HK:NY Episode 6

## Intro

When going back to the dorms, everyone was incredibly shocked after the team swap. Each team had a meeting to try and get the new members on par with the rest of the team. Taylor said this was going to be a challenge due to already getting used to one team to now being swapped to a team that he has no experience with. Lauren said she didn’t focus on gaining new members, but she was bummed that her team had to lose Brittany from the team, but was at least a bit happy to get Jacob in return. Katie said even though the men on the team seemed to know what they were doing, the fact that the upbeat and cocky blue team was acting the way they were was on her nerves. Emily welcomed her new teammates with open arms.

## Team Challenge

The following day, the chefs went downstairs, where Gordon told them that they had to be creative while thinking on-the-spot, before revealing a craps table. Natalie mentioned how she has never gambled in her life so she has no idea how this will work. For the Craps Challenge, each chef would roll a die once and choose an ingredient starting with the letter it landed on. The dice contained sides with a B, P, R, H, D, M, S, T, C, G, F, L, E, and a Free Space Side. Gordon said that they needed to adapt to their teams, and what better place to go than by thinking as one.

Up first was the blue team, with Seth starting the challenge. The die landed on M, and Seth chose mushrooms. Brittany landed on G and chose garlic. Cedric landed on R and chose Rabbit, which made Mike satisfied about that choice as he found it a nice protein that can fit in with their other ingredients. Then, Mike landed on P and chose polenta, Diego landed on T and chose truffles. Last to roll the dice for the blue team was Katie. Diego was hoping this would work out so Katie can have a good first impression on the red team. Katie landed on a R and chose red wine, which interested her team.

For the red team’s turn, starting with Emily. Emily  landed on F, and eventually chose Fennel. Natalie landed on B and chose the red team’s protein, Barramundi. Holly said she had no clue that a Barramundi fish even existed. Taylor landed on E and chose Eggplant after saying the Eggplant was the only thing he could think of that started with E. Holly landed on C and chose chimichurri, Jacob landed on P and chose Pinto Beans as that was the only thing he could think of. Finally, Lauren landed on T and chose Tequila, which confused Gordon and forced him to ask if the red team was jumping on board with the blue team’s alcohol plan. Lauren explained that Tequila can help elevate flavors that seemed boring.

Both teams had 30 minutes to cook their dishes. Both kitchens had different strategies on what they would be cooking and doing.  Cedric was able to lead the team by helping others in the blue kitchen, while the red kitchen was mainly focused on themselves. While everyone in the red kitchen was doing techniques to make the Barramundi the stand alone star, Emily wanted to go in another direction by making Barramundi tacos, she said this might help with creativity and style with the ingredients at hand. Jacob said he was very nervous on how he was going to prepare the Eggplant, because cooking it the wrong way could leave it bitter. He ultimately decided to make it into a slaw with the turnips. In the blue kitchen, Seth said he was very happy that red wine was included since he worked at a restaurant that infuses alcohol with some of their proteins. Mike felt that the rabbit was the main component of the dish as there were many ways he could cook it. Meanwhile when Katie sliced into her rabbit, it came out undercooked, so she decided to put it in the oven to help it rise up more. Eventually, both teams had their dishes cooked and plated on time.

Before tasting, Gordon announced that the guest judge for today's challenge had been familiar not only with Hell’s Kitchen, but he is also very familiar with this challenge because it was played in his season. To everyone’s surprise, Gordon welcomed in the owner of Horgan LLC, executive chef, catering chef, and most importantly as Hell’s Kitchen season 19 Alumnist, Declan Horgan.

First up was Lauren’s Tequila basted Barramundi with braised fennel. It was praised for being beautifully cooked with a slight Tequila kick. Lauren told herself that she knew Tequila was going to be a good idea. Diego's rabbit tenderloin was praised for being cooked perfectly and was said to be amazing but Declan saw that the mushrooms had too much garlic, which Gordon agreed. Lauren was given a point. Emily’s barramundi tacos were praised for having a great sear and Gordon was surprised she could make a fennel infused tortilla, and Mike’s mushroom and polenta stuffed rabbit was praised for creativity and style. Declan gave both teams a point. Next up were Jacob’s spicy barramundi oven bake, which was praised for being nicely consistent, up against Katie's grilled rabbit dumplings, which was excellently put together. Both teams won a point. Katie was extremely happy for having her dish play out well. Holly's Greek-inspired Barramundi skillet was delicious but her grilled eggplant was overcooked, which meant the eggplant was bitter. Seth’s rabbit stew was nicely smooth and Declan compared it to a nice snowy day. Seth won the round which made him very happy about the result of his dish and said this challenge was in his wheelhouse. Taylor was next, and his baked barramundi pilaf was criticized for being slightly under-seasoned, but was cooked nicely. Cedric's rabbit sausage platter was cooked to perfection but was told that he had too much truffle on it. Both teams earned a point. In the final round, Natalie went up against her old teammate, Brittany. While Brittany's barbecued rabbit had an unusual concept, it worked because of a perfect cook. On the other hand, Natalie's tequila battered barramundi fingers were also praised for their flavors, but could've been cooked less. After a bit of decision, Declan gave the win to Brittany and the blue team.

## Reward & Punishment

The blue team took a helicopter trip across New York City. Diego said it was basically the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen because he doesn't usually take tours like this. The red team cleaned the kitchen and prepared a bunch of wellingtons for that night’s service. Even though Jacob said this wasn’t the worst punishment he went through, he said it sucked having to go through another punishment.

When the blue team returned from their reward above the buildings, both teams began prepping their kitchens for service. Natalie in the red kitchen was feeling a little uncomfortable having Jacob and Taylor in their kitchen instead of Katie and Brittany. She said she wanted to keep an eye on the two. On the other hand, Emily felt happy having new chefs because they could potentially help their team in any way they could. In the blue kitchen, Diego was hoping that the new girls won't mess anything up because he has a lot of hope for the two. Cedric said that he wanted to be the leader of the blue team after feeling like they didn’t have a leader. After confirmation from both teams, Gordon told Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.

## Service

In the blue kitchen, Mike felt that the blue team could push through this service no matter what happens, and his risotto was accepted, along with Brittany’s scallops. He said that an asteroid could crash into the kitchen and that still couldn’t have stopped the momentum. Cedric was able to speak up and command the kitchen on time. Gordon saw this and thanked him for finally stepping up. Appetizers were able to come out at a nice pace.

In the red kitchen, Lauren's scallops were accepted, but Natalie wasn’t communicating and sent the garnish up too early. Gordon berated Natalie to communicate with her team and just because there are new members on the team doesn’t mean she had to shut down. Natalie said that she doesn’t know where her head was at that time and she’s letting the uncomfortable feeling get to her. After getting the scallops out, all eyes were on Jacob to push out two risottos. After a few minutes, Jacob sent the risottos up hoping that he was able to fight the heat of a new kitchen and prosper. Gordon called the entire red team to the front, which concerned the team. Gordon told the red team to look at the risottos and said that is one of the best risottos he has seen in Hell’s Kitchen. Gordon then asked Taylor if the lobster tail was ready, which he accepted and brought up. Jacob was very ecstatic to make that good of a first impression on his new team. Holly mentioned that she feels like her team could finally beat the blue team.

In the blue kitchen, the team was onto entrees. Brittany felt like she already made a good impression by giving her team the win during the challenge. And since she knows Katie can cook quite well, she said the only chef that she’s worried about was Diego because he hasn’t really shown too much shine in challenges as she’s seen. When Gordon asked Diego and Katie about the New York strips, Diego said six minutes. This confused Gordon and said that a New York strip shouldn’t take that long. Diego recalled it as four minutes. After those four minutes, Diego sent out his New York strips. After another ticket, Seth and Brittany were working on the entire ticket of fish. Seth said that this was probably his biggest ticket yet. After sending up all the fish. Gordon came back with one cod that was undercooked. He berated Seth to get better and to refire that one cod. Seth said that he knew not everything on that ticket was gonna come out perfect. Seth got his second attempt on cod accepted.

In the red kitchen, Taylor was working on Halibut while Holly was busy making chicken. Holly said that as a woman from the south state of Arkansas she knew what a perfectly cooked chicken should look like. After having an oddly confident response, Holly brought up the chicken with Taylor’s halibut right behind. However, Gordon came back with the chicken being dry and stringy. This upset Emily because Holly cooked chicken before and should be better than that. Holly started the refire with Taylor’s fish in the window. The next sendup of chicken then came up overcooked again. The garnish for the chicken was missing as well. Gordon called Holly and Natalie into the back pantry and told them that they need to do better and communicate if they want to keep their jackets on. Once recalled back into the kitchen, Holly went on to the next attempt. Lauren became worried that they might fail this next service.

Seth sent his second attempt at the cod in the blue kitchen, and it was accepted. Mike served them, and acknowledged that the men could not mess up anymore. Cedric however, was dismayed because they had to depend on Diego. When Diego was ready to walk with his lamb, Katie gave 90 more seconds, Gordon urged the latter to hurry up, and Diego's lamb was accepted. Then, Diego arrogantly said that the team should regret having to underestimate him. Gordon told the blue team that they were doing fantastic, and their Wellingtons were beautifully cooked as well.

In the red kitchen, Holly continued to struggle on the chicken and wanted to make sure it did not come out overcooked. However, Natalie said they needed five more minutes because of garnish, much to Gordon’s frustration. When the chicken and the garnish came to the pass, Gordon said it was raw and the collard greens for the garnish were mushy. This caused Gordon to eject the red team. As the red team walked back to the dorms, Gordon asked the red team to name two people for elimination.

In the blue kitchen, Gordon called Mike, Cedric, and Brittany into the red kitchen to finish the red team’s tickets. Diego was ecstatic about dominating while motivating his teammates. Katie knew that she would make a difference on the blue team. After Gordon told them to walk out of the kitchen with their heads held high. Seth called it their redemption arc.

## Deliberation

In the dorms, Jacob asked Holly if she could explain her poor performance. Still, Holly knew that services were her weak point. Taylor reminded Holly how disorganized she was on meat. However, Sarah argued that she knows how to cook chicken and has proved herself to be better. Then, Emily reminded Natalie how simple the garnish station should have been as a professional kitchen always had garnishes ready in two minutes. This caused Natalie to get pissed and say that she has had her back for her team since day one. Lauren rebutted that saying that she wasn’t communicating with the meat station, who had Taylor, one of the two new members. Jacob was annoyed that they were this far in the competition and they were performing this badly.

## Elimination

At elimination, Lauren announced Holly as the women’s first nominee and Natalie as the second, with Natalie shaking her head. During their pleas, Natalie said that she had improved since the previous service and felt that she was growing and learning a lot. Still, Gordon reminded her how mushy the collard greens were, and Natalie admitted it to be an oversight. Holly said in her plea that she had the skills to go farther and she came to Hell's Kitchen to teach Gordon about her improving skills. This confused Gordon. After much deliberation, Holly was eliminated for her weak performance on meat, and Gordon said that he couldn't wait for her to step up any longer. During her exit interview, Holly said she was ashamed that she couldn’t push herself to be Gordon’s next head chef. Although she said she’ll return to her hometown proud that she had that experience.

After Holly left, Ramsay told both teams to go over what went wrong and warned them that if they put in another poor performance, he wouldn’t hesitate to go to extreme conditions. While being dismissed, Emily believed the red team would be in better shape without Holly but knew it was time to step up. Cedric believed that if he could keep leading the men, he would have a shining chance at winning. Natalie was very happy that she survived and she was ready to prove to her team that she isn’t the weak link.

***Gordon’s Comment: “Holly came here to teach me something about her, and she did. She taught me that people from the south don’t automatically know how to cook chicken.”***