(Archived) (Lifedollars) Episode 2105 - 14 Chefs Compete

The fifth episode of the old version of Season XXI of Hell’s Kitchen was published on December 2nd, 2020. On that episode, a Family Night dinner service took place, and a delusional chef went home.

## Intro

While heading back to the dorms, Deep notes that the blue team has already lost two services to the red team,, and that they needed to get a grip eventually. Gal says that he hopes Matt can recover, because if he keeps fucking up, then he'd most likely start being considered deadweight. Roy sits down with Matt and asks him what happened. Matt responded with saying that he just got inside his own head and that he would never do it again. Roy states that he doesn't know whether or not he's making empty promises and the rest of the blue team would have to see for themselves as the competition goes on.

## Team Challenge

The next day, Ramsay explained how certain foods could take someone back to a certain time of year, using Thanksgiving and turkey as an example. Then, Ramsay added that certain holidays can bring out cultural food connections such as the Fourth of July and American food, Cinco de Mayo and Mexican food, and Mardi Gras and Cajun food. For the Holiday Platter Challenge, each team had to cook three platters of the three holidays seen, with each platter containing three dishes.

The chefs had 40 minutes to create their platters, and each team broke into two pairs and a team of three.

Dasara got vocal and tried to lead the red team, as she felt that the red team needed vocal leadership, but Lexi got annoyed by this, reminding that none of the members of the red team decided on her as a leader. In the blue kitchen, Matt said that since he was from New Orleans that he knew he could make a good platter for Mardi Gras. Gal said that Matt had just failed on a station the previous service and questioned why the blue team should trust him immediately after that happened. In the red kitchen, Lexi felt that it wouldn't be too much of a task, but dealing with Kelly's incessant micromanaging would be a bigger task. In the blue kitchen, Ben was having difficulty with his dish, but he was able to get it on track thanks to Matt's help. As there were five minutes left, both teams were rushing to get their third dishes ready. Eventually, both teams got their platters cooked and plated on time.

Both judges would give a point to the dish they thought was great on each platter, and Ramsay announced that the best platter from the winning team would be featured in the upcoming issue. On the first round, Declan and Roy presented their Fourth of July platter, featuring a burger, a hot dog, and a kebabs. The burger scored, but the hotdog was criticized for being dry, and the kebabs scored a point. Then, Kelly and Lexi presented their burger, their fried chicken, and a grilled corn. All dishes scored except for the grilled corn, as it was criticized for being boring. The score was tied at 2-2. The red team's pair of three presented their Cindo de Mayo platter, featuring a taco, a mexican street corn, and an arroz con pan. All three dishes were delicious, and they all scored. Then, Deep and Craig both presented their cinco de mayo platter, with a sope, rice and beans, and a fajitas. The sope and the rice and beans scored, but the meat in the fajitas was raw, not scoring a point. Craig expressed shame over this, as he should have been able to cook it properly. The score was 5-4. The blue team's group of three went up, with their Mardi Gras platter featuring shrimp and grits, jambalaya, and a po'boy. The shrimp in the shrimp and grits was undercooked, not scoring a point, but the other two items scored. Then, Nonny and Liz presented their dishes, and all the red team needed was two points to win. They scored on two of their dishes, winning the challenge for the women.

## Before Service

The next day, the chefs began prepping for service, and Liz was 100% confident that the red team would dominate over the blue team that night. In the blue kitchen, Declan noticed that Ben was nowhere to be seen, and he started to wonder where he went. Gal eventually found that he was still in the dorms, smoking a cigarette, and Gal was annoyed by this, as all the other chefs were busting ass in the kitchen trying to prep for service, and Ben is busy smoking a fucking cigarette. Then, Ramsay lined up the chefs and reminded them that it was Family Night, before asking Marino to open Hell's Kitchen.

## Dinner Service

### Stations

 Meat

In addition to the classic menu, Family Night featured a kid’s menu including macaroni & cheese, burgers, and chicken strips. Craig wanted to get off to a strong start, but Ben burnt his scallops, and Craig wanted Ben to quickly refire the scallops so his risotto wouldn't come out overcooked. In the red kitchen, Lexi sent up her risotto, but she forgot to put salt into it, which dismayed Kelly, and Layton decided to redo it for her. In the blue kitchen, Craig sent up his mac & cheese, it was deemed gluey mush, and was berated by Ramsay. Declan's refired scallops were accepted.

30 minutes into dinner service, Ben walked his scallops up to the pass, but they were rubbery, and he was forced to redo them. Deep's mac and cheese was going to overcook, so he pushed Ben to hurry up and get the scallops ready. He managed to get the second attempt accepted, and appetizers finally moved out of both kitchens. In the red kitchen, Sabrina sent up her wellingtons, and they were accepted. She then said she was on a roll. In the blue kitchen, Matt was feeling very confident about his abilities on meat, but when he sent up his lamb, they were raw, and Ramsay said it looked like a flag, forcing him to refire it. Then, whilst Matt was in the middle of cooking his halibuts, he was also asking Matt for a time on his refired lamb, but didn't receive an answer. He asked again, but still no answer. This dismayed Declan, and he imitated him ignoring everybody and thought he was in another plane of reality. Ramsay asked Matt how much time he still needed, and finally, he answered, saying that he needed two minutes, but this confused Ramsay as he had been cooking it for a while by then. When both were walked to the pass, Ramsay still needed the garnish for the lamb, which Roy was able to successfully deliver. However, both the halibut and the lamb were raw, much to Deep's dismay. In the red kitchen, the women were pushing out entrees, and Sabrina was confident that she could cook meat and help guide the team to victory. However, Nonny's sea bass was raw, as was Dasara's New York striploin, and Ramsay told them to sit down and eat the mistakes. Dasara said she was utterly embarrassed at her performance. After they ate their mistakes, they continued service.

90 minutes into dinner service, Ramsay was waiting for the ticket refire, and Ben asked Matt to see if his steak was properly cooked, and Matt said it was fine, and when Ben sent up his salmon, it was ice cold in the middle, while Ben's steak turned out to be raw as well, and at his breaking point, Ramsay then told the men to go into the back pantry and have a chat to try to get themselves out of the hole they were in. Once in the pantry, Roy said to the team to get their shit together and to communicate, before going back into the kitchen. The blue team was on their final ticket, and Declan sent up his fish, and it was accepted, and after Roy helped Ben finish his burger, before completing dinner service

## Post-mortem

While the teams were lined up, Ramsay did say that both teams completed dinner service, but that the clear winner was the red team, before telling Ben and Matt that they did a terrible job that night.

Gal mentioned Ben because of his performance on the fish station, and Declan said he definitely should go up along with Matt. But Ben said Declan should've gone up, as he was the one who told him the steak was properly cooked. Gal then told him that this was the problem with him, which was that he couldn't own up to his own fuck-ups, and that Declan did nothing more wrong than tell Ben the steak was cooked alright, when it turned out to be raw, and besides, he needed to be babysat because he had no idea how to tell if the own food you're cooking is acceptable. Gal stated in a confessional that Ben has to go because if he stays, then he'll keep making the same mistakes that he can't even own up to. Roy said Matt and Ben, and Ben told them that he's just gonna eliminate Matt for that because he's here to stay.

## Elimination

Roy announced Ben as the men's first nominee due to his poor performance on meat, with Matt as the second due to the fish station slowing down the service. During their pleas, Ramsay said Matt's performance was unexpected because he had a lot of strong services, but he said that he was growing and growing everyday and that he would not stop at anything. He said it was an opportunity of a lifetime and he knew he had it in him to bounce back and learn from his mistakes. Then, Ben said that he was an asset to the team and that he could delegate. He also said that his team hates him for some reason that he doesn't know. Ramsay noticed Gal shaking his head, and when asked why, Gal said that Ben has problems owning up to his mistakes and that they can't have that in the kitchen. Ben then reminded Ramsay that his team wants him out, and said that Ramsay should do a survey asking the rest of the teammates who they think is the weakest link. Ramsay did, and all of the chefs on the blue team said that they thought the weakest link was Ben. Ramsay told Ben that he did what he was asked to do, and that the survey was unanimous. He also said that his team was not willing to blow smoke up his ass. Ultimately, Ben was eliminated for his poor performance on meat, and continuing to have poor services. During his exit interview, he said that he should've performed better during every service, and that it was hard to swallow being eliminated so early, before ending with stating that he isn't as good as he thinks he is.

After Ben's elimination, Ramsay said that the red team was on a roll, and that there was a possibility that all seven of them could be the final seven. Matt said that he is done half-assing the competition, and that he would have to start putting in 110% effort from there on in. Lexi said that the red team had already won three services over the blue team, and that it's three of several to come.

Ramsay's comment: "Everyone in Hell's Kitchen starts at the bottom. Unfortunately for Ben, he stayed there."