39 year old Kevin is widely known as “The Food Dude.” As the Executive Chef of East Village Tavern & Bowl, Kevin is immersed in the San Diego food scene. Kevin writes cookbooks and is the food contributor for a local radio show. This martial arts expert thinks all flavors should pack a mighty punch!
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23 year old Kelsey happily dubs herself as the ‘Mini Martha Stewart.’ This bubbly, blonde dynamo has brought her unique cooking style to her eager peers at the local college cable station as the former host and star of “Kelsey’s Kitchen.” Turning the kitchen into a classroom, Kelsey currently teaches culinary classes covering everything from seafood to cupcakes and freelances in the food department for The Salt Lake Tribune.
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Family man Aaron is happily married and a dad of 3 in Camden, NJ. His love affair began at 13 at a local hospital. He is now the Executive Catering Chef for Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He is easy going in the kitchen and loves all things buttered and barbecued.
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You may have previously seen native New Yorker Cory Kahaney on Last Comic Standing and Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Cory is serious and eclectic about her food. She focuses on what she calls MAMMA cooking, Mediterranean, Austrian, Mexican, Middle Eastern and Asia.
Adam is currently starting up a catering company but he is not a newcomer to food. He previously owned a BBQ joint, The Smoked Joint, in Philadelphia, PA that he ran with his brother. This 30 year old actor likes to make food approachable and fun at the same time.
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Shane is the youngest finalist this year at only 20 years old but this CIA graduate has already proved that he has a strong work ethic as a former cast member of Nickelodeon’s, ALL THAT and as a winner of a Kids Choice Award with the cast in 2004. Now he is showing cooking is no respecter of age by running his own catering service, Experience Dining, in Los Angeles.
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Lisa is the co-owner and special event planner of Suze Restaurant & Catering in Dallas, Texas. This 32 year old former beauty queen designs her own line of aprons and likes to bring a splash of style to the kitchen.
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Jennifer is a 32 year old woman from Woonsocket, Rhode Island who is currently the Executive Chef at Geppetto’s and Briggs Corner restaurants. She balances her career with her 3 year old daughter. Her cooking focuses is on basic ingredients!
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Quickfire Challenge:
So our chefs get taken right into Allen Brothers which does meat. The chefs were long bone dry aged ribeyes. So it is obvious this is going to have to do with the quickfire. They all got a whole ribeye and were to cut individual chops and they have to be frenched. They had 20 minutes to get out 7 chops. One perfectly done chop was passed around before they began so the chefs got to see what was expected. Then they pack up the steaks and take them back to the Top Chef kitchen. When they arrived Padma and Rick Tramonto were waiting for them. To finish the last leg of the challenge they are to prepare a medium rare tomahawk steak. They had 30 minutes. The bottom set was Stephanie and Richard. Lisa, Spike and Antonia were on the top with Spike winning.
Elimination Challenge:
The 5 chefs were to take over Tramonto’s restaurant. They each had to be responsible for an appetizer and an entree. They can create these dishes from what they find in the restaurant. Spike’s reward was to pick ingredients first (or 5 minutes to choose). So Spike chose tomahawk and frozen scallops. They had 3 hours to create the menu. During prep Lisa says that she quit her job to do this. Spike realizes that all the scallops are torn and soaked so it will take a lot to drain them. I think that Spike made a big mistake at this level in the game but saved everyone else from making it. While scallops are a classic fancy appetizer, poor quality won’t help. Then Lisa with these Peanut Butter Mashed Potatoes. Wasn’t she on the team with the Butter Scotch Scallops that were disgusting? It didn’t help then and I don’t think these are a good idea either.
At an hour left before go time Tom tells them that he is going to expedite for them and he wants apps out in 10 minutes.
Antonia: Appetizer – Warm Mushroom Salad with Artichokes and a Poached Egg with a Bacon Vinegrette
Entree – Bone in RibEye with a Caramelized Shallot Gratin
Lisa: Appetizer – Grilled and Chilled Shrimp
Entree – New York Strip with Spicy Apple Caramel and Peanut Butter Mashed Potatoes
Richard: Appetizer – Hamachi with Sweetbreads
Entree – Beef Tenderloin with Potatoes and Turnips in Red Wine
Stephanie: Appetizer – Crisp Veal Sweetbreads with Golden Raisins and Pine Nuts
Entree – Beef Tenderloin with Wild Mushrooms and Apple Sauce
Spike: Appetizer – Seared Scallop with Hearts of Palms and Mushrooms
Entree – Tomahawk Chop with Sweet Potato puree.
Tom introduces the “VIPs” who are the previous winners Harold, Elan and Huang. Now for a moment to harsh on the former winners. The guys were all sitting at their table when the rest of the judges walked up, specifically Padma and Gayle. Not one of those young men got up, I am very disappointed (and yes I am really only 32). Apparently it was a shock to the chefs that they would have to do 6 tasting portions for the judges. Huang thought that Lisa’s appetizer need more sugar and Rick said he loved the lemon. They seemed to love Richard’s appetizer. No one seemed real happy with Spike’s Appetizer. Harold liked Stephanie’s appetizer but would have liked to see the pine nuts toasted. Who doesn’t toast pine nuts?? Every recipe or use I have seen for them says toast first. Gayle thought Antonia’s wasn’t impressive and everyone else seemed a little disappointed. Richard was taking a while in entrees. Rick liked the mash and there seemed to be overall disappointed with the meat. Elan liked the meat on Spike’s plate but nothing else. It seemed everyone loved Stephanie’s entree. Elan loved the fattiness of Antonia’s meat and Rick liked it the best.
Judging Table:
Before we get to the judging. In the waiting room there are only 5 chefs left but I think I saw 4 bottles of wine and Lisa was drinking a beer. That is a lot of alcohol. So they bring in everyone at once. They loved Richard’s appetizer but Rick would have liked more sweetbread. They felt Richard’s entree was uneven as far as doneness at the table. Tom said that he liked how even keel Stephanie was. Rick liked her appetizer. Gayle liked Lisa’s lemon but wished it was warm. Rick liked her entree if the skill would have been better. Tom liked the Antonia’s entree. Gayle liked Spike’s meat. Tom and Rick thought Spike’s willingness to use the frozen scallop was his mistake. That he should have changed direction when he saw they were frozen because chefs have to make these kind of quality decisions. Then Spike said that if they were bad quality they shouldn’t have been in the walk in to begin with. Rick said he would take the shot that he had them in the cooler but Spike had to take the shot for using them. Then as they walked out Spike went and shook Rick’s hand and said it was an honor and Tom looked a bit disgusted.
Then the judges were left alone to talk. Spike was shocked that he said that walk in comment. Rick thought that Stephanie was the most well rounded and Gayle said that Stephanie showed something new. Gayle said that Richard’s app was the best dish of the night. Over all everyone likes Antonia and the food. Spike was a disappointment with the scallops. Tom thinks that Lisa is apathetic and Padma thinks she focuses more on flavor than technique. Tom points out you can’t have flavor with out technique. It is clear that the choice for elimination is only between Lisa and Spike. The winner is Stephanie! She got Rick’s cookbook and a suite of GE Appliances that is in the Top Chef kitchen. Then they announce that Richard and Antonia are also safe and sent the top 3 out. Lisa has been at the bottom judges table 5 times and Spike 7 times. Spike was sent home.
So I will see you all back next week in Puerto Rico.
Hi everyone, welcome back for another dramatic episode of Hell’s Kitchen. The season opens with Matt apologizing to his team and the blue team complaining about Jen.
Our challenge is focused on timing. They have 3 dishes that must be cooked and finished at the same time but only one person in the kitchen at a time. They will cook for 6 minutes and then have 15 seconds to communicate with their team members. Jen thought that Lou Ross should step out (since they had an extra) and convinced everyone else to. Ramsay thought Lou Ross was fast so it surprised him that they selected Lou Ross to step out.
Matt talked to Christiana and she said yes (even though there was more time) but she said she had no idea Matt said. So why did you say yes? The last leg of the race was Corey and Jen. I think the Blue team was torn between wanting Jen to fall on her face and wanting to win. Corey forgot the salad in the first dish but Jen over cooked the eggs and the scallops were raw in the center. The Red Team won that dish. Of course in the confessional Jen doesn’t know what he was talking about. The second dish didn’t look good for the Red Team but the blue team didn’t have the sauce. So the Blue Team won that one. On the third and final dish, the Red Team forgot the baby leeks and the Blue Team forgot the sauce. So the Red Team won that dish and the challenge.
Jen says she did everything perfect except the last sauce but she isn’t going to say she sorry. After all the crud she gave Lou Ross last week? So the Red Team gets to go to the beach and the Blue team is on maintenance duty. Including cleaning the red carpet.
For dinner service they are creating their own menus. They had 1 hour to come up with their menus. The Red Team seemed to collaborate on a menu whereas Jen tried to bulldoze the Blue Team. The cherry on the top was her telling someone to write this down. If you are going to dominate at least have the pen. It seems that no one except Jen is happy with the Blue Team menu. Ramsay loved the Red Team menu but it depends if they can get it on the plate. Now when it came to the Blue menu, Ramsay was less than excited. When he questioned Lou Ross on wrapping the halibut in zucchini and squash, Lou Ross was very clear that it wasn’t what he wanted. When it was clear that this was Jen’s menu Ramsay had them redo it. So I think it is clear that Lou Ross and Jen are going to fight through the whole night.
So diners get to choose which color menu they order off of. Matt starts off with salty pasta and was holding up the output of appetizers on the Red team. Then when the Red Team finally get appetizers out, they come back as still being to salty and Ramsay says it is because of Matt sweating into the food. Christina took Matt’s place on appetizers and Matt was upset with that because he wanted to keep trying. Now over on the Blue Team Lou Ross was putting out raw steaks. After 3 returned steaks Ramsay says if they get one more steak returned that he will close the Blue Kitchen. Then Matt messed up the veg station. Matt gets angry and starts throwing things. Then Corey kicked him out of that station. 2 hours in Christina and Corey are banging it out and was putting out more food than the entire Blue Team. All Matt was doing is cleaning. Over at the Blue Team, Jen’s dessert station was a mess and she took up a raw souffle. Both teams did actually complete their services.
Matt appeared shocked when Ramsay said that the parpadelle dish was a down fall of the Red but in the end the Blue Team won. Petrozza was the best of the worst in spite of being a very messy cook. I don’t know why you would need any time to figure it out. Not shockingly Petrozza puts up Lou Ross and Jen. Ramsay asked Petrozza which one of the 2 he should send home. Petrozza said Lou Ross and Ramsay agreed and sent them home. Then Ramsay called up Jen and Matt and said he wasn’t sure about either of them. Then Ramsay sent Jen back to the girls and Matt back to the boys.
I think Petrozza should have picked Jen. While Lou Ross may be a less capable chef you can teach someone who is open. But Jen is a poison. Now I think and hope that the girls eat Jen alive and don’t let her dominate. I am predicting that either Jen or Matt will go home.
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