HK:NY Episode 1

# Intro

The 18 new chefs arrived at Hell’s Kitchen and were greeted by maitre d’ Marino, who asked if they were ready to enter Hell’s Kitchen, to which they had a large and exciting reply.  Brittany says that she’s a huge fan of the show, she’s seen every contestant who has walked in and out of the kitchen and hopes she can make it far. Garrett said he wasn’t intimidated in the slightest by Gordon Ramsay and said he wanted to prove himself. Meanwhile Cedric and Natalie reunited with each other. Natalie told everyone that Cedric was working as the chef de partie of the restaurant she was at before they both moved on to more major places. Both Cedric and Natalie know how strong the other is.

When Chef Ramsay arrived, he revealed that the winner of Hell’s Kitchen 23 will become the head chef of the new Gordon Ramsay restaurant in New York City. Franky was ecstatic to work there because he also lives in New York City but never officially been inside because of how packed up it can be. Gordon then introduced debuting mentors Daphne Oz as the Red Team’s Sous Chef and Aarón Sánchez as the Blue Team’s Sous Chef. He then asked the chefs to head into the kitchen and cook their signature dish. Gordon said this was going to be a bit different because one person on each team will have the same protein as the other and must cook better than their opponent.

## Signature Dish Challenge

The chefs then ran to their respective kitchens to begin cooking their dish.  In the red kitchen, Pamela revealed that she had made a lot of proteins but never made the one she was assigned, which was pork, but she wanted to show her strengths.  Over in the blue kitchen Taylor was worried that he undercooked his lobster, but with only 2 minutes to go he didn't have time to make another one. Diego notices that and prays that Taylor cooks it well. After the chefs had finished their signature dishes Ramsay stated he would judge their dishes on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being a total disaster and 5 being a truly outstanding dish.

First on the list was Executive Chefs Katie and Omar in the battle of the salmon. Katie’s surf and turf lemon marinated salmon with a romaine lettuce salad was cooked nicely but the salad had a weird taste from the salmon on top, giving Katie a 3. Omar’s honey glazed salmon with a sweet potato hash was cooked perfectly but the hash was missing some seasoning, also giving Omar a 3. Both were satisfied with their performances. Next was Pop Up chef Natalie up against Private chef Garrett in the battle of the scallops. Garrett commented that he has every single attribute to demonstrate an act of perfection in his dish. Natalie started with her seared scallops and her corn succotash which was given high praise for her smokiness and her plating, which gave her a four. Natalie was happy that a world famous chef liked her dish. Garrett presented his grilled scallops with a carrot puree. Gordon immediately pointed out that the scallops were raw and the puree was strangely too sweet. This confused Garrett even more when he was given a 1, giving the ladies a 3 point lead. Garrett was a bit salty about him losing. Next was Executive chef Emily against Sous chef Mike in the battle of the chicken. Before eating, Gordon asked Emily about her age and how long she has been cooking. Emily said that she got out of culinary school two years ago after high school which put Ramsay off. Emily’s honey glazed chicken breast with home fries were seasoned greatly and didn’t overpower the dish which gave her a 4. Mike’s air fried chicken wings with a cayenne pepper barbecue sauce tasted nice and was deemed a nice comfort food, Mike was given a strong 4. Next was catering chef Pamela against Executive chef Jacob in the battle of the pork. Pamela was first with her pork loin with a cabbage slaw and she was worried that her pork was deemed good and continued the ladies' success. Gordon had other words to say when her pork loin was dangerously overcooked. She was given a disappointing 2. Jacob was next and Gordon had to comment on the green colored streak in Jacob’s hair. He said it was something that he did with his wife for their anniversary. He presented a boneless pork chop bowl with a creamy garlic spinach sauce. The sauce kicked in with a good taste and blended in with the chop amazingly, giving Jacob the first 5 of the night, and tying the score. Next on the roster is Lead Line cook Rebecca against Sous chef Diego in the battle of the cod. Rebecca went first with a Beer battered cod with roasted brussel sprouts. Ramsay said that the dish tasted nice but looked ordinary and not too exciting, giving her a 3. Diego went next with his fried catfish tacos with a red cabbage slaw, which was nicely cooked and seasoned. Ramsay gave him a 4, and put the blue team in the lead with 1 point. Next was Jr. sous chef Holly against chef de partie Cedric in the battle of the duck. Holly served a roasted duck stew with collard greens. The dish had no problems because of the nice sear on the duck, giving Holly a 4. Cedric’s parmesan grazed duck with mashed potatoes was deemed great and was also given a 4. Next up was private chef Veronica versus line cook Taylor in the battle of the lobster. Veronica’s lobster tail with glazed mexican corn tasted nice but needed some more seasoning, which gave her a 3. Taylor was worried about his lemon marinated lobster with mashed potatoes because of the worry of undercooked lobster. Thankfully, the lobster was cooked nicely. Taylor was relieved and was given a 4, giving the men a 2 point lead. Next was chef de partie Lauren against Executive sous chef Franky in the battle of the lamb. Lauren went first with her Moroccan spiced lamb chop with dijon mustard glazed carrots. Ramsay loved the rub on the lamb and the carrots had a nice kick to it, which gave Lauren the second 5 of the night. Lauren celebrated the win. Franky served his braised lamb shank and a tzatziki sauce. The lamb was undercooked which shocked the blue team, but the tzatziki sauce had a nice creaminess to it. Franky was given a 2, which tied the score. It all came down to Executive chefs Brittany and Seth in the battle of the steak. Brittany’s garlic butter steak with home potatoes was well cooked and seasoned, which gave her a four. The women were ecstatic, Rebecca said Seth needs to nail this dish to pass them or even tie and one wrong thing could give the red team the win. Seth presented his applewood smoked bacon wrapped steak with roasted asparagus. Gordon loved that he wrapped the steak in bacon and even cooked the asparagus in the bacon fat. Gordon had a hard decision to make but decided to give Seth the third 5 of the night, giving the blue team the win.

## Reward & Punishment

Gordon Ramsay told the winning blue team that they will go on a Surf N’ Turf cruise ride where they will meet with a famous celebrity who is a famous 4 time Emmy nominee and performer, but he wasn’t going to tell them who it was. This led the blue team into a guessing game on who the mystery celebrity was. Gordon then told the losing red team that they are about to be in for a day. It was delivery day. The red team was going to unload all the food from the delivery truck outside and then sort and organize the pantry. They then had to prepare the dining room for the big opening night of Hell’s Kitchen. This already exhausted the red team.

At the winning cruise, the blue team were met with Las Vegas superstar and international legend, Donny Osmond. Cedric was ecstatic to meet Donny Osmond in person because he has seen at least five of his shows. Everyone onboard the cruise had a great time enjoying some seafood cuisine, but people like Omar kept watch on the so-called “weak links” on the blue team, being Garrett and Franky. Franky was ashamed of his performance and wanted to prove more than what he served that day. On the other hand, Garrett was completely unphased that he did the worst on the blue team, which made others worried about his cockiness. Back at Hell’s Kitchen, the red team were both preparing the pantry and the dining room for the first service. They actually had a bit of fun with each other, specifically Holly and Natalie, who were laughing and talking while doing the job. This behavior upset sous chef Daphne. Pamela was a bit bummed from the challenge because she did the worst on the red team, but was comforted by Lauren.

## Individual Challenge

Once everyone was back in the dorms, they all looked and memorized the menu. Some even stayed up all night looking at all the methods of cooking. They were also all given their knife books and chef jackets, officially putting them in the competition. People like Rebecca, Veronica, and Brittany were talking about the first service and how everyone is.

The next day, Gordon Ramsay called the chefs to the dining room for a mysterious challenge, this led everyone to shock and confusion. Once they did, they found a large pot of chili in the front of the kitchen that Gordon was stirring. Katie thought that they were going to make chili for their first actual challenge.

Ramsay announced that the chefs first individual challenge was to create an amazing chili bowl and that the best two dishes would receive a new reward known as the Save Pin, a special button pin given to avoid nomination that night. Seth wanted to get his hands on that pin because being safe from a nomination would be crucial. Ramsay then revealed he’s going to start getting rid of some of the weak chefs early on in the competition before the first service even begins and whoever cooks the worst soup dish will be handing over their jacket, shocking everyone.  The chefs were given 40 minutes and the episode ended on a cliffhanger.