Episode AVSSOHK07: Pizza Time!

The seventh episode of A Very Special Season Of Hell's Kitchen will air on February 13, 2024. In that episode, pizza was the main dish, a showmance intensified, and while Italian Night was a bounce-back service for both teams, Ramsay still sent someone home.

## Intro

While going back to the dorms, Eric was shocked to see two chefs go home and he was not one that went home, and thanked Ramsay for keeping him longer. The entire red team was in shock of two chefs leaving, as **Mariah** called it unexpected. As everybody gathered at the hot tub to relax, some chefs joked about **Hayden** and Maya's showmance, **Garrett** was happy to have the blue team win some more as both teams cheered on their drinks.

## Team challenge

The next day, both teams came downstairs as Ramsay explained that a great chef must be proficient in multiple techniques, and that the chefs would be making their own pizzas for the next challenge. Ramsay revealed that **Marino** owns two pizza restaurants alongside being a maitre'd, and Marino presented a ginormous pizza with flags on them. For the **Pizza Fusion Challenge**, both teams would make their own pizzas, using ingredients from different countries, and they would be going head to head. That motivated **Patrick**, who said that pizza was something he always loved making. Mariah wanted to cook against Zoey as she wanted a good fight, and they landed on India. **Joey** wanted to go up against Patrick as she wanted to dominate him, and they got South Korea, which excited the latter as he made kimchee back home. Hayden decided to go up against **Elijah**, and they got Morocco, though Elijah said that nothing from that country screamed: "put me on a pizza." **Lexi** chose to go up against **Amelia**, and they landed on Vietnam, and Maya chose to go up against Eric, and they landed on Greece. For the final pairing, Jacob was left with Garrett as she wanted to go up against the best, and they landed on France. Jacob wanted to go up against Garrett for so long despite being good friends, he wanted to see who will be the better chef.

Both teams had 30 minutes to cook their pizzas, and Garrett said he was happy he got France because it was not a difficult country to pair up any type of food. However, Lexi complained that there was no room anywhere to cook and called it utter chaos. The blue team relied on Patrick for help on their pizzas, though Patrick felt it was difficult because he was focused on his own pizza. Zoey felt good with her Indian ingredients, while Hayden had an idea for a Moroccan pizza. With only 90 seconds remaining, Joey said things were getting hectic and struggled to get his pizza off his paddle, much to Lexi's annoyance as she needed the space. Eventually, the chefs were able to cook and plate their pizzas on time.

Mariah and Zoey were up on their Indian pizzas in the first round, and Mariah presented her white pizza with mango chutney and roasted mushrooms. While it was criticized for looking dry, the pizza was praised for tasting Indian. Then, Zoey's garden Marsala sauce pizza with coconut milk marinated chicken and eggplant was criticized for having a spongy eggplant. Mariah won that round, the score was 1-0 for the red team, and Mariah smugly thanked Zoey for the win. The Morocco round was next, and while Hayden was a little concerned, he noticed that Elijah's pizza had many unidentifiable toppings on them. Elijah's Moroccan-styled lamb pizza was criticized for the lack of sweetness despite being praised for the spiciness, while Hayden's Moroccan curry meatball pizza was praised for having great flavors, despite being dry as Marino noticed a lack of a sauce. After a tough decision, Hayden won that round, the score was tied at one each. On the Vietnam round, Amelia's Banh hoi-inspired pizza had a weird shape as he had a bit of crunch time. Despite that, the dish was praised for having mind-blowing flavors, while Lexi's Vietnamese Pho pizza was criticized for being undercooked but praised for reminding Ramsay of an actual Pho. So, Lexi won that round, the score was 2-1 for the red team, and she was happy to win her round. On the Greek round, Eric's Greek lamb pizza with feta cheese was praised for the flavors of the toppings, while Maya's Greek sausage and toasted pistachio pizza was praised for the nut element, with Marino calling it a near-perfect dish. Nick won that round, and the score was tied at two each. On the South Korean round, Joey's flatbread pizza was criticized for its small presentation. Ramsay asked if Joey ate half of it, despite having great flavors. In contrast, Patrick's shrimp and raw cabbage pizza was criticized for its failed attempt of emulating kimchee. So, Joey scored that round having great flavors, making it 3-2 for the red team, and Joey was proud of himself for scoring a point despite the pizza being so small. On the final round, Jacob and Garrett presented their French pizzas, and Garrett's brie, Brussel sprouts, and toasted prosciutto pizza were criticized for not using the full extent of the pizza dough but praised for being a good job. In contrast, Jacob's white pie pizza with shallots was criticized for having a burnt underside. Ramsay was more upset that the red team failed to see that during their decision, and a dismayed Joey called it a rookie mistake. While the pizza was praised for tasting delicious, it was criticized for poor execution. In the end, Garrett won that round, and both teams are at a 3 point tie. Mariah's and Garrett's pizzas were brought up again to determine the winning team. After much deliberation, Ramsay and Marino selected Garrett's pizza to be the best, making the blue team win the challenge, with Garrett feeling extremely happy as he won it for the team after being solid the whole season.

### Scoring

* Best dish named by Ramsay broke the tie in the challenge and won it for their team.

## Reward

The blue team were rewarded with a game of golf at the local golf dome, with **Sous Chef Jason** joining them. Chef Ramsay congratulated Garrett with having the best pizza of the day, making him ecstatic that he was doing the best he could. Patrick got excited by the idea of Sous Chef Jason joining his team on the reward as it was a dream come true. During the reward, Sous Chef Jason wanted to find out who was the best golfer amongst the blue team, and Garrett called it a good feeling to have Sous Chef Jason with them. As the blue team played their game, Sous Chef Jason promised a prize for the winner. Patrick proved to be the best golfer, and Amelia could see the former's athleticism shining. As the blue team ate lunch, a few cracked jokes about the red team's punishment as Maya recalled how angry Mariah looked when they left. Zoey agreed with that and wondered if the red team would collapse the red kitchen that night.

## Punishment

For Italian Night, the red team were punished by prepping ravioli by hand, grate the cheese, and prep both kitchens for that night’s service. During the punishment, Jacob should feel terrible after the challenge, even suggesting that he had the worst pizza out of the whole team, and he just joined the red team. Mariah wanted the red team to bounce back during service, but Eric told the the red team that they needed a bounce back quickly.

## Before service

Later that night, the blue team came back from their reward, with Hayden, Maya, and Garrett going back to the hot tub, with Maya was ready for some love moments. But, Garrett felt a bit concerned that Maya was not attracted to him over Hayden and felt that she should get along with everybody on her team.

The next day, both teams began prepping for the Italian Night dinner service. Patrick felt the blue team were in good spirits and confident, while Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.

## Dinner service

The menu featured a selection of gourmet pizzas for the Italian Night dinner service. The blue team received their first order, and Patrick wanted redemption after his poor performance in the challenge. Still, he ended up burning his first attempt, but his refire was later accepted. In the red kitchen, Elijah brought up his first pizza, but Jacob needed 20 seconds for scallops as Ramsay told Jacob to speed up. Jacob sent up scallops with one side raw, with Ramsay told Joey to show Jacob how to cook scallops properly. Joey knew they should not get lagging on scallops and accused Jacob of getting frazzled before succeeding on her attempt. In the blue kitchen, Patrick was sending out pizzas at a rapping pace, with Amelia also sending out perfect risottos. In the red kitchen, Elijah and Lexi worked together on the pizzas, but Elijah felt that with or without Lexi, he can send up acceptable pizzas.

One hour into service, Hayden was helping Maya with meat, but when Maya sent up an undercooked steak, and when Hayden served up burnt Wellington, Ramsay called them both up to the pass to get their heads in the game on the first ticket. Hayden knew that him and Maya were very strong chefs, and that they should not be making mistakes, As Hayden and Maya went back to their station, Maya said that every night was a challenge, but they had to find a way to push through. Hayden and Maya had perfect meat on the next table, which made Ramsay feel better about the blue team's meat station. Ramsay was still waiting for the meat the red kitchen, but Eric burned a Wellington, making Joey upset as he had to start over his garnish. Lexi told Eric to not give up, but Eric felt that he was on thin ice before starting service as she did not want her ass on the chopping block. Then, Eric sent up an improperly sliced steak, with Ramsay wanting Eric to bounce back quickly. In the blue kitchen, the focus now turned onto Zoey as she had to bring up her garnishes. Zoey sent up burnt mashed potatoes, and Garrett told him to put it in for another 15 seconds, believing that Zoey cannot cook and lead at the same time. Because of that, Maya's strip was overcooked with one piece sliced very thinly, which caused Ramsay to ask how she managed that, and Maya asked Zoey if she wanted Ramsay to lose his mind. Ramsay was still waiting on the Wellington refire in the red kitchen, but while Joey got the garnish up in time, Ramsay told Eric that the garnish was sitting at the pass. Joey knew the meat station was bringing the kitchen down as there was no reason for Eric to do the meat all by himself. Still, Eric walked his Wellingtons to the pass, and they were perfect, with Eric happy that the red team started to get consistent with serving food out.

Two hours into service, Maya’s refires were accepted. However, the garnish station continued to be a problem as Zoey was having trouble communicating with the meat station. Patrick decided to jump on the garnish to not only help Zoey, but to lead the kitchen as well. This move made everything much better, as Zoey and Patrick got the garnishes perfect, along with Hayden and Maya serving their meats. As Ramsay was sending out the ticket, Garrett felt that the blue team were strong because they could bounce back. In the red kitchen, Ramsay called up Eric to the pass and told him that he was bouncing back with his meat. Eric felt that he had momentum. Afterwards, both teams completed the service with no more issues.

## Post-mortem

After both teams lined up, Ramsay called it a comeback service as, while not perfect, both teams bounced back from their mistakes. With that said, Ramsay announced both teams as winners. However, Ramsay said he must continue to trim the fat and asked both teams to nominate two people for elimination.

During deliberation, Mariah knew the process was getting difficult as they were going through the smaller details of who messed up. Lexi nominated Eric and Jacob, with Eric for being inconsistent. Mariah agreed with Lexi as she expected way more from Eric. Even though Eric knew he was inconsistent, he did not know what else he could do to convince the red team otherwise.

On the blue side, Patrick knew they had a few bumps that night as Garrett considered Maya for the raw lamb. Still, Amelia pointed out that Hayden took the lead on meat that night and felt Hayden should take responsibility. Then, Hayden nominated Zoey, with Amelia and Patrick pointing out her sluggish performance on garnish. Zoey denied being the weakest chef and said she would not leave.

## Elimination

After both teams came downstairs, Ramsay said that although it was a decent service, he was raising his expectations. Elijah announced Eric as the red team's first nominee and Jacob as their second. Hayden announced Zoey as the men's first nominee and Maya as their second. During their pleas, Maya called herself a fighter and would learn from his mistakes, while Zoey felt she was a consistent player and would never give up. Then, Jacob said she was resilient and would continue to grow, while Eric admitted to making mistakes despite never giving up. After a difficult decision, Ramsay eliminated Eric for being too inconsistent on the line, but praised his determination. During her exit interview, Eric said although he did make mistakes, Ramsay appreciated that he had determination which he could use to go far in his career.

After Eric left, Ramsay reminded the chefs that it would only get harder from that point onward. While being dismissed, Jacob felt that his new team were letting him down but wanted to rise up and be strong. Then, Maya refused to go home as she wanted to prove to Ramsay she was a fighter. Lastly, Garrett was happy to see no blue team chef go home but agreed on Chef Ramsay's point of the competition getting harder.

Ramsay's comment: "I was right about Eric's determination, but unfortunately, his determination won't lead him to Vegas, it led him out of here."

## Trivia

* **Title Reference**: The title refers to the chefs making pizza for the Pizza fusion challenge.
* This marks the fourth season where both teams were named joint winners in two services, following **Season 4**, **Season 7**, and **Season 20**.