dish really is? I mean, he didn’t seem to have any nitpicks with the dish, and seemed to like it as much as the previous two dishes that got perfect scores, but yet he only gave it a 4 out of 5. Is there something about it that they didn’t show us?

This meant that by the end of it, The Red Team had scored 26 points, and now it was time for The Blue Team to present their dishes.

Up first was Milly, who chose to make a Monkfish dish with the other seven ingredients. More specifically, it was a Brown Butter and Bacon Fat Monkfish with Grilled Maraschino Cherries. I’m not sure how I feel about this dish. While I do think that I would want to try it, it doesn’t look that good to me. I mean, just have a look for yourselves. It looks like there’s barely anything on the plate.

Chef Ramsay shared a similar sentiment to me regarding the dish, saying that it didn’t look that intriguing, but the actual flavor was good, and he gave it a 4 out of 5. Also he said the flavor was good while moving his arms around. I could not tell you why he did this. 

Up next was Van, who chose to make a Filet Mignon dish with the other seven ingredients, one component of which was a Syrup and Cherry Sauce. This is another dish that I might consider trying. Here’s a picture of what the dish looked like.

Chef Ramsay said that the Filet was nailed, but there was so much Cherry on the dish that it was very sweet, so the dish only got a 3 out of 5. 

Up next was Benjamin, who chose to make a Wagyu Strip Steak dish with the other seven ingredients, and it also had a Maple Bacon Glaze. This is another dish that I would consider trying, and I also thought it looked pretty good. Here’s an image of it so you can see what I mean. 

Chef Ramsay immediately said that the dish was beautiful, the Glaze had earthiness that lightened everything up, and he gave the dish a five out of five.

Up next was Jared, who chose to make a Black Cod dish with the other seven ingredients, and the dish also included Roasted Cauliflower. Here’s how interesting my food preferences are: I would not be super willing to try the Black Cod, but I would be willing to try the Roasted Cauliflower. Here’s a picture of what the dish looked like.

In the interview segment, Jared said that he was proud of the dish, and that it turned out exactly like he thought it should. So naturally, the next thing that happened was Chef Ramsay saying that the bizarre thing with the dish was that the Cauliflower tasted better than the Black Cod, and he then gave the dish a 1 out of 5. 

Up next was Nick, who chose to make a Ribeye dish with the other seven ingredients, which also included a Golden Raisin Tapenade. This is another dish that I would seriously consider trying. Here’s a picture of what the dish looked like, for those of you who are curious.

Nick then said that the dish was inspired by his husband, as they always eat Ribeyes at home. Chef Ramsay then said he could see why he married him, and gave the dish a 5 out of 5, without any sort of feedback on the dish being shown at all. I don’t know about you guys, but I feel that sometimes, more feedback on the dishes is necessary for us to see. 

Up next was Josh, who chose to make a Halibut dish with the other seven ingredients. I might consider trying this dish if it was offered to me. Again, it all comes down to how much I actually enjoy eating Fish. Here’s an image of what the dish actually looked like.

Chef Ramsay then said that the dish looked textbook, as if it had just come off the cover of a book. Unfortunately, the Halibut was overcooked, so he gave the dish a 3 out of 5. Again, what’s his scoring criteria? I mean, clearly overcooked Halibut is not a good thing, but he still gave the dish a 3 out of 5? Were the other components that good? Was he that impressed by how the dish looked?

Last up was Giovanni, who needed to score a 5 out of 5 just so The Blue Team could tie The Red Team. 

He chose to make a Rib Cap dish with the other seven ingredients. This is yet another dish that I would consider trying. Here’s a picture of what the dish looked like. 

Chef Ramsay told him that the Steak was cooked beautifully, but he still gave the dish a 4 out of 5, and again, I find myself asking, what is his criteria for the scores he gives to every dish? What’s the difference between a dish that is a 4 out of 5 and a dish that’s a 5 out of 5?

This meant that The Red Team had won the challenge. Oh yeah, I should also tell you, the winning team for every challenge gets to go enjoy a reward, while the losing team is forced to stay behind and endure a punishment. For their reward, The Red Team got to fly in a private plane to Santa Barbara to stay at the Belmond El Encanto Resort. For their punishment, The Blue Team had to deal with a delivery of Potatoes, and recycle hundreds of pounds of garbage, making sure that everything went into the proper bins. 

A little later, The Blue Team was setting up the kitchen for dinner service, and at one point, Milly asked Josh what his job title was, to which Josh responded that he was a personal chef to celebrities and had his own catering company, and also proudly stated that he was on his feet three hours a day, which annoyed all of his teammates. I’m just going to say this right now, if you think that it is impressive that you have a job in which you are only working three hours a day, do not expect anyone to respect you.

From there, it was time for Dinner Service to start, and both teams had “VIP Guests” at their Chef’s Tables. The Red Team had Shannon Tweed at their Chef’s Table, while The Blue Team had Paige VanZant at their Chef’s Table. Now, for those of you who don’t know who they are, which I imagine is every one of you, I’m not surprised, because they are not celebrities in my opinion. Shannon Tweed is a Former Playboy Playmate who is married to Gene Simmons, while Paige VanZant is an MMA fighter, and both teams also had to serve a 12-top in the dining room that was celebrating a 30th birthday. 

There really weren’t that many problems from The Red Team during this Dinner Service, but as for The Blue Team, well…

Josh held up the team on Appetizers, and then sent up way too many portions of Risotto. Twice. And after the second time, Chef Ramsay forced him to sit at the Chef’s Table with the VIP guests and eat the leftovers. I legitimately don’t understand what this punishment was. Was it that he cooked so much Risotto that Chef Ramsay refused to waste anything, so he made Josh eat what he had cooked in front of VIP guests? I mean, that’s the best I can think of, because the Risotto was cooked perfectly, so he wasn’t punishing him by making him eat terrible food. 

Also, despite the fact that he is a chef, Josh felt the need to look at a stopwatch to determine how long it would take to cook the Risotto, which further annoyed his teammates and Chef Ramsay. He was then ordered by Chef Ramsay to take it off, and he did so in the weirdest way possible, as rather than simply taking it off the way everybody else would, he literally ripped it off his wrist. And from there, Chef Ramsay literally threw the stopwatch in the Pizza oven. No, I’m not joking. That’s actually what he did. And if you don’t believe me, here’s a picture of what it looked like after it got taken out of the Pizza oven.

Some of the other chefs on The Blue Team had struggles as well, as Giovanni sent up two Pork Chops, one of which was cooked perfectly, and the other of which was burnt, Benjamin and Jared sent up raw Duck for the 12-top, resulting in Jennifer having to step in, and finally, Benjamin sent up a raw Beef Wellington, which resulted in Chef Ramsay kicking the whole Blue Team out of the kitchen, and The Red Team having to finish their service. 

This led to The Blue Team getting sent back to the dorms, and having to come up with two people for elimination. Oh yeah, somehow I forgot to tell you that someone gets eliminated by the end of almost every episode.

Josh tried saying that the raw Pork and the raw Beef Wellington were what got them kicked out, but as soon as he tried calling out Giovanni, Benjamin, and Jared, they immediately called him out instead, unanimously agreeing that he was going to be nominated for elimination. I can’t write out everything that was said at this time, but just know that there was a lot of yelling and a lot of swearing. 

After a heated discussion that only became heated because Josh kept saying the wrong thing, The Blue Team was ready to nominate two chefs for elimination. The second chef they nominated was Giovanni, due to his issues with Pork that night. I’m not saying who the first nominee was here, because if you’re paying attention, you know who it was.

Chef Ramsay then made them both plead their cases as to why they should stay in Hell’s Kitchen. After Josh gave his speech, Benjamin weighed in and told Chef Ramsay that throughout the whole day, they had been watching over Josh, and he had been the weakest link all day. Obviously, Josh disagreed, but Chef Ramsay then asked for everyone on The Blue Team who believed they were carrying Josh to raise their hands, and everybody raised their hands. 

From there, Chef Ramsay made his decision, and made Josh give him his jacket, because when a team gives up on you, there is no place to go. His words, not mine. Then, he sent Josh over to The Red Team, which horrified the members of that team, and then he sent Robyn over to The Blue Team. His reason for doing this was because he had not seen either Josh or Robyn at their best yet, so he was willing to give them one last chance. For those of you wondering how giving both of them one last chance went, Robyn ended up making it to The Final Five, while Josh had such a horrifically bad performance the very next episode, that I almost don’t even want to talk about it here, and instead talk about it in another write-up perhaps…

Wow, I enjoyed writing this more than I thought I would! I hope that you all enjoyed reading it, and I’ll see you all soon with another blog post!