Episode AVSSOHK01: The First Day Of Hell

The first episode of A Very Special Season of Hell's Kitchen aired on January 2, 2024. In that episode, eighteen new chefs began their journey, cooked their signature dishes, and tensions started to rise in one team.

## Intro

The season begins with the eighteen new chefs arriving at Hell's Kitchen, where **Marino** awaited them. As the chefs unloaded from the SUVs, **Fiyorina** introduced herself as a chef representing her being from Philadelphia, having Ethiopian heritage and was determined to win. Then, **Hayden** revealed that he moved to Boston at the age of nine, and wanted to do Hell's Kitchen for his 13-year-old gay brother. The chefs entered Hell's Kitchen and noticed the past winners from each season before entering the dining room. To give the chefs some inspiration, Ramsay decided to have them walk through the famous doors and have a taste of what it felt like to win. As they did it, **Mariah** called it a dream to walk through the doors and become Ramsay's champion, planning to make it a reality. Then, **Jacob** wanted to walk through the doors to show everyone that even former Broadway stars can still have a dream like to win Hell's Kitchen.

Afterwards, the chefs got to know each other, and **Eric** declared that the badass had arrived, while **Dylan** realized how real Hell's Kitchen was and wanted to start cooking right now. Then, three doors appeared behind a curtain, and **Sous Chef Christina** came out of the first door, said that after her door opened in Season 10, she became the Vice President of Culinary for Gordon Ramsay North America. The second door opened, which revealed to be **Sous Chef Jason**, and despite being the runner-up of Season 7, he said his exposure alone allowed him to open five restaurants in Boston. Seeing Sous Chef Jason inspired Hayden as him moving to Boston allowed him to eat at some of his surreal restaurants as he called it. The final door belonged to Ramsay, who recounted his American dream of coming from a short-lived football player to a Michelin star chef and host of a twenty-one-season-long reality cooking show. **Patrick** was inspired by Chef Ramsay's speech as he was a soccer player in high school along with getting culinary training and called it a dream to be in the latter's presence.

After Ramsay stepped out, he welcomed the chefs to what would be called, "A Very Special Season Of Hell's Kitchen", where he revealed that every chef competing in this season would be 30 years or younger. **Maya** revealed to be 21 and was so happy that she barely made the cut in terms of her age. Ramsay said his Sous Chefs were inspired by the culinary world at a very young age that they now get to be the teams sous chefs. Sous Chef Christina said that despite the drama in her season, she still came out on top, which made **Kara** feel that Hell's Kitchen was the right place for her. Sous Chef Jason said that his determination and passion gave him all the respect he deserved in the culinary world, and **Elijah** wanted to have that same respect if he won Hell's Kitchen. Ramsay said Hell's Kitchen was part of the American Dream as **Zoey** felt that winning would make her the best chef she could ever be and would be life changing to her career. Ramsay said the winner of that season would become his Head Chef at Hell's Kitchen in Caesars Las Vegas with a salary of $250,000. That made **Nolan** ask why he would not want to be a part of that. Then, Ramsay told the chefs that their **Signature Dish Challenge** was about to begin, directing the women to the red kitchen and the men to the blue kitchen. Ramsay demanded the best and began the challenge.

Afterwards, a teaser mixed with footage from previous seasons and this season was shown.

## Signature Dish Challenge

As the chefs entered their kitchens, they began cooking their signature dishes within a forty-five-minute time limit. Hayden was pumped up, as making a good impression on Ramsay was important. Then, Hayden said that the special theme of the season was not about good will, it was about sacrificing everything to make a better life. In the red kitchen, Mariah said her dish was linguini and clams, which everyone who had it loved and decided to make her own pasta. In the blue kitchen, **Joey** made coconut curry and grilled lobster cream linguini as it was his breakout post on social media. Like Mariah, Joey decided to make his own pasta as he attempted to make his signature dish in only forty-five minutes at home, impressing Patrick. Eric tried to liven the mood by singing as he cooked, but Elijah got annoyed as he thought the latter needed to shut up and cook as it was a serious situation.

Ten minutes left, **Ava Claire** said she was making an Asian-inspired salmon, adding that she recently graduated from culinary school. While Ava Claire was confident about searing the salmon, she got concerned when she noticed that the skin was burnt. So, Ava Claire trimmed off the charred skin and commented that she should turn down the burner for next time. Meanwhile, Maya worked on her lamb chops, discovering raw meat. Refusing to serve raw lamb to Ramsay, Maya put the chops on a pan and did a quick sear to cook them further. In the blue kitchen, Nolan told Sous Chef Jason he was making homemade biscuits with lemon strawberry jam and sausage. Despite knowing how crazy that sounded, Nolan felt it represented his southern roots and was confident about how it would turn out. With time running out, everyone got their dishes plated, but Nolan accidentally poured too much paprika onto his dish.

Elijah and Maya were up first to present their dishes to Ramsay. Maya said she began cooking during her undergraduate years to have a passion that her and her boyfriend could do together and fell in love with cooking to nourish people away from home. Maya's lamb with sweet potatoes and Swiss chard had a good presentation, but Ramsay said he got concerned seeing her flash fry the chops during the cooking. That made Maya tremble in fear, but thankfully, Ramsay enjoyed the flavors and gave her four points. Maya felt her Hell's Kitchen journey began on a high note, while Elijah gave Ramsay a short description of his culinary career. Elijah's citrus and chilli-infused Maine lobster with charred lemon had a good cook, but Ramsay felt the seasoning was absolutely on point and everything worked together. Ramsay gave him a five and the men led 5-4, and Elijah was so happy to start off his journey with a perfect score on his signature dish.

When **Garrett** and Fiyorina went up, the latter was so excited to be in Hell's Kitchen, and Chef Ramsay was excited to see what Ethiopian dish Fiyorina did, but she decided to go with something Southern instead, which made everyone laugh as Chef Ramsay asked to why, and Fiyorina said that her private chef business is American-based, so she presented her shrimp and grits with a dill sauce. The grits were undercooked, but Ramsay gave Fiyorina three points because they tasted good. Then, Garrett revealed that he is more than 50% Canadian, and often visited cities like Vancouver and Toronto to get the culinary taste of Canada to his home, but instead presented his veal tenderloin with veal and rose Ju. After tasting it, Ramsay said something was missing, but it ended up being seasoning, so Garrett scored three points. As the men led 8-7, Ryan knew his strong dish put him on the map for the other chefs. The next pair up was **Lexi** and Joey, and the former presented her cilantro grain rice and pan-seared duck were praised for having a well-cooked duck and rice, and Ramsay felt that she did do enough to score her four points. Before Joey presented his dish, he said that he was doing Hell's Kitchen for his mother who is losing vision, and wanted to win so that his mother can "see" that her son can do amazing things in his career. Joey's grilled lobster and coconut curry linguini was immediately brought up by him making his own pasta, which Ramsay thought was a bold move, and Joey said he practiced at home for this moment. Ramsay admired the coconut curry inside the linguini and the lobster was cooked good, so Joey scored four points. The men led 12-11, and Joey felt good about the score he received.

When Mariah got up, she presented her linguini and clams, immediately telling Ramsay that she also made fresh pasta, which made Ramsay hungry for more pasta after the previous round. Not only did it taste amazing, but it was better than the last pasta dish, so Mariah scored perfect five dish. Mariah felt like a rock star, while Jacob's smoked pork tenderloin was praised for a good cook despite tasting too sweet. So, Jacob scored three points, and the women led 16-15. In the fifth round, Kara revealed that she can cook so many European cuisines, so she presented a Swiss dish, schnatzlitz, but Ramsay said it was overcooked. When Kara began giggling, Ramsay started to giggle because her dish was a joke and gave her two points. Then, Hayden said his dream was to not only win Hell's Kitchen, but to win for his 13-year-old gay brother Winston, and Hayden revealed that his brother is going through a lot but wanted to tell him that his older brother is here to win for both of them. Hayden's gnocchi with clam cream sauce, bacon, and vegetables were deemed a good dish, and Ramsay felt that the gnocchi and the bacon went perfect together So, Hayden scored a perfect five, much to his excitement, and the men led 20-18.

Afterwards, **Amelia** presented her habanero-infused cod, while Ramsay said the cod was cooked nice, the sauce was a bit spicy, so Amelia scored three points, Nolan was asked where he started cooking. Nolan said he began in a pizzeria and said he was a competitive person, playing both football and basketball in high school. Nolan's homemade biscuits with sausage gravy and lemon jam made Ramsay question the concept of the dish and said it did not look appetizing. Ramsay compared it to vomit, and Elijah could not believe Nolan would make that for Ramsay. After tasting the dish, Ramsay wish that this dish could get benched for the rest of the season, giving Nolan a generous one. With both teams tied at 21, Patrick and Ava Claire went up. Ava Claire revealed that she was a recent culinary graduate, and hoped Hell's Kitchen would be the start to a successful career. Ava Claire's Asian-inspired salmon with coconut rice was criticized for lacking skin, and she admitted to still getting used to the flat top. Ramsay found the salmon overcooked, but he gave Leigh a three as the rice was cooked perfectly. Then, Jermaine's lobster mac and cheese scored the third perfect five for the blue team for a great taste and amazing presentation. The men led 26-24.

In the eighth round, **Jayden** presented her scallops made from king oyster mushrooms. Ramsay asked Jayden if she was vegan, she said that she was vegetarian, which made perfect sense to Ramsay. While the dish had the potential for something unique, the mushrooms were undercooked in the center, and Ramsay gave Jayden two points. Then, Eric's veal cutlet with spaetzle was deemed cooked to hell and scored only one point. The men led 27-26, and Eric was unpleased by his score. For the final round, Zoey felt the pressure of going last as she felt Ramsay was staring into her soul. Zoey revealed that she worked for one of the top restaurants in Miami, and wanted to represent her home city while being determined, and Ramsay saw that Zoey had the passion, and she presented her take on catfish and grits. While Ramsay liked the catfish, he felt the grits needed work and gave Zoey four points. Still, Zoey was okay with a four, but at least she was happy not getting a two or below. Lastly, Dylan felt nervous going up last as his dish could either win it for the men or lose it. Dylan presented his filet mignon with purple carrot chorizo and poblano hash. The steak had a perfect medium rare cook and sear, but Ramsay noticed burned chorizo on the plate. After tasting the dish, Ramsay told Dylan that while the dish had the makings of four, he was getting three points for the burned garnish. With the score tied at 30 each, Ramsay called Hayden and Mariah to bring their dishes back for a second look. While Ramsay deemed both dishes excellent, he declared Hayden's the best of the day, and the men won the challenge.

### Scoring

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

## Reward

The men were rewarded with a day at a Beverly Hills Mansion, and after explaining the reward, Ramsay said he was joining them. During the reward, Eric was stoked to enter a mansion, and the men took in the sight from the backyard. Hayden thought the men were bonding well, and Garrett thought the positive male energy was thriving. Patrick called it priceless, and as the men sat down for dinner, Ramsay joined them at the table. Ramsay wanted the men's energy to continue, and Eric asked him what he was looking for in a head chef. Ramsay said that he was looking for someone who was prepared to learn and focused, making Eric stunned that he answered his question. Joey asked Ramsay what he would tell himself twenty years ago, and the latter said he would have wanted to travel more and experience more cultures. Afterwards, the men and Ramsay toasted.

## Punishment

The women were punished by participating in delivery day and cleaning up both kitchens. During the punishment, the men walked past them, but Maya and Kara told them to enjoy being wined and dined as it would be their last. As the women cleaned the kitchens, Sous Chef Christina tried to spark some conversations with the group, warning them that people with egos tended to leave early due to poor mistakes. However, to Fiyorina's annoyance, Zoey kept saying that the people who let us down the most were the ones who got twos and ones. Fiyorina felt that Zoey was just being negative and wanted her to be put in her place by her team.

## Individual challenge

Later that evening, the chefs were at the dorms when the Sous Chefs came up with the cookbooks. As the chefs studied the recipes, Hayden hoped everyone did well that night. While Zoey felt that she cannot bond with everyone on her team. So, Hayden took Zoey aside and encouraged her to be kind and to be herself and if she does that, Hayden promised that he and her can be the final two, Zoey agreed upon what Hayden said, took his advice, and wanted to go with the flow and make it all the way to the end.

The following morning, the chefs changed into their jackets and came downstairs to see Ramsay next to Marino with a big mystery box. Ramsay reminded the chefs that Hell's Kitchen was proud to use fresh ingredients and had Marino open the box to reveal the contents. The episode ended as a cliffhanger as the chefs reacted to the contents.

## Trivia

* **Title Reference**: The title refers to the the first day for the chefs entering Hell's Kitchen
* This marks the fifth time the Signature Dish Challenge ended in a tie, and the second time the blue team won the tiebreaker.